Armstrong Garden Centers

I go to this store quite a bit. It’s a great store to walk around and get some great ideas and see a fair amount of unique plants. Things are on the expensive side like plants and other things. I really love the fountains but the markup is a bit high. Good healthy plants and unique in some varieties. Give it a try.

Went in to get information on certain type of plant to purchase and after waiting about 15 minutes with one guy that was helping us and another person, finally got tired of waiting and we just left to another location

Over the past couple of days my husband and I have been searching everywhere for patio furniture and accessories. To put on our new deck.
Apparently, this is the end of the season for those kinds of things so the selections are small.
In our search we found this location of Armstrong Garden Centers. This location is so lovely and from the moment you enter you feel welcomed. The merchandise and displays are comforting. Plenty of plants and gardening supplies: seeds, tools, pots, soil, decorating accessories and super friendly customer service.
David is an amazing sales person. He was pleasant, helpful, funny and just as excited as we were when we found patio furniture that we loved. When making our purchase he signed us up for an awards program that gives you a $ 25 dollar credit per every $ 625.00 spent. We were so pleased that Armstrong Garden Centers delivers (for a small fee) because this purchase would not have fit in our Pathfinder. A couple of days later we returned to Armstrong and with the credit we were able to purchase two additional end tables (that happened to be on sale 30%off) that work perfectly with our patio set.

I attended a free lecture on how to make a fairy garden and it was so fun and informative.
the host (sherry) was so knowledgeable and personable I stayed afterwards and picked her brain about all my flower and gardening queries and she patiently answered everything.
i’ve emailed them before and they always get back to you asap.
i found out that all the employees are actually owners and you can definitely tell; everyone was nice and knowledgeable.
the garden center is so nice just to wander through… beautifully landscaped, well organized and really well stocked and had a lot of harder-​to-​find plants. I found an anemone there that I’ve been looking for a while.
everything is nicely organized and clearly labelled according to usage/​care
a great selection of planters, fountains, decorating items, supplies… everything you’d need
they also have a ton of stuff you’d need for terrariums and fairy gardens that can be impossible to find in most retailers
the major drawback is they’re a little pricier than most places (especially for the non-​plant products), but seem to have a lot of sales and better quality plants

I ordered a Christmas tree from Armstrong on Morena, had it delivered and then picked up after the holidays. The staff could not have been more efficient or nicer to work with and the tree was the most beautiful Christmas tree we’ve ever had. Working with these nice folks was a wonderful experience. Having the tree delivered and then picked up after the holidays made the whole process effortless and took that stress out of Christmas. I look forward to calling on the experts at the Morena Armstrong every Christmas.

Completely disappointed. I love love love this store. It really is an upscale friendly clean top notch store. Normally I’d love to rave about it. We looked forward to purchasing our Christmas tree today but when we arrived we found a chaotic unwelcoming muddy mess topped off by a grumbling grumpy associate driving a cart around. He made me pull my kids aside out of his way as he careened around the trees on display ultimately running over a cone that was warning patrons of a muddy mess ahead. As we tried to make the best of the experience we walked around cautiously trying to stay out of his way and find our perfect tree. But we soon decided we were not going to spend $ 100 on a tree that was dropped on to the muddy wet sidewalk and dragged over to a bagging area where the trees were not bound but only bagged. We decided to leave and and find another place to buy our tree. We were taken aback and thankful that we decided to take our business else where as we witnessed an employee load a tree on top of a customers SUV with the rebar tree stand still attached. The rebar was on the windshield? Yikes
No thank you. The question I kept asking myself is why the manic rush? It wasn’t over crowded. Customers didn’t look irritated? Literally dragging your customers money through the mud.

We attended their Holiday Open House, which had some light appetizers and a discount for full-​priced items. The appetizers were grilled peppers and chicken brats. Someone had really good taste in bratwurst, because those were delicious.
Prices at Armstrong are a little higher, but the discount put them in line with e big box stores. We picked up a wreath and a little Xmas tree.
The staff was all very helpful, gracious and good humored that night. It made for a fun shopping experience.

