Warranty & Refunds
At Prairie Hardy Nursery, we take great pride in growing and shipping healthy, true-to-its-name plant material. Every order is carefully inspected and packed to arrive safely at your door. Our trees and plants are grown and handled with the utmost care, and we want them to thrive for you.
Our Warranty
We offer a conditional warranty on our trees, shrubs, and vines. This means that if a plant fails to leaf out in its first growing season and all proper planting and care steps were followed, we may provide a replacement or credit at our discretion.
To qualify for warranty coverage, plants must be:
- Planted within 3 days of arrival following our Planting and Care Guide.
- Planted directly in the ground in a suitable site, we cannot warrant items that were potted up or held for planting later.
- Watered and maintained regularly, proper and consistent care is essential.
Plants that fails to leaf out may qualify for replacement or store credit if it has been planted correctly, promptly, and cared for properly. Trees that leaf out and later decline or die are not covered under warranty.
Please note: walnuts, grapes, raspberries & hazelnuts are naturally slow to wake up in spring. Please give them time, care, and patience. In cooler zones, they may take even longer. Please continue watering and caring for your plants regularly and do not assume a plant is dead.
Please email us promptly with any concerns - we are here to help you.
Warranty Timeline & Exceptions
Claims must be submitted by June 15th of the year following your purchase. If you have any concerns: please contact us promptly. We can often help you determine whether your plant is just slow to leaf out or if something’s wrong.
Warranty exceptions include, but are not limited to: weather extremes (cold snaps, drought, wind, flooding, etc.); wildlife or mechanical damage; improper care, maintenance, or improper planting technique.
We’re always happy to help you troubleshoot why something may not have survived, not all losses are covered, but we’ll help you learn from them.
How to File a Warranty Claim
If you have concerns about your plants, please email us promptly at hello@prairiehardy.ca. Early contact gives us the best chance to help you successfully.
Required information:
- Your name and order number.
- Clear photos showing:
-
- The entire plant.
- A close-up of the issue (lack of buds, dieback, damage, etc.).
- The plant tag or label, if still attached.
- A short description of: Planting date and site conditions.
- Care provided (watering frequency, mulching, etc.).
- Confirmation that planting followed our care instructions.
Response time: We’ll assess your claim and respond as soon as possible. We may request additional photos or information if needed to properly evaluate the claim.
Shipping & Arrival
If your shipment arrives with visible damage, breakage, or missing items, you must contact us within 24 hours of delivery with clear photos of both the packaging and contents. Claims reported outside this window are not eligible for coverage.
A tracking number notification is automatically emailed once your order has been packed and a shipping label has been created. Orders are often prepared several days — and sometimes up to one week — before their selected shipping date to help us manage seasonal shipping volumes efficiently. A label being created does not mean your package has already left our facility; packed orders are carefully stored in our cooling facility until their scheduled shipping date. Tracking updates may also take up to 24 hours to appear in Canada Post's system after the package has been accepted by the carrier.
Delivery Issues & Delays
If you notice any issue with your delivery — including a package that appears stuck, delayed, or marked as an exception by Canada Post — you must contact us within 24 hours of becoming aware of the problem. Do not wait to see if it resolves on its own. While delivery issues are extremely rare, we take them seriously: we will file a claim with Canada Post and monitor the situation on your behalf. Claims cannot be initiated without timely notice. Prairie Hardy cannot advocate for or compensate customers who fail to report delivery issues within this 24-hour window. Delays in reporting forfeit eligibility for any claim, credit, or replacement related to that shipment.
"Delivered" Packages Not Received
If your tracking shows a package as delivered but you have not received it, you must contact us within 24 hours of the delivery confirmation timestamp. We are not responsible for packages reported as undelivered more than 24 hours after carrier confirmation of delivery.
Prairie Hardy Nursery is not liable for packages that are lost, stolen, misplaced, delayed after delivery, exposed to weather, damaged after delivery, or not retrieved promptly once marked as delivered by Canada Post. Carrier confirmation of delivery constitutes proof of completed delivery and transfer of responsibility to the customer.
If you would like signature confirmation for added security, please request this at the time of ordering!
Customers are responsible for monitoring their tracking information and ensuring they are available to receive or promptly collect their package. If you do not see your tracking email, check your junk or spam folder. If you still cannot locate it, contact us immediately to confirm we have the correct email address on file.
All shipping and transit times provided by Prairie Hardy Nursery or Canada Post are estimates only and are not guaranteed. Once a package has been accepted by Canada Post, Prairie Hardy is not responsible for shipping delays, transit interruptions, carrier errors, lost packages, weather-related delays, or any delivery issues caused by the carrier.
Packages held for pickup must be collected within 3 business days of the pickup notice. Delays in pickup or planting may result in heat stress, drying, or reduced plant health, which will void the warranty.
Please plant your trees as soon as possible upon arrival and must follow our Planting and Care Guide. These are live trees and must not be left sitting in boxes, mailrooms, vehicles, or outdoors after delivery. E-mail us if you have any questions or need assistance.
Orders returned to us due to an incorrect or incomplete shipping address, failed delivery attempts, or packages not collected in time are not eligible for refund, replacement, or warranty coverage. We are not responsible for address errors entered at checkout. Any replacement, credit, or reshipment in these situations will be at our sole discretion after assessing the condition of the returned plants.
Refunds and Replacements
- We do not issue cash refunds. Approved warranty claims will receive store credit or plant replacement at our discretion.
- The customer is responsible for paying the freight cost on all replacement shipments.
- Once an order has shipped or been picked up, it is considered final and no longer eligible for cancellation or refund.
Order Cancellations
If you need to cancel an item or order, please email us directly.
- For orders paid by credit card, a 6% cancellation fee applies to recover non-refundable processing costs.
- For orders paid by e-transfer, there is no cancellation fee before April 1st.
- Beginning April 1st, all cancellations (regardless of payment type) will incur a 10% restocking fee, as we begin preparing and packing orders at this time.
Thank you for your understanding, these small fees help us cover the real costs of seasonal operations and ensure fairness to all customers.
Limitation of Liability
Our liability for any warranty claim is limited to replacement of the affected plant(s) or store credit of equivalent value. We are not responsible for landscaping costs, loss of other plants, property damage, or any indirect damages. Our maximum liability shall not exceed the original purchase price of the affected plant(s).
Cultivar Restrictions
Please note that certain cultivars sold under licence or royalty, such as the Arctic Apricot series, Boreal Haskaps, University of Saskatchewan Apple and Cherry cultivars, and others, may not be propagated for commercial purposes.
By purchasing, you agree not to propagate or distribute any of our plants or trees for sale, trade, or commercial use.
A Note From Us
If you have any issues or concerns, please contact us - we are always happy to help. We want you to succeed, or help you find out why a failure happened so we can avoid it for the future. We’re proud of our root-solid reputation and are committed to excellent customer service every step of the way. We have sent thousands of packages all over Canada and complications are truly exceptionally rare, your trust and contrinued support mean the world.
All warranty terms are subject to our complete Terms of Service and governed by the laws of Alberta, Canada.
