Devil Mountain Wholesale Nursery

The selection is wonderful and I found the staff to be extremely helpful. This is a wholesale facility so it is meant for landscaping contractors and professionals. I met my contractor here and he arranged for Ernard (sp?) to drive us around and help pick the best quality plants and trees. He was extremely knowledgeable and such a help — this man knows his plants!
If you are a lay person with very little landscaping knowledge, I would suggest you bring your contractor or designer with you. This place is overwhelming and will not allow purchase unless you are represented by a professional… hence the «wholesale» part. Excellent pricing and very competitive for this area. I did a lot of research on cost and this place saved me over 10% what I budgeted, even after I changed my selection of 15 gal Evergreen Pear trees to the larger 24″.
Only negative I have is that they rang up our order incorrectly — quantity error that I caught as we were driving away. However, they let us back in (even after closing at 12pm on Sat) and took care of the error immediately. To be fair, we had a large order and it was an honest mistake. The fact that they were willing to open back up even after the place was closed in order to correct it speaks highly of their customer service.
The selection of this place — wow! I was sure I would have to special order some of the varietals I wanted (which they are happy to do if you can’t find what you need) but was pleasantly surprised to find that they had every single plant on my list in the color/​type I specified.

if you are looking for plants which are 5 years old or more, this is the place. No one can beat their prices in the whole of bay area .
We got some healthy fruit trees and all of them survived

They have such a huge variety of plants, and can special order almost anything for you, in just a few weeks or less. I wanted a certain pine variety, and an upscale retail nursery would not be ordering pines until 8 months later — in the fall. Devil Mountain was able to find them in a week. Prices are half what retail nurseries charge, for most plants. The run of the mill plants that you will find in every big box store are about the same price at DMN, but the more interesting, named cultivars, and the more diverse plants are much better prices than upscale nurseries. The quality of most plants is better than big box or upscale retail nurseries. Stock moves really quickly, so everything is at it’s prime health, and vigorous.
It’s a wholesale nursery, so they expect you to know what you’re doing. Staff has always been very helpful in ordering plants from growers, directing me to in-​stock plants, and giving prices, and helping load.

Terrible, terrible customer service. Actually, non-​existent, since they would not even talk to me –the lay public– and wanted me to leave my credit card information on their voicemail! Amy had the audacity to call my landscape designer and tell her that she would not speak with me. Who does this? After finding out that it would take 4 days for them to substitute plants that were backordered, we wanted to cancel the order because we did not have the luxury of waiting. They wanted to charge my landscaper $ 120 to restock because of their lack of inventory. Also, their prices are not that good –you can get within a few dollars of the price at most of the major retailers, and you can also take the plants back if they fail!

I am a Landscape Designer and wholesale for licensed Landscapers means you need to do your research and know what you are doing… Knowing some and not knowing some is why they always help when I ask. They are very busy for a reason. Could they call back more often when I am in need, «yes» but i really get they are doing their best with so much business with a huge inventory. I never see anyone sitting for a moment without at least 3 things per every person working, that is reality! They have so many people working behind the counter they run into each other. Aleece is a sales rep. in particular that represents the best of «Customer Service.»
They will order anything I need if their inventory doesn’t already have what you need (usually it’s there) My plants are healthy, my customers are happy… so if you want excellent service with someone who needs to help you sort out allot of information about species, go to Alden Lane… that is what you pay for. (I’m not being sarcastic)
I’m knowledgable when it comes to planting, designing, but have always been terrible at remembering names of species and «we «have all had a laugh together over it… and they help me through with my very own language!
If you are barking about customer service, spend 10 minutes watching how fast everyone is moving there and then look at how many people are running! There isn’t room for anymore employees!
My suggestion is to get to know them if you need a wholesale nursery and truly use the Nurseries put in place to help individuals learn all there is to know when creating your own landscape. At D. M ask when you really need help and let them know if something is bugging you, they will listen they will make it right.
Brenda
Drought DayZ, Livermore

