Bay Natives

One of my favorite places in San Francisco. The selection of plants is amazing and I so enjoy just walking around and enjoying the beauty… and on top of that, the staff is so friendly and knowledgeable, its such a pleasure. I love the relaxing atmosphere and the beautiful flowers and of course, feeding the goats and chickens. This place is great.

Just go check it out! If you are interested in native plants this is the place to shop in SF. If you are looking for less commercial more interesting plants this is a great plant store to support.
Oh! And the location! Go for a walk after in the neighboring park, this reminds me of old-​time uncrowded less pauncy San Francisco.
They have a great comprehensive list of natives on the website don’t go to the nursery expecting all these plants to be in stock but it is a great resource for researching native plants!

What a neat surprise! While I was searching for strictly indoor plants and therefore didn’t buy anything, I love everything about this nursery. We pulled into a parking spot right by a bunch of goats, which instantly put a smile on my face. Not something I expected to see at a plant nursery in the Bayview. The chicken coop was fun, too. I’m certain that if I were a chicken, this is the place I’d want to be.
I’m giving this place 5 stars because:
1. Their name clearly explains what they sell. I think having a single source for native plants is wonderful. The friendly employee watering the plants told me they mostly specialize in outdoor plants and trees — not container gardening.
2. The goats and chickens
3. Ample parking
4. The wooden xylophones
5. The random plants that I’m betting are not for sale. I finally know what poison oak looks like in person.

Accidentally stumbled here when our destination was the park right across this place.
It was a neat place to go around and check out the plants. I thought it was really interesting that they have goats in the back.
It’s like a museum for plants and they had a wide variety of them.
We never encountered any employees. I think it was because we visited near closing time and they were busy watering the plants and tending the animals.
Watch where your crossing because trucks cross here often!

Accidentally stumbled upon this place while bike riding last weekend, took a look because I was bored, and within 5 minutes I decided this was my favorite store in all of San Francisco.
It’s strange to even call this place a store because it is so much more than that. It is a farm, with chickens that you can watch (the owner (?) called it chicken TV!), fresh eggs for sale, and lots of goats that you can feed stray grass to from the Goat Food box. It’s an art gallery, with fun and unique chairs and tables handcrafted and upcycled from extra wood — there was even wooden xylophone, and the owner (?) played a song for us! It is a forest, with hundreds of plant and tree varieties, large and small, some with fruit, others with flowers, where you can almost get lost in the different sections and aisles. And lastly, it’s a museum, of all the wonderful and native beauty that our SF Bay Area has to offer.
Walked out with a $ 6 grassy ball and a full heart from knowing places like this exist right next to us.

So happy to find this place today! We are new homeowners with a yard in need of lots of TLC. Being interested in going the native route, I found this place on line and went in to find out what would work with our microclimate, soil, shade, and fog. I came away with a long list of plants that Bay Natives carries that are potential plantings for us. Paul really seems to have a love for California native plants and particularly for the San Francisco climate. I had stopped in at another local nursery, and when I asked about natives, I got a big shrug. Really grateful these guys are here!

Paul at Bay Natives delivered large trees to our home, 30 minutes north of San Francisco (for a fee) which was a great convenience. He was easy to work with, and when we had an issue with one of the trees, he took care of it promptly. Their website has all the pictures which makes it easy to find what you are looking for.

We decided to replant our whole yard in order to save water during the drought and support bees. We came in to Bay Natives with a map of our yard layout and tons of questions regarding what plants would thrive in our clay soil and in what conditions (shade, sun, partial etc.) Rachel was patient, friendly and knowledgeable and we left a couple hours later with beautiful specimens and feeling really confident. Thanks so much for your help! We’ll be back soon when we tackle the front yard.

Great selection of California natives, with a significant number of San Francisco natives in stock. Not the cheapest around, but always something interesting in store.

California plants found here. There is a goat area for vegetation next door but we didn’t see any that day. There is also BLUE HERON PARK across the street.

