London Bridge Greenhouses & Nursery

I used to drive past this Nursery every single day on my way to and from work and I often thought about stopping in to see what they had but I didn’t simply because I was too lazy to do any yard work at the time and also because the location is pretty dreadful right beside all the interstate exits. It’s not terrible most of the time — but at rush hour — I’ve seen accidents here before.
Last weekend was a beautiful weekend and the weather was perfect so my idea to finally stop in and take a look was shared with about a million other people.
When we arrived we quickly and easily found parking but when it was time to depart — there was a backup between those pulling in who couldn’t find any — and those who wanted to leave and were blocked in by the line of folks turning in from the street. Not to mention all the people walking around in the gravel parking area. That was a bit of a pain in the rear but it’s a smaller lot and when it’s crowded like it was — nothing you can really do about it.
They have an area off to the left of their main building with mulch and gravel and slate. The main building has large planter pots, seed packets, mulch in bags, and other random garden décor items.
Behind the main building is a very long section of plants and flowers and trees. Nearest the building are annuals and perennial flowers and small small shrubs and bushes for you to plant in your yard. Mostly what I’d call «decorative» plants. Directly behind that is the veggie and herb section with a very nice selection of items. Pretty much anything you could want. They had peppers, squash, zucchini, tomato, onion, etc. etc. Plus tons of herbs like lavender, mint, rosemary, etc. etc.
If you walk to the right of the building you’ll find more mature trees and shrubs for screening. They had a pretty nice selection of red Japanese maple trees.
I saw employees roaming around watering the plants and offering to answer questions.
It was clean and peaceful with the aisles kept clear for walking. It also appeared to be in a very clear order so you can find what you’re looking for relatively easy and without much assistance.
They have little rolling wheel-​barrows for you to grab and put all your little garden goodies while you shop.
I was impressed and liked this place. The plants all seemed to be alive and healthy and well cared for and it was clean and well-​kept. it’s easy to find and get to though I did take off a point for ease of getting in and out of — but it’s not that big of a deal. Only a minor headache and worth it if you need quality plants.
We didn’t buy anything this day as we were just browsing for ideas — but we’ll be back in the next few weeks to stock up. Maybe on a week day though… just sayin’.

Cold rainey, looking for something specific and they didn’t have it. However, they took the time to show me alternatives and are ordering what i wanted. Can’t go wrong with that.

While decent-​sized, London Bridge Greenhouses & Nursery is not the largest garden supply store around. It is, however, probably my favorite for two reasons.
First, of the five stores I’ve gone to (seven if you count Home Depot and Lowe’s), they’ve been the best overall for finding the plants I was looking for (fruits, pre-​sprouted vegetables, and native perennials). Their selection of these is a very close second if not the largest (which is going to depend on which sort of plant we’re talking about). Also, their plant prices are relatively — especially for the vegetables. Last year, I’d already bought most of my tomato and pepper plants somewhere else for close to $ 4 bucks a piece and run up a $ 30 or $ 40 bill just on those by the time I got here and found out I could’ve stocked my entire vegetable garden for $ 15 tops. Oops.
The second thing I like is that their staff has tended to be the most informative and helpful when I’ve had questions, even recommending solutions that cut into their potential sales. They’ve also been the most «is there anything I can help you with?», which is nice (unless I’m feeling moody). Another thing that could be nice for some people is that at least once when I’ve been there, they were running a special that included delivery/​installation of trees above a certain size. I prefer to do my own planting, though.
Now, I mentioned that their prices for plants — especially vegetables (where they undersell the big box stores) — are very good. Their prices on bagged soil amendments, on the other hand, aren’t the lowest I’ve found. They’re not the highest I’ve found, but since they’re not the lowest I’ve usually bought my plants here then picked up the bags of compost or peat or whatever else I’ve needed somewhere else. Now, they sell bulk materials (mulch, compost, topsoil, sand, crusher run, etc.), but I’ve never bought any of that so I can’t say how those prices are.
Two other things to note. One is that when I went in the other day, they were still on their winter hours. Last summer, they were closing later than they were the other day and later than their website (which could use some work) currently says they do. The second thing is that they’re on the west side of London Bridge Road in between I-​264 and Potters Road, which means their entrance is in the work zone for the the new interstate on– and off-​ramp. When I went the other day, I almost drove past the place because I had a hard time figuring out which orange barrels to turn in between for the entrance.