Lake Ridge Nursery

My boyfriend and I went here on the recommendation of a family member but were woefully disappointed. Despite taking a wonderful tree home, the customer service was awful. We spent over $ 200 in purchases here (tree plus gifts) only to find out that they don’t do returns. They have two small signs up that designate this– on ONE register and behind the counter. But, if you check out from the side register you can’t see any signage. After I pointed this out– they got snarky with me. They said it was printed at the bottom of my receipt. To which, I calmly pointed out that wouldn’t have helped me before I made purchases. They then kept telling me no exceptions and that I should just keep looking around. I will be sure to never recommend them.
To add to my aggravation I tried to make a return with the same woman who checked me out– and it was less than 24 hours!
Also, be aware that if you don’t like animals this is not a place for you. They let their dog and cat run free on the property despite being on a busy road.

I have always been a big, big fan of Lake Ridge Nursery and have been a patron for over 10 years. I loved this place so much, my husband always buys me a generous gift card for my birthday each year. That was until this year and specifically, today. I have always enjoyed the personnel and the way they made me feel like family. However, the first time I came this season, I noticed a shift in the friendliness of the staff. Suddenly, they were too busy playing with their dogs, visiting with their husbands and generally, ignoring me. I asked where a specific plant was and the employee pointed instead of taking me to the plant. I ended up giving up looking for the plant and just went home. Today, I drove by and the place didn’t look that busy so l went in to buy several bags of mulch. As far as I could tell, I was the only patron and told the lady working at the counter what I wanted. I inquired as to where I was to go to get the mulch and if there would be someone there to load the several bags. She assured me that there were employees working down there and they would stop and help me. However, there wasn’t a person to be found when I went down to locate the mulch. I waited for about 5 minutes and no one ever showed up. I debated on whether I should just go back in and ask for my money back, but the lady at the counter wasn’t that friendly and had such a difficult time handling the payment on my gift card, I figured if I wanted my money back, that would surely be a problem for her. I ended up loading 4 VERY HEAVY bags of mulch in the sweltering heat by myself. I’m not a young lady (50+) and this was no easy job for me. As I drove off, I still saw no one. I’m rethinking my long patronage at Lake Ridge Nursery Inc. I work too hard for my money to be treated so shabby by a nursery that once appreciated my money.

I went there because of the free landscaping estimate sign on the road. I took the day off to meet the owner because he does not do weekends for estimates. He arrived early to the appointment and after just a short time and even before my appointment time started, he said he would send me something from our discussion and he had another appointment, so he must leave. This was in May and no a word from them. I called and left my information about not being sent the plan and estimate, but still have not received a call. My budget plans were in the thousands, but after this type of service, why would I give this local guy a chance to earn. I will find another nursery who I can trust and use for the future.
The other reviews surprised me when I read them before I met the owner, wasted a leave day and got no where, now I believe them. Stay away…

I’ve always been happy with the service an quality of merchandise (plants) here. During my many trips here I have never encountered a rude employee. You can tell that some have ore experience than others with plants, but they acknowledge that and try to find someone who can answer questions.
They are more expensive than big box stores, but their assortment of plants and expertise more than makes up for it. They also do t use bee-​killing pesticides like the big box stores. Blech!
And, during the holidays, they have a free sitting with Santa (no line when we went)! Hard to beat that.
Lake Ridge Nursery us my go-​to for all my plant needs!

I’ve shopped at Lake Ridge Nursery many times over the years, starting back before they built their permanent structure. The 3-​star rating is the average of their plant selection and quality (very good) and their service (meh).
I really, really want to love this place. It’s super close to my house, and it’s a local business. While the local big box stores are cheaper and I’m usually on a budget, I’m willing to spend more at Lake Ridge Nursery because I want to support them and, presumably, I can get better advice and service. Unfortunately, that doesn’t usually happen. I hope the owner will read this so they can improve their customer service. Just a few examples:
In my many visits to this place, I’ve rarely been asked if I need assistance. When I politely approach the staff, they don’t seem very enthusiastic about helping. If I ask where a certain type of flower is, there’s a lot of gesturing and «It’s over on the other side by the whatever,» and then when I get over there I still have to hunt around through the 5,000 types of plants for what I need. Couldn’t you just walk me to the item I asked for?
A couple of weeks ago I bought some plants and requested some top soil and potting soil. The cashier asked me to repeat my soil request because she forgot what I asked for. No big deal, but then after she rang me up and I’d paid with my credit card, she realized that she’d still forgotten to put the top soil on my bill. So I had to pay separately for that, incurring another credit card fee.
Recently I stopped by to get several bushes but I wanted a variety that would grow to a max of 3 – 4 feet high. When I asked a staff member if she could recommend some, she advised that I just walk around and look at all the tags, because those will tell you how big they’ll get. Gaaaah. I know how to read the tags. I want some advice. I want to not spend an hour hunting for the appropriate item. I WANT TO GIVE YOU MY MONEY. PLEASE HELP ME GIVE YOU MY MONEY.
In the end, I left and went to one of the big box stores, where I spent about half of what I’d been planning to spend at Lake Ridge Nursery. Yay for my wallet, boo for this local business. :(

