The Green Goddess Nursery and Foliage Company

The poor birds stuck in a cage were my only problem with this nursery. Amazing collection of pottery and fountains. I treated myself to two fountains on sale. Yes my friends they are a bit pricy. I loved their staff. Extremely helpful with free advice especially for a black thumb like me!

This is an interesting place, I’d seen it many times before but never had a chance to step inside until today.
Not unlike some other larger nurseries in Phoenix, they have a couple of massive aviaries with large, vocal birds of a few varieties (Blue and Gold Macaws, Green and even Scarlet Macaws, plus a Cocaktiel) and even a chicken coop with hens and roosters. The birds are fun to look at, but like their counterparts in a zoo, they all seem rather disinterested in their human visitors, probably because it’s old hat. Can’t really blame them!
As far as the selection and layout, I guess it’s a toss up. The layout is interesting, and I guess fun for people just exploring the place to see what they have, but honestly it’s poorly conceived and executed from a retail standpoint. Case in point, you have pottery and statuary strewn about, sometimes in dangerously high stacks (can you imagine if some careless child was running about?). If I was the owner, I would be petrified by the potential for accidents, property loss and injury, but that’s just my $.02. Statues, fountains and pottery seem to be interspersed haphazardly, again with no real pattern or systematic layout.
If you’re looking for plants and not pottery, it’s still a messy layout. Signage indicates cactus and agave are this way and that, but many times there’s just no rhyme or reason to where they place this stuff. You’ll find some mislabeled Agave zebra (they called it A. marmorata) strewn about near the chicken/​bird aviaries, but also in another area, and still mislabeled. They also have some smaller cactus on tables by the front, which seemingly houses random plants. There are also some specimens tucked away at the back area of the «pottery maze», again with no rhyme or reason. If the layout forces you to scour every inch of the nursery to be sure you’ve seen all the agave, that’s a pretty poor layout, wouldn’t you you say? In addition, if you’re looking for a larger specimen of agave, you’ll have to look all over because it’s basically an Easter-​egg hunt. That’s OK, except they are still mislabeled. Ironically, they have an all-​too-​obvious Agave marmorata that was mislabeled as A. salmiana, of all things. Consider the price tag on even the moderately sized specimens are in the triple-​digit range, you might try a bit harder to label them correctly. These were not some gray-​area plants that were too young to properly ID, nor is there anyone with their head screwed on straight who can mistake zebra vs. marmorata, much less marmorata vs. salmiana. Either willful ignorance or just plain laziness on the part of the nursery. I have never seen such egregious mislabeling on agave before, and it makes me question the accuracy on other things.
Last but not least, their website is wholly inaccurate. They list on their site the following bamboo available at this nursery:
Bambusa membranacea (which is actually Dendrocalamus membranacea, but I digress)
Bambusa multiplex
Bambusa pervariabilis
Bambusa ventricosa
So, after walking throughout their complex and looking at every square foot, including their massive and otherwise very impressive green house in back, there was not a bamboo to be seen. I asked a staffer at the front desk if they had any bamboo, and he flatly responded with a no. I point out that their website indicates they have some and he tells me «We used to have a source for multiplex, but not anymore.» I guess the translation here is that they really only had one kind of bamboo, and now they don’t even have those anymore. Seriously? A follow-​up call on the matter yielded the oft-​quoted, «our website is being updated,» line regarding the misinformation. I guess if that ever happens, I’ll update the review accordingly, but I don’t think anyone is going to hold their breath on that one.
I really wanted to like this place, and even found myself wishing I’d brought a camera, but at the end of the day it was a let down and a waste of time. In a nutshell, an overabundance of expensive pottery littering an already poorly organized nursery, that doesn’t actually sell the things their website claims they do. Not sure why I would want to go back.

What a nice selection of fountains so far to date best in the valley. Fun place to walk through. A hidden gem!

had to order a replacement fountain from them recently. special order and came out great. reasonable prices and great service. best fountain and specialty landscape store in town.

