Online Nursery Rankings & Ratings

Top Rated Nurseries Online

Updated November 2, 2022

Where’s the best place to buy plants online?

From first to worst, our Top 20 online nursery rankings are below. We also list 11 other nurseries that we monitor below the rankings.

When is the fall planting season over? Ask any professional landscaper and they will tell you that fall is the best time of the year to plant trees & shrubs. Less stress from summer heat, allowing them to focus their energy below ground with the roots. Shopping online provides you the convenience and superior selection for trees, shrubs, perennials, houseplants and garden supplies. But, when is the fall planting season over for your area? We help answer that question on our blog post; “Is your fall planting season over?“.

Nurseries ranked by rating score high to low.

Rank	Change	Nursery	Website	Rating	Grade	Complete Review
1	N/C		greatgardenplants.com	89	A-	Read Review
2	N/C		gardencrossings.com	87.5	B+	Read Review
3	N/C		fast-growing-trees.com	87	B+	Read Review
4	N/C		myperfectplants.com	84.5	B	Read Review
5	+2		gardengoodsdirect.com	80.5	B-	Read Review
6	N/C		brighterblooms.com	80	B-	Read Review
7	+1		plantsbymail.com	79.5	C+	Read Review
8	-3		plantingtree.com	78.5	C+	Read Review
9	N/C		plantmegreen.com	78.5	C+	Read Review
10	N/C		fourwindsgrowers.com	78	C+	Read Review
11	N/C		thetreecenter.com	77.5	C+	Read Review
12	N/C		highcountrygardens.com	77	C+	Read Review
13	N/C		jacksonandperkins.com	76.5	C	Read Review
14	N/C		wilsonbrosgardens.com	76	C	Read Review
15	N/C		whiteflowerfarms.com	76	C	Read Review
16	N/C		arborday.org	75	C	Read Review
17	+2		tytyga.com	74.5	C	Read Review
18	-1		waysidegardens.com	74.5	C	Read Review
19	-1		greenwoodnursery.com	70.5	C-	Read Review
20	N/C		springhillnursery.com	70	C-	Read Review

Other nurseries we review:

Stark Bros Nursery

They’ve been around a long time, since 1819. Features a lot of bare root fruit trees.

 

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Proven Winners

One of the premier brand names in the landscape world, Proven Winners is now selling many of their plants direct to the consumers.

 

 

 

 

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Nature Hills Nursery

A drop ship model, meaning they send orders to real nurseries who ship out the plants. You can read our latest review, rating and grade here.

 

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Gardener Direct

Editor’s Rating: 6.1 Stars (out of 10)

Their latest grade was a D-. Read reviews & ratings here.

 

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Direct Gardening

They have consistently been one of our worst ranked online nurseries. Read the latest review, rating and grade here.

 

 

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McKay Nursery

Great reputation as a wholesale grower. Their regional landscape division also has a good reputation. Their retail online nursery? Not so much. Read McKay Nursery review, rating and grade here.

 

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Pixie Gardens

Based in Conyers, GA, they have been making a concerted effort to build up their online nursery. We might add them to our rankings soon.

 

 

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Citrus.com

Good selection and prices for dwarf and semi-dwarf citrus trees. Attractive prices and good quality. You can shop citrus trees for sale and compare best prices from our top rated nurseries.

 

 

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Bluestone Perennials

One of our top nurseries for perennials.

 

 

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American Meadows

Great online store for perennials & annuals.

 

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Plant Addicts

They are a drop shipper based in Omaha, NE. The 2 friends who own it built the site and gathered supplier connections while they were working at Nature Hills Nursery.

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Lively Root

LivelyRoot.com is one of our 6 best places to buy houseplants online. 

They offer a wide selection of the most popular and even hard to find plants. Their prices are awesome, they carry different sizes and they offer free shipping on orders over $49. 

They also offer a lot of helpful tips and advice for finding and caring for the best houseplants for your situation.

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Disclosure

All company names, logos are trademarks™ or registered® trademarks of their respective holders. Use of them does not imply any affiliation with or endorsement by them.

Before you place any order please make sure you verify when your plants will ship. Do it before giving them your money. Even southern nurseries that can ship year round face some exceptions & delays with extreme temperature conditions.  Also make sure you know if you are buying bareroot, it’s most likely to be delivered in late spring.

If a site says something like; ‘ships 7 to 10 days weather permitting’ call them to verify shipping status. 

This is why we list the location of the nursery on each of their reviews. In most cases, it lets you know where your plants will be shipped from.  Southern nurseries get a month or two head start on their growing season from their counterparts up north. Also, most northern nurseries will start shipping later in spring than while many in the south can ship year round.

Unboxing Orders

We continually place orders for plants from our top rated nurseries. You can view pictures and read the complete unboxing review for each by clicking on any of the links below.  Unboxing are listed in chronological order, with the most recent orders on top.

Unboxing Windmill Palm from My Perfect Plants Nursery

Unboxing Houseplant from Lively Root

Unboxing Meyer Lemon tree from Planting Tree Nursery

Unboxing perennials from Jackson & Perkins

Unboxing Loropetalum Shrubs from Perfect Plants Nursery

Unboxing Loropetalum Shrub From PlantingTree.com

Unboxing Snake Houseplant ($15 for a 2-foot tall plant!) September, 2021

Unboxing From Fast-Growing-Trees.com June, 2021

Unboxing From MyPerfectPlants.com May, 2021

Unboxing Order From Great Garden Plants April, 2021

Unboxing Evergreen Shrub From PlantsByMail.com Nursery

Unboxing Blueberry Shrubs From Perfect Plants Nursery

Unboxing Meyer Lemon from Fast Growing Trees

Unboxing Meyer Lemon from Four Winds Growers

Unboxing Tabletop Christmas Tree from Jackson & Perkins

Unboxing Camellias from Garden Goods Direct

Unboxing Rosemary & Blueberry Bush From Planting Tree

Unboxing 4 Plants Ordered From The Tree Center

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best mail order nursery?

Mail order is the same as saying online nursery. Before the internet became so popular, many nurseries used to send printed catalogs, so the name has stuck. We rank the top 24 mail order nurseries from first to worst.

Are there different types of online nurseries?

YES! There are 3 different types. 1) Wholesale growers who have a retail website. 2) Your typical retail nursery but many online do not have a retail storefront. 3) Drop Shippers. Websites that don’t have their own fields with plants and use third party nurseries to ship their orders. Nature Hills Nursery is an example.

Can you order houseplants online?

Yes! Literally hundreds of different houseplants are for sale online with delivery to your door. You can compare prices from our top-rated online garden centers on over 170 popular houseplants.

Where can I buy plants at the lowest prices online?

Just remember you usually get what you pay for. In order of our ratings high to low, here are 3 ‘low-cost’ online nurseries. Arborday.org, Greenwood Nursery, TYTY Nurseries.

We worked with 4 of the largest online plant nurseries in the country for over 10 years. We have also visited (to evaluate) or ordered plants from over 32 online garden centers and wholesale growers. We know what to look for and we don’t hold back what we dig up (pun intended). This site is dedicated to helping you buy plants online with confidence at the lowest prices. 

Our Grading Scale:

 

Disclaimer

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