Capitol Wholesale Nursery Inc.

Wonderful selection and the customer service is fantastic! Thank you so much! I will tell my friends and definitely be back.

I never have an issue doing business with Capital Wholesale. Most orders I put in are small orders that my main suppliers don’t have or stock BUT whenever I contact Capital Wholesale they are always nice and go above and beyond. The man that runs the daily operations is a easy guy to work with and the lady in the office is a gem. If there is something they don’t have or that is hard to find she will try and find it somewhere else before giving up and saying good luck. Not many nurseries goes out of their way like they do.

Incredibly poor customer service. I phoned this company because after spending 600 dollars with them last summer, one tree is not doing well and I was seeking a replacement. My argument being the rest of the plants are doing so well, just this one is faulty.
I waited several days for a phone call back and eventually rang back my self to speak to Robert. I was told very rudely that it was a case of overwatering or fault of my landscaper. I used a designer AND we went with drought tolerant plants through the Water District’s program, we can only use plants from their list. We also designed the garden to fit the plants we chose. There was no attempt to try to problem solve or meet me half way. It was our fault and not the responsibility of the nursery. it was «too late». Robert couldn’t even let me finish my sentences and clearly had no intention of helping. He told me he would speak to my landscaper not me as he sold the plants to him and he would help him with how to plant this tree and water it. My argument that this was the ONLY tree that died and that the landscaper must be doing everything ok as the rest of the garden is doing fine. I was happy to pay half price or some sort of discount but nothing.
The customer service was so abominable and I am not at all surprised to read the other reviews here.

Very poor customer service, the business must has done good else where that they don’t need to care about good services. The Manager, Gale, was quite rude to my inquiries about the store hours. I was given wrong information about store losing time, she and the driver didn’t believe what I said and asked what nursery that I called and whom I talked to. I had to show my call record on my cell phone to prove it. I felt like being interrogated.
She was extremely impolite and ask me to leave so she can close the gate.
There is no way I will give them any business or going back there. I will substitute with other plants if cannot find elsewhere, they just lost about 3k of business.

The only nursery I could find last year that would order specific plants for me. I just needed a few plants to finish my landscaping and they were happy to accommodate my order. I’ll be shopping with them again soon.

Good service. Not super friendly, but as they are not a retail nursery, they shouldn’t be expected to educate the general public.
They provide a long list of plants that are available on their website.
I provided a list of the plants I wanted and they e-​mailed me a quote.
Arturo ordered the plants and I paid by phone. I picked up my plants when they arrived a couple days later. Plants were of good quality.

Capitol Wholesale Nursery isn’t the only place with plants in San Jose so I’ll be going elsewhere – perhaps to a nursery where employees are slightly less insulting.
We’re landscaping our yard – the whole thing. Because we’re going with drought tolerant plants through the Water District’s program, we can only use plants from their list. CWN has a link to this program on its website so I mistakenly believed they were familiar with the program. (They later told me they didn’t have the approved plant list even though it’s available on the water district’s website, you know, the one with the link on CWN’s own site.)
I inquired via email about whether they could provide plants for the program. I received a response asking for the botanical names for my planting list which I provided, and they responded by telling me which were in stock and which would need to be ordered. So far so good. They asked how many of each I needed, and I said that I needed to know the mature size of one particular variety of one plant off my list to determine how many were needed because the Water District’s coverage formula required this information which was based on the individual varietal selected.
This is the response I received from Arturo, Customer Service: «Do some research.»
I called and asked for the manager because I thought I should let her know about the email I received from Arturo. Gail was very nice and even told me that Arturo’s email to me had apparently been deleted from their system. I forwarded it to her, and she promised to get back to me with the information I needed for my landscaping project.
It’s been a week now without any response from Gail or anyone else from CWN even though I followed up two days ago again requesting the information Gail had promised.
So, if CWN wants more customers, maybe they should «do some research» about what customer service means.

We went to this nursery because they are wholesale – we thought we’d save some money. But the money saving is just not worth it because the quality of plants is terrible! When our order came in, our landscaper was shocked at how dead the plants looked. We will not be ordering from them again.

This place is really close to my house and i bought a bunch of flowers and plants from them on my first visit. I got a bit lost because the place is in residential neighborhood. However, their nursery is huge and they have many types of plants organize in different sections. Only part that I didn’t like is they don’t have their price mark on the plant like other nursery. I end up spending $ 200 worth of plants for 4 planters pot we purchased, which was more than I initially plan to spend. However, they looks good. I would come back here soon to get some fruit trees.

