Planting Justice

This was my first time ordering from Planting Justice, and it’s been a pretty good experience. I was pleasantly surprised by the large variety of plants available, and the amount of rare plants they have. I ordered some Pineberry plants, Strawberry mint, and Berries n Cream mint. The plants arrived well hydrated and tightly packed. The Pineberries and BnC mint arrived pretty healthy (albeit a bit limp and sad from the shipping process), but the Strawberry mint did come with a case of mint rust and was a bit root bound. Fingers crossed it pushes through. 🤞🏻 Order processing time did take quite a while (4-6 weeks during busy season, as stated on their website), but once the order processed, the plants arrived within 2 days. I’m really happy with their customer service, as they were quick to respond to questions I had. They even offered to bundle my 2 orders together and refund the shipping on the second order, as I had stupidly placed the order for the BnC mint an hour after the initial order as a last second impulse purchase. 😂 Overall, I’m pretty happy with this nursery, and when I have the space and supplies for more plants, I’ll definitely be ordering from them again.

Was very excited to do business with this company. Customer service was excellent. I included a note in my order because I wanted another plant that was out of stock at the time. They got right back to me and were able to ship that along with the rest of my order. The plants, trees and shrubs arrived yesterday. Everything very healthy looking. Very well packaged and labeled. Can't wait to get them in the ground! The peach tress are in the bathtub for now.

I ordered a Sverkhranniy pomegranate from Planting Justice and was blown away by the size and quality of the plant. It’s much bigger and healthier than I expected! They packed it with great care, and it arrived in perfect condition. This variety is nearly impossible to find at most nurseries, so I’m thrilled to have discovered Planting Justice. I highly recommend ordering from them.

Wonderful customer service, they were honest about the health of plants I choose as I am a novice. Great selection. I got myself mulberry trees and pomegranate trees and there were so many to choose from and so many varietals. Really enjoyed my experience and plan to take my toddler to experience the overall beautiful vibe of what they have created there with the volunteering program and community market.

I'm just surprised and amazed of the prices, sizes, and the health of the trees I received yesterday. I ordered 5 stone pine trees (3 Italians and 2 Himalayans). I was not expecting at all a 3-4 feet trees when I paid JUST 8 DOLLARS for each, WOOOOW. I was literally expecting 6 inch trees max. I would have paid $60+ for each if I went to a local nursery. Packaging was great too, all trees came in a great condition. I truly have no negative thing to say!! Please keep the good work guys!

I ordered 9 plants from planting justice ( seaberry and honeyberry) and I couldn't be happier with my order. Although shipping takes a few weeks it was well worth the wait. Whoever packaged my order should receive an award because it was so well wrapped and protected that it took me nearly an hour to unwrap them all, but they all look perfect and nice large plants. I would highly recommend them to anyone and will order again from them in the future.

As many have noted, the indicated delivery times are meaningless and can slip by weeks and months. One cannot be sure for weeks whether the ordered items indicated as in stock really are in stock or not. Based on years of experience with a good number of distributors and nurseries, including some excellent ones on the west coast, this is by far the least reliable one.

2 acres of fruit trees and other offerings. Super knowledgeable and helpful employees. We had a wonderful time browsing around and being educated about all the different apple and fig varieties. This is part of the “planting justice“ project. I believe their general policy is that they do not answer the phone so just gotta go out there and see what they have.

Great nursery. I am disabled. Getting around was easy and they were extra accommodating. The staff is very knowledgeable and helpful with decision making about my project. They had suggestions that I hadn't thought of, and didn't try to "Sell" me things. P.J. is my new "Go to" nursery for both plants and unbiased advice.. Thank you PJ !!

This is a great nursery! Planting Justice is a non-profit organization based in Oakland and founded in 2009. Their mission is to promote food sovereignty, economic justice, and community healing by empowering people. Thanks to Yelp!, I found PJ and one of the best plants here!! You'll find a wide variety of plants and especially very hard to find ones such as ulloco (I searched high and low and finally found some nice ones here!!), the red sunchoke (aka Jerusalem artichoke), and dragon fruits plants. I preordered a few plants online, and picked them up the next day. Everyone was so friendly and helpful here. They showed me around a bit and explained some of the plants to me as well. I really enjoyed this nursery. By the way - they (occasionally) also have some free plants. Swing by to check the out !!

I love what they are trying to do, but man, they have some weak plants. I've stopped shopping here, as the plants I buy from them take much longer to establish and have weaker root systems than plants I've gotten at other nurseries. Many have died on me, despite getting proper soil and water. The small pots they pot their plants in are FILLED with weeds and the weeds themselves have much stronger roots than the plants themselves. Their grafts are weak and are sheared off easily. I've also had the experience of finding out that the strawberry guava I purchased from them was actually a lemon guava....3 years after planting it. Not cool. This nursery is not a well run ship. Your heart is in the right place, Planting Justice, but you need to run thing much better.

Spent almost two hours here! It's like a jungle with lots of interesting plants. The staff are very nice and helpful. Prices are very reasonable. The neighbourhood is a little sketchy and I had to park on the street. Was fine though. Looking forward to visiting again.

