Bayside Garden Center

I usually end up parking across the street from here at one of the $ 5.00 «all day» lots when going to Angel Island. I usually try to stop in and spend some time at Bayside Garden and see what’s on offer. They’ve got extremely healthy looking succulents and lavender, along with an array of other spring time annuals. It’s not large, but it is well stocked.
Staff are helpful but not over bearing and I feel comfortable coming in just to browse. There is a resident cat that basks in the sun and will come up to greet you, which is the icing on the cake when I stop in.
Great garden center for the locals and a nice stop for a tourist like me to get some gardening ideas and stroll through their outdoor patio.

Pleasant rambling nursery. They were able to special order two plants for me that I had been trying to get my hands on for three years. Very helpful nice folks.

They have a nice selection and we really, really wanted to support a local business, but it’s really not worth the aggravation. Customer service is not a priority here at all. We went in on Aug 2 and asked Matt the owner to help us find plants for a tiered planter box that can handle sun, don’t need a lot of water, and that the deer won’t eat. We sent him pictures the next day but didn’t hear back. I tried calling and left several messages but never got a call back. Then I tried stopping by in person and did this several times and finally got him to come over (after a couple of missed appts) to look at it in person and take measurements. He promised ideas and pictures «soon» but I never got any. Many personal stops later, I finally got some drawings the week of September 8^th, more than a month after we first stopped by.
We exchanged emails and set an appointment for this past Sat to go over all the plants in person. He assured me that he would be there but when we showed up at the scheduled time, we were told that he wouldn’t be there all weekend but he would call me first thing Mon morning. I stopped by this morning (now Sept 22^nd) and was told again that he would be in later and they would make sure he called me right away. At 5:30 this afternoon, I realized he never called so I called the store. After I mentioned how frustrated I’ve been, he said he didn’t think he could help me anymore. He said he was too busy for my business.
I am not sure how someone can run a business in this manner. It shouldn’t take seven and a half weeks to get a customer a proposal. We were ready to move ahead and even had additional areas in our yard we wanted to hire him to help us with, but no way will we ever go into that store again. And we will tell friends our story so they don’t have to go through what we went through and waste weeks in the process.

Not just the selection, prices, and friendly service… but their sign makes me smile, every day…
«We’re so excited about spring we wet our plants…»
«Who’s Your Dadddy? Don’t forget Dad likes plants…»
Call me simple for loving puns, but it just makes this adorable and quaint and EXCELLENT nursery even more fun to visit.

Some times I suffer (or make others suffer) from bouts of Goldie Locks Syndrome. That poor man who owns/​works here took me around the whole nursery pointing out plants as I thought «That one is too small, that one is too tall, that one is too wide» until we stumbled upon the plants that are always «just right». Succulents!
Bay Center had a great selection of agaves, aloes, and all other succulents. I went with the classics (sempervivums and echeveria). I also chose another plant but the kind man asked where I lived and explained that my choice wouldn’t survive a freeze.
Five stars for being honest, patient, and extremely helpful.

Great care and selection of plants. Kind and patient staff. Knowledge and positive people what more can i ask? Came here for some help with the garden and left with so much good advice and the plants I bought are looking beautiful. Much thanks!!!

Great local garden center. I find the staff always very helpful. They also have cats and chickens walking around, and a bird cage which is great for distracting my kids.

Twice I have visited this great place, and both times came away very satisified. The second time, they were real helpful as I was looking for something a bit eccentric (something cats would like), and the man recommended cat mint, as opposed to catnip. My cat adored it and went crazy over it! Very friendly service, and approved by my feline-​American housemate also.

I can’t believe this place hasn’t been reviewed! Been there 2 – 3 times, only once did I leave with a purchase. The first time was several years ago and the owner was very nice and helpful. This last time I was looking for something specific, hostas and water plants. I was directed here from green jeans nursery in strawberry because they didn’t have any water plants. The kid (am I getting old or is everyone getting younger?) who tried to help me was nice enough but when I asked for water plants he recommended a kind of bamboo that would be great. I was intrigued because I had never heard of a bamboo that could be submerged. He ended up showing me equisetum (horse tail) which I was quite familiar with and no way is it in the bamboo family (phyllostachys). I don’t like sales people bull sh*tting me. Do I look so old and decrepit that I can’t tell a maple from a redwood? I think not. Guess you can fool those rich folks in Tiburon since everything they touch turns green.