Are you an avid gardener looking to expand your plant collection from the comfort of home? Or perhaps a novice hoping to develop your green thumb with some beginner-friendly shrubs and flowers? No matter your gardening goals, Garden Goods Direct aims to be your trusted online source for a wide variety of high-quality greenery.
In this comprehensive Garden Goods Direct review, we‘ll take a deep dive into the company‘s offerings, ordering process, plant care, customer service, and more to help you determine if they‘re the right fit for your gardening needs. Let‘s dig in and see what this online plant purveyor brings to the table!
About Garden Goods Direct
Garden Goods Direct was founded in 1996 by Woodie Lothrop with the mission of providing customers access to premium plants typically only found at specialty nurseries. Understanding that not everyone has a local garden center nearby, Lothrop wanted to make the traditional nursery shopping experience accessible to all via an online store.
Over the decades, this family-owned company has grown its business while staying true to its original goals. Today, Garden Goods Direct serves all 50 states, delivering a huge selection of outdoor and indoor plants right to your doorstep. Their team of experts carefully curates and cares for every plant, ensuring each one is of the highest quality.
With 25,000+ followers on social media, it‘s clear that many satisfied customers appreciate the brand‘s wide selection and commitment to convenience. But does Garden Goods Direct live up to the hype? We‘re here to find out.
Overview of Garden Goods Direct Products
One of the biggest draws of Garden Goods Direct is the sheer variety of their plant offerings. Let‘s take a look at the main categories:
Outdoor Plants
– Trees (privacy trees, shade trees, flowering trees, etc.)
– Bushes & Shrubs
– Perennials
– Fruit Trees & Fruits
– Annuals
– Roses
– Vines
– Bonsai
Whether you‘re looking for an ornamental Japanese maple tree, some skip laurels to line your driveway, or beautiful drift roses to plant under your front windows, you‘ll find plenty of options at Garden Goods Direct. They specialize in nursery-grown plants that thrive in specific growing zones.
Indoor Plants
– Tropical & Exotic Plants
– Cacti & Succulents
– Bonsai Trees
– Air Plants
– Bamboo
– Orchids
Garden Goods Direct also boasts an impressive selection of houseplants to spruce up your interior. Popular picks include trendy string of turtles and string of bananas plants, eye-catching philodendron monsteras, and vibrant pothos varieties. You can also find chic snake plants, zz plants, fiddle leaf figs, and more of today‘s it-plants.
Lawn & Garden Supplies
– Planters & Containers
– Watering & Irrigation
– Soils & Fertilizers
– Pest & Weed Control
– Landscape Fabric & Edging
– Hand Tools
– Sprayers
– Gloves & Apparel
In addition to live plants, the brand sells various tools and supplies to support your gardening. From elegant planters to practical pruners, you can find everything you need for planting, maintenance, and plant care.
Shopping Experience on GardenGoodsDirect.com
The Garden Goods Direct website is well-organized and easy to navigate, with products broken down into clear categories. Each plant has its own dedicated page with ample information, including:
- Size at purchase and maturity
- Ideal growing conditions (sun exposure, water needs, climate/zone, etc.)
- Planting and care instructions
- Estimated shipping timeframe based on location
You can also view plenty of high-quality photos showing the plant at various stages of growth. This is particularly helpful for envisioning how a plant will look once it matures in your landscape.
One unique function is the ability to filter plants by growing zone. Simply enter your zip code and the site will display trees, shrubs, and flowers most likely to thrive in your climate. This ensures you choose plants suitable for your location.
The brand‘s plant experts are also available via phone, email, or live chat to answer any questions you may have prior to purchasing. This type of personalized guidance is invaluable and helps instill confidence in the buying process.
Garden Goods Direct Plant Quality & Packaging
Garden Goods Direct takes great pride in their plant quality, and it shows. According to hundreds of customer reviews, their plants consistently arrive in excellent health, with lush foliage and strong root systems. The brand guarantees every plant is fully-rooted, true to size, and free of disease.
Packaging is another high point for Garden Goods Direct. They utilize innovative boxing techniques to keep plants secure and protected throughout transit. This includes ample cushioning, staking trees upright in their pots, and including clear unpacking instructions. Many customers report their plants arriving completely unscathed, which is no small feat when shipping live goods.
The company also offers a 30-day guarantee on all plants. If you receive a damaged or defective plant, simply snap some photos and get in touch with customer service for a replacement or refund. While shipping issues can happen from time to time, Garden Goods Direct is committed to making it right.
Shipping with Garden Goods Direct
Garden Goods Direct offers both standard and express shipping options. Standard shipping is free on orders over $125. Delivery typically takes anywhere from 1-7 business days after your order is processed, depending on your location.
During checkout, you can view the estimated arrival date for your plants. Garden Goods Direct generally ships Monday through Wednesday to avoid plants sitting in transit over the weekend.
