Frequently Asked Questions

General Questions

1. Where are you located?
2. What kind of product mix do you grow?

Ordering Questions

    For New Customers

1. Who can buy from Lancaster Farms?
2. How do I become a customer?
3. How can I get a current availability and price list?
4. How can I get a Lancaster Farms product catalog?
5. What are your terms?
6. How much do I have to order?
7. Do you offer quantity discounts?
8. What are your business hours?
9. How do I place my order?
10. Whom should I ask to speak with?
11. Do you warranty your plants?
12. Why don't you have "clearance sales?"
13. Can I set up a charge account?

    For Existing Accounts

1. Can I schedule a set time to receive a weekly faxed availability?
2. Can I pre-order?
3. When is the best time for me to order?
4. Can I purchase Plant Center material, like B&B trees from the West Coast, even if I'm not local?

Delivery Questions

1. Where do you deliver?
2. What requirements are there for delivery?
3. How do you charge for delivery?
4. How do you load your plant material?
5. How many trailers do you have?
6. Who drives your trucks?

The Plant Center

1. What is the Plant Center?
2. How can I buy from the Plant Center?
3. Can I buy Plant Center material if I'm not local?
4. How do I get a current availability and price list for Plant Center material?

General Questions

1. Where are you located?
   • Our nursery is located in Suffolk, Virginia. Click here to see a map.
2. What kind of product mix do you grow?
   • Everything we grow is in containers.
   • We grow hollies, junipers, trees, annuals, perennials, trees, roses, azaleas, and other shrubs.
   • All shrubs are sold in #3 cans or higher. The only #1 can material we sell are perennials, which are in a full four-quart pot. Most trees are sold in #15 cans.
   • For a complete listing of what we grow and sell, click here.

Ordering Questions

    For New Customers

1. Who can buy from Lancaster Farms?
   • We sell only to Horticultural Businesses (i.e. Retail Garden Centers, Landscape Businesses, Grounds Maintenance Contractors, Tree Care Companies, and Major Property Management Businesses).
   • We do not sell retail.
   • We do not sell to mass-merchant chain stores.
   • We do not sell outside of the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions.
2. How do I become a customer?
   • You need to fill out our customer information application and present a copy of your business license and tax-exempt certificate if applicable.
   • For an application, please call us toll-free at 1-800-336-2200. (757-484-4421 Local)
3. How can I get a current availability and price list?
   • Please note that we sell wholesale to legitimate businesses in the green industry in the Mid-Atlantic region only.
   • We'll be happy to fax or e-mail our availability at your request.
   • Call us toll-free at 1-800-336-2200 (757-484-4421 Local) and mention that you saw us on the internet and are interested in buying from us. We'll set you right up.
   • You may also put your company on our Frequently Faxed List.
4. How can I get a Lancaster Farms product catalog?
   • Call us toll-free at 1-800-336-2200 (757-484-4421 Local) and we will mail you our 2008 Catalog. It is also available for download on our home page in .pdf format.
5. What are your terms?
   • Our terms are cash, company check (no personal checks accepted), or company credit card (Visa or MasterCard) for all sales to customers who do not have established credit terms with us.
   • We give a 2% discount for cash, and for established credit accounts paid within 10 days.
   • Larger discounts are allowed for volume orders paid for upon delivery, and for volume annual combined sales amounts. Ask your sales representative for more information.
6. How much do I have to order?
   • We have a $100.00 minimum sale policy for the Plant Center, and new accounts will pay a 20% up-charge on each invoice until a $2,000.00 total sales level is reached. At that time the 20% up-charge will be refunded to you in the form of a credit voucher to be redeemed on future purchases. From that point on, your account will not be charged the up-charge unless your annual spending falls below the $2,000.00 level.
   • Minimum non-local delivery order is 1/2 trailer load. Plants are delivered to one location at one time. Select your assortment from any container plant on our current availability.
   • 10% discount / Payment on delivery. Otherwise 2% / 10 / Net 30.
   • Please note that if you order less than 10 of any item, add $.25 for 1 gallon material and $1.00 for 3 gallon material.
7. Do you offer quantity discounts?
   • Yes we do. On most varieties you receive a price break when you order more than 50 of any one item. Quantity rates apply only to the actual number of a given variety and size invoiced at one time. Different sizes and varieties are NOT added together to get volume discounts.
   • We offer a 10% discount for any sale of Lancaster Farms grown material that is equivalent of 1/2 trailer load or more delivered to one location at one time and paid C.O.D.
   • We also offer volume discounts based upon your total annual sales. Credit accounts must be current to maintain your volume discount status.
8. What are your business hours?
   • We are open for business Monday through Friday  from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The Plant Center is open Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Saturdays until Noon from March until the end of November. NO BUSINESS ON SUNDAY.
9. How do I place my order?
   • If you have never ordered from us before, you need to call and speak with a member of our sales staff.
   • You may place orders via mail, phone, fax, e-mail or online.
10. Whom should I ask to speak with?
    • If you plan to purchase from our local distribution yard, you may ask to speak with a Plant Center salesperson: either Donna, Jenny, or Jay.
    • Material grown by Lancaster Farms, Inc. and shipped out of the Hampton Roads area is handled by the Lancaster Farms Sales Staff: Jason Adkins, Barbara Moscoffien, and Clair Wright .
11. Do you warranty your plants?
    • We guarantee our plant material to be true to name, alive, and healthy when you receive it. There is no  warranty or guarantee on our plant material once it leaves our nursery.
    • We give no warranty as to continued life of any nursery stock sold at wholesale.
    • Complaints must be filed within 5 days of receipt of plants.
12. Why don't you have "clearance sales?"
    • That's just not the way we do business. You will seldom see an item's price reduced for sale.
    • We don't bargain on price because we don't compromise on quality. We believe that we sell only first-quality material, and that we offer it at a fair market price. Our motto is "Quality is a Matter of Choice," and we believe it. Our customers come to us for the best money can buy, not cheap plants.
    • As a leader in our industry, we do all we can to level out the booms and busts in the Green Goods Market. We'd rather grind our material into dirt than give our plants away.
13. Can I set up a charge account?
    • If your payment record is good after a year of doing business with us, then we can talk about extending you credit. For credit and account questions, ask to speak with our Office Manager, Pennie Cardon.

