La Sumida Nursery

Didnt know they closed at 5:30. Got there just before closing. I’ll tell you, even though I bought some stuff as quickly as I could, they made it clear it was time to go. I needed help but no one was interested in talking. Shoot, they locked the gate behind me and sent me out the opposite driveway. Now, I work til 5 so from now on I’ll just go to Home Depot and all the folks at La Sumida can get home on time.

Wow! What an awesome selection of plants and garden supplies. I found a beautiful ivy geranium in a mottled burgundy and white — for my collection. The prices were good, too.

As a tree care professional and backyard gardener, I absolutely love La Sumida Nursery. It is like the Trader Joe’s of garden centers. Here’s what I enjoy:
#1 Wide variety of merchandise and plant material (well stocked too)
#2 Easy in-​and-​out parking
#3 Friendly, knowledgeable staff
#4 Rose Garden – the selection is just WOW
#5 No crappy stuff that is just silly and stupid
#6 Pruning tool selection (Felco, Corona +)
#7 Fast-​checkout and carry-​out when I need it
#8 «Why didn’t I think of that» items such as pre-​made raised beds (brilliant).
I especially appreciate the location and parking on weekends when I need to make multiple visits.

I didn’t really need much assistance so I can’t comment on their level of service, but I loved their selection of plants/​planters. This is by far my favorite nursery!

Very beautiful plants, very friendly and helpful staff — they even gave me planting tips for home for the plants I purchased.

Shame on you La Sumida! ~ You knowingly sold me 3 large geraniums that were infested with rust. Not ever having any previous problems with rust in geraniums I am very disappointed with this previously thought of «top-​notch» nursery. I did return them the very next day and was guided towards the spray that would «take care of the problem.» However, I didn’t buy these the day before to bring home infected plants. I found out that rust is common in zonal geraniums grown in a hot-​house. These (and I am sure others) came to La Sumida already infested. What should have happened is that La Sumida should not have accepted the entire shipment, rather than selling them to unknowing clients and then telling them to buy their spray. These were not «sale» plants ~ they were expensive.
You have just lost a customer in me, as now I can’t trust your ethics, your choice of growers and the obvious poor ethics of selling infested plants.
They did refund the returned plants.

I went there end of rose season, however, still have many healthy roses to choose from. Roses are tall, vigrous, lots of blooms and never seen like that in most nurseries across west coast. Love this nursery and back again next year. Best rose bushes available in California

nice selection of plants but the sales lady was either having a bad day or could improve in the friendly department. Overall, I’d give it a fair rating… pricing is fair, a little higher than most… they rush you out the door at closing time which shows they really can’t wait to leave the place

I love going to La Sumida to buy plants and flowers. They have a great selection of items and the staff has always been super helpful to me.

A fantastic selection and a very helpful staff make this my favorite Nursery in the SB area.

Before I get into my complaint about La Sumida, I want to let you know of the many other nurseries in town that I’ve had great success with. Starting with Terra Sol Garden Center, located just one block north of La Sumida on the same side of the street on Overpass Rd. Terra Sol Garden Center is easy to miss because it’s not directly on Patterson. One of the best selections of veggies, flowers and fruit trees and the staff is so helpful and nice, unlike my experience with La Sumida. I have also had terrific success with; 7 Day Nursery, Island View, SB Home Improvement and yes even Home Depot.
Now on to my complaint about La Sumida:
On April 5^th 2011 I drove by La Sumida after work to pick up some tomato plants. I drove into the parking lot, parked, got a cart and started shopping. It was right about 5:20 on a bright sunny and warm day. I spent about 10 minutes looking through and picking out the right plants, trying to separate the determinate from the indeterminate. I wasn’t aware that they were about to close as there was nothing indicating this. I then heard tall woman with long gray hair and glasses (Judi Smith) yell across the parking lot «We’re Closed». I recognized her as a longtime employee. At first I just stood there a little shocked and not sure how to respond and then I said «Do I have a few minutes to finish up?» She strongly responded with «No, we’re closed». Now, I can understand when it’s time to close up shop and go home but the way I was treated was so abrupt and rude, I just couldn’t believe it. I’ve been going to this nursery since I was a kid. There was no: «I’m sorry we’ll be closing in 10 minutes» or any type of warning. The gate was wide open and people were shopping. I had already picked out about 8 plants, which I left on the cart. I drove away actually feeling hurt, kind of like losing a friend. On my way south on the freeway I called 7 Day Nursery, which honestly does have the friendliest staff, and I asked if they were still open, she said that they closed at 6pm. I told her I was on my way but with traffic I probably wouldn’t get there until 6pm. She told me not to worry, that they’d stay open for me. I arrived and the woman was just as nice in person and gave me the time I needed to shop. They had a fantastic selection of tomato plants, all of the variety I was looking for. When I got home I was still shaken by my experience with La Sumida so I decided to formalize my complaint in a letter to the manager, Dee. I received an apology and Dee told me that Judi was having a bad day but should not have taken it out on me. She went on to say that that they do follow a closing protocol which was not followed. She told me that she passed my email on to Judi and that Judi felt terrible about the way she treated me. I understand people have bad days and I can even accept an apology for this. In another email Dee told me «If you have any suggestions on what we might do to make this up to you I would be very grateful.» Well, since I have already received the «corporate apology» they must be looking for an alternative resolution. For me, I looked at my time invested. It was over an hour of my time wasted, from the loss of time I spent selecting my plants to being told to leave and then going across town to another nursery, not to mention the email complaints and follow ups to bring this matter to La Sumida’s attention. I answered Dee’s question by putting a value to that time. When I was chased away from La Sumida, I ended up spending $ 66.00 at 7 Day Nursery. I placed a value of my time at half of that total. I then responded to Dee’s question that I would accept a $ 33.00 store credit for my loss of time and hurtful behavior by Judi. Dee’s response was; «Unfortunately we cannot give monetary credit except in cases of refunds». Ok, so now I’m feeling both «baited» and rubber-​stamped. So, what did Dee mean when she said: «If you have any suggestions on what we might do to make this up to you I would be very grateful.» Her answer: «I guess what I meant was if you would accept a personal apology from Judi, or a letter or something along those lines». The problem I have with this is that the company already apologized so this «request for suggestions» was completely empty. I wasn’t looking for Dee to rub Judi’s face in it with an added apology. This incident cost me my time. I thought a pleasant way to resolve this would be a simple gratuitous gesture of paying me for half of what I spent 7 Day Nursery. Basically, the wholesale cost of what I would have spent at La Sumida. Dee followed her own corporate protocol and turned this opportunity down. An apology really only goes so far, I would expect and apology for rude behavior but this just brings us back to a neutral place and doesn’t give me back my time. La Sumida used to be a great place to shop but it has certainly one down hill in the customer service department. Please take my suggestions to go to Terra Sol Garden Center and 7 Day Nurse