Shipping Guide & Policies

Every year we ship thousands of trees across Canada in the spring and, weather permitting, there is usually a smaller shipping season in the fall too. Shipping live plants is not without challenges. We do our best to ensure the trees are packaged for success and delivered as quickly as we can. Upon receiving mail order plants, open the box immediately, check the sawdust is still damp around the roots, and then store them in a cool dark location until you plant. Preferably, you should plant them the same day they arrive but they can be stored for a few days.

If you have any problems with your shipment, please see the Shipping Policies section at the bottom of the page.

Flat Rate Shipping

We offer flat rate shipping across Canada! See the chart below to determine the shipping fees for your order. Tax will be applied at checkout.

Please note: Wholesale orders do not qualify for flat rate shipping. We will provide a shipping estimate.

*Small, flat orchard supplies such as 50 packs of grafting tape will be shipped via letter mail. Letter mail shipping is $10 across Canada.

**There are restrictions on what plants we can send to BC. Please see our Shipping Guide below.

If you place multiple orders, get in touch with us about shipping your orders together. In some cases we can ship everything together for the same rate, but if your second order includes a large number of plants we may need to increase the shipping fees to cover the additional costs.

Shipping Guide - How We Ship Our Plants to You!

Do you ship bareroot plants? How?

Yes! Your bareroot plants are bundled together in a plastic bag that is filled with damp sawdust to keep the roots moist while in transit. They are then securely fastened inside a box and sent to you as soon as they are packaged up and the weather is suitable for planting. Your bareroot plants are dormant, so they will not have any leaves. 

Please note that we may prune some trees back if they are slightly too large to fit safely in a box. Any pruned trees will still be the same grade as was purchased. 

When do you ship bareroot plants?

We primarily ship out bareroot plants in the spring although there is a small shipping window in the fall as well. 

Fall: We only ship bareroot apples and pears in the fall since they tend to be hardier than our other plants. Fall orders will generally ship out around mid-November, although the exact timing will vary year to year since we need to wait for the plants in our field to go dormant before we can dig them. 

Spring: We ship plants every Monday between mid/late March to late May. Your order will ship out when planting conditions in your area are suitable and we will notify you ahead of time once your order has been scheduled for a specific shipment. Orders placed during the spring season may see a one or two week delay before being shipped out since this is a very busy time of year for us. 

How long does shipping take and will my plants be okay?

On average, once the plants are shipped out they will arrive within 2-5 days although shipments in southern Ontario may arrive in as little as 1-2 days. As long as your plants arrive within a week, they should not have any health issues and are ready to be planted in the ground! 

Do you ship potted plants?

No, we do not ship our potted plants. The pots are too heavy and bulky for us to ship them economically, so they are only available for pick-up. 

What services do you ship with?

We ship out our plants with several different couriers including Canpar, FedEx, Purolator, and UPS. If you want us to ship with a specific courier, please let us know. 

Upon request, we will ship with Canada Post if you live in a rural or exceptionally far location where other couriers are unreliable. If you prefer we ship with Canada Post, please let us know.

Can I request delivery to my back door or other specific location?

Yes, you can request specific delivery instructions through the shipping provider once you receive tracking information.

What provinces/territories do you ship to?

We ship to every province and territory in Canada! There are some limits on what we can ship to British Columbia.

What cannot be shipped to BC?

We unfortunately cannot ship Malus, Pyrus, Cydonia, Prunus or Vitis species to BC as these species need to be fumigated in order to cross the Rockies according to CFIA. The fumigation process takes a lot of time to set up and can easily cost over $1000 per order which makes it unfeasible for us and too costly for customers.

All other plants can be shipped to BC!

Do you ship to the United States and/or outside Canada?

We do not ship plants outside of Canada. The paperwork simply takes too much time for our small team to manage.

Orchard supplies and hard goods like books can be shipped to the US if desired.

Shipping Policies - What To Do If Something Goes Wrong

Once an order leaves the nursery, it is often beyond our control. While most of our orders arrive swiftly and safely, there are the rare hiccups and we are happy to work with you if you experience any problems with your delivery.

My Order was Damaged During Delivery 

If your plants arrived damaged, let us know immediately and send us pictures. We take a lot of pride in carefully packing our trees but occasionally there is damage in transit. If just the tips are broken and it falls within the amount we recommend pruning off, we are happy to provide advice but these generally do not qualify for compensation. If your plants are significantly damaged, we may offer store credit or replacements with complementary shipping at our discretion. We will review each case individually.  

If you purchased any orchard supplies and they arrived damage, send us photos immediately. We will send replacements with complementary shipping.

My Plants Arrived in Poor Health

If your plants look unhealthy when they arrive, immediately let us know and send us pictures. We are happy to help however we can to nurse your plants to full health and, where applicable, will arrange compensation based on our guarantee HERE. 

My Order is Delayed or Lost

Before reaching out regarding delayed delivery, please double check your tracking number. It will tell you if your order has left the premises and provide updates on the status of your shipment. Please note all orders ship on Mondays and Tuesdays but you may receive a notification a couple of days ahead of time. 

If anything looks off or the order has not arrived by the end of the same week it was scheduled to depart the nursery, let us know. The occasional mistake does happen and we can investigate the matter on your behalf. You are also welcome to reach out to the courier, we are often very busy during the shipping season and there may be some delay in resolving your shipping issue.

Once the order arrives, immediately open the box and send us photos of the plants. We are happy to help however we can to nurse your plants to full health and, where applicable, will arrange compensation based on our guarantee HERE. 

If the order never arrives, let us know. We will investigate the matter further and if we are unable to resolve the problem, we can offer replacements with complementary shipping or store credit at our discretion. 

Part of My Order Did Not Arrive

Before reaching out regarding missing items in your order, we kindly request that you fully check the contents of the package. Please open the box, fully remove all of the contents, open the bag containing the bareroot plants, unbundle them, and check through the sawdust to ensure no smaller plants sank down into it. If your order was shipped in multiple boxes, please check the tracking information to confirm whether or not any additional boxes may still be in transit.

If you have done this and have confirmed that you are missing part of your order, let us know right away and we will send the missing product(s) to you at no extra cost. While we do our best to ensure everything is packaged up together, we occasionally miss the odd orchard supply or add-on and appreciate your patience as we remedy such situations. 

My Order Was Delivered to the Wrong Address

Let us know if the order was accidentally delivered to the wrong address and we will deal with each situation on a case by case basis. Incorrect deliveries often fall into three categories.

1. If you entered an incorrect shipping address, we are unfortunately unable to offer compensation. It is the customer's responsibility to review the order confirmation email and ensure all information is correct. We will do our best to help resolve the situation and may be able to redirect your package to the correct address.
2. If a staff member entered your address incorrectly or failed to update it as requested, let us know. We will either work with you to get your order delivered to the correct address or can provide replacements with complementary shipping or store credit if this is not feasible.
3. If the courier accidentally delivered the package to the wrong address, we would strongly recommend checking the proof of delivery picture provided by the courier. In many cases, your order should be in your neighbourhood. While we understand this is inconvenient, the best solution at this time is to retrieve the package yourself. Please do not direct any complaints about this to our staff, we have no control over the shipping companies and would appreciate if any complaints about their service are sent to them directly. If you cannot locate your order or it is delivered quite far from your location, let us know and we will work with you to figure out a solution.