Berkeley Horticultural Nursery

Very lovely nursery with a lot of variety.
+ Lots of different types of plants — including veggies and fruits
+ Very big! Lots of areas to walk around
+ Plants are put into sections, so it’s easy to see where you want to go
— Street parking, but there’s a lot of neighborhood to get a spot.
This is definitely one of the best nurseries in the Bay.

Great selection and incredibly knowledgeable staff (if you can flag someone down for long enough). I got a handful of potted plants for my no-​sun-​getting deck about a month ago and so far so good!

A nice spot to find inspiration. The staff inside (where you are directed to take your questions) are very friendly, unlike at Flowerland (where they act offended that you are questioning your curatorial decisions if you are looking for something they don’t carry). Wide selection and if they don’t have what you seek, they’ll note it and call you if it becomes available. Street parking only. Parking can be a challenge in that area, especially on weekends.

My son out of the blue asked me if he could plant something? So took both my son and daughter to BHN to pick out a plant they wanted to plant. Walking in the nursery was like walking in botanical garden. Throughout the perimeter planted plants and big trees on the ground were all labeled with small stacked easels. My daughter picked on out that she wanted, then we proceed to walk to the back lot. Quarter acer filled to the brim with tons of plants. I didn’t even know where to start to look for the plant she wanted. So I asked for help. Not only did we get help we were guided to the exact location of where we would find the plant we were searching for. We had small lesson on how to care for and what to expect from planting this plant. My daughter and I now know that green flowers do exist and sunflowers doesn’t only come in yellow. Several employees that approached us was very nice and courteous. For my daughter, Angelita Daisy assorted. My son, Strawberry seedlings. Myself, big bag of organic potting soil. Experience was delightful.

Amazing selection of different kinds of plants, in an large outdoor area that is well organized and easy to navigate, from sun-​loving annuals, herbs, «for-​kids», etc. There was also cute little indoor section with houseplants, ranging from 2″ miniature sized to huge ferns– and there was a large range of succulents and (cheap!) tillandsia (smallest were $ 2, to humongous ones larger than basketballs around $ 60)! No one really came up to me when I walked in, but they seemed at the ready when they saw me– I think they knew I was just browsing. The people who helped me were super nice and cheery, even in the gloomy weather. There is even a little display garden in the back that you can walk through and see the different names of plants growing naturally in the ground. I hadn’t been planning on buying much but I couldn’t help myself. I’ll definitely be coming back!

Nothing like a friendly neighborhood nursery that’s been in town for nearly 100 years! The guy and I dropped by to pick up some plants for our little home, and were pleased to find a massive assortment of healthy plants to bring back with us.
THE HIGHLIGHTS.
+ Assortment of helpful, seniored staff members (paired with some clueless younger staff)
+ Huge selection of indoor and outdoor house plants (trees, succulents, flowers, etc.)
~ Decent selection of pots and tools you’d need to keep your garden thriving
This is a great place to hit-​up for your plant needs, I’d recommend checking it out!

Great selection, even better customer service. THIS is the place to go to educate yourself about what you want to buy. Employees spend loads of time with you and are patient, knowledgeable and very helpful!!!

We are not experienced with gardening, and found this place very overwhelming. The staff would answer one or two questions, but seemed more interested in talking to each other than helping us. We ended up spending hours only to find out that the Shrubs we wanted would not work in the area we were considering. Next time, we’ll try another place.

I live in a hermetically sealed loft with not even a single terra cotta flower pot in sight. However, when I was an East Bay homeowner making my garden grow, this was the place I frequented the most to make my backyard look presentable. That’s why when a friend asked me recently for a recommendation on where to get healthy plants, I took her over here. It allows me to live vicariously through other people’s purported green thumbs. Sure, there are plenty of acceptable nurseries in San Francisco, but I think this one is worthy of a transbay trek because they maximize their two acres for an abundance of foliage. I’ve been a sporadic customer since my college days, and their knowledgeable staff never fails me.
Meandering the grounds, you could get easily overwhelmed by the concentrated sections devoted to California natives, Mediterranean plants, roses, perennials (photo:
), cyclamen (photo:
), ranunculus (photo:
), tropical plants, cacti, fruit trees, and organic vegetables. But never fear as the individual signs give enough guidance to know more or less if a plant would thrive in your own ecosystem. I have to admit I particularly liked the diverse selection of pottery and decorative merchandise like wind chimes and posters. The only problem on weekends is parking since this part of North Berkeley is quite a hub of activity with a farmer’s market and a variety of shops competing for attention.

