Phytosanitary Shipments:
Garden Goods Direct is proud to be the very first online garden center in the state of Maryland to be granted a Phytosanitary Shipping Agreement with category 1 and 2 states.
Phytosanitary rules govern a nursery’s ability to ship plants into these states. The following states have declared themselves to be "Phytosanitary" which in laymen’s terms mean that “all material plant material entering the state must be certified free from pests and disease including, Japanese Beetles, Burrowing and Reniform Nematodes, Imported Fire Ants and Lethal Yellowing of Palms." Our nursery is periodically inspected by the Maryland Department of Agriculture for cleanliness and compliance with the requirements.
The following states have set forth certain requirements which must be met for plant material to be shipped into the state:
- Nevada
- Utah
- Washington State
- Oregon
- Arkansas
- Alabama
- Kansas
- Oklahoma
- Texas
- New Mexico
- Mississippi
- Arizona
- South Dakota
- Colorado
California has especially stringent policies and requires extra care and administration on our part.
Your shipment of plant material will be accompanied by a certificate issued by our state which will be inspected at the point of entry into your state. This will allow the expedited movement of your shipment through the inspection point for your state. The plant material will not be subject to quarantines which in the past has delayed, or in some cases, had the plant material rejected and destroyed.
Due to the added costs of inspections and the issuance of Phytosanitary Certificates, it is necessary for us to charge a fee for shipments to the above states that is paid to our Dept. of Ag. Inspectors for each shipment inspected.
Each state has special regulations regarding plants that cannot be shipped into the state. In most cases these are mostly agricultural and food crops. A list of the states and any special requirements can be viewed below:
- Alabama: No restricted Plant Material
- Arizona: Citrus Plants, Sago Palms, Dracaena, Ficus, Fruit Trees. These items cannot be shipped into the State of Arizona.
- Arkansas: No Restricted Plant Material.
- California: All Fruit and Nut Producing Plants, All Outdoor Plants.
- Colorado: No restricted Plant Material.
- Idaho: Currently Not Shipping Plant Material to this State.
- Kansas: No restricted Plant Material.
- Mississippi: No restricted Plant Material
- Montana: Currently Not Shipping Plant Material to this State.
- Nevada: No restricted Plant Material.
- New Mexico: Nut Trees.
- Oklahoma: No restricted Plant Material.
- Oregon: Apple Trees, Blueberry Plants, Nut Trees, Elm Trees, Oak Trees, Hops Plants, Peach Trees, Plum Trees.
- South Dakota: No restricted Plant Material.
- Texas: Citrus Plants, Fishtail Palm, Coconut Palm, Pygmy Date Palm, Areca Palm, Lady Palm.
- Utah: No restricted Plant Material.
- Washington State: Apple Trees, Barberry, Mahonia, Blueberries, Nut Trees, Hops Plants, Peach Trees.
So what does all this mean to you, our customer?
This means that you can rest assured that you are purchasing your plants from a certified nursery that is legally allowed to ship plants into your state. This should really give you peace of mind that your plants have been inspected and have been deemed healthy and are pest and disease free. This has added many extra steps to everything we do to get your plants from our farm to your home. To us it’s worth it.
You can review your state's individual requirements for this process by visiting the National Plant Boards website at https://nationalplantboard.org/laws-and-regulations/
At Garden Goods Direct, we believe in these laws and everything they stand for. Please under no circumstances will we break these rules. We worked very hard to obtain this certification and will not jeopardize this.
NOTE: At this time, we are currently only shipping houseplants and tropical plants to these states. Trees and shrubs take a different approach to the regulations. If your state is not listed on the above list any plants can be shipped at this time.