One thing to note is that the company only ships within the contiguous United States. They do not offer delivery to Alaska, Hawaii, or international locations at this time. Additionally, certain plants may be restricted from shipping to specific states due to agricultural regulations.
Garden Goods Direct Compared to Other Plant Delivery Services
When it comes to online plant delivery, Garden Goods Direct has some noteworthy competitors. One of the most popular is The Sill, a stylish startup known for its trendy indoor plant offerings.
The Sill caters to millennial plant parents, focusing heavily on aesthetics and user experience. In addition to potted plants, they sell chic decorative planters, wall art, and other home decor. The Sill‘s plant selection is much smaller than Garden Goods Direct, with more of an emphasis on easy-care houseplants vs outdoor trees and shrubs.
Price-wise, the two companies are fairly comparable for indoor plants. However, The Sill‘s sleek, Instagram-worthy packaging comes at a premium. Their potted plants also max out at a much smaller size than Garden Goods Direct‘s.
Another potential alternative is purchasing plants from Amazon. Many Garden Goods Direct trees and shrubs are available via Amazon Prime, which could be appealing if you‘re already a member. With that said, buying plants from a large marketplace comes with more potential quality control issues compared to a specialty nursery.
For serious gardeners seeking high-quality outdoor plants, Garden Goods Direct is one of the most reliable and comprehensive options. Their expertise and decades of experience shine through in the breadth of their offerings and level of customer support. Though they may lack some of the millennial-friendly branding of startups like The Sill, Garden Goods Direct delivers where it matters most.
Garden Goods Direct Customer Reviews & Reputation
To truly understand how Garden Goods Direct measures up, we scoured hundreds of authentic customer reviews. The brand earns overwhelmingly positive feedback on their own website and across third-party sites like Trustpilot and the Better Business Bureau.
On Trustpilot, Garden Goods Direct has a 4.4/5 star rating from over 5,000 customer reviews. Impressively, 74% of reviews give the company a perfect 5 star rating. The most common praise points include:
- High quality, healthy plants
- Fast and reliable shipping
- Secure packaging to prevent damage
- Helpful and friendly customer service
- Informative and accurate website
Many customers comment that their Garden Goods Direct plants perform extremely well once planted, growing quickly and blooming abundantly. People also appreciate the control they have over delivery dates and the text updates provided with tracking info.
The chief complaints seem to revolve around delayed shipments and damaged plants. While unfortunate, this is somewhat par for the course when ordering live plants online. As mentioned, Garden Goods Direct does their best to promptly replace any plants that don‘t arrive in satisfactory condition.
The company currently holds an A+ rating on the Better Business Bureau, with very few filed complaints over the years. This points to a consistent track record of dependable service and a commitment to customer satisfaction.
Based on our research, you can confidently order from Garden Goods Direct knowing they have a strong reputation for quality and integrity. The glowing reviews from many loyal customers speak for themselves!
Garden Goods Direct Promotions, Discounts & Loyalty Program
As you may have gathered, buying plants online can get a little pricey, especially when you factor in shipping. Luckily, Garden Goods Direct offers several ways to snag a good deal:
- Sign up for the email list to receive 10% off your first order and exclusive sale alerts
- Enjoy free shipping on orders over $125
- Score volume discounts when buying multiples of the same plant
- Take advantage of seasonal sales and limited-time promotions
- Join the Garden Goods Direct Growpoints loyalty program to earn points on purchases
The loyalty program is especially worthwhile if you plan on being a repeat customer. You‘ll earn 1 point for every $1 you spend, and points can later be redeemed for discounts on future orders. It‘s an easy way to save a little cash over time.
We also spotted some great bundle deals, like a set of 3 KnockOut Roses for a reduced price. Purchasing curated collections is an affordable way to jump-start your landscape.
Is Garden Goods Direct Worth It?
So, is it worth ordering your next batch of plants from Garden Goods Direct? Based on the breadth of their catalog, commitment to quality, attentive customer service, and thousands of glowing reviews, we confidently say yes!
Garden Goods Direct is a fantastic option for novice and experienced gardeners alike. With so many plants to choose from and tons of helpful resources on the site, they make plant parenthood incredibly accessible and rewarding.
One of the biggest advantages of Garden Goods Direct is their ability to ship sizable plants, like trees and shrubs, straight to your home. Ordinarily, procuring this kind of greenery would require a trip to a specialty nursery. Garden Goods Direct grants you access to a huge variety of larger plants no matter where you‘re located.
The main drawback is the potential for plants to become damaged in transit, as some customers have reported. While this is always a risk when ordering plants online, Garden Goods Direct has a great track record overall. Their quality packaging and helpful customer service can help mitigate issues if they occur.
All things considered, we believe Garden Goods Direct‘s benefits far outweigh the cons. If you‘re looking for a reputable, well-established source for all your plant needs, they‘re certainly worth checking out.
Why not give your garden an upgrade this season with some Garden Goods Direct green? Your landscape (and wallet) will surely thank you!
