Earth First Nursery

New to the area and wood burning fireplaces, I went in looking to buy firewood and ask for advice. I bought a decent amount of firewood and was told it was «good to go.» Been trying to light fires with wet, unseasoned, hissing, smoking and very large logs ever since. No customers were there and I guess I can’t return the wood seeing that other reviewers couldn’t return their items. I had better luck at Home Depot!

Rarely in my travels have I met a business owner with more integrity and genuine interest in helping out a customer than the owner of Earth First Nursery. I used to live in the area years ago when the nursery was named Wakeman’s and preferred that name. When talking with Dave Benjamin, the owner, it doesn’t take long to appreciate his knowledge base. This is the type of business I like to go to where not only do you get a great product but you can tap into expert advice. When I was in Connecticut I’d snap a photo of the area of my yard, give Dave a general description of what I was hoping for then ask his advice — Dave would usually suggest something far better than I had in mind. He has saved me numerous times from planting in the wrong area and was always willing to provide pragmatic, spot-​on advice whenever I had a problem with a plant. Just like Beata E. I had a problem with some blueberry bushes in one portion of my yard but not another, Dave asked about the soil pH, I checked and he was right — where the bushes thrived it was the right pH but was too high where the plants had issues. He advised how to correct it, I followed his advice and, no surprise, it worked. He seems to really love helping and when I stopped by sometime later, he asked how my blueberry plants were doing — and seemed to really care.
This is not a Home Depot or Walmart type place where you just buy a plant, I consider Earth First as a resource where you benefit from their knowledge and experience. I think Dave said his father used to own the business and that he went to college for a degree in horticulture to work at his father’s nursery — pretty impressive.
Now that I’ve moved and am living in California, I’m hoping to find the Wakeman’s equivalent out here. (btw, I don’t think there are new owners, just a different name)

This was Wakeman’s Garden Center for years. The new owners took over about 1 year ago. The seem nice enough although there are rarely customers there. A huge turn off and a reason I will not return is that they offer no refunds for any reason. I bought a few bags of mulsh and discovered it was more like topsoil. I returned them and had to wait 3 weeks until they got in the correct colored pine bark.
I will not return.