What a horrible experience I’ve had with Devil Mountain Nursery! Through my trusted gardener, I purchased 9 cypress trees for $ 1600. My gardener planted them properly in a choice spot, watered, fertilized and tended them well. Within 6 – 8 weeks they began to show signs of losing their health. They deteriorated very rapidly. I called in an expert arborist who informed me that the trees had thrips, a parasite that is a secondary infection when a tree is not healthy. He told me that 90% of tree death is caused by poor transplant procedures both when the trees are uprooted from their original location and when they are carelessly transported to the nursery. The arborist also told me and my gardener that he used to use Devil Mountain Nursery but stopped a few years ago because the quality of their plants and of their service had deteriorated considerably. He recommended instead using East Bay Nursery in Berkeley. He said that, while they’re a little more expensive, the quality of their plants and service are superior by far to Devil Mountain. My gardener tried to get a complete or partial refund, to no avail. She was told that if they refunded everyone’s cost for unhealthy plants they would not be in business. I wonder how many unhealthy plants they sell. Avoid this nursery or be prepared to lose money.
Barry Friedman, Ph.D., MFT

amazing supplier of all things plants
occasionally slips on quality on delivery specimens
but generally a great biz
Larry Mona is a Saint

The selection here is top notch. I have never had a lack of customer service– but really haven’t needed too much when I was there. I do get annoyed about pricing– they aren’t marked and if you don’t know the proper name of plants it is hard to find the price.
I paid WAY to much for a small palm, and it died.

cannot understand all the bitching here about lack of service… read the name of the business folks… it is a WHOLESALE nursery… Meaning, you should know what you are looking for, whether it is deer resistant (duh! buy artificial!!) or whether it is suitable for your yard. Sheeeesh!
Great variety here for the landscaper/contractor…Retail? go to Navelets or the big box stores! Just don’t expect to come here and have staff hold your hands, spend hours giving your advice for a wholesale price… wow, get a clue!

These guys are obnoxious, have no clue about service to customers. My wife is there right now, and she keeps calling me with the ridiculous things they’re saying to her: «Do your own research, we don’t provide advice»…“those plants are somewhere over there”
I don’t know why she went back there in the first place, two of the three birch trees we bought there have died.

First visit on May 28, 2014. Tremendous selection of plants.

I’ve been dealing with DMN for the last 14 years and have always had an excellent experience with them. They are the best at customer service, from sales and office staff to delivery drivers, They have arranged for returns of plants and going out of their way to find what I’m looking for. They are a Wholesale nursery so policies that are forced on suppliers (accepting dead plants back) by Big Box nurseries do not apply here. We’re landscape professionals, we should know how to maintain plants once they are delivered. They have an incredible choice of plants, truly a wonderland for the wholesale market.

Large selection, only decent at best customer service. Better do some research before coming to talk «trees» to the staff.

Our contractor has been dealing with DM nursery to acquire plants for a new yard at our house in the Oakland Hills. From day one we’ve emphasized deer resistance. About 75 plants were delivered and placed in the yard for planting. The next day, 12 of them were eaten — 4 varieties, 18 plants total were unusable in that location. The other plants did not get eaten, but two varieties wilted, even though they had been watered several times and were deemed appropriate for our climate. Our contractor has been trying to work with the professionals at DM to try to find plants that were deer resistant. I sent him several links to information about deer resistance. He was contacted by the owner of the company and told that «nothing is deer resistant.» End of story. I understand if he doesn’t want to provide guarantees or refunds. That’s fair, but there are plants that didn’t get eaten — that don’t get eaten in our yard ever — and when told about links to info about deer resistance (which grades from A-​D on likelihood of not being eaten to likelihood of being eaten) our contractor was told by the owner that he doesn’t believe in the internet. I guess he won’t mind, then, or even know that he was given one star by this unhappy client.