This is one of the largest and best stocked nurseries around. However, I need to share a shocking experience I recently had with them. I initially went with a friend who was looking for plants but I spied a beautiful Trellised Meyer Lemon Tree in a 15-​gallon tub.
I talked with the owner about it and told him that I just needed to be sure it would fit into my yard so he said they could hold it for me for a day and gave me a red «tag» that I put my name on and affixed to the trellis — I went back the next day and paid for it and also bought a nice Maple tree. I got a receipt for a 15 gallon Trellised Meyer Lemon and the Maple tree. They said they would put them both aside for me so I had my gardener go back to pick them up a few days later. When he delivered them, I thought the lemon looked different and, sure enough, it wasn’t the tree I tagged. I got a Eureka lemon instead. Someone had obviously switched the tag. I assumed it could have been a customer or anyone.
I called the owner — Robert — to tell him about the mistake. He immediately got defensive. First, he told me that they hadn’t had any trellised Meyer Lemons all season! Then, when I said that I had spoken directly to him and my friend had been with me and saw me TAG the Meyer Lemon, he said that I didn’t come back the next day to pay for it (I DID and had the receipt to prove it) then he said he had some 10 gallon meyer lemons (URGH!)…Finally, I said I was disappointed and was returning the Eureka Lemon and was thinking of returning the Maple as well. WHEREUPON, he said «WELL, I GET IT — YOU’VE GOT A BEE IN YOUR BONNET ABOUT IT», I tried to explain how disappointed I was not to get the Lemon Tree that I had tagged, bought and paid for but he just kept repeating «I GET IT, YOU’VE GOT A BEE IN YOUR BONNET ABOUT IT». HE SAID IT AT LEAST 4 TIMES!!!
SOOOOOOO RUDE! I RETURNED BOTH TREES. I’D PAY DOUBLE FOR A TREE BEFORE I’D GIVE THEM MY MONEY AGAIN.

I love this place. It’s massive. As others have said, THEY HAVE EVERYTHING. I disagree with others complaints on pricing. Yes, you might pay a little less at Lowe’s, but the economics of scale dictate that. Lowe’s, as a nationwide chain, buys more, drive downs the cost & passes it on to the consumer. BUT, Lowe’s does not have the selection offered by Capitol Wholesale. Pricing, when compared to Payless Nursery and Almaden Nursery, is significantly lower. We just filled the back of the truck with 13 large plants, and we were floored by the low total cost.
I have three complaints, however. None of the plants have prices on them. You don’t know how much you’re paying until you get to the register. Secondly, some plants had no descriptions included. Third, I wish this nursery, and all nurseries in drought stricken CA, would group drought tolerant plants together. As it is currently, at all nurseries, you need to hunt and read the labels.

Dont special order trees or plants here unless you live in the neiborhood to be able to make daily trips for a pickup. Incorrect orders, find closed nursery are some of the many wasted trips here. The management unwilling to compensate but will gladly cancel your order after having you make multiple trips down here. Wish I could give them zero stars for their horrendous customer service.

When I found this place I was so excited because they had all the CA natives that I wanted to plant in my side yard. It went downhill after making my purchases. First, my gardener had to pick up the two trees I bought since I didn’t have a truck. He went a week later and when he brought me the trees they looked almost dead. When I bought them, they had lovely pink flowers on the branches and although I know it was the same tree… it hadn’t been watered at all. Had I waited any longer, I would have bought two dead trees.
When my gardener asked how much I paid for the trees I mentioned $ 180 for the two and his mouth dropped. He said that he had seen the same trees at Costco for $ 25 ea. I sent him to Costco to pick up two more trees and sure enough… they were the same! Not only were they cheaper but they looked a whole hell of a lot better than my expensive two that I bought from this nursery.
Oh, one more thing. I bought a bush which I took home with me and ordered another for my gardener to pick up. The one that I bought was in great shape, the one that my gardener picked up looked like it was salvaged from the throw away heap. It was all cut back (like they cut all the dead parts off) and was not looking at all like the one I had brought up. I didn’t say anything to John when I called about the other trees because the bark still looked healthy and I knew that eventually, there would be some new growth… but again, paying the same price for seconds was a bit hard to swallow.
Needless to say, I learned my lesson… I’ll find some other place to buy my plants and won’t be dealing w/​their markups. John did offer to take back the ½ dead trees but I wasn’t about to have my gardener haul all the way out there again to return them. Hopefully, they’ll come back to life and if they don’t, at least I have the two healthy (and cheap) ones from Costco.
My advice is do your homework and check prices out in a few places. This place may be «wholesale» for those in the industry… buy they sure take advantage of you if you are not!

