Fannin Tree Farm — Local services in Frisco

Would give -4 stars if I could. Bad quality Hollys are sold to the public. Literally all 6 of out 7 have died. Last October I purchased 5 Nellie Stevens Hollies and 3 vitex trees for my clients who had just moved to the area from Southern California in search of a more relaxed environment to enjoy their retirement. Given that the landscaping and trees are different here than the are in California, they immediately fell in love with the hollies and vitex.  I chose to plant these trees myself, as they did not want to have to wait for the tree farm to come plant them themselves, so they hired me to do it.  I am a master gardner and have planted many trees on my own.  Proper care was taken when planting these trees (hole dug 2x the side of the pots; no soil amendments, just grated the native soil so not to shock the roots). Everything was done that would have been done had the tree farm planted them.  No mulch or dirt added around the base of the trees, all the proper steps were taken.

Up until August, everything was great.  A couple of the hollies struggled coming out of the dry winter we had, but they were recovered by April and looked great throughout the spring and summer.  The trees are watered on a schedule via their sprinkler system.  Yet they all started to die when August arrived.

I contacted the tree farm about this and was told (coldly) that they were not going to do anything and to e mail the owner to see if she would do something. I e-mailed the owner. They did not respond.  That made me feel as if the concerns of their customers are of no importance to them after the sale is made.

We are so disappointed that we just basically threw away thousands of dollars, only to have dead hollies that now must be cut down and removed. Moreover, I, the landscaper, am now liable for the trees. Therefore, replacing them is going to be a MAJOR hit to my new business.

I would just caution anyone looking to buy trees here. They are priced very high and there are cheaper tree farms out there like Treeland Nursery.  I regret more than anything not using Treeland Nursery and I have learned my lesson after all this.  If you choose to use Fannin, MAKE SURE you have them plant the trees, even if you are more than capable of doing it yourself.  They operate like an insurance company who seeks to any possible reason to avoid paying out a claim.  Take pictures of your trees each month and keep accurate records.  Remember this place is a business with ownership that is 100% focused on maximizing profit above all else.  Customer service here is GREAT before and during your tree purchase.  But once you leave the lot with them, it becomes nonexistent.  Making profit is central to all businesses.  But so is customer service, and these two things need to be balanced out.

I am so disappointed about this whole ordeal because I really liked the associates who helped me during my purchases.  I was thrilled to have found a tree supplier that was so close to where I lived and planned on using them many more times in the future.  Moreover, I am especially disappointed by the lack of response to my e mail...

My wife and I have been considering adding a tree to the yard, so we decided to go to Fannin Tree Farm yesterday as I am a P1 and have heard how good they are from The Ticket. Since we were considering adding anything to our home or yard I did some research as I typically do to make sure I at least 1/2 way knew what I wanted. Well upon arrival we walked into the office and from the back we heard you can come on back, when we got to the lady who asked us to come back, she did not stand and greet us, ask us our names or anything, it was just what can I help you with. I informed her that I wanted to see about adding a tree to our yard on the side of our house with a non invasive root system, her first response was all trees have invasive roots, so I showed her a picture of what I wanted from my research and she stated that is a Chinese Pistache tree. Ok I was thinking of that or a Maple tree. She told me about root systems of trees, particularly the oak tree, of which I currently have 5 of in my yard, and how the roots typically grow across the ground very shallow. I stated to her I understood that as I am going to have some sod laid in my back yard so I am going to have to cut some roots out to have this done. She proceeded to tell me how I was going to kill the tree and she is a certified arborist and was just trying to save it. So I circled back to my pistachio tree and wa told I would have foundation issues if I planted it to closely to my home, well then why does it say they have a non invasive root system that grows down and are typically planted next to driveways and sidewalks? It isn’t going to bust up the concrete. At this point me and my wife felt like she didn’t want us there, which is a shame as I would have purchased tree yesterday had she not been so rude. Point of advise Barbara Villarreal, instead of telling customers about your certified arborist paperwork, how about you get certified in Customer Service as you clearly have none or at least didn’t yesterday. You were very rude, condescending and pretentious to say the least. I will NEVER RETURN to this place regardless of what they have to offer or how well touted they are by the ticket.

Update: Claire reached out to me saying it was a miscommunication and they would need to come do a site visit to see exactly what I need. NO THANK YOU Claire, you reaching out will not solve this as I felt very...

After some emails back and forth this spring, and telephone calls over the past two years, along with two work orders, one within a week of planting (Read - Warranty Claim,) and another 3 months after this company planted a multi-thousand dollar large Autumn Blaze Maple tree in my front yard on nearly the hottest day of 2022, at over 104 degrees, in a week where it reached 109 three days in a row after planting, when the tree wasn't to be planted until after summer was over when the temperatures cooled off in September, this company basically gave us advice, in essence, kicking the can down the road of time until the warranty ran out. They did not suggest to replace the tree, they told us despite the leaves falling off, and the tree being under tremendous stress, that it would bounce back. Just wait and see. Well we waited, and see that it is "dead," their own words.

The tree was planted with half of it's canopy wilted near the end of a work day for the crew that drove around with it not even covered. It never recovered. It struggled. It had irrigation at it's base, we followed the Fannin instructions to the letter, going out of our way to buy all the recommended chemicals.

I can honestly say that I don't much enjoy leaving reviews online for small businesses like this, but buyer beware.

If you spend a few thousand dollars with this company, expecting a healthy tree to be planted by the experts, and with a warranty, which is why you would pay so much for a tree in the first place, and then not to be made whole when their tree fails, you would be disappointed too.

To be fair, across a few emails this spring they offered me 20% off new merchandise, then 35%, and then graciously, "I spoke to management and they would be happy to extend a discount at 50% off a tree purchase. You are welcome to come in this weekend and get it tax free too."

I replied to that email on May 24th, and heard nothing back.

This is a fair, and honest review of this business, and their practices from the viewpoint of my experience with them. Do with this information...