The scoop on 'Wildwood Farm'

I cannot say enough about the excellent customer service I experienced from both Sara and Ricardo.

I was not sure what I wanted as it was a gift. They questioned me very carefully and then shipped the perfect tree.

The tree arrived in two days, well packed and the tree itself was in mint condition.

I highly, highly recommend Wildwood ... I don't think it is possible to have a bad experience with them. Thanks.

I have been searching for several rare Japanese Maples and Wildwood was the only nursery that had them and were willing to ship them to me. They arrived in two days and are in good shape. Ricardo and Sara have been helpful with questions both before and after I purchased the trees and I look forward to learning from and continuing to do business with them.

Sara and Rick helped me select the perfect maple for my dad. He wanted something beautiful like the Crimson Queen but didn't want to pay hundreds of dollars for it. He also is getting older and feared that he might not have 10 years left to 'watch it grow'. They provided me with a great tree at a great price.

The maple arrived safely and was planted on Saturday. My dad loves it and says it was much bigger and more lush than the ones he saw at the local big box store. Many thanks for delivering such a good product. I'll be sure to share their nursery with my garden club and all of the Master Gardeners that I work with.

I went to their nursery this morning to look for another JM, I notice a very nice 18" Red Filigree Lace that has a price tag of $50.00. I am so excited to buy the tree and take her home, but unfortunately they change the price to $75.00 in front of me. According to them it was an old price. I am very disappointed because I am not a new costumer and this is my second time to visit their place.

The lesson is, if you are planning to visit their store this coming Sept 8. Please make sure the plant you are buying has the right tag or else they will change it to higher price and offer back to you with a 20% or 40% discount. What an idea they still keep the old price they want.

8/28/07

This customer ( Mr. “X”) first visited our nursery last week. He tried to bargain the prices of several maples. He explained he was supporting several children; and he seemed to be a devoted father to the little girl he brought with him. Finally we did in fact remove a tree from a decorative clay pot and sell it to him at a lower rate even though there were comparable trees in black plastic and ready to go. On this visit he left with two maples and seemed very pleased.

Tuesday was the second visit of Mr. X. Ricardo noticed he had set a lovely five year old Red filligree lace out in the aisle; and Ricardo immediately told him the price of the tree was $ 75.00. Ricardo also showed him a younger red filligree for $ 40.00. Mr. “X” then said “ I’ll give you $ 65.00. “ Ricardo declined this and continued with his hand watering routine. Ricardo also made a point of telling me about this conversation and the price of the 5 year red filligree.


Mr. X was interested in a new cultivar, Samurai Sword. However he did not wish to spend the money for it; and we helped him find Atrolineare, a similar tree. He wanted the smallest possible tree. In this case, that was a 2 gallon size normally selling for $ 75.00. I agreed to sell him a small one for $ 45.00

Mr. X continued to look around the nursery .
Finally he indicated two trees he wished to purchase: The red filigree, which he wanted for $ 50.00, and the Atrolineare for $ 45. I replied that Ricardo had told me a different price . Mr. X pointed out a faded label with the name and $ 50.00. I noted that the label was very old; and I re-wrote both the name and the price of the filligree to reflect its current age and condition. I made this correction immediately so he would know this was not a “temporary” price change. With two of us running our nursery, and thousands of trees, it is impossible to keep every label up to date. Perhaps this man is in -experienced with the growth rate of Japanese maples . I believe that any knowledgable and reasonable gardener would agree that a well shaped Red filligree maple (which is rather rare), at 5 years old, is worth $ 75.00.

We welcome gardeners who are beginners and gardeners who are long time collectors and everyone in between. We hope that every visitor will have a positive experience at Wildwood; and we do our best to make that happen. After 32 years in business, we have a pretty clear idea of the value of our plant material. If people choose to seek out bargains on e-Bay and/or Big Box stores that is their perrogative. However, we have all the expenses of maintaining a physical location - one where anyone may come to view these extraordinary trees in the various stages of their growth not only in nursery pots but planted out in our extensive display gardens.
thank you for reading this rebuttal,
Sara Monte, co-owner Wildwood Farm

I called Wildwood over a weekend to ask for the availability of a tree listed on there website. I immediately talked to someone who checked to make sure that the plant was not only in stock, but that they had one that was in good shape. The help on the phone was exceptional and the plant was immediately shipped and received in three days.

I would recommend Wildwood to anyone.

Wildwood farm is amazing place , not only they have great selection of JM, also their customer service are flawless!! Sara was so helpful and their trees are just as pretty as you see on their website. I got one three year old AKA shigitatsu sawa from them, the tree is very healthy and not expensive at all compare with other places. Also the tree was wrapped carefully, was no damaged on the tree at all .

I highly recommend them , and would order from them again.

Best regards
Kay in CA

I had initially decided to buy from Wildwood Farm due to the positive feedback here and their wonderful inventory of hard to find trees. I ordered an A.p. kamagata. and an A.p. Tana. Both Sarah and Ricardo were very pleasant and helpful on the phone. The trees that were shipped to me arrived in only two days from California to North Carolina for a very reasonable shipping cost. Unfortunately, the post office had banged up the box pretty bad and the kamagata was damaged, despite the excellent packaging. I called and spoke with Ricardo who immediately sent a replacement tree. Again, it traveled across the country in only two days, was packaged very well, and the tree was a beautiful, very healthy speciman. I am more than pleased. I would highly recommend Wildwood Farm to any potential customers.

Wildwood is a good place to get JM's... they were helpful and accurate in their descriptions of trees I was interested in...packaging was good shipping was fast and of average cost ... the trees arrived in good shape nice sized and healthy and were not expensive for size and quality. I would order from them again they have a great selection and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them to anyone here especially those looking for special hard to get JM's... David

Sara, Ric and Joe at Wildwood Farms have provided me with some of the best experiences I've ever had shopping online (which I do quite extensively). Not only are they knowledgeable and helpful (providing advice and suggestions about anything I ask) about Japanese Maples, dogwoods, etc, but they have some of the most rare and absolutely gorgeous specimens I could ever hope to find.

I have purchased about 10-15 trees from Wildwood and have always been extremely happy with everything. They have always exceeded my expectations (which are very high).

I highly recommend giving them a call to brighten your day and find the best stock around on some of the most beautiful trees in the world!

Sincerely,

[e-mail:stugold@ameritech.net]

I have purchased 7 Japanese maples from Wildwood over the past 2 years. They were all healthy, beautiful trees, and did very well after I put them in the ground. The owners are wonderful and very helpful. They have a wide selection of Japanese maples, including many gems that are not available in the Bay Area or in other parts of California. In addition, they are very reasonably priced. I highly recommend Wildwood for anyone looking for Japanese maples.

I have bought from these nice people twice now - this past Spring and just recently. They have an excellent inventory and the prices are very good for the size and health of the plants. They also run periodic sales. The Japanese Maple offerings are nicely categorized on the website, though there are not many photos. They tell me however, that a website upgrade is in the works.

The great combination of personal attention, customer service and great selection / price / packaging, makes this my first place to check when I am struck with my latest Acer palmatum craving!

Victor

Placed and order for Acer shirasawanum Autumn Moon on 9/27/05 via mail. Plant arrived on 10/18/05 packaged very securely. Upon opening the package I was very pleasantly surprised with the tree. It has transplanted very well and does not seem to be going through transplant shock to any great degree. Wonderful tree! I will recommend to family and friends happily! Customer service was excellent as well.