I just discovered this place and it’s a gem!
Somehow for all these years I’ve not known about this place. I suppose it’s not that easy to see while driving by.
Anyway, I’m a tree collector for what amounts to bonsai purposes, but I try to collect and manage trees and plants in such a way that nobody else has them.
This nursery is easily one of the two or three best of dozens in the Bay Area I’ve visited for my purposes. Lots of plants with a good variety of cultivars that you won’t see elsewhere. While most nurseries focus on annuals and perennials and the same old shrubs you see everywhere, these guys have more interesting stuff for those of us that want trees and plants that are unusual, even rare, and last many years.
I’ve read others’ comments that the prices are high. Maybe on some, but on most I think they’re reasonable. On a couple trees I bought the other day, they were a great value for the size I bought. There are indeed other nurseries with sky-​high prices, but this isn’t one of them.

This place is great! I bought my spanish moss here. They really sell a huge selection of unique plants.

This nursery may have one of the most extensive inventory in the area. But, their customer service or the lack of customer service is deplorable. Walked around for 15 – 20 minutes looking for some assistance but unable to even see a sales person. This place is worse than Home Depot. The one person who I was finally able to locate in the selling area was rude and could care less about assisting me in locating a certain tree that the front counter said they had in stock. I ended going to East Bay Nursery and received exempletory service and made my purchase there. Won’t be going back here any time soon!

Parking can be difficult, but this is one of the nicer commercial nurseries that I’ve been to. This place is huge and full of very nice plant specimens. The employees are helpful. Only downside is some of the stuff ain’t cheap!
We’re re-​doing our front yard with low-​water native plants. Their selection is truly mindboggling. Almost all of the species recommended by local landscape designers and native plant enthusiasts were there. Really helped us out a lot, since we wanted to see what the plants looked like in real life. We’ll definitely be back after the hardscape is installed to get our plants.
Tip: One of the «bargains» in this place are the air plants (Tillandsia). They’re located inside the greenhouse, where the orchids are. They sell for $ 10 and up at other nurseries, but a decent size one is only $ 2 here. Mega bargain! Get your trendy hipster décor and DIY a terrarium on the cheap!

A little pricier than other nurseries, but the qualities of the plants are amazing! I bought some azalea, and some annuals. They are blooming now and they all look gorgeous!

Got everything you need for your garden. The staff here are knowledgeable. The prices are high, but the quality of the plants are top quality.

Shopped at all the nurseries in the area and this one by far is the best one. Friendliest customer service and great variety of plants and edibles.

An amazing spot, I just want to camp out here whenever I visit. Oh, and they sell plants. Beautiful, diverse, healthy plants.

This nursery is a beautiful oasis in the midst of city living. What your backyard would look like, if there was such a thing as having so much space in you backyard.
I wish they had more of a selection of orchids and orchid pottery. On the bright side, there are a variety of sizes of air plants. The little fish pond and selection of water plants make this place interesting.

I absolutely love this place. Last weekend I went there to look at fruit trees for my porch. The employees were super friendly and very enthusiastic and knowledgeable about the trees that I was buying. They told me proper husbandry and things to watch out for.
I’d go here again for sure. It was an overall great experience. I got a look at the other parts of the nursery and they had an incredible selection of plants for every type of house location.

Immediate update… The darn plant has so many flowers! Still looks like a naked stalk. However, thriving!
I’m growing a Momotaro (heirloom) tomato plant I got from my cuz, Cubby, who is a owner at Tokyo Fish Market. Perhaps I’m growing it only because it’s Japanese and I’m trying to find my inner-​ethnic self. Lol! Nah, I like tomatoes!
Whoa! Fast forward 30 days… This plant has taken off like a ⁴⁄₂₀ bush! Flower buds, do I clip them?
No says the wise woman at Berkeley Hort. «The flowers are the tomatoes! Prune the little shoots so the flowers can get all all the goodness and bear fabulous fruit!» Yes, I found out, it’s a fruit!
So I pruned my fruit plant, Lycopersicon esculentum (jeez, I’m so on it) to look like a Chiwawa pup and them flowers are beginning to burst. More advice from the great gal at Berkeley Hort, «the flowers may drop off, so don’t get your hopes up. Sun, temperature, and care play an important „art“ in the care of tomato plants.»
The disclaimer (sigh).
Therefore, 3 stars today. Lol! ⁴⁄₂₀ is so much easier to grow. Not that I would know.
More later. Still a fun summer!