Shipping policy
Garden Goods Direct guarantees that all orders are carefully picked and packaged to optimize the safe delivery of plant products to your location. Our orders are shipped via FedEx Ground and FedEx Express Saver.
CONDITION OF SALE
Orders with a shippable subtotal equal to or exceeding $129 after all coupons have been applied and before taxes will not incur a ground shipping charge, with the following exceptions:
- Oversized items
- Subtotal excludes non-shippable items (gift cards, shipping protection, and warranty)
All orders under $129 are subject to a FedEx carrier-calculated rate shipping charge. Once the checkout process is completed, your credit card is charged immediately, and your order is taken from inventory and processed for shipping. All sales are final.
The customer agrees that their order will be delivered without a signature. FedEx will leave the package(s) unsupervised unless other arrangements are made by the customer directly with FedEx. We do not ship to P.O. boxes.
Eligible Shipping States
- Alabama*
- Arkansas*
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- Florida
- Georgia
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- Mississippi*
- Missouri
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New York
- North Carolina
- Ohio
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- Tennessee
- Texas*
- Vermont
- Virginia
- Washington, District of Columbia
- West Virginia
- Minnesota
- Wisconsin
SHIPPING PROTECTION
We now offer the purchase of shipping protection to protect your order in the case of lost or damaged packages! Consider adding shipping protection to your order to instill peace of mind in the unlikely event of issues during shipment.
SHIPPING SERVICE
All of our orders are shipped via FedEx Ground or FedEx Express Saver. FedEx Ground will typically deliver within 1 to 5 business days in most parts of the country. Orders with FedEx Express Saver guarantee three business day shipping. FedEx Express Saver orders are shipped Monday and Tuesday to ensure orders arrive timely, as FedEx Express Saver does not ship on weekends. Due to the fragile nature of annuals/houseplants, we require all houseplant orders to ship 3-Day FedEx Express Saver. For customers who qualify for Free Ground Shipping and select 3-Day FedEx Express Saver, the difference between 3-Day FedEx Express Saver and FedEx Ground will be charged. Orders that contain both annuals/houseplants and outdoor plants will be split, having the annuals/houseplants ship 3-Day Express Saver, and the remaining outdoor plants will ship according to the specified shipping method (Ground or 3-Day Express Saver). We strive to process your order on in-stock items within 3 to 5 business days.
However, we may opt to delay shipment on some plant orders placed on Thursday, Friday, or weekends until the following week to minimize the time your products will be in a box and/or warehouse. The health and well-being of your plants is our first and foremost concern. You will be notified via email if we opt to delay the shipment of your order due to weather conditions or potential delays in transit.
REQUEST DELAY IN SHIPPING
If you want to delay your shipment, please leave a note for our customer service team at the checkout. Requests must be received at the time of order placement.
SHIPPING DELAY DUE TO QUALITY
Regarding quality issues with our plant material, which creates a backorder, you will be notified via email and offered possible substitutions. If no substitutes are acceptable, we will let you know the anticipated shipping date of your items or offer you a refund for your back-ordered items.
PHYTOSANITARY SHIPMENTS
Garden Goods Direct is proud to be the first online Garden Center in Maryland to be granted a Phytosanitary Shipping Agreement with Category 1 and 2 States. Many states have specific regulations and limitations regarding which species of plants they will receive across state borders. Due to Agricultural restrictions, all plant material must be treated and inspected by our state Agricultural Inspectors before shipping.
Phytosanitary rules govern a nursery’s ability to ship plants into these states. The following states have declared themselves to be Phytosanitary, which in layman’s terms means that "all plant material entering the state must be certified free from pests and disease," including Japanese Beetles, Burrowing and Reniform Nematodes, Imported Fire Ants, and Lethal Yellowing of Palms. The Maryland Department of Agriculture inspects our nursery for cleanliness and compliance with the requirements.
The following states have issued requirements and regulations regarding plant material:
- Alabama: No restricted Plant Material
- Arkansas: No Restricted Plant Material
- Florida: Citrus Plants
- Indiana: Barberry
- Mississippi: No restricted Plant Material
- Texas: Citrus Plants, Fishtail Palm, Coconut Palm, Pygmy Date Palm, Areca Palm, Lady Palm
Your shipment of plant material will be accompanied by a certificate issued by our state, which will be inspected at the point of entry into your state. This will allow the expedited movement of your shipment through the inspection point for your state. The plant material will not be subject to quarantines, which in the past has delayed or, in some cases, had the plant material rejected and destroyed.
So, what does all this mean to you, our customer?
This means you can rest assured that you are purchasing your plants from a certified nursery that is legally allowed to ship plants into your state. This should give you peace of mind that your plants have been inspected and deemed healthy and pest and disease-free. This has added many extra steps to everything we do to get your plants from our farm to your home. To us, it’s worth it.
You can review your state's requirements for this process by visiting the National Plant Boards.
At Garden Goods Direct, we believe in these laws and everything they represent. Under no circumstances will we break these rules. We have worked hard to obtain this certification and will not jeopardize this.
Note: These regulations are subject to change at the discretion of the state in question. We also reserve the right to limit plants we ship to specific states for various reasons. If your state is not currently listed on the above list, any plants can be shipped at this time.
DAMAGE DURING SHIPMENT
Before being placed in the box for shipment, every plant is carefully inspected and packaged to ensure that your plant can survive standard transit. However, impairments during shipment do happen. After opening the box, immediately email customer service if you have found your plant to have incurred some damage. Include your order number, photos of the plant, and packaging at delivery time. Customer service reserves the right to request further information and/or proof of damage.
Our customer service team will inspect the photos and decide whether the damage was due to Garden Goods Direct's improper packaging or the carrier's improper handling. If the product is found to be improperly packaged, Garden Goods Direct will resend the product, assuming all related costs. If damages appear to be caused by the carrier (FedEx), our team will file a claim on your behalf. Garden Goods Direct is not liable for any damaged, lost, or stolen packages incurred during shipment.
3-Day Shipping Highly Recommended
Due to the fragile nature of plants, we highly recommend that customers select the 3-day shipping option at checkout to ensure that plants will arrive in a reasonable amount of time. At this time, Garden Goods Direct cannot ensure the safe arrival of plants shipped via FedEx Ground and is not liable for the healthy arrival of plants that are not shipped using 3-day express.
Thank you for your understanding.
Note: All purchases completed on https://gardengoodsdirect.com are made in accordance with the shipping contract. This means that the risk of losing an item(s) and property rights associated with the item(s) are transferred to you (the purchaser) when we remit the item to the carrier.