Frequently Asked Questions
Online Ordering
If you have a question about a specific item in our store, please email us at questions@gertens.com and we will direct your inquiry to the correct department and will respond promptly.
On the product page that of the item you want to buy, select the quantity you want and click on the "Add to Cart" button. Select the item or plant, select plant size and quantity, then “Add to Cart”. Please note that some items require you to customize them prior to allowing you to add them to your cart. Customizations include, container size, delivery customizations, and more.
Your online shopping cart will be located in the top right corner of your screen, next to the web search bar. If you have any trouble checking out, please contact us at questions@gertens.com and we will help troubleshoot the issue.
Orders shipped via FedEx take an average 3-5 business days to arrive at your door. Local deliveries for plants, mulch, rock, and grills will vary depending on the time of year but will typically arrive within one week of the order. Certain large trees may take up to 2 weeks to schedule a delivery based on high demand.
Shipping cost is dependent on many factors such as size, weight and shipping destination. Once you complete your cart and fill out your shipping information you will receive a shipping cost for each shipping type offered.
Some products, by nature, are not suitable for shipping such as live plants, fragile items, oversized items, and those that the shipping cost would be prohibitive.
Some plants and items are removed from our website when they sell out or become temporarily unavailable. Some plants or items may also be listed under a different name or in a category you haven’t found yet. You can try using our Advanced Search for harder to find items. If you still can’t find the item you are looking for, Contact Us at questions@gertens.com and we will help track it down for you.
Yes, you can order plants online. They are available for local delivery or curbside pickup.
You can pay for an online order with a credit card, Gertens gift card, Gertens e-gift card, or a Gertens plant card.
When placing an order online you will need to provide your name, billing/shipping address, phone number, email and payment information.
Delivery & Curbside Pickup
No, you do not need to be home for deliveries, except for orders that contain tender indoor plants, especially in the winter. This includes poinsettias, houseplants, and other plants that could be sensitive to cold weather.
Yes, you can select curbside pick-up as your delivery method at checkout when you place an order online. You will then receive an email when your order is ready to be picked up.
Please note that not all items are available for curbside pick-up. If you do not see curbside pick-up as a delivery option at check-out, it means at least one of the items in your cart is unavailable for curbside pick-up.
Gertens does deliver or ship most products. If a product is not available for curbside pick-up, it is either because availability for that product is low, it may be housed at an offsite warehouse, or it may not be able to be picked up in most vehicles due to size or weight.
Most deliveries for plants & hardscapes are scheduled for the next business day (this timeline may vary seasonally). You will receive an email with the delivery date for your order shortly after placing the order.
We generally only deliver to the seven-county metro (Anoka, Carver, Dakota, Hennepin, Ramsey, Scott and Washington counties). Please email delivery@gertens.com to request a delivery outside of that area.
Curbside pick-up is available from when the store opens until one hour before the store closing time listed for the current store hours.
During busier seasons orders can be picked up from our curbside tent at south end of our parking lot. On occasion curbside pick-up may be located at the front entrance of the Garden Center. You will receive an email when your order is ready to be picked up along with the location of curbside pick-up. Also, look for the vertical flags as you arrive indicating the location of curbside pick-up and pull into one of the designated parking spots.
Curbside orders follow the same refund/return policies as a store purchase. Gertens can also exchange product as necessary. If you have additional questions about these policies, or need to make a change to your order, please email delivery@gertens.com.
If you have questions about your Gertens delivery, please feel free to call 651-239-1300 for status/order updates or email delivery@gertens.com.
The Gertens drivers will give the customer a call when leaving the Garden Center, located in Inver Grove Heights, and upon arrival to the delivery destination.
Gift Cards & E-Gift Cards
You can have your gift card balance checked by either staff in our store or by emailing questions@gertens.com with the number on the back of the gift card.
You can purchase Gertens e-gift cards at: https://www.gertens.com/virtual-gift-card.html
Please contact the Gertens store or email questions@gertens.com. We will gather additional information to try to locate the gift card number.
You may print out the email containing the gift card and bring it to the store, or the cashier can scan the bar code from the email on your phone.
When ordering please enter your email so you receive the order confirmation and invoice. When you receive the gift card email (third email) you can forward it to the recipient of your choice.
The e-gift card is sent within an hour to the email provided on the order (third email).
Gertens gift cards may be used for plants, merchandise and services. Gertens Plant Cards purchased through Gertens fundraisers can only be used on living, growing plant material and Christmas greenery.
The great thing about Gertens gift cards is that they never expire!
Gertens gift cards can be used in-store or online at Gertens.com.
If your e-gift card does not arrive within an hour, please email questions@gertens.com and we will resend the gift card email.
Plants
Gertens carries annuals, perennials, shrubs, trees, water plants, house plants, edibles, cacti/succulents, seasonal blooming holiday plants and a wide variety of bulbs and seeds!
Annuals are plants that complete their life cycle in one growing season (spring – fall/frost).
Perennials are plants that live for more than two growing seasons. They die back in winter and re-emerge in spring.
