Disclaimer: I ONLY endorse nursery companies that I have actually purchased from – and that I have purchased from often enough that I am satisfied with their quality. I am not associated with any garden supply or nursery in ANY way, including Jung, and this post presents my unbiased opinion. This review rates my experiences with Jung, not any promises about how your experience will be.
This post is my review of J.W. Jung Seed Company (catalog arrives as “Jung Seeds & Plants” and the online store is located at jungseed.com). I have ordered regularly from Jung for over a decade, and I’ve purchased a large variety of plants, including trees, vines, and other soft-fruit plants. Spoiler alert? I’m very happy with the company. This review shares why.
How Extensive is Jung’s Fruit Tree & Plant Selection?
Jung Seeds & Plants has a broad scope, and includes vegetable seeds, fruit trees & plants, flowers, and other shrubs, trees, and landscape plants. However, they do carry a reasonably robust variety of fruit trees and plants, primarily focusing on temperate-zone fruits rather than subtropical fruits (although they do sell the Meyer lemon and a lime tree).
Jung’s fruit trees & plant selection is solid. They don’t have an enormous selection of any one plant, but they have a respectable variety for most of the common fruits.
- Example: As of July 2023, they offered 24 different apples cultivars, in tree types including standard, semi-dwarf, dwarf, and columnar. They offered 14 types of blueberries, which includes a few dwarfing varieties and a two-crop-per-season bush.
For the less-common or less-popular fruit types, the selection is more limited.
- Examples: As of July 2023, they offered one type of quince tree; one type of lingonberry; two types of apricots; and four gooseberries.
Personally, I don’t mind having a limited choice for some of these less-common fruits. (You know how hard it is to find a quince at all, much less find multiple varieties?) I’m very happy with the variety they have – always excited for more, of course, but as far as I’m concerned, they have a great selection and I don’t anticipate running out of experiments to try any time soon!
Notably, Jung offers some plants I haven’t seen for sale in more than a handful of other places. These oddities include the goumi, the seaberry, and persimmon, and mountain ash. (Names collected as of July 2023; selection may of course change over time.)
In terms of nut trees, there is a somewhat limited selection if you live in zone 4. However, there’s some interesting zone 5 types that I am interested in trying to baby through my zone 4 winter*, including zone 5 hardy pecans and zone 5 Ukranian almonds.
*Note: I strongly feel that if you purchase a tree or plant note rated for your zone, you shouldn’t ever request a refund if it doesn’t survive. I don’t even request a refund if the tree fails to break dormancy. So don’t take my experimentation as guarantee of survival!
How Does Jung Score in Plant Quality, Honesty & Reliability?
The outstanding quality of Jung’s plants makes them my #1 absolute favorite online nursery. You wouldn’t believe the size of the trees they send me. I’ve purchased multiple trees over the years that have arrived with a diameter literally as big around as my giant shovel handle.
Similarly, the shrubs and vines and other fruiting plants I’ve purchased typically arrive with strong root systems. All bare-root items are packed with damp filler material around the roots, and trees arrive twine-tied to sturdy bamboo poles to protect from damage. Boxes are always the correct size for the plants included, and all included plants are tied together to minimize breakage or other damage.
If you purchase a small fruiting plant, the plant inside the shipping box is further encased in a plastic two-compartment container (one end for the pot & roots, and the upper end encasing the foliage to minimize chances of crushing). It’s a step above and beyond what many other companies provide in terms of shipment protection. *Photo below.
Other than the occasional plant that doesn’t wake from dormancy (which they have always refunded without question), I have only ever been unhappy with one item that I received from Jung. This was a small berry plant that was mailed as a potted plant, but the actual roots had never ventured outside the original “plug.” However, I consider this a relatively minor issue. It happens.
Additionally, you should be aware that you will need to prune the trees you purchase, as they typically don’t arrive pre-pruned (or at least mine haven’t). Get a book on pruning or take a course, and learn how to shape a young tree. You need to learn anyway, if you want to grow your own fruit, so you might as well start in year one as soon as you put that bare-root tree in the ground.
Note that most fruit trees and plants I’ve purchased from Jung have been sold as bare-root trees, although they do offer potted varieties here and there.
I have included two example pictures of the bare-root purchases I’ve made from Jung. (I have photos dating back over ten years; these just give examples. If anyone wants an example of a specific plant, let me know and I can search through archives to see what I have and how old the photo is.)
Overall, I rate their quality and plant descriptions very highly.
How is Jung’s Customer Service?
I have contacted Jung’s customer service several times over the years. I always opt for email, so I can’t vouch for any phone or in-person service. However, their email service is excellent.
When requesting a refund for a plant that never broke dormancy, the customer service representative asked for pictures, gave suggestions based on the content of the photos, and provided a gift certificate for a plant replacement – with advice on how to ensure the replacement plant survived. All communication was very professional, polite, knowledgeable and extremely helpful.
Unlike the “vibes” from some other companies’ customer service centers, the interaction felt like a friendly learning experience and I didn’t feel like I was being brushed off. I would rate their service as excellent.
How Does Jung Seed’s Pricing Compare with Other Nurseries?
In general, I find Jung’s prices to be very reasonable. There are certain plants you can find cheaper at other online nurseries, so I do shop around every spring before deciding which plants to purchase from which company. However, in general, I find Jung very competitive, especially when it comes to their fruit trees.
Smaller fruit plants like strawberries and other soft fruits are usually reasonably priced, but if price is the primary concern, you will probably find them available for cheaper elsewhere. (Will the quality be the same? Often not. Depends on the nursery.)
If you are looking for ways to reduce your price, I would recommend checking for early-season discounts. Sales and promotions are of course subject to change, but in the earliest months of the year, I typically see Jung offer a free-shipping promotion for orders that meet a certain price threshold.
Later in the spring, as inventories dwindle down, I usually watch for clearance sales. The varieties on sale are of course a potluck selection – who knows which varieties will be most popular from year to year? – but if you’re lucky, you will find some of your wish-list made it into the surplus pile. You can often get steep price discounts towards April and May (I’m ballparking, so keep an eye out for yourself to make sure you don’t miss the boat).
Other Notes on Purchasing from Jung:
There are many factors that determine the quality of a nursery. For me, these factors include the list above – selection, quality, service and pricing. For Jung, the consistency in each of these areas for over a decade of ordering adds an additional factor: trust. I trust Jung. They’ve been reliable and reasonable for dozens of plants that I’ve purchased over many years, and the length of that customer-company relationship is a big deal to me.
Could the company change enough to fall off my top-five list? Of course. Anything is possible. But based on its outstanding track record to date, I’m not worried about the company’s decline happening any time soon.
At the end of the day, I want to spend my money on a tree that will survive and thrive and produce. Jung has come through for me, and I highly recommend the company.
This post was originally published in 2023. The post may have been since updated. Photos referencing plants ordered within XX years reference date from the ORIGINAL publish of this article in 2023.