Oakland Nursery

This was probably the first garden center I went to in Columbus, decades ago. Stopped by yesterday to try to fill in our front bed after moving hostas out. It was busy, as expected in spring, but not crazy. I wandered a bit, among their many, many options, and found a few things I hope will work. Huge selection of perennials, shrubs, a few annuals already. Plus supplies, décor, etc.
Service was fast. Previous experiences here and at other locations show that the employees are knowledgeable and helpful; I didn’t need either today, but they were around if I had needed something. Prices are a bit high, but not crazy. Selection was more than adequate. It’s not the closest or most convenient for me, but I will be back eventually.

When I want anything in a garden, I go to Oakland Park. It’s been there forever, occupies a city block and has everything at high quality. I would list the various plants, fertilizer, Christmas trees and everything else that I bought there, but I don’t want to spend hours writing. Don’t believe anything else about this business except that this should be your starting point.
I’ve been gardening, off and on, for about 50 years, first with my parents as a way of making sure we had enough to eat, but now as a hobby gardener, fish pond owner and small sculpture collector. I know my stuff. These people humble me.

This is one of those places where I had fond childhood memories growing up in Columbus and visiting during Christmas season to find a tree, have some nice treats, and enjoy the holiday setup. I moved away for awhile so coming back so many years later I was worried that nostalgia had played a big factor in how great this place really was, but I couldn’t be more happy to have been wrong. We were here this past weekend to browse around and it was just as fun and busy and festive as I remember.
First off, if you’re looking for Christmas trees, this place has so many different kinds of trees that it’s hard for me to even remember. I worked on a Christmas tree farm for awhile, and this place has quite the selection; Fraser firs, Douglas firs, Balsam firs, Blue Spruce, White Pines, and many others that I can’t remember, and surprisingly, the pricing was pretty reasonable for pre-​cut trees. I’d say it was anywhere from $ 30 – 70, depending on the type and size. Once you pick it out, they’ll take it over and net it for you, and all you have to do is pay and drive your car around, so they can throw it up on the roof.
Besides Christmas trees, there’s all kinds of wreaths and other living Holiday decorations here. There’s also a lot of Summer and Fall items on clearance if you look outback for 50% off.
If you’re there during the Holidays, they offer free chili, wagon rides pulled by some massive horses, all different kinds of food, and Santa’s there for the kids. Inside, the shop has a whole bunch of offerings from candles and ornaments to terrariums to Poinsettias. There’s plenty of people around to help you with what you’re looking for. They also have an entire bird area filled with houses and feed.
If you’re looking for a great place to bring your SO or family, this is a fun and festive nursery that really goes all out for the holidays. You’d be hard pressed to come here and not have a great time.
Note: The parking lot can be a bit hectic during the holidays, so you may want to park on the street.

Plenty of beautiful gardening tools, decorations and PLANTS! I needed a plant for my office and they were helpful with recommendations about what might work in an office with NO sunlight. reasonable prices and healthy plants. very happy.

Purchased flats of annuals and hanging baskets at mid-​season sale. Service adequate at best, sale prices reasonable. Cashier and loading dock service very helpful and friendly. Plants generally in good shape, variety pretty good, considering the time of year. Will likely go back, but not before shopping elsewhere.

Its definitely more expensive than Lowes or Home Depot, bit the products are so much better. They have an amazing selection.

If you are trying to find something or learn about something this is the place. I like it alot.
I heard not the best place to buy a tree, but that is hearsay from an ex who heard from others… grapevine stuff if you will. Just make sure there is a warrenty and you’ll be good.
I really enjoy this place.

