Bates Nursery & Garden Center

Soooo Many Gorgeous Roses!
Bates is located on the outskirts of town and is almost all outside. The plants are lush and beautiful. They have row after row of different rose varieties all in full bloom. It is so much nicer to choose roses when you can see and smell the blooms! The landscaping plants were in excellent health and nice, big sizes. I found some new shrubs and accent plants as well as some decorating ideas from their displays.
I did not see any staff until a while had passed, but that was fine with me since I needed time to explore and smell the flowers before deciding.
Just a fantastic nursery!

I don’t get the love for this place. I’ve been a few times, always to look for specific plants, and each time I’ve left empty handed. Although they have had what I wanted in stock, the plants I found or was shown (sometimes I’m greeted and asked if I need help, other times I wander for ages and never see a staff member) have been rather pitiful looking. While I did see some healthy plants, I saw a lot of unhealthy ones, too. I’m sure there must be some rhyme or reason to their organization, but I haven’t parsed it yet, so you just have to look and hope for the best or find someone to ask.
This last visit will probably be my last. I was looking for a specific variety of hydrangea and was shown to a small row. They only had one left of the variety I wanted, and it was poorly rooted, literally falling over sideways in its pot. Many of the leaves had brown spots and holes, and it just generally looked sickly. They still wanted over $ 30 for it. I said thanks anyway and left, no sense in paying that much for something that likely won’t make it through its first winter. I expected to see quality local stuff, not diseased Monrovia junk (for a TN native, too! Such a shame).

I REALLY want to like this place but they disappoint each time more than the last. Its somewhat local to me and I want to support them. They make it very hard to return. I have gone a total of about 5 or 6 times. I kick myself every single time as I leave with nothing. I just cannot support a place where they act like you should feel privileged to buy their product.
Customer Service — The staff has helped me maybe once. They are really hard to find and generally hide out or walk away when you get near. This place is massive, so trying to locate a staff member working there is maddening. Again, this has happened several times, not an isolated incident.
Prices are VERY expensive now for some reason. Almost exactly double the cost compared to at least one other local nursery, literally double. Of course this is when they actually have the prices marked on their plants which seems rare. Nothing like a surprise at the cash register after hunting for plants by yourself for an hour.
Come on Bates you can do better!

My husband and I recently redeemed a groupon at Bates, and we had a great experience. Although we knew we were looking for shade perennials, we had little knowledge about what our best options would be. At least three different employees helped us find the right plants for our space, patiently listening to us explain the dimensions and light, as we forgot to bring a photograph. The selection was unique to the location, as there was little overlap with other stores we had visited.
Soil and compost options are also plentiful. Bates sells high quality products, and I enjoyed supporting a local business. We’re likely to return in the spring, when our garden beds need a boost.

Wow that staff at Bates is incredible. They are so friendly and knowledgeable, I am grateful. I always go in with big ideas and no clue what I’m doing and they help me make good manageable choices for what I can handle. They have great prices and often times they have sales or coupons. I buy all my flower and gardening supplies at Bates.

The most diverse selection of vegetables and herbs I’ve seen, with reasonable prices on everything. There is a huge selection of trees, shrubs, and flowers — and pretty much everything related to gardening. The staff was very helpful and friendly.

I really liked Bates because of the selection and they are local. Growing up my parents always got their plants from Bates but because I’ve been renting until recently I had forgotten about Bates until I got a Groupon. I’m glad I went back. They had a huge selection and the plants were beautiful. They had a good selection of heirloom vegetables. The prices were reasonable too, not as cheap as home depot or lowes, but I believe worth it. My one disappointment was the customer service. No one greeted me and because this place was so big it would have been nice if someone had provided some direction or at least asked what I was looking for. I eventually found my way around and as I was leaving to check out one employee asked if I needed help. Too late. The woman who checked me out was friendly and answered my questions about growing some strawberries. I’ll definitely go back though. Normally customer service is THE reason I support a business but you just can’t beat the selection at Bates.

I love Bates. I try to make at least one or two trips here over the season. It is a huge place with a wonderful selection of … well … everything! It is a little bit out of the way, but pretty easy to find once you have been there. Yep, I could go to one of the big box stores, but I always feel like I have been on a little adventure when I go to Bates. It’s about taking time to look at all the interesting plants and enjoy being surrounded by flowers more than just picking out a couple of things to take home.
Staff is very helpful! They were very accommodating as we showed them a picture of an unknown plant growing in our garden and tried to identify it. Still not sure what it was, but appreciated that they tried! They made some good suggestions for the kinds of plants I was looking for and I can’t wait to see how my garden looks this summer.

Last year I bought a Groupon, not knowing what to expect. I’m so glad I did, I hope that they do another Groupon this year! All my plants except a few serviced the harsh summer we had last year, and they were all in containers, so that’s saying a lot. This year we have our ground worked and a few raised beds! I’m excited to get back over to Bates to get our plants
Don’t go there expecting it to be cheap, that’s not what you’re going to find. Expect QUALITY plants and a knowledgable staff. I even signed up for their emails and have found them to be very informative.
If you have a green thumb or brown thumb or whatever kind of thumb. Go to Bates, they can help you no matter how horrible you are at growing plants!

Fresh back from a trip to Italy, we decided we needed window boxes with flowers. I didn’t inherit the green thumb from my parents, so I figured I needed a little extra assistance picking plants. Visiting Europe also added momentum to my local shopping kick, since big box stores are relatively few and far between across the pond.
Upon arrival, I hear soft rock of the 60s, 70s, and 80s piped in throughout the property. I knew all the words. I must be turning in to my dad! But I still need assistance with identifying flowers that will work and names I can’t pronounce. Fortunately there was an attentive staff offering suggestions without being pushy. One employee even had a «I love to play in the dirt» T-​shirt on.
Sure prices aren’t cutthroat low, but I was surprised by how reasonably they are. The selection is split among several areas, with lots of trees, shrubs, vegetables, ground covers, and a massive section dedicated to annuals. Plants are mostly well organized. I visited during an abnormal heatwave, and there was a large cooler in the middle of the facility with a sign «complimentary cold bottled water.» The staff also offered to bring me water several times.
It may be a few months before we can reach a verdict on whether they turned me into a green thumb, but so far so good.

Lots of selection, I was happy to find everything (and more) I was looking for to plant in my garden. There wasn’t a lot of help from the staff, however, even though I asked a few times. Prices are reasonable, considering I’m used to DC! They have pretty much everything you could ever want for your garden or landscaping project. It’s just a little out of the way.

Bates Nursery isn’t a discount center. You’ll pay a little more for what you buy compared to Wowe’s and Home Despot. However, when you buy from Bates, you are getting higher quality plants and seedlings than what you would get from the other two discounters.
Case in point: I bought 32 tomato plants this spring. 8 came from the Wowe’s in the Super Wal-​Mart Center on Charlotte. 8 came from the Home Despot in Bellevue. The remaining 16 came from Bates. The Bates’ tomatoes are now more than 7 feet tall with thick, almost tree-​like branches. I’ve pulled more than 250 pounds of tomatoes from those 16 plants. The other 16 are nice, but nothing like the Bates Tomatoes. They are about 5 feet tall, and I’ve pulled off maybe 50 – 75 pounds of tomatoes.
The same holds true for my cucumbers, zucchini, eggplant, and all the other stuff. I am an avid supporter of organic gardening, and I use the square foot gardening method. For the things I don’t start from seed, I will only shop at Bates next year. I’ve used them off and on for years, but I’m not going to use them exclusively in 2010 and beyond.