FAQ Regarding Shipping Policy of Conifer Kingdom Answered

Shipping Policy

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Shipping FAQ’s

Locations We Ship To

We ship throughout the U.S. except Alaska, Hawaii, and the territories. All orders are shipped via a Ground shipping carrier in a box. Specimens and InstantHedges are freight shipped on a pallet. We cannot ship to P.O. boxes so be sure to provide a physical address while entering your shipping location. Emailed tracking numbers will be sent once the order has been shipped. Some freight shipped orders will receive a phone call from the truck driver instead.

Processing Times

ASAP orders are processed on a first-come first-serve basis. During spring months (March-May), it may take 1-2 weeks for your order to be prepared for shipment.
Express/Overnight shipping is recommended during spring and summer months to avoid damage to the plants from warm weather. Please note that these orders are also first-come first-serve, but will be in transit for only 1-2 business days. We ship all of these orders on Monday-Thursday to avoid weekend transit.

During certain times of the year, we will hold orders until a future shipping date. These options are presented at checkout (For example: “Shipping May 16-20”). With the volume of orders received, we usually will ship every day of the week, Monday through Friday. If you selected this week to have your order shipped, you should receive a tracking number by Friday evening that week.

If you have questions or concerns about the shipment of your order, feel free to reach out to us at [email protected]. All orders are covered by our 45 day guarantee if issues do arise.

Shipping Methods Used

Ground shipments and “flat-rate” shipments are typically shipped with UPS Ground for 2-6 business days in transit. Orders marked for “Expedited Shipping” are sent with FedEx Overnight service for transit times of only 1-2 business days.
InstantHedge, MiniHedgeXL, & Specimens are freight shipped, either with a carrier like FedEx Freight or a third-party freight broker with a refrigerated semi truck. This shipping cost is included in the price of the InstantHedge & MiniHedgeXL, but if your order contains a specimen, feel free to reach out to us to receive a shipping quote.

Free ground shipping is available on orders $99.99+ that do not contain Specimens, InstantHedges, and MiniHedgeXLs. It is based on the order total before shipping costs and taxes are applied.

Please ensure that your shipping address and ship date selection are accurate when submitting your order so that you can be present for the package’s delivery. We cannot ship to PO Boxes. We are not responsible for incorrect addresses entered or redirecting the package to an alternative address.

If the address change is needed one week prior to the orders shipment or while enroute, we will require a 25% restocking fee (based on overall order total) that will be paid by the next business day. If the address must be changed while the package is already enroute, we will pass along the carrier’s change fee of $60 as well.

How Plants Are Packaged

We have been shipping plants across the U.S. for almost 10 years! Shipping methods are utilized to ensure the safety of the plant while utilizing sustainable products whenever we are able. Plants are reinforced with bamboo stakes for stability and are packaged in untreated cardboard. To further guarantee the plants are not stressed during transit, air holes are provided in the boxes.

Non recyclable products such as Styrofoam or packing peanuts are not used in packaging of our plants. Shipped materials are easy to handle and recycle or dispose of.

Schedule By Location

Northwest – Although it is best to ship while plants are dormant, we do ship year-round using regular ground and overnight shipping methods.

Midwest and Northeast – Ideal shipping times are mid-September through November, but we can also able to ship at other times of the year at customers’ discretion. If we notice that plants are tender and would not transport well, we may contact you and recommend an alternative ship date. Although temperatures may be warm enough in your area, be mindful that your order may pass through areas with much colder temperatures and could damage items shipped early in the growing season (February through April).

South – Ideal shipping times are October through January, but we can also able to ship at other times of the year at customers’ discretion. If we notice that plants are tender and would not transport well, we may contact you and recommend an alternative ship date. Although temperatures may be warm enough in your area, be mindful that your order may pass through areas with much colder temperatures and could damage items shipped early in the growing season (February through April).

All SPECIMEN plants must be shipped on a truck palletized or floor-loaded on a large semi. The cost for shipping specimens is lowest if we can ship multiple specimens to a single address on pallets. We can ship to most East Coast, Midwest, and Southern destinations for $600-$1200 per pallet. Approximately four #25 containers can fit on a pallet, or fewer if larger containers are purchased. The best way to purchase a specimen is to email us for a shipping estimate prior to purchasing. Unfortunately our online ordering system does not allow us to accurately quote shipping for specimen sizes (#15 and larger).

