Suburban Lawn & Garden

As an update:
My family was contacted by the manager of Suburban after seeing this review. She was very apologetic for the way her staff handled us and made us aware that she had reprimanded those working in the store that evening accordingly. We were presented with a poinsettia and a gift card to shop at their store in the future. We appreciated the effort to make amends.
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I am BEYOND disgusted with the attitudes and treatment my mother and I received from the 2 – 3 folks working in the interior shop at Suburban.
We arrived to purchase a Christmas tree around 4:40pm this evening. not knowing they close at 5. We walked around to try to pick out the perfect Christmas tree for our new house (my parents just moved to KC within the last few months). No one communicated to us that they were closing at 5… no warning, no reminder, nothing. Because we had not been inside of the store to see the hours (since the trees are all outside), we assumed they would close at 6 given that no one had said anything to us. Boy were we wrong! Talk about a bunch of scrooges who work there…
My mother and I walked inside the store at 5:15pm to pay for the tree and quickly browse the interior as we were most likely going to buy a large wreath and a few poinsettias. We were immediately «greeted» by two teenagers who basically told us we could not browse the store because «just so you know we closed 15 minutes ago». WOW! I can’t imagine what our world would be like if everyone had as bad of an attitude as those two and were not willing to be accommodating AT ALL.
To make matters worse, the manager of the store was just as rude, if not more rude. We immediately apologized for being there 15 min after closing time as we had no idea. He basically made us feel like we had gone completely overboard with the amount of time we were there past closing. 15 minutes? I would die to only have to work for 15 extra minutes a day… try a couple of hours and then get back to me on what you think is overboard. We were told that the manager of the store has worked there 40 years — I am honestly not sure how after that display of terrible customer service. At one point my mom actually had to ask the 3 of them if we should just leave and go buy our tree elsewhere.
The ONLY reason we ended up buying our tree from here this evening was because of the two gentlemen who were working outside that helped us… Alejandro and Chris. They were as nice as it gets and did not give us any grievance… if anyone should have been fussing at us for staying past close, it is those guys who are outside in the elements all day. Thank you Chris and Alejandro for showing us what good customer service is. For the 3 workers inside… we will never be purchasing anything from you again and I plan to tell all of my friends and family around KC not to as well.

I shopped at Suburban for probably over a decade, and the plant quality has been typically good. They are one of the most expensive nurseries around though, and our last purchase has been not a very good one.
We bought a 3″ maple and a 3″ linden tree, and had them plant it. Both trees have done very poorly, and I even called for a warranty on the linden tree as it was losing leaves and not settling in, even towards the end of the warranty period. This was a $ 450 purchase for the Linden tree, so I wasn’t about to call it a wash. One of Suburban’s tree guys came out, said the mulch was a little high, and pulled back about 1−2″ mulch from the base of the tree. The tree continued to suffer, despite my watering and fertilizing. Now half the tree is dead. I called Suburban, and they said it was out of warranty. I argued that when it was under warranty, you more or less denied my claim and the tree is dying in spite of you «expertly» pulling back the mulch. They then forwarded me to the owner, Matt, who is extremely difficult to get into.
I had to call him 3 – 4 times before he called me back. He seemed amenable to replacing the tree with a 2″ tree, and said he would send me a picture to make sure that was ok. Seemed ok, until he never sent the picture, and then now I haven’t been able to get him to return my calls for the last two months.
I suppose the moral of the story is, if you have something you need warrantied, push for it. Disappointed at the outcome here, and I will be taking my money elsewhere.

Even though they have a large selection of trees and shurbs, the people who work there are very rude. A few of the people who have helped me there are quite kind and helpful but a majority of the people, the nursery crew to be exact, are quite rude and unhelpful. They might know their information but I found them rather rude. They act as if you are stupid. More than one time, I have had to wait more than five minutes for their help cause they seemed to be relaxing in their gazebo catching some shade. I have had about enough of this place and will NOT shop there again.

This is the go to place for trees and shrubs. Plants, herbs and annuals are not as strong. Water garden selection is VERY weak.
Don’t expect the kind of help you get at Family Tree. The employee’s here are in the zone. They are a well oiled machine and asking a question can sometimes throw a wrench in the system. Employees at the checkout are in their own world too, but in an inefficient way. One time I was charged for one bag of potting soil and she tried to give me two. Another day, I stood there for a good two minutes while two teenagers behind the register finished their personal conversation.
The place itself it very pretty and well organized.

Large selection of pots scattered around, which fuels my addiction to pottery, thank you. All of the plants look exceptionally healthy compared to other garden centers I have seen and the staff was more than helpful. Being new to Kansas, I quickly discovered that a «green thumb» in California does not a «green thumb» in Kansas make. We were helped by two different staff members who took the time to answer all of our questions and helped us find the right plants for our current conditions.
One of the staff members was kind enough to direct us to someone outside of the store that could help us with all of our orchid-​related questions, as I have developed a newfound love of them, and currently I should be convicted for crimes against orchids. On that note, Suburban Lawn and Garden has a wonderful selection of orchids, some with the largest blooms I have ever seen. If I can keep my current collection alive, I will return to add to it.
Overall, I found the visit to be more than enjoyable and will make this my go-​to place for general plant needs. Highly recommended. If only they had a larger bonsai selection, I would have petitioned Unilocal for a 6^th star option.

One of the best places in KC to shop for plants. They have hundreds of bushes, trees and plants year round. Their plants are particularly healthy and full. They carry seed, fertilizer, pots, tools, spreaders, wind chimes, gloves and even garden clogs. On top of all that, they have a 2 year warranty on all their bushes and trees.
A good thing for us they did. We bought a lilac bush last year and it died before the end of the summer. Probably overzealous watering or bad placement on our part. Anyway, they took it back without any questions. We got a credit for the full value of the bush. We used that credit this year to buy a red bud tree. Hopefully we will have better luck.
The customer service is wonderful. There are always people around to answer questions or direct you to the right section. I especially like the carryout service since I usually buy way more than I can carry.
I think they are on the higher priced end of the scale. You definitely get great plants but I’m spoiled by living so close to the city market where all the plants are dirt cheap.

Best selection and prices in town. I love the large nursery for Halloween pumpkins and Christmas trees. Love it!

Had to get some gifts for some gardeners and had my bag filled in about 5 minutes. In this time I had been helped, or been asked if I needed help three times by employees who were busy in the store. The inside of the place is arranged neatly and relatively well-​stocked. I overheard an employee giving advice to a customer and he was giving just what was needed without selling them a bunch of unnecessary junk. I’ll be back and would feel safe sending others there for help/​supplies.