Garden Sales llc - Manchester, Connecticut

Krista

What a gem of a place! With extensive family involvement, everyone was so helpful and the quality of plant material available is beyond remarkable. Along with many beautiful popular plants are a huge mix of perennials and native plants and shrubs, including hard-to-find specimens of Golden Dawn Redwood, Hinoki Cypresses, Japanese Maples, hundreds of Hostas, and many, many others, all lovingly cared for and maintained. It’s a completely different level of plant quality here from the low end big-box stores, where you waste your money on stressed and unhealthy plants that often don’t survive due to poor maintenance and mistreatment. Run, don’t walk to Garden Sales if you want healthy plants that will last!!

H S

Updated apr 2024
A couple years later I'm not so hung up on the price, which are about the same or slightly more than woodland gardens for the couple of branded items that both have. The owners seem like good people, know their product, they have good variety. A number of options for mature trees which run in the $500+ range. Glad to have this as another option in the area

Original:
Showed up at 5pm on Sunday per the Google hours and the guy said they closed at 4. There is a good selection but the items either didn't have price tags or were cheaper elsewhere. Confusing parking situation where the paved area is not actually parking and you have to go down a steep unpaved road. Probably not great for people with limited mobility. Didn't get to shop inside but after looking around I didn't see anything I would drive 25 mins each way again for.

Nicholas Rado

Needed some nursery pots for a few of my houseplants so I called on my lunch break to ask if that is something that they have/sell. That's when I had my first introduction to the owner, who is truly awful. I started by asking if this is something that they have, this was the last time I was able to get more than 3 words in without being interrupted for the entirety of both the call and conversation in person later. He first asked me what kind of pot i needed, so I started to describe what I’m looking for but he immediately cut me off telling me that he has pots but can’t tell me if he has the ones I need if I don’t tell him the size (clearly thinking he asked what size pots I need, which he did not). I then tried to tell him the sizes, “Well I think I’ll need around four 6in po-” before he cut me off again telling me how he has some but not all sizes so I need to tell him the sizes. I tried to tell him again, starting with the 6in pots when he cut me off again saying how I should really just come down there and see what he has then listed off some sizes using gallon measurements. Since he listed off sizes again I tried listing the sizes I needed, letting him know that I don’t know the volume but gave him the diameter of the widest one I needed, but again I was interrupted. Since it is one of the few garden centers that are open until 6pm and he said he has some, I decided to just say that I’d come by. From the second I said that it was a rush to get me off the phone. I tried to make it clear that I wasn’t able to come by immediately and it would be after I get off work at 5, and that I’d be at least 20 mins away but he didn’t let me get a word out and just “yea, yea” over me. I wasn’t sure if he had heard that I wasn’t coming right now so I just blurted out “It will be right before you close” over him. He continued to “yea, yea, that's fine” so I considered that the end of the conversation and ended the call. After work I rushed there and made it by around 5:25pm, there was a single truck in the parking lot. I open the door and the lights are off and I don’t see anyone. I go in (yes it was unlocked) saying “Hello” etc… and get no response. I went back out, since it seemed closed, and knocked on the door loudly to see if anyone was in the back or something, nothing. The business was closed during their business hours despite me talking to the owner just a few hours before. I thought someone was there because of the truck in the parking lot so I looked around the outside a bit. The truck was parked right next to a stone path from the parking lot to the neighboring house. Normally I wouldn’t have done this but since I talked to the guy and he was expecting me I thought it could be worth knocking on the door and asking. It was a glass screen door with the actual wooden door open and I could see two people inside. I knocked and they looked at and acknowledged me, clearly waiting for me to say why I knocked but did not get up to answer the door. I asked if they were the owners and the man said he was. I apologized for coming to their door and said that I had called earlier and was told I could come after 5, but it looks closed now. The man told me that I’m wrong and that I said “4 or 5”, then immediately demonstrated that he had no memory of the call by asking what I was looking for. I told him I was looking for nursery pots and he made an expression like he wouldn’t have even tried to engage with what I needed if he knew it was something so cheap, then told me to come back tomorrow. I made a remark about how I would have the same work schedule tomorrow so we would be in the same situation, then reiterated that we had talked literally 5 hours ago and I had told him I’d be coming after 5pm, and he very bluntly told me that he is eating dinner and he "isn’t going to go out to the shed today". Again, this is during his business hours when he was already told that I was coming. Every 1 star review of this business is about how unprofessional the owner is.

Michele Larocque

My go to nursery here in Manchester. Great variety flowering plants, and vegetable plants. Reasonable prices. And they are never too busy to answer a few questions. Nice garden shop. Unique items. Fell in love with these planters and wanted to post a picture of how I used them this year.

Macola Widofsky

This is a family-owned local business. I love going there instead of the typical "Big Box" stores. (It CAN be frantic at times, as this is the height of Planting Season, and customer numbers swell.) They have a wide selection of perennials, annuals, tree saplings and shrubs, as well as garden statement pieces too. Inside the building they have lots of decorative pots, garden accessories, and ephemera. Even a rack of seeds if you want plants the old-fashioned way! I was just there this AM and got a full flat, with 8 different veggie/herb 6-pack transplant cells, for $19.95 plus tax. And, they were locally grown!

Paula Cabrera

How did I not know about this place! As you pass by you wouldn’t think it is as big as it is. Huge selection of all sorts of flowers and other plants. Gazing a their Allium and peony garden outback is a treat to the soul. And lastly great pricing and great quality. Certainly coming back here again

Gwenn Drapeau

The owners of this garden shop are so helpful in friendly. Very knowledgeable and David went out of his way to help me plan my landscaping. I will be a repeat customer for a long time.

Daniel Skaparas

The best around. Owner very friendly and helped with all my needs. Beautiful pear tree and blackberry bush