In contrast with City Folks, this place is HUGE! Ten acres huge as matter of fact. They have plenty of off street parking and acres and acres of plants, vegetables, blooms of every type. They even had a lady selling pop corn out front today. It’s worth a trip just to browse.
Their website is

Years ago I purchased plant material from Oakland from their wholesale dept. Everytime I arrived, I prayed that the wholesale clerk Sue wouldn’t be there. She was rude, arrogant and unyielding. If I had a question, the wife of a landscape designer, she would belittle me. Ten years later, as a retail shopper I returned for a sale. I was given misinformation on the items that were on sale. I was told there were no items that I described, but found them myself. The clerk at the checkout acted like she absolutely hated customers and missed her prozac. I will not be returning for any reason regardless of how good the plant material is. and it is a great selection. Too bad the management of this place doesn’t have a clue. IT“S ABOUT THE CUSTOMER AND SERVICE!!!

I have the most beautiful Stella D’Oros I got from Oakland. The blooms are bigger than what you see around town decorating shopping center and mall landscapes.
I got some Gazania’s from there I absolutely love to mix with the hostas. I don’t see Gazania’s sold anywhere else, so I think their selection is great!

My family’s been shopping here since before I was even an afterthought, and when I showed interest in maintaining my own little garden, this was where we went. We’ve gotten everything here — our vegetables, our roses, our shrubs… you name it, we got it. There’s a little playground for kids, so if you’re going to bring your kids, drop them in the playground so they don’t run around damaging plants.
Their rose selection has gone down over the years, which is the only disappointment I’ve ever experienced. I can still find the Don Juan climbing rose, but others, like Royal Amethyst, have to be ordered from Edmund’s Roses.

This is the place for quality plants and garden products and very helpful staff that know their plants. We have gone to the local Lowes or Home Depot in the past and it is a bit like rolling the dice if the plants will be good or not. We recently found Oakland and have bought trees, plants, and the fertelizing system and have been very happy with the quality of the product. I highly recommend that you check this place out for plant, tree, or gift ideas.

I love this place. It’s got a magnetic pull for me — no matter what the weather. On warm days I like to go wander among the flowers. On crappy cold days, a visit to ponder bulbs or spend some time in the houseplant greenhouse is an instant mood lift.
It’s humongous! They have fantastic variety and great sales. There’s a pretty good hotdog vendor there on weekends. I love buying our Xmas tree there in winter because the place is so festive. The gift shop is a usual fallback for me when looking for presents.
I have spent insane amounts of cash here since becoming a homeowner. Looking out at the yellow climbing rose and veggie garden in the back yard or at the pink crabapples in the front, I can’t say that I regret a bit of it.

While I can honestly say, the variety, quality and quantity of their offerings is really outstanding, some angles of their customer service are wacky. I learned why, the very hard way, today. I met Paul, the owner.
I’ve been in landscape design for 9 years now. And although my business relationship with Oakland Nurseries and Acorn Nursery is so far limited, I have spent more $ 4000 this spring, with another $ 1000 in special orders still out there.
I never expected to meet the owner. I’m not a big enough deal and may never be. But today I did made a mistake, against policy. One of the guys working there told me. I don’t agree with the policy and said the next time I will take it up with the manager (I was a little perturbed, I hate to admit). The owner was just a few feet behind me. He immediately started yelling at me, saying he wasn’t going to put up with my monkey business, strangely accused me of saying something which just didn’t make sense. Then told me he was going to throw me out. Did I mention I was trying to buy $ 500 worth of product while this was happening?
I’ve had great business interactions with the wholesale manager, the folks who I work with for special ordering. Seems this experience isn’t surprising. The associates working today said he can be like this, folks at Acorn Nursery say he is like this, and the three or four people I have worked with on several occasions and know me as forthright and genuine were too afraid to speak up about our short-​but-​healthy business relationship.
I can honestly say I have never done anything close to deserve getting kicked out of anywhere, particularly with a company a made an effort to support as a local business.
The average shopper at Oakland Nurseries are likely never to have this kind of experience.

Yeah, I think I love this place.
I had so much fun today picking out all the vegetable seeds the BF and I are going to grow this summer. I also picked up some terrarium materials.
I could definitely walk around this place much longer than I did and spend twice as much!
Fun fun fun.

Wonderful local nursery — you can find anything here. The staff are very knowledgeable and helpful. They even have Santa and sleigh rides around Christmas time, in addition to a HUGE selection of Christmas trees.