Amazing selection of pots and plants. (You could say I’m a little picky and even I was able to find just the right things!) :) Green Goddess updated our front yard — everything from adding more gravel, to adding more plants and 2 new trees — even custom ordering just the right trees for our needs. They also gave us privacy bushes for the back yard after our neighbors new yard guys trimmed their hedges back so far we could see into their house. And they beautified our entire home when they found a way to add planters with the most beautiful and lush, seasonal flowers flanking either side of the garage. (And every season they plant NEW lush flowers for a nominal fee). My stepmother was recently over and she said our yard has never looked more beautiful… and she’s even pickier than I am! Haaa!
Warmest thanks to the fabulous team at Green Goddess for making our house feel (and look) more like a home.

Large selection of plants, pots and fountains. I think what I like best about this nursery is the signs pointing you to other parts of the nursery… vines this way, trees that way. Very helpful because there weren’t staff walking around on the grounds. Other nurseries should do that too! I like not having to search an entire unfamiliar nursery for one plant.
I thought the prices were high though. The fountain we looked at was $ 800 and not that great, cast from a mold like most. But I’ve seen similar handmade in Phx fountains for the same price. The staff person said he could order it in a different color and pointed to a wall of color samples. I think if you sign up for their mailing list, you’ll get better deals because they send out coupons.
I probably won’t go back but i think it was worth the visit just to check out their inventory.

I was going to purchase a modern concrete rectangle planter online for $ 1200 and found it here for $ 200.00. Really great prices and the staff spent time with me to find the right plants for my house. Staff went above and beyond for me and prices are obviously reasonable.

I came here to the green goddess with my mom and younger sister. While my mom was shopping for plants (doing mom stuff), my sister and I went to their bird exhibit. How cool was this! First off, many of the parrots here are rescue parrots, which is a really cool thing to see. Some of their parrots talk, and say things like «hello» and their name! When we left, one parrot said «goodbye» and waved at us with its wings. Before we left, they offered us free waters (which I gladly took because it’s like 1,000,000 degrees outside). Great service. Cool birds. And a great environment.

I’m very disappointed with a recent experience I had with this company. I called for assistance diagnosing an issue I with a fountain in my yard. I was told it would be $ 80 to drive to my home to diagnose the issue, regardless of the outcome. Many businesses charge a service fee to make a home visit but then offset that fee by any actual repairs or labor needed. I’m ok with this since I wouldn’t expect them to send someone down then find nothing to be done and forced to absorb the trip expenses. After requesting to speaking with the repair manager, Aaron, I he said it would be $ 80 to drive to my home regardless of the repairs completed or not since he has to send out a minimum of two men and a full heavy-​duty truck. This makes zero sense since I’m simply asking for diagnosis and expect a minor issue. Why would anyone send two men and a heavy duty truck for such a house call is beyond me. I recognize fuel is expensive and businesses need to recoup their costs but it does not cost $ 80 do make a home visit. It’s clear to me that green goddess is not interested in my business based on this ridiculous policy. I’ll find a fair and reputable fountain repair business that wants my business. Apparently I was mistaken by thinking this business was reasonable.

This was definitely worth it. I am so glad I found these folks. Having just bought a new home, I was looking to put my personal touches on it, in particular in the backyard. Green Goddess came highly recommended by a friend, and so I went there to talk to them. The moment I set foot in their business I felt at home and well taken care of. From helping me come up with some great landscaping ideas, over providing some great choices of plants and planters to a wonderfully whimsical fountain, I got everything I needed — and it shows. I am very, very happy with my experience there and with my new backyard. Thanks guys!

In response to Andre L’s comment, if the pump was in good working order I would never have brought it back. And for the sake of argument, even if it was working perfectly, it does not excuse the owner’s «unprovoked» loud, mean spirited, angry words to me. He actually told me to leave his store and take my pump with me. He would not even listen to me when I tried to explain what was wrong with the pump. I went to ACE hardware afterward and the man at ACE showed me what was wrong with the pump and why I was not getting enough pressure, and sold me the inexpensive part to fix it. I bought the fountain from Green Goodess and the pump. Just BEWARE if you have any problems with your purchase afterwards. My one star sticks.