Amazing selection of native plants with very helpful staff

Competent. Friendly. Local.
And then go next door to the Heron.
Worth the trip.

Went in for the first time today late in the morning. First of all I have to say I was a bit hesitant to go when I looked on a map and saw its proximity to Hunter’s Point/​Bayview area. Having lived in SF for over 50 years, that is a part of the city you typically avoid.
There was a Nectaplum fruit tree that I wanted to get hold of and they had one, so I decided I’d ‘brave’ the journey, figuring I could always turn around if things started to look concerning.
I was very pleased to see that it was in an industrial area that was not in the middle of the worst part of the Bayview… Road was bumpy the last ¹⁄₈ mile, but it looked relatively safe to come down in the day. The worse parts of the area are about a block or so away on the other side of the various business buildings (many new), the nursery itself is just fine and they have parking inside the facility.
So, I clearly ‘survived’ my trip which turned out not to be harrowing at all. I took a little time to admire the goats and took some pictures. I ran into the owners who were very helpful and welcoming and explained that the goats were ‘railroad goats’ (so-​to-​speak). Basically they are rented out by the place that neighbors their business on the other side of a fence… apparently the goats are really good at eating up greenery and dry grass, etc. So they are rented out for that use (don’t know if their use is primarily to keep area around railroad tracks clear ((perhaps rails that go to warehouse loading docks??? I don’t know))). Anyway, got a few pics of the cute goats and could see some babies in the distance.
Got my tree and the customer service was superb and I will very happily make the trip down to this great ‘out-​of-​the-​way’ find! Again, don’t worry about the trip down… Google will have you go down the main streets without issue about going into the unsafe area in the Bayview.
A great place, they’ll have my business and you should give them yours too! :) Hope they continue to grow and others discover as I did, the area they are in is just fine! :) Breathe easy! ;)

What a cool discovery! Great selection of interesting plants, helpful and accessible staff, goats, trains, great for kids and adults too.

Very helpful and friendly staff. Great selection of native plants — perfect for an San Francisco backyard. +1 for the random goats next door. It was like a petting zoo for the kids.

Very helpful staff, excellent selection of native plants!

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this place! When we decided to tear out out back yard and plant all natives this was a major source for our plants! They have a great selection and it seems to keep getting better and better. We first visited them the week they opened and the difference in the selection from then to now is really amazing. Their prices are very reasonable too! If you are looking for something specific you can always call first to make sure they have it.

Awesome. No better selection of natives at reasonable prices without having to drive much, much further. Very interesting somewhat rare species along with all the standards you would want. If you are a native species gardener in San Francisco this is the nursery for you. It is for me.

Visiting is a great experience.
a) Unparalleled selection of native California plants.
b) Knowledgeable and friendly staff.
c) Goats next door for the kids to watch and feed.
d) Easy access, plenty of parking.

I’ve followed Bay Natives on Facebook for a few months now, and when I learned that they would be having a sale at one of the gardens on the Go Native Garden Tour this month, it was a no-​brainer that I’d have to stop by. They don’t have a physical nursery that you can go peruse (one of the reasons I wanted to be sure to hit the sale), they do all of their sales online, but they do deliver in the SF Bay Area or you can pick up your purchases at their administrative office in San Francisco.
These guys know their stuff; I was interested in purchasing some manzanita and some madrone, and they were very helpful in helping me pick which plants would be happiest in my south San Jose yard, and what kind of conditions they’d need to thrive. They were very friendly and approachable, and they make it easy to pick plants that are going to thrive not only because they’re native and they belong there, but because their plants are all healthy and beautiful.
I’d give them five stars if they had a retail location; overall that doesn’t take away from the excellence that is Bay Natives, it’s just a personal preference that I like to see a plant before I bring it home.
I definitely recommend Bay Natives, & will be hitting them up again soon for some more plants as I strive to make my yard a naturally native place. Thanks guys!