When I decided to go to Iowa Outdoor Products (IOP) in June 2025, it was to make an investment in…read moremy yard both short term while I'm alive, and long term long after I'm gone. So, with that in mind, I paid $600+ for a Sun Valley Sugar Maple, and 60% of the cost of the tree - thus, another $360 - to have Iowa Outdoor Products professionally plant the tree. So, when all was said and done, the tree was a $1,000 investment (a second tree, which I planted, cost another $550).
Although $1,000 is a lot to pay for a tree, I thought that having it "professionally" planted gave me the protection of a better warranty versus me planting it myself, and that I might get a tip or two when I spoke to the two IOP guys who planted the Sugar Maple about how to help it become a healthy, full-grown tree. [I did get a tip about watering it, but that was it.]
So, fast forward exactly six months to the day after the tree was planted, and the attached photo shows the result. Apparently, although I had three feet of trunk guard on the tree, the neighborhood buck must have spent Christmas night rubbing his antlers up and down the exposed trunk right above the trunk guard, and the result is a ripped-up tree that is now likely to be dead in the next three years.
Although bummed, I was happy that I paid the extra fee to have it planted, thus, knowing the warranty would cover the cost of having it replaced (Home Depot, Menards, Earl May, etc. famously have similar warranties covering the first year of life). Or, so I thought.
Two things about that, neither which is good. First, when I called IOP shortly after I discovered the damage, the person who answered the phone expressed concern, and told me that it was "antler rub" damage, which, I now know, was correct. Had I heard SIX MONTHS EARLIER that such a thing existed, I would have had six feet of trunk guard on the tree, and the damage never would have happened. The person answering the phone, a young man, said that IOP recommends wrapping the tree - they, of course, sell tree wrap. He suggested that I wrap the tree, and address replacing it "in the spring". After the call, I googled "antler rub" damage, and five articles popped up, NONE which recommended wrapping the tree - apparently, that hasn't been recommended for at least a decade - but, rather, "bark tracing" is the suggested resolution now. But, not wanting to jeopardize the warranty, I wrapped the damage as instructed, and added another three feet of trunk guard to prevent further damage.
So, second issue, fast forward to March 5, 2026. I called IOP and spoke with Natalie, the manager. I told Natalie what had happened, that I had called in late December, and that I was told to call her "in the spring". This was that call.
Based on the contact in December, I could tell that she was expecting the call. I was surprised however, when it seemed to me that she pulled out a script and started to tell me - or, read to me, maybe - that the warranty did NOT cover animal damage, nor anything, really, other than problems resulting from the "root stock" (aka, extremely rare genetic issues, apparently). Hearing my disappointment (again, Home Depot and Earl May have better warranties), she added that she'd heard anecdotal stories that the tree "might survive". I mentioned the google comment that the tree would likely be dead in three years which prompted her to reread the script about the lousy IOP "warranty". I asked why someone from IOP couldn't have warned me about the potential for "antler rub" damage - say, the IOP guys who I watched plant the tree - and, she said that they were "too busy" to impart such wisdom. It would have taken, like, ten seconds. Instead, she said that "they" gave me some literature somewhere along the way that might have mentioned something about it; but, other than that, I was on my own.
So, BUYER BEWARE: Iowa Outdoor Products IS expensive, they provide MINIMAL guidance to the success of your tree, they ignorantly use OUTDATED practices, and any warranty that you think you have, ISN'T WORTH THE PAPER THAT IT'S WRITTEN ON.