McKay Nursery Review

NOTE: McKay Nursery has dropped out of our top 20 rankings. We will continue to monitor and update the review as we feel it will help you.

McKay Nursery's online retail store at https://www.mckaynursery.com/online-plants.html  dropped to a 65 and a D grade.  We specifically mention the rating and grade is for the retail store because McKayNursery.com continues to be a bit of an enigma to us.  McKay Nursery is one of the largest & most respected wholesale growers within the industry. They have been around since 1897 and have a solid reputation.

Our biggest issue with McKay Nursery has always been their retail website. It is not the most intuitive user experience. With inconsistent product pricing and a few other discrepancies, it is hard to believe they are focusing too much on the retail website. The site is super slow and we saw a lot or large sizes that were only delivered with a small radius of the location in Wisconsin. We also saw a 3-gallon evergreen shrub for almost $100!

We used their search filter to view plants under $50. First one we looked at, Grateful Red hydrangea was $76.99 for the only size available, a 3-gallon. I'm beginning to think someone at Nature Hills is in charge of their pricing because they are so high.

They have made a few cosmetic updates and changes to information available on the product pages. There's a lot of detail on most of the products but you may have to click around a bit to find some of the details. They also have great information if you want to spend some time to find the articles.

The home page has some similarities to the one for Nature Hills Nursery.  McKay has shipped orders for Nature Hills. Usually you would expect the grower to have lower prices.  McKay's pricing is all over the place. The majority of McKay's pricing we compared, were less then Nature Hills. 

McKay Shipping Schedule

Just keep in mind McKay Nursery is located in Waterloo, Wisconsin.  McKay's Shipping & Returns page provides some details for their shipping schedules but I would definitely call them if you want to order anything.  

McKay Nursery also offers the increasingly popular 1 year warranty for an added cost. The language is a little confusing but don't expect a refund, just a store credit or replacement.  In our opinion, it's not worth the added expense.

McKay Nursery sells a lot of different sizes, including what’s referred to as ball & burlap (b&b) as well as trees ranging from 1 to 2 inch caliper (trunk diameter). You need to enter your zip code for availability. I can't imagine they are shipping some of their larger sizes outside of the immediate area where they are located.

McKay's Return Policy is not the best we’ve reviewed.  All sales are final. A 40% restocking fee only if material is returned in “like new” condition.  How do you return a live tree or shrub in 'like new' condition?!?! They at least provide a shipping schedule. They also offer free order pick up.  Not sure how positive this is but their shipping & returns policy is laid out so it is easy to read. 

What were the red flags?  

• As mentioned above, their return policy is one of the worst we've reviewed. 
• They have 78 reviews with a 4.5 rating on Facebook, mostly for their landscaping services.  We also saw a listing for them on Bird Eye.  We've seen where this independent review service intentionally suppress negative reviews and only shows positive reviews for Nature Hills.  Most of the reviews are for their landscaping services, not the online store.