Marina Del Rey Garden Center

Terrible customer service.
I don’t have another nursery closer so I keep coming.
One time I told them that I was pregnant and I couldn’t carry a big heavy plant and they totally ignored me… They kind of sent a guy but the guys disappeared had to carry it myself, they saw me carrying it and they didn’t help either.
They don’t help you. I asked them stuff and they just look annoyed. I mean I am not a gardener I need help that is why I come here.
I bought a tangerine tree 2 years ago and I haven’t had a tangerine yet, they told me to buy different stuff to make it give tangerines and still no tangerines.
Also they are expensive. Good selection but expensive.

Best local selection of garden goods, plants and odds & ends. Perfectly situated and awesome staff. Once you enter you don’t want to leave. The hummingbirds and butterflies make the whole experience worthwhile.

The cashiers here have been rude on multiple occasions. I left there and went to Home Depot this morning because of the service at the check out. I arrived shortly after they opened and was one of the only people there. The kid ignored me when I entered, did not respond to my hello how are you, and then rolled his eyes at the other employee as I explained I was looking to buy some new plants and re-​pot some existing ones. I asked if his manger was available and she offered to let me have my items at no charge, but I just wanted to get out of there. I try to support local business, but I will never go back here.

I was amazed when I stepped into this place to find the biggest collection of succulents I’ve encountered. The only downfall is the prices are a little higher but not unreasonably higher. Service could be a little better. I would definitively go back again to add to my succulent collection.

Expensive. Either their rent is very high or they are making out like bandits. Professional landscapers very rarely shop here — no trade discount for licensed landscape architects etc. This store is for local consumers to over-​pay for their garden or balcony plants. They don’t have Home Depot’s buying volume to get their unit cost down. Service is mixed — one day very helpful, the next day surly and distant. They have a good range in their sizable yard. I try to avoid this place but in a pinch I will grab a few small things if I don’t have time to go to the trade nurseries.

Expensive plants, but got some good ideas. We went to Home Depot to buy the plants instead. We came to look at fountains. Nothing spoke to us but they had some interesting items. I wish all the fountains were hooked up with water coming out so we can better picture how it would look like. The place is pretty spacious with a lot of things to check out.

Great selection of plants. The staff is very knowledgeable and friendly. They have an amazing pot/​container inventory, and you can also get special ordered/​custom items. This is my favorite nursery.

Steve Rivera was very helpful with my order — even going out in pouring rain to check on the availability of a couple of pots — while I waited on the phone. I’d already emailed him the photos and style numbers, but he made it all happen. Thanks again Steve!

I really want to give MDR Garden Center a good review because I like supporting local businesses, but I found the prices to be very high compared to other locally owned nurseries and the customer service (for both of my trips here) was so bad that I will never go back. I’ll stick to Armstrong.

I want this place to be so much better than it is. I really try to support small businesses but it’s really sometimes very trying.
The customer service is very mixed. There’s one older woman who is incredibly helpful and knowledgeable and another young guy who’s similar but everyone else seems to have massive attitude problems. Like helping customers is somehow inconveniencing them.
This month my husband and I bought things on three separate occasions. We spent probably about $ 600 over all. One of the orders was three squares of seedums and since they didn’t have enough we ordered four more. We also bought a bunch of soil and some plants. In the end, we over ordered by one square of seedums. After we planted and had this one square remaining I went back to return it. Even though I had two of the three receipts (one was the special order so marked «no return») and the card I bought them all on, since I couldn’t find the one we bought the three seedums on separately, they wouldn’t take it back. It was in a perfect condition, had only been off their property for about a week and the woman who sold me everything was there and could have confirmed my purchases.
But instead of being accommodating they refused, insisting it was their policy. OK, fine, but completely inflexible policies like that are why people go to bigger stores instead.
So well done them, they got to keep my $ 30, but when we go to finish the rest of the garden next week we won’t be purchasing anything here. God forbid we mis-​measure by a foot!
If you’re going to shop here you better make sure you are 100% absolutely sure of everything because good luck returning!

This place has many more plants that you’d think if you just passed by. Once you park, the space continues far beyond the structure in front. They have a ton of roses, succulents, and vegetable plants.