    For Existing Accounts

1. Can I schedule a set time to receive a weekly faxed availability?
   • Yes, you may place your company's name on our Frequently Faxed list to receive a Plant Center List or a Lancaster Farms availability.
2. Can I pre-order?
   • We do not accept orders any further in advance than one season. As plant material nears its saleable size and accurate numbers are loaded into our computer system, we will be able to confirm your order.
   • Plant Center inventory is only held for 5 days.
   • Orders for Lancaster Farms-grown material may be placed with a salesperson and held for a period of time to be determined--usually for the Spring Season, the Summer Season, or the Fall Season.
3. When is the best time for me to order?
   • We normally start to confirm Spring Orders in late November. To be sure that you get what you want you should place your orders well in advance.
   • For Seasonal Color (annuals and perennials) we offer updates to let you know in advance when our crops will be available and looking their best.
4. Can I purchase Plant Center material, like B&B trees from the West Coast, even if I'm not local?
   • We deliver our materials on enclosed shelved trailers. For this reason, delivering larger trees and much B&B material is difficult. We will look at your requests and determine if the needed material will work with our scheduled deliveries.
   • If you aren't local but are interested in being notified when a certain specialty item is freshly delivered to our Plant Center, please give one of our Wholesale Sales Reps a call at 1-800-336-2200.
   • If you are having trouble finding a source for a specialty item and are interested in having us direct-ship from one of our suppliers, please give us a call. We'd like to give it a shot.

Delivery Questions

1. Where do you deliver?
   • Lancaster Farms, Inc. delivers its own grown material in the Mid-Atlantic and New England areas.
   • The materials sold in the Plant Center (our local distribution yard) are offered for local delivery only.
   • If you are outside the Hampton Roads area, you are still welcome to pick up materials from our local distribution yard.
   • Large quantity material delivery may be arranged as a direct shipment from one of our vendors. Speak with a salesperson for details.
2. What requirements are there for delivery?
   • We require that your yard or job site be of a size to handle a tractor trailer or straight truck for deliveries.
   • We also require that you provide ample help to unload your order in a timely manner. Our drivers will assist you in unloading, but they are not expected to unload without help.
3. How do you charge for delivery?
   • Our Plant Center charges a graduated rate for local deliveries based on distance from the nursery.
   • We deliver into the Mid-Atlantic and the New England areas on a regular basis.
   • Delivery charges for non-local deliveries are established as a percentage of the invoice unless the order is 1/2 of the trailer load or more.
   • If orders exceed 1/2 trailer load, the rate charged is a flat rate based on the trucker's fee to your area (which is usually less than the published percentage rate to your zone).
4. How do you load your plant material?
   • Most Lancaster Farms container grown materials are shelved on our closed van trailers and straight trucks.
   • Balled and Burlapped material purchased from our Plant Center may be delivered locally on our flatbed trailers.
5. How many trailers do you have?
   • We have a fleet trailers of various sizes and capabilities to meet your delivery requirements.
   • With large B&B tree, stone or paver deliveries we have a forklift that can come with the delivery to assist you in unloading.
6. Who drives your trucks?
   • Local deliveries are usually made by Lancaster Farms employees.
   • Many deliveries made outside the Hampton Roads area are made by Arthur Transport Services. This firm has been delivering our material for many years and you will find their drivers helpful and courteous in assisting to unload at your nursery.
   • Our drivers will help unload, but they are not expected to fully unload your orders without help. Please arrange to have ample help for your delivery.

The Plant Center

1. What is the Plant Center?
   • The Lancaster Farms Plant Center is a seven acre distribution yard that we operate at our main nursery. It serves local landscapers, ground maintenance firms, and the garden center trade. In addition to the regular Lancaster Farms inventory, we carry material from many other growers coast to coast. This wide inventory gives us a tremendous mix of plants and materials to offer to the Hampton Roads green-goods market.
2. How can I buy from the Plant Center?
   • To purchase from Lancaster Farms or the Plant Center, you will need to fill out a customer information form and present a copy of your Business License. We will enter your firm's information into our computer system and you will be ready to go.
3. Can I buy Plant Center material if I'm not local?
   • You are welcome to visit our Plant Center to purchase materials, but we cannot deliver the larger B&B material out of the local area.
4. How do I get a current availability and price list for Plant Center material?
   • We'll be happy to fax or e-mail the Plant Center's availability at your request.
   • You may also put your company on our Frequently Faxed List.