Hardiness is the capacity of a cultivated plant to withstand adverse conditions, usually its tolerance of low temperature. Plants are given a hardiness rating by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 11 zones based on the coldest or warmest temperature in that zone. The southern part of Minnesota is in zone 4 and the northern part is in zone 3.
Tropical plants are usually enjoyed for the summer and then discarded or brought indoors for the winter. Some tropicals go dormant in winter and can be kept in a dark cool place. They do need to be watered infrequently to keep their roots moist. Other tropicals need to be kept in a sunny window and may need grow lights and added humidity.
Attracting hummingbirds, butterflies and bees to your garden is best done with flowering plants, usually native perennials and grasses. Grasses can provide habitat, while flowering natives provide nectar. There are also a variety of annuals and tropical plants that flower.
Spider mites are common on house plants in our warm dry homes but are easily controlled with diluted rubbing alcohol or dish soup sprayed on the infected plant. Pyrethrin is an organic insecticide that will kill most insects on houseplants. The most efficient way is to treat the soil where the eggs are.
Yes! Apply neem oil early in the morning or at night when beneficial insects are dormant. Keep in mind that it does take time for neem oil to work and you may need to reapply. Follow the directions on the bottle. Neem oil does have a strong smell so be mindful of that.
Plants growing in pots should be repotted when the roots start growing out of the drain holes. Typically, the new pot should be just one size larger than the pot it’s been growing in. Never use garden soil in a pot. Always use a soilless container mix.
If you have a southern facing window with all day sun, you may grow seedlings in a windowsill. Be sure to rotate the seedlings frequently to ensure the plants do not lean heavily towards the sun. For more even results, use a grow light, positioned roughly 4” above the topmost leaves of the seedlings.
Trees
We will start displaying our live cut trees by the second week of November, weather permitting. The artificial trees will be found inside our store. We will begin displaying our lighted permanent trees at the end of October.
Both apple and cherry have shown to be the most successful for producing fruit in Minnesota.
Tipped on its side and put inside a vehicle, in the bed of a pickup, or on a trailer. Gertens employees can help in wrapping the pot so that you don’t lose any dirt while transporting.
Maples and Elm trees are fast growing, for the most part. There are some varieties within those families that are faster than others. Aspen, Siouxland Poplar and Honeylocust are a few additional options.
We typically recommend Arborvitaes for forming privacy barriers, but we have a wide variety of options. Ultimately, it's going to come down to the site conditions, space available, and preference of appearance.
It depends on the variety of tree, and the age of the tree. Late winter is a great time to do pruning—except with Maples and Birches as their saps are flowing at that time. Stop in to Gertens and visit with our tree staff for winter care tips on specific trees, our experts are here to help!
Fruit trees are suppose to ripen at certain times of the year (this info can be found in our retail catalog). By monitoring the fruit itself and the time of year, it can be determined when any one fruit or whole fruit tree is ready for picking.
It depends on what type of fruit it is, what variety within that family it is, and the site conditions. Your tree may produce fruit the first year, but not the next two, it can be random while they are still young. Within 3-4 years you should start seeing consistent fruiting.
When planting a new tree, you will want to dig a hole no deeper than the pot the tree is in, and about twice as wide. Place the tree in its container either inside of, or next to the hole. Free the root ball from the container (the container may need...
Shrubs
Shrubs, like trees, can be planted anytime spring through fall. We recommend avoiding planting in August (due to heat), but it can still be done successfully with an adjustment to watering.
Barberry, Boxwood, Hydrangea, Potentilla, Spirea, and Arrowwood Viburnum are a few options of shrubs that are deer resistant.
There are a ton! Dogwood, lilac, forsythia and willows to name a few. Stop in to Gertens and speak with our nursery staff for more suggestions.
Winterberry, ‘Cranberry’ Cotoneaster, ‘Raspberry Lemonade’ Ninebark, Sumac, Snowberry, ‘Mohican’ Viburnum, and any of the Cranberry bushes will produce beautiful red berries.
The options for colorful shrubs are endless! It all depends on your specific site conditions such as sunlight, soil conditions, etc. From there it is really a personal preference on coloration, timing of bloom, and overall size of the plant.
Arborvitaes are typically what we recommend for screening. However, if looking for a deciduous option there are many. Again, it will depend on site conditions and desired size/appearance of the plant. Viburnums, dogwoods and lilacs are good options.
If they were purchased from Gertens and planted this season, do not fertilize. There is a slow-release fertilizer in all the containers Gertens sells that is good for the season. After the first year, if you desire to fertilize your shrubs, ...
Gertens has about 44 different families of shrubs, and we carry multiple varieties within each of those families. Gertens carries just over 250 deciduous shrubs.
Some of our evergreen shrubs may require winter protection depending on where they’re planted in your landscape. Talk to a Gertens expert when purchasing your shrubs. You can also send an email to questions@gertens.com if you’re unsure of a shrub in your current landscape.
Lawn Care
Collecting yard clippings in the fall will reduce the incidence of snow mold in the spring. Otherwise, you generally want to mulch to return nutrients to the soil and keep it cooler.