Just called and asked Chris if they were going to offer any discounts during there open house he put me on hold to check and came back on to tell me that he THOUGHT that they would… I called for that reason but he could not answer that with a yes or no. I will not be making a special trip there for a maybe answer. I called another competitor nursey and was given an answer. You would think that it would be an easy question.

I am new to Armstrong’s and while their selection of plants and shrubs are one of the best in San Diego, their customer service during my first two visits were marginal if not poor. I had to wait and remind someone ten minutes later I was still waiting. When I asked specific gardening questions the persons I spoke to were not knowledgeable. I was very disappointed!
My 3^rd visit totally changed my ratings. I was fortunate to have Chris help me out. He went out of his way to get what I needed, he was friendly and very knowledgeable. And he didn’t mind if you asked questions when I seemed to be shunned during my prior visits. The rest of the staff could learn some valuable tips on customer service from Chris,

I love Armstrong’s. The staff are very friendly and helpful. These people are passionate about plants and will gladly take the time to educate you on all things gardening.

In a world of big box stores, it’s wonderful to get personal service. The staff (Briana especially) worked so hard to find orchids for my daughter’s wedding when no one else in San Diego could get it done. They jumped through hoops when it would have been so much easier to just forget it. Great personnel who really care!

Called to see if they carried Irish Moss. Was informed they had a couple trays left. I came in wait for nearly 10 minutes for someone to be available to help me. They couldn’t find the Irish Moss. Turns out they didn’t have any, all they had were two trays of Scottish Moss that were on hold for someone else. Very poor experience.

I go to Armstrong on a pretty regular basis and almost every time I buy plants from here they are healthy and last a long time. Everyone there is extremely helpful and they all seem pretty knowledgeable if you ask the a question.
I went in today after seeing a dead cat on the road hoping I could get a cardboard box and gloves to put the cat into, I would’ve expected a pretty negative response from someone in a store if I were there just to ask for those things but I got the complete opposite. I wish I had caught the name of the woman who helped me but she was extremely sweet about it and gave me more than enough to take care of the issue.
Extra nice points for Armstrong being helpful in a time of need!
11/​27/​2013
******UPDATE****** 3÷5÷2014
I had to write an update because I have been quite a bit disappointed in the service and quality the past several months at Armstrong.
On several occasions now I have called Armstrong with a question, every time it has taken at least 5 minutes waiting for someone to pick up the phone, when the phone is finally picked up and I ask the question I am transferred to someone else which is another few minutes of waiting on the phone, then after asking a question to that person they either put me on hold to go check for the answer or don’t know the answer at all.
At one point I was put on hold for 10 minutes and I ended up just hanging up the phone because I found it hard to believe it took 10 minutes to check for if they had play sand and what the price was.
Today when I called it took nearly 10 minutes for someone to answer, and as usual I was transferred to someone else, when I asked what the name of the plant that they have growing with the bonsai tree was called the lady on the phone responded very rudely questioning that there was anything growing with the bonsai and made me feel like I was some sort of idiot when I had just recent bought a bonsai tree from them.
She put me on hold to go check and after 5 minutes of being on hold I hung up.
I have just found that recently the staff doesn’t seem to be knowledgeable about general plant issues. For example, I raise very sensitive plants and asked one of the staff if I should wash the medium I was buying before using it. He told that it was clean and didn’t look very dusty.
I ended up washing it anyways and was astounded all the dirt that came out of it.
Also the quality and pricing of the plants… I have just bought a pomegranate tree from them for $ 50. I chose the best looking one I could pick out and it still doesn’t look too great.
Today I went to another nursery and found a very full and larger looking pomegranate tree for $ 35. I feel like it’s almost a scam to be selling the tiny tree I bought for $ 50.
Sufficient to say, I will always have a spot for Armstrong in my heart, just disappointed in it’s recent service

This place is fantastic. We purchased two sago palms and they are both thriving. They always have knowledgeable people on staff to help answer any questions that you may have about plants. Their selection of flowers, various trees and fruit trees is great. And they have lots of fountains and backyard décor too.