Customer service nightmare. Staff was unhelpful and borderline mocking. I will never go back to this place.

I give four stars for one reason only: not a lot of small stuff. For everything else, Green Goddess is an adventure. They have a good selection and probably the most pottery in Phoenix. There’s some good artsy stuff and cool fountains and more native desert plants than anywhere I’ve seen yet. The staff is nice and they have a whole bunch of big tropical birds that roam the premises, which I like. It adds some pizzazz to my nursery trip.

Awful customer service! Bought an outdoor chimney, took it home and made a fire. It cracked and broke on the first use, so I took it back for a replacement. They told me all sales are final, and that the fire I made was «too hot» for the chimney. Huh? Last I checked chimney’s are made for fires, and don’t come with user manuals, so not sure how i could make too hot a fire???
Anyway, totally unwilling to resolve to an acceptable solution. They offered me 50% off the purchase of another chimney. No way am I giving them more money — you would think a place that sells pottery and clay based products would be good about breaks etc.
Buyer beware at Green Goddess — no effort on trying to make a situation right.

I second the five-​star rating here. We came to look for an indoor tree, and they had a very nice selection and a trillion pots to choose from. Very impressive selection of fountains and any other garden items you may need. All the plants looked great! Nothing worse than seeing dying plants at a nursery. If they can’t take care of them, I would have no hope.
David helped us and was very knowledgable. Gave us all the info we needed on necessary lighting conditions, water requirements, etc. He helped us determine the right size pot we needed and set us up with the styrofoam we needed to put in the bottom, plastic saucers, etc.
The nursery’s owner rescues macaws and other birds that need homes. Since the birds live at the nursery, David had some very amusing tales about the birds and their habits. We will definitely be back and ask for David next time we have garden needs.

For the past several weeks I searched local home centers for a replacement water pump for a several decade old multi-​tier water fountain that came with my house without success. The local Home Depot, Lowes, Ace Hardware and even a garden center in Flagstaff offered no alternatives even when presented with digital photos of the fountain and the old «Mighty Midget Pump» made in Ontario, CA back in the ice age. The issue was I needed, or at least thought I needed, a pump with the intake 90 degrees to the current crop of water pumps because the pump had to fit in a very confined area within a four tier fountain.
I had no success in goggling «Mighty Midget Pump» for the manufacturer (not oil pumps, please) so called several of the 800 numbers for fountains and water pumps. No one had heard of Mighty Midget but one was willing to sell me a pump and if it didn’t work send it back for a refund minus a 25% restocking fee. As a last resort one person suggested looking for a fountain manufacturer. I noticed some markings for «Al”s Garden Art» so googled it. Not knowing much about fountains to my surprise Al’s Garden Art existed with a web site. I added my zip and found 5 garden shops within 10 miles. I called The Green Goddess on Bell Rd and was told to bring the pump in and they would fix me up.
I showed the «experts» at Green Goddess the pump and photos of the fountain and before I knew it had a new pump plus extra hoses of varying diameter to weave up to the top of fountain, an elbow and a restrictor to control the flow. The help including the manager Rigo were extremely helpful plus while they were setting me up I was entertained by the various «rescued» cockatoos and grey parrots around the shop.
In asking about the birds the owner takes in and cares for exotic parrots given up by their caretakers. On the outside there were at least ten green, red and blue macaws in the garden area. I took some very good photos of very impressive birds that are great to look at but I wouldn’t want to care for the 50 plus years they usually live.
I also walked around the outdoor area and saw many types of small and large fountains plus outdoor sculptures including a very realistic Galapagos tortoise that does not need to be fed.
I highly recommend The Green Goddess for its service and can see why they call themselves «The Ultimate Garden Experience». In the end I did not need the elbow but had all the parts necessary to avoid a repeat trip and waste more gas.
I now have a working fountain that I moved to an interior patio and can finally listen to the soothing sound of a water fountain just outside my bedroom window.