Went there today on our landscaper’s advice to pick out plants. He recommended Gayle and she was wonderful. She was very patient and spent a lot of time with us even though it’s a relatively small job. They have such a large inventory that I felt overwhelmed, but Gayle wrote on the digital pictures we brought with us to show exactly which plants should go where and why. I’ve been to many nurseries but have never gotten this level of service. I would definitely go there again, even without the contractor’s discount. It’s relatively easy to get to from Highway 280 and there’s plenty of parking. Highly recommend!

Benjamin and the rest of the crew are awesome!
I work for a small landscape company and we regularly use local nurseries — most of the time it is a nightmare for me to call around and get info on availability and special orders. However, Benjamin is super helpful and gives accurate info on availability and also offers subs when needed.
Great customer service!

This place is an awesome use of space (under tall electric lines). It’s a lil weird to find because it’s located in a neighborhood (and has limited business hours — not open Sundays). That being said, John, the guy who helped us, was really knowledgeble and helpful. He looks like an all-​star athlete or something but really knows his business.
Capitol Wholesale Nursery offers 3 price scales but even if you don’t make it into the contractor pricing, they might offer good discounts. They also deliver for free. There’s a large inventory on site that’s always receiving new stuff and they can get anything you want.
I was really pleased with my experience here. Even though I was just outfitting my personal yard, John took me around and we talked about any shrub that was an option I might have been interested in.
I’d definitely go back.
See ya there!

I purchased two 5gallons camellias six months ago, named Carter’s Sunburst and Chandler Elegans as my collection. Price not too chaep but I don’t mind for beautiful camellias. Now plants are blooming and came out with different variety, what a lie. I never ever go back to this nursery again.

Look, the first thing you want to do before you come here is get any thoughts of cheap, same ol’ plants the likes of Home Depot and Lowe’s have. Even OSH. The big box stores have nothing on this place. Believe that.
Second, do expect to pay a little more than you are used to. I don’t know of any independent nurseries that are cheap.
What you will find here is the best selection of plants anywhere in the South Bay hands down. They have everything. I mean it. Many are CA native and they specialize in plants that are drought tolerant and therefore do not need much watering. It can be a little difficult to get some help but when you do that help will be excellent. I have been there many times and each time I have had good service. Most of the people working there are caretakers but they usually have at least 2 guys on hand that can help you out with all of your questions.
They mainly cater to the professional landscapers and landscape designers. You’ll see many of them with their clients going over all the plant options. They are by far the nursery of choice with the pros.
Also, expect to be really floored by how they have this gem hidden away in a residential neighborhood… and it’s soooo close to my pad!

My guess is that this place isn’t being Unilocaled too much because it is hidden in the most obscure Evergreen neighborhood location under an electrical power plant where homes could not be build. It is like the secret garden, and I love it. I have lived in Evegreen all my life pretty much and had no clue it was there until Thursday.
I have been there twice in the last three days and will be back soon. We are tackling many different gardening projects around the yard and they have such a wide variety, so much more than Home Depot.
The absolute best part was the service. Dave B. took a look at some pictures of our yard and automatically turned in to our new landscape designer. We are new home owners with very little knowledge and he gave us a course in Garden 101 in about an hour. He helped us pick plants for accents, ground cover, accents in ground cover, which were all deer proof. He answered all our questions with passion and conviction. He was a god sent for us since we are doing everything ourselves for cost effectiveness.
To top it off the gardeners who were working around the lot caring for the plants were so cheery and were singing love songs in Spanish. The employees all seem to really love what they do. I am catching the gardening bug too, so I can definitely empathize.
Definitely would recommend this place if you can find it!

Really more like 3.5 stars. It’s hard to find affordable nurseries that have a great selection, so I drove down from the Peninsula lured by the possibility of «wholesale» prices. NOT!!! Their prices are consistently $ 2 – 4 more expensive than Home Depot for 1 gallon perennials, for example. No, the quality isn’t better (same growers in many cases!)
However, their SELECTION makes up for what is lacking on the price side. I was planting a xeriscape (low-​no water) landscape scheme, and wanted colorful flowers. They had a really awesome variety of everything I was looking for — salvia in 15 – 20 varieties, for example, 8 varietes of yarrow, etc. I was disappointed that they weren’t willing to offer even a token discount (5% even!) since I was buying more than $ 400 bucks in flowers. I was even more pissed when they WATCHED me load my entire car – front seat, backseat, trunk, and didn’t even OFFER to help, even though there were no other customers.
Still, until I find a nursery with a better selection, I will be back. Grudgingly.