Honestly it is the best place in the Bay area for wholesale plants, they have so many it is hard not to leave with something, even if it may be not what you are looking for. The staff is incredibly affluent with plant knowledge. Not open to the public! You kind of need to know something about plants if you go there, it is no home depot!

WOW! This is one of the most impressive nurseries I have ever seen! Seriously. You have to come in the next job you have. They have everything you need (and then som), a super helpful knowledgable staff and great prices. The quality and diversity of product is hands down Best Of The Bay. I was like a kid in a candy store. Good times. Good people. Check it out.

I need to update my review since I have used them a few more times since 5/​2011, when I initially reviewed Devil Mountain Nursery.
There are a number of times where Devil Mountain Nursery sent the wrong plants or, just as painful, when they sent half of your plants, but failed to tell you the rest of the plants are out of stock (even though you checked the order a day or two earlier).
I guess why I am finally complaining is I sent an order in via e-​mail on Monday and sent another e-​mail on Thursday to ask for an update. I finally get a call from the nursery and the professional on the phone tells me he does not have time to answer my questions and I can go on-​line to order my plants. After I go to register on-​line, I don’t get a password or a way to use the site, and when I call back to ask for a way to get this fixed no one responds. Seriously???
I guess, what I am trying to say is, the customer service has definitely gone down hill. And I am a customer who has spend thousands of dollars with them.
I must say overall the plants have been high quality, but getting the plants has become painful if you do it via delivery.

Just want to add a comment to the two reviews above that give just one star. Devil Mountain Wholesale Nursery has an outstanding staff who are there to help landscape professionals, hence the word Wholesale. If plants fail once you have taken them home, it would have to do with whether they were planted properly, whether they were planted in the right place and the care that follows. That is the job of the landscape professional and they should inform the homeowners.
They do take returns, but not if you kill the plant first. If you take it and neglected to water it, or put a shade plant in the sun, then of course not.
Devil Mountain is also a broker. If they do not have what you are looking for in there enormous stock, they will get it for you if not right away, then as soon as they are in season.

DVM is as good as it gets. The plants are in great shape and the staff is incredibly helpful. If you’re in the industry (contractor, designer, architect) this is the wholesaler for you… If you’re a homeowner, you should look elsewhere. Go to your local nursery, where you’ll get the customer service and assistance (and guarantees) you need. This is the first place I go for all my jobs…

Devil Mountain is a wholesale outfit that prefers to deal in volume, and that’s about all you can say about them. They simply sell plants at a modest discount, without any consumer protections like a return policy or some limited guarantee of success. The staff has zero interest in offering any of the amenities of a retail business.
If you are working with a contractor, you will get a bit of a break on prices, but absolutely no assurance that your plant (s) will survive (the no-​returns policy has already been mentioned). It is perhaps more satisfying than buying at Home Depot or Walmart, because the plants all appear to be in better shape than what you’d see in the average Home Depot and their inventory is far greater. I suppose there is also something about the exclusivity of buying wholesale, but that’s not of any practical value.
With all due respect, the twenty plus years of experience to which Paul K. refers means nothing to a landscaper’s client. DM doesn’t offer any services to the prospective owners of the products they sell, so there’s no way any of that experience can be of significant benefit. Your services are all provided by the contractor that represents you in the sale.
(I don’t understand the comment about Navlet’s being out of business — they are here:
– maybe he refers to a different business?)
Personally, I advise doing your homework on the Internet, talking to landscapers, gardeners, other homeowners and generally educating yourself on what you want to achieve. Then develop a relationship with the folks at a local retail nursery or two (there are many fine ones in the Bay Area), and then buy from them. You’ll pay a bit more, but your chances of success are greatly improved.
In summary, you can gain a modest price advantage with Devil Mountain, but you also take a significant risk that some or all of your investment will wind up in the green bin. The staff is seemingly proud of not offering customer service, and that is pretty much inexcusable, even in a wholesale business. I cannot recommend Devil Mountain Nursery to anyone who is planning a serious investment in landscaping.