«Build succulents garden» is now off my 2015 checklist, yay!
I was blown away by the service here, and would highly recommend it to anyone with gardening needs.
I came here looking for some new plants, when it suddenly started raining. As proof that chivalry wasn’t dead (at least at this nursery), one of the men working graciously walked up with a giant umbrella and escorted me around so I could find the perfect cacti. If only I could find a cute boy to be so thoughtful! The woman here was also very helpful and provided good advice on repotting and maintaining my new green babies.

Selection of succulents and cacti were average. Though we did find some decent succulents for our new terrarium making hobby. The staff here also seemed very nice and checked on us often. However, we did notice that the succulents were potted in VERY wet soil — so wet that some of them leaked into our cardboard tray, which we know first hand is not a good thing for the plants. When we asked the clerk whether she thought they had been overwatered, she simply indicated that it was because they were a new batch that came in that way. Prices also seemed higher than other places nearby. But for the convenience, we might likely return.

Nice selection of succulents in many different sizes the prices of which were mostly reasonable, at least for the smaller ones, and considering it’s on the Westside.
But that’s about it.
Prices on everything else were eye-​popping. And forget about the pots. Literally 3 — 5x what you expect to pay elsewhere. The final insult is of course when you go to pay these extortionate prices with an AmEx card only to be declined, «We don’t take American Express». In MDR?
The parking «lot» and camouflaged entrance are, as others have noted, a cruel joke. The place is literally in a dirt lot in the median of a freeway. About as Zen as the tarmac at nearby LAX.

Best succulent selection in the area! Wide variety, buy small or in bulk — you’ll get a good price.
Having been to multiple garden centers, this is still our go-​to place for any of your gardening needs. Trees, flowers, indoor, outdoor, succulents, pots, planters, they have them all.
I would buy soil from somewhere else, it’s a bit on the pricey side here. And one batch we bought was infested with bugs.

Here’s my recommendation: GO ELSEWHERE FOR YOUR PLANT NEEDS.
I’m a newish gardener and live fairly close to this nursery. I’ve been a few times to purchase plants, etc. The first few visits, I didn’t think much of the dismissive employees. Perhaps they were stressed out by all of the new plants coming into bloom for springtime/​how to care for them/​maybe they were hungover. I suppose my opinion changed once I really needed some help.
Enter employee #1: I’m not positive on his name… maybe Mike? Either way, you can’t miss the rather rotund middle aged man with a mustache and dark hair. He lopes around the grounds as though he is utterly bored and seems genuinely uninterested in whatever it is you have to say.
I’ve dealt with him twice. The first time I had a question about grubs, as those little critters have taken over most of my garden. He literally said «I don’t know» before I could finish telling him what the problem was. I thought that showing him a picture would be helpful, and he almost dropped my phone after he took it and zoomed in 1000%. Hey buddy, it’s ok! My phone isn’t a grub! Maybe I should have told him this. Next, he told me that there was NO remedy for this pest, and I would have to literally dig down underneath every plant as much as possible with my hands because this is the only way to rid these critters. If I choose to not do this, DOOM WILL ENSUE!!! I thought to myself, «this isn’t medieval times, there must be something that has been invented that can address my needs.» After pressing him for a bit, he admitted that «yeah, there’s something out there but we don’t sell it. I don’t know, you could look around I guess.» Ok, whatever. I next asked about spray for my veggies and fruits because I’ve noticed some holes in the leaves of them. He immediately directed me to Captain Jack’s Dead Bug spray, insisting that it was the ONLY organic spray (despite other sprays nearby touting their organic mixture). The label seemed informative enough that led me to believe that it would meet my needs, and I bought it so I could high-​tail it out of there.
During this interaction, this employee was making only sporadic eye contact, was shifting/​pacing around, talking to other employees as they walked by, and even wandered to an employee room right by the register (as I was talking to him and following him) to start eating some pizza! I couldn’t believe it. Side note: he started sweating as he ate the pizza.
Fast forward a few weeks. The second time he «tried» to help me, I literally got a sinking feeling as he approached. I should have taken that as a sign. Regardless, I brought a sample leaf from one of my banana peppers and informed that the Captain Jack’s spray wasn’t working; I was also finding tiny green bugs on the underside of leaves that seemed to be aphids, despite my constant spraying. He acted like I was stupid and insisted that I was not likely spraying correctly or spraying enough. Sheesh, I had no idea it took special training to use these solutions! I asked if there was another spray that he could recommend, and he literally picked up a bottle of Captain Jack’s and said, «try this.» Ummmm no. I just told you that I had been using this and it isn’t working. Impeccable listening skills. He then insisted that there was NO other spray that could be used for fruits and veggies. I picked up a bottle that had a pepper and tomato on the front, was labeled «TOMATO & VEGETABLE», and asked why then, this company was advertising such. He had no answer and just kept referring me to the same solution. He then told me that I have a caterpillar problem. Ummmm, no again. I know what caterpillars look like, and these insects are definitely different. For this, he just shrugged and walked away. I had to go to the register and ask for somebody who might be more helpful than this buffoon. Luckily, a woman (I think her name is Katerina?) was very knowledgeable. She told me that Captain Jack’s is only to be used on the fruit and veggies themselves once they begin to grow, and it wouldn’t be necessary to use just yet as the pests that attack the fruit and veggies haven’t even hatched yet for the season. I ended up purchasing the tomato and vegetable spray, as she assured that it would take care of my aphid problem.
This place gets one star. Unfortunately, the negative experience of dealing with Mike (or whatever his name is) overshadowed my second, more pleasant interaction.
If you want to feel stupid and struggle to get your gardening needs met, go here. Believe it or not, I find Home Depot to be more helpful than this spot.