Gertens does collect lawn clippings, otherwise many people do compost them with leaves in the fall in a dedicated compost pile.
Generally, you want to aim to water your lawn deeply and infrequently. Once a week for an hour or so is better than every other day for half an hour.
If your lawn has dog damage, put down some gypsum and soak it all through for at least 6 hours till saturation point. After that you can rake away the dead grass and reseed as normal.
There are many correct ways to Aerate, the least invasive way is biological aeration with C20. You can also do a mechanical core aeration, lay down a layer of compost and gypsum, water all the plugs in and reseed. The timing is far more critical, the...
When discussing weeds, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. A thick lawn that is watered deeply and infrequently, cut to 3” high and not mechanically disturbed in the spring when most weed seeds are germinating will have less weeds. Putting...
Hand pulling or using an iron based natural broadleaf weed killer are safe ways to weed.
Liquid applications are easier to burn with and generally not recommended, as it will be 100% synthetic. With granular applications you have your choice of going for all slow release and non-burning, or a mixture of fast and slow release. The slower release in the fertilizer formulation, the harder it will be to burn with.
Full sun is six or more hours of direct sunlight, part sun is four to six hours of sunlight including some afternoon sun, part shade is four to six hours of sun before midday, full shade is less than four hours of sun.
Grass Seed
Annual Ryegrass – 1 Week Germination but only lasts one year. Used to hold soils while longer germinating types come up. Quickly filling in for gatherings.
Generally, grass seed will not go bad as long as it is kept in a dry location. Year over year, you may lose a few percentage points in germination, but it is relatively low. Sooner is always better, but the leftovers will be good for some time.
It is safe for animals and children, however, you want to keep them off it otherwise if the seedlings do come up and they are trampled, they may not survive. Roping or fencing off the area is beneficial until the seed is established.
When determining how much grass seed you will need, you must determine your square footage by measuring length multiplied by width.
Ideal time to plant grass seed is late August, early September. During these times you avoid the heat of the summer, and the seed has time to germinate and establish before the winter months. Grass seed can be planted in spring, you will just need more water throughout the summer to make sure the heat and dry conditions don’t harm the new seedlings.
Roughing up the soil surface and adding a seeding soil can help establish the grass seed. Overtime, applications of gypsum to help break up the soil and aerating the yard are the two most beneficial ways to break up the hard dirt.
A fertilizer lawn spreader is the easiest and most efficient to broadcast grass seed. Throwing by hand is not accurate for larger areas. Set the spreader to a very light setting as grass seed will flow faster than fertilizer. Go over the area multiple times in order to ensure proper coverage.
Watering requirements for new grass seed truly depend on weather conditions. More water is required during hot and dry times, less water when cool. During hot times, 2-3x per day at only about 10-minute watering intervals. You want the soil to be moist, not wet and water running which will wash the seeds.
Yes, you can water grass seed too much to where it will not germinate. You can also wash the seed away if water starts running through the yard. Also, overwatering can create mold/fungus if seed sits overnight wet.
Store grass seed in the cotton or poly woven bags they are sold in. These bags allow the seeds to breathe and not overheat. However, these are not waterproof, so they need to be kept in a dry spot. Cooler spot is always better as well, keeping in a hot shed will reduce germination further.
Seed Starting
Starting times will vary depending on the vegetable you are growing. Each seed packet will have specific sowing instructions for that type of vegetable. Read your seed packet carefully to get the best sowing time!
The process of bringing seeds outside is called hardening off. Hardening off is generally done sometime after the seedling has two full sets of normal leaves. In Minnesota, you want to begin hardening off seedlings in late April/early May.
If you have a southern facing window with all day sun, you may grow seedlings in a windowsill. Be sure to rotate the seedlings frequently to ensure the plants do not lean heavily towards the sun. For more even results, use a grow light, positioned roughly 4” above the topmost leaves of the seedlings.
We recommend using either high intensity T5 fluorescent bulbs, or LED grow lights. Both setups will produce excellent results. T5s are the typical grow light, are economical and come in frequencies that are helpful for plant development. LED technology...
Grow lights should be kept roughly 4-5” above the top of seedling leaves. If you are using very powerful LEDs, you could even keep them 8-10” away.
Grow lights should be used to mimic a natural sunlight cycle for plants. We recommend using them 12 hours a day, from roughly 7am to 7pm.
A rough estimate for the last frost date here in zone 4b is the first week of May. This is not exact, as Minnesota weather can be variable, but it does help for plantings.
A variety of seedling trays exist for seed starting. If you are starting smaller seeds, a simple peat cell tray works great. However, the larger the seed, the larger the initial pot should be. If you are starting larger seeds indoors such as: sunflowers...
Do not start any type of fertilizer regime for young seedlings until they have at least two full sets of regular leaves. Start with a root stimulator, then after a month you may move on to a gentle, weak (half strength) water-based fertilizer. Remember...
Let the roots tell you when to transplant. When you begin to see the seedling’s root growing out of the bottom of their current pot, it is time to transplant up to something larger. We recommend using a 4” nursery pot to transplant most seedlings. In...