They are over priced. And there landscape department is terrible. They do not know what they are doing. They did this job with ground cover and put weed barrier down. This ground cover shoots runners under the ground and helps it spread. Well not with this job. When contacted them and they blew it off and said it was right. Even after a horticultural expert said so and information on the plant said do. They won’t fix it and I wouldn’t have them cut a leaf off of my dogwood.

PISS POOR CUSTOMER SERVICE. Rude as heck! The two witches that assisted me where very mean and not friendly. They weren’t very helpful either. I’m not sure what their objective is in behaving this way but I won’t ever return!!! My first and last time coming to this place. They leave A LOT to be desired!!! I could say much more but professionalism is not their motto!!! Not to mention that their nasty attitudes and the fact that they did not have anything close to what I was looking for didn’t help either. The one wicked witch of the west then referred me to Safeway! The way they responded to me when I walked in was like I had doo doo on my face; as if I was a bother to them asking for a plant. AVOID THIS NURSERY AT ALL COSTS!!!

Expensive prices and rude service. I wouldn’t have bothered to write a review about them, but the young man who worked there was rude to my four-​year-​old. We had to pay $ 12 on a non-​holiday weekday for entrance to the fall pumpkin patch/​bouncy house «fun land». I asked the young man which way to the bouncy house area, he sneered «it’s outside.» Well, yes, I got that part, but maybe a «oh it’s just out those doors to the right» or something more helpful/​less cranky would have been appreciated. The bouncy house play area was dirty and a bit boring.
The entrance fee comes with an apple or an ice cream. After waiting for several minutes the same young man came over to help us. (Keep in mind this is a non-​holiday Monday. The place was not busy). My daughter held the ticket out to him and asked for an ice cream, please. He stood and glared as if he didn’t understand her so I said the entrance fee comes with ice cream or I guess an apple right? He scoffed and said, Yeah an apple, brushed past me and my daughter holding her ticket and went to get the ice cream. A female employee came over, said something to him and then he left. She got the ice cream for my daughter and was pleasant, but overall, a creepy, unnecessarily unpleasant and not-​worth-​the-​time-​or-​money experience. (I did browse in the gift shop and at the flowers. All nicely laid out but very expensive, so with the strange and rude service, there’s really no incentive for us to return.)

Found the staff outside a tad bit rude. They didn’t have plants that were found at Merrifield’s. Might as well rename the place Home Depot. A Miracle Grow shop. Yuck!

I came here for a shopping/​networking event. I walked into the small shop and thought that I would have to come back as they had some very cute gift items. When I was ready to leave the event my car had been totally blocked in by two other vehicles and I couldn’t leave.
I went to ask for help and a tall gentleman said he would help me and be right back. Well, he turned out to be the owner and he NEVER came back and apparently he left to go to a basketball game.
I went back out to ask for help and spoke to a woman who was not even remotely apologetic and did very little to assist. In total I waited for over ONE HOUR for help finding the people who were blocking my car in.
You would think at least someone would offer me a discount or maybe a glass of water but the only people who really gave a rip were the two kids that were helping out with the parking. I vote to promote them to management as they were great.
To top it off, I was parked so close to the bags of mulch that every time I got out of the car to try to see if there was any progress being made I had to come out the passenger door.
If this is how an OWNER treats potential customers than I think it is safe to say– don’t take your business here.

Pros:
1. They will have what you need. Hands down, the best variety of plants and supplies in the area.
2. The staff is very knowledgeable and nice.
3. Less crowded than going to the big hardware store garden centers.
Cons:
1. They are EXPENSIVE. I’ve seen peony plants for more than double what you would pay elsewhere, though their plants are extremely good quality and often budding and in bloom.
2. It gets crowded – best to go early in the morning or later to avoid the rush and cramped walkways.
Bottom line, come here if you’re looking for something hard to find or just want to get everything purchased at once without shopping around.