Plants, Pots and Care

Planting and Care – On Arrival

Keep your package out of the sun. If the box sits on your porch in the sun for several hours, it could negatively affect the quality of your plants!

Unpack immediately upon arrival, remove packing materials and plastic bags from around the pots.

Generally we recommend planting dormant plants immediately (within 1 or 2 days) either into the ground, or a larger container.

It is best to wait until cooler weather to plant items received during the growing season.

Inspect all plants for damage and report any damage to us immediately. Email with photos to [email protected]

Planting Instructions

Japanese maples – most varieties will grow best in partial shade. Variegated and tender varieties will burn in afternoon sun. All plant descriptions show Sun/Shade information.

Conifers – most varieties will perform best in full sun, though many yellow/golden conifers prefer part shade. Miniature varieties of fir and spruce also benefit from afternoon shade especially in more southerly locations. All plant descriptions show Sun/Shade information.

Plant in well – drained soil. Maples have very shallow root systems and will not perform well with poor drainage or when planted too deep.

Slightly acidic pH is ideal (a pH around 6.0 is ideal).

If planting in a container, use a bark-based soil mix, or something very well-draining and rich in organic matter.

For a well – prepared site, we recommend digging a hole slightly wider and just as deep as the container. Place the tree in the hole and carefully fill the hole with removed soil, pressing it firmly into the hole and making sure there are no air pockets which can dry the root ball out. The top of the closest to surface root should be flush with the soil level.

Plant Care

Watering
A consistent and frequent watering schedule should be kept until the tree is established in your garden, especially when planting in spring. We recommend watering 2-3 times per week during dry or warm periods. However, be careful not to overwater! Conifers especially are very susceptible to root rot when planted in spring and grown in saturated soil.

Fertilizer
Conifer Kingdom offers a special fertilizer blend for conifers as well as a different formula for maples. We do not recommend using the same fertilizer on maples and conifers both. Three different sizes of bags are available for purchase:
Purchase Conifer Fertilizer
Purchase Maple Fertilizer

Mulching
We recommend mulching established landscape trees. Do not let the mulch touch any portion of the trunk! Mulch can reduce the soil drying out between watering. You must fully saturate the mulch and the soil surrounding the tree. If you water only enough to moisten the mulch, the soil below will still stay dry!

Staking
If a tree is loosely sitting in the ground after planting, we recommend staking the plant with bamboo or wood. Secure the stake to the trunk of the tree (but allow room for the trunk to expand).

Pruning maples
It is best to prune Japanese maples in the late fall through early winter. Little pruning is necessary, though we recommend removing broken or dead branches.

Pruning conifers
When necessary prune pines (or candle prune) when they are pushing new growth to give the conifer a better opportunity to form new buds for next year. Spruce and fir pruning is best done when they are dormant, and firs particularly are not apt to produce buds on older wood so be careful not to prune them back too far! We only recommend pruning conifers if they are growing too quickly for your space, or if you are trying to modify their form.

Dealing with Snow
Heavy and wet snow can disfigure trees and crack branches. Remove wet and heavy snow from susceptible trees. During freezing periods, the branches are more brittle so be especially careful when removing snow.

Plants and Pots Sizes

Sometimes it is hard to know what to expect when purchasing online, but we remove the guess-work by giving detailed size information about each available option. Sizes of plants are denoted with the container size followed by the dimensions of the plant which is updated every year in the month of August following the current year’s growth to ensure accuracy. For example, a plant offered as #3, 24-30″ means a #3 (approximately 3 gallon) container with a 24-30″ tall/wide plant.

For more details on our container sizes and what they mean for your plants,
Learn More about our Container Sizes.

Tree Pot

Tree Height: <6-10"

Container Size: 7"X2.5"

#1

Tree Height: 3-24"

Container Size: ~1 gallon

#2

Tree Height: 5-24"

Container Size: ~2 gallons

#3

Tree Height: 8-48"

Container Size: ~3 gallons

#5

Tree Height: 12-54"

Container Size: ~5 gallons

#7

Tree Height: 17-54"

Container Size: ~7 gallons

Jr. Specimen

Tree Height: 24"-5'

Container Size: ~10 gallons

Specimen

Tree Height: < 6'

Container Size: > 10 gallons

MiniHedge

Tree Height: 18-24"

Container Size: 32" long

MiniHedgeXL

Tree Height: 2-3'

Container Size: 35" long