I have been going to this nursery for the last five years. Large selection of pots and plants. The employees are very nice, friendly and knowledgeable about their products. I have learned a lot over the years from them. They have a lot of patience. They deliver for free if you spend more than $ 300, very easy to do. they also have free classes which I have not yet taken. I love going there and being surrounded by colorful and beautiful flowers

I like this place for two reasons:
1. The staff is always nice. Whether I’m on the phone or there in person, I’m always treated with respect. And believe it or not, my phone messages actually get returned. That is a customer service aspect that a lot of companies fail at nowadays.
2. They’re comparable to The Home Depot, but their employees are gardeners and not just salespeople. I think stuff at Armstrong costs a few dollars more on average, but I’ll pay the premium in order to have the piece of mind that the person I’m talking to actually knows what they’re talking about.

I’ve never been in a garden store that sells this many plants! The store is surrounded on all sides by all types of outdoor plants; it’s amazing. You can find any plant you might want: potted plants, garden decorations, fountains, succulents, citrus trees, ferns, fence wood, orchids, vegetable seeds, patio furniture, bonsai trees, etc. The list could go on forever.
More importantly, the staff are very informative on how to care for the plants (how much water, sun, etc).
Even if you don’t buy anything, walking around all the flowers outside is very enjoyable and relaxing in itself.

Parking was good, plenty of spots in front, across the way and around Toys R Us. I thought the nursery was going to close in thirty minutes, but the nice plant gurus said the place will close in an hour and thirty minutes-​thank you daylight savings time. Tons of tomato plants. Average price for potting soil bags for vegetables. I had my soil bags on a cart. Checkout was a breeze. I have to come back for more soil. Nice place.

Great, knowledgeable staff who seemed always willing to help, even when they were working on something else. Almost every worker I encountered asked if I needed help or found everything I needed. Maybe because I told myself I was there to look and not buy anything… but I wanted everything.
I visited both Armstrong Garden Centers and this one seemed a lil better stocked and more nicely laid out.
I will definitely be back soon. Most likely tomorrow, they have 30% all citrus plants and there is a keffir lime tree with my name all over it.

iiiits winter gardening time!
just around the time i was getting über depressed at my increasingly desolate raised garden box… RIP summer veggies… living social offered an armstrong nursery deal! oh hey now, $ 15 for $ 30 worth of supplies? that shall definitely provide a variety of veggie goodness to resurrect the backyard!
yesterday i decided the weather was officially fallish and it was time to make the trip over. overall, this is a nice nursery option of SD: good variety of garden décor, house plants, supplies, seeds, and live veggie plants. i will say that the veggie area is a tad small — about as big as the home depot options — but offers more untraditional options than them.
for $ 31.70 i got:
a large single broccoli plant ($ 4.99)
6 pc of heirloom purple broccoli (3.99)
a «graffiti» cauliflower, purple (3.99)
a large brussel sprout (3.99)
red tomato plant –had no idea there were winter tomatos woot! (3.99)
yellow bell tomato plant (3.99)
spinach (2.99)
multi color carrots seed packet (1.99)
chives seeds packet (1.79)
(BAM i did good with the budget)
their plants are pretty standardized with large plants $ 4.99, 6 pc small guys at $ 3.99, and everything else between $ 3.99−2.99. as most garden centers price.
Staff is friendly and helpful… i got the sense of finding an employee who could «answer» most of my questions but wasnt a garden expert. hey thats ok. she did give me the great idea of starting my seeds in a egg crate carton instead of the box till they germinate =) and offered and brought me a cart noticing i was organizing my stuff on the floor.
overall, i enjoyed the experience, got some cool (more unique) veggies, and obviously a great deal due to my voucher. it will be in my rotation for buying plants…