I have been going here for quite some time and I was willing to make the drive and even pay the inflated prices because the customer service was relatively good and they didn’t charge me an arm and a leg for delivery. Sadly, I will no longer drive from HW hills to my «go-​to garden center» Perhaps you can blame it on the heat, but everyone there seemed unbelievable miserable, SLOW and annoyed/​bothered to help. I was there at opening so it’s unlikely they all had a long hard day. I spent several hundred dollars and left in a bad mood. I told Steve that I wouldn’t be back and they should take better care of their loyal customers. All I got was a shrug.
All in all I spent about 25k in plants landscaping my backyard and the best they can do is a SHRUG for an unhappy customer? Even the cashier was a bitch. Needless to say I will find another place to buy my plants.

All right, so I don’t really have a «green thumb,» but I Really want to learn how to be/​have one — so I thought: «What better place to go than a Garden Center.» Right? Maybe not.
Last spring, my mother purchased a Japanese Maple and some additional plants from the MDR Garden Center. I ended up inheriting them and the maple and some of the reeds had been struggling since the late winter/​early spring, so I decided to go in and see if they had any suggestions.
Well — needless to say, I didn’t get much help. I asked for some assistance for my two sad plants and the staff member who helped me kind of stared at me through my story and description of the plants (it wasn’t long, I promise) and walked away. I literally stood there, looked around (more or less to see if anyone else saw the somewhat embarrassing interaction) and continued to look at products to see if I could figure this gardening thing out on my own. The guy ended up finding me a couple minutes later. He set down two bags of soil and some blossom food and told me to «go home, read it, use it» and walked away. Well, …thanks? I decided to purchase some succulents and the suggested items that were tallied outside of the register area. When I got to the register, the total was more than I had expected so I asked to see the list of items. I noted that there were two mistakes and when I pointed them out, the cashier was reluctant to look my items over. They did correct my total and I went on my way.
I know that this is one experience and it could have simply been a bad day, but man — customer service was terrible. I had this idea that I was going to walk into this garden oasis (aesthetically, it is), but the vibes from the seemingly unenthusiastic and disinterested staff makes the experience completely different. I was disillusioned by the whole experience and will not be going back to this nursery.
I gave 2-​stars because they DO have a beautiful nursery and their plants are high quality. However, their prices are pretty steep (but that didn’t stop me from spending over $ 100, …I have a problem).

One star is for the advertising they have for their landscaper Armando. I called Armando to get a quote on landscaping services for my rental property in Los Feliz (across town on a good day is min an hour each way). He canceled an hour before we were to meet. We rescheduled for the same time the following day, and he never showed up. As I was waiting for him I called asking if he was coming, and he said he was busy and could not make it. No phone call to cancel, and no respect for other people’s time.
One star is for the manager’s response in which she was apologetic and offered a gift card. I live in the Marina, and this has always been my go to nursery. However, if a business supports someone who is unprofessional then my dollars will go elsewhere.
If Armando has no affiliation with the garden center, then his name and phone number should not be listed on signs around the property.

We came here looking for more options in larger size plant pots. They definitely have a lot to choose from, but they can start to get pretty pricey. Looks like they know how to take care of their plants pretty well, as a lot of them look amazing…
If you’re looking for more generic plants and pots, Home Depot will probably suit you fine, but something a little bit more unique this place may make you happy.