Mel-O-Dee Garden Center

This is written by Janice. We have used Mel O Dee for twenty or more years and been very pleased with the work they do. In the past, they were dependable and very good at landscaping, especially Damon. On this last job, however, Damon abandoned the job BEFORE it was completed, leaving us completely stranded. While there was a misunderstanding regarding an oil slick left by the soil truck (another separate company), all was resolved with the soil company. After so many years and what I thought was a good relationship with Mel O Dee (Damon) I am totally surprised at his lack of responsibility in this matter. In business one doesn’t just go away in the middle of a job.

With the deadline for my Turf Removal Rebate fast approaching, I got into action. I had my contactor lined up, had a pretty good design idea for the space, but now I needed plants. What I know about growing things you can put in a thimble and put it back on your finger. Like NOTHING!
A friend recommended Mel-​O-​Dee. After kicking around Lowes and a couple of «wholesale» nurseries near me where you can’t really find anyone who speaks English, I decided to go check them out. And am I ever glad I did.
We found the Garden Center to be very clean. Everything was thriving and vibrant. We were greeted by Gloria who skillfully took in our needs and showed us exactly what we were looking for. I returned the next day to meet with Norm, the owner. Really a fantastic man. Since we live relatively close by, he was willing to come out and look at my design to make recommedations on which succulents to put in the two garden spaces, how many roses and border shrubs we needed, and even to «place» the plants to ensure they were planted in the ideal location. This is just the type of customer service that is so very hard to find today.
Given that we were in a bit of a time crunch, Norm put the order together and delivered it to my house the very next day.
I really can’t say enough about the quality of the service and product we received. Having shopped around a bit I can also say the pricing was beyond fair especially considering all they did for us. I will never buy another plant or pot anywhere else!

The staff is always friendly and I really love the pretty and serene atmosphere of the nursery. My low rating is not centered around the people.
There are never any customers here. The place was kind of like a ghost town when we shopped there. They never seemed to have what we were looking for, the selection left something to be desired and the prices on many plants was outrageous.
There was dust on all the merchandise. You could tell it’d been sitting there a long time. I am not sure how they stay in business.
I know that it’s a harsh review, but this place has a sweet location, I love the outside and I think if they were better stocked that they’d attract more customers.

Just recently went in to this nursery and was pleasantly surprised at the way the owner explained the feeding process for my carrot wood tree. He didn’t just point me in the direction of the plant foods… he walked me to the area and explained how the feeding process works… when to feed… how much to feed… very informative and he didn’t have to take that kind of time. Very impressed.

Not friendly at all! Never said hello. I went looking for Organic Herbs. No Organic anything. Won’t be going back there. Kind of rude

I went to to ask about wholesale. Norman approached me, and cut me off before I could even get through a polite introduction. I mean to say no is one thing, and I understand now that they don’t do wholesale, but since when is it ok to cut someone off mid-​sentence? I won’t be buying anything from here anytime soon.

I seem to have had mixed experiences lately with this nursery. The past few times I’ve been here this summer to buy more plants for a landscaping project, some of the stock of plants seemed to look a little more wilted than you would expect from a nursery, like the plants aren’t being displayed in the right sunlight locations or not getting enough water. They looked a bit stressed/​fried or even dead in some cases.
It wouldn’t surprise me as much at to see this at Lowe’s, but growing plants is supposed to be a nursery’s expertise. I would blame this on one of the many heat waves but when I go to other nurseries in the Valley only a few miles away all the plants look lush and healthy even on the 100 degree days.
Additionally, some of their plants, especially the ones towards the back half of the place, were poorly signed or not at all. It was difficult to figure out what some plants were called, their prices or their care requirements.
That said, the plants we DID buy from them are doing fine still. However, the experience walking through was sort of disappointing given they’ve always been a very good nursery and we’ve been going to them for 30 years at least.
Hopefully this is just a bad summer for them. I’d hate to see the nursery go downhill.

I love this place! Great for all types of gardening. I particularly visited them for container gardening and terrarium-​friendly plants and they had a good selection. The owner was very informative and helpful.
The only recommendation I would make would be to hire more knowledgeable staff. They don’t necessarily have to be expert gardeners, but at least those with an interest to learn the plants. Because I noticed in my visits here, if you only come across the cashiers and not the owner or those tending the plants, they have no idea where anything is and any plant you show them looks alien to them.

Awwwww I love this place!!! Best nursery in the SFV they have such a large selection of plants, and if they dont have it most likely it’s not in season or it wont grow well due to our weather. If you are really into gardening this is the place to go. aslo the Landscaping dept is super AWESOME! Damon & Norm are perfectionist @ what they do they are the go-​to when you want a beautiful yard but dont want to move a finger.

Have been shopping here for years. Plants are strong and hearty. Good variety of healthy fruit trees, herbs and veggies in season. I have 2 Myers lemon trees from here that I bought with lots of fruit already on it. I always buy a new succulent when I am there and now have over 100 growing well. Both the small starter bougainvillia and 6′ tall grown bush are happy in my garden. Haven’t bought roses here but they have a decent supply. They also sell pots, fountains, garden tools, soil, food. Usually only one or two staff on duty. The clerks are nice but are there to ring you up not give gardening advice. Someone will carry out heavy stuff and load it in your car for you which I really appreciate. If you happen to catch the owner in you are in luck. She is very knowledgeable. They run a landscape business so are usually busy elsewhere. Overall, it’s a nice nursery with fair prices but dont expect to be waited on.

We came across this nursery by accident. The moment we walked in, we fell in love with the look and feel of this nursery. It feels sooo soothing and relaxing, which matches what we were looking to do with our landscape. We mainly buy succulents and desert plants from them. They have such a nice variety that we couldn’t find anywhere else in our community nurseries. This is our go to place to help create our desert oasis.
I didn’t give them a five star, because they can definitely improve their customer service abit. They are friendly and courteous enough, but definitely don’t come off warm and fuzzy like other nurseries’ staff. Nevertheless, I still like going here.

Prices are always great! They have cute things and gret plants. They are very helpful. I love going here for my tomato plants and herbs. They are cheaper than Walmart!!! Hello!!!

Best Small Nursery in the Valley.
I love spending hrs at nurseries, walking around looking at all the different plants and asking questions.
This weekend was my first time going into Mel-​O– Dee, I had always passed by it but had never gone in. I was afraid that sales people would jump on me as soon as I walked in. (From the outside it seems to be more of a landscaping services type of place.) But no, I was able to walk around and look at everything on my own; and when I wanted help they were readily available. I was looking for a Japanese Maple and not only did they have me on the price but I was able to get so much information about the different types and which one would suit my space and me better! It was great!!!
This nursery is one of the smaller nurseries but it is so well kept. All of the plants look well taken care of. And the staff is so helpful and very interested in making sure you’re happy with the end result. They give you both the good and the bad about plants; making sure you understand what you’re getting yourself into. It’s really great advice. Loved the place.

I built a Koi pond as a project at home and this was a great location since they have a Koi pond themselves on property with plants available in water (i.e. lily pads, etc) and bog style plants/​flower. It gives you a great idea of how your final product may look.
They also have a number of trees and plants for all valley environments on premise and offer full landscaping services.
The only reason I gave them a 3 instead of a 4 star rating was when I was shopping for Bamboo the sales representative was very negative towards my project even though I explained the Bamboo would be surrounded on all four sides by a concrete planter.