Did an enormous amount of research and bought from them. All my plants are dead. I keep reaching out to them. The girl I spoke to in customer service today kept saying "well that's cool," until I finally had to say--"actually its not. I bought your companies product based on your coworkers recommendations and they are all dead." She told me that "I should have reported their lack of growth within 7 days"....these were zone 6 collard greens. Not sure how I would note their growth in January. The young lady on the phone also said "we don't have the best policies and I never know what's going on."

Super knowledgeable staff, plants arrived expertly packed, and a rare plant collection I found nowhere else. Love this place and hope to buy from them for a very long time.

This company is ridiculous. I ordered scions nowhere there is info on delivery until you pay for it. They told 3 weeks to deliver. What a joke? They charge $13 to ship couple sticks and they take 3 weeks to deliver. Its too late to order now why are they selling it?

SIX STARS for the sheer number of vareities of plants that you cannot find anywhere else locally. That alone makes this place truly special. That being said, the location is in a sketchy area of Oakland/San Leandro. In that neighborhood was a burned out car, and cars with broken windows along the street. My friend who was supposed to meet me there refused to park on the street and there was no space in the small parking lot at the nursery which seemed to be filled up with employee's cars (I was the only customer at the time). The nursery cannot help what's going on outside their nursery, but you should plan not to leave anything valuable in your car. The nursery has its heart in the right place. They are building and doing some great things here. My main concern was the amount of weeds everywhere - on the ground and in the plant pots. Also they need more signage. I was unable to find everything. If you are looking for a typical retail nursery, this is not it. This is more like a hunt for exotic plants. So bring your adventurous side. Staff is very helpful in finding things if you ask. You also may be relieved to have a different sort of experience than a retail nursery - they are propagating their own plants here and that's a different feeling than a place that buys and resells others' plants. I had to drive very far (1.5 hours) from my house to get here, and I think I will save the trip and just order online in the future. I truly love what they offer, I just wish the in-person experience could be easier.

I just want to add that they have the absolute best price in the area for bare root trees. I just paid 70 (which includes any tax) for two fruit trees. This is less than half of what a lot of other nurseries charge. January is the time to get bare root trees. They have a decent web page where you can view what's in stock. If you have trouble finding what you need, the staff is very helpful. This is an in-person purchase, btw.

On 12/19/22, I placed an online order for 4 Jamie Mountain Papaya. On 12/23/22, I received the first order which was 4 plants with no leaves; I could see the start of some leaves buds and I thought I might be able to nurse the plants to health. I sent email to Planting Justice explaining I was only able to nurse 2 plants to health. I just got email from Planting Justice indicating they were sending me 2 replacement plants with leaves. I would suggest to order Mountain Papaya after winter.

I've ordered from them several times, and each time the plants we extremely well packaged. Even so, one time a tamarillo plant got bent and died, but they sent a replacement as soon as I had let them know and sent a picture of the poor thing. They have a fantastic selection, including many hard to find items, though being the end of the year many plants are currently sold out. I'm looking forward to buying many more from them in the spring, when everything is back in stock. Thanks and kudos to PJs!

This organic nursery is run by Planting Justice, maybe you've heard of them? (http://plantingjustice.org/) Rolling River sells all kinds of fruit trees, shrubs, veggie and herb plants etc. I stole this description from their webpage, because it sums up everything that is great about this place: "We grow and care for our plants using practices that are people, animal and environmentally friendly and safe. We use natural fertilizers, hand weeding, and ducks and chickens as well as other organic pest controls, instead of the harsh chemical fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides, commonly used in the conventional nursery trade. Rolling River Nursery is committed to providing a healthy working environment and promoting sustainability, while producing high quality plants which will thrive and grow well. We are also pleased to be one of the few nurseries to offer organic nursery stock at this time." It's not a fancy place at all, the neighborhood is kind of shady, but the nursery is amazing! The people there really know what they are doing, they are passionate and friendly and so very happy to help you. It was a delight to get our fruit trees there and I am sure we will be back often - whenever we need plants or trees. A great place to give your $$ to, no question!

Received my online order (blackberries and raspberries), the plants were in the best condition I've ever seen from an online nursery (even better than Starks, which I didn't think was possible) - and they were packed *exceptionally* well. Will definitely be ordering from here again

Planting Justice is located in my immediate community and I have stopped in several times over the years and walked through the grounds to take in the amazing amount of plants and the calming vibe. Today I took the time to stop in and had a wonderful chat with Dave about his dog, cats and the wonderful goats on the property at Aquaponics. The goats are a beautiful herd of spirited, gorgeous animals that are a joy to watch. Dave was kind enough to indulge my delight in watching them and called them over to meet me! Watching them frolic and interact was a joy and I could have watched them for hours. Having them in our neighborhood is an unexpected gem and I wish that the families and children in our community could enjoy their presence. Maybe Planting Justice could incorporate the goats into part of the beauty they bring to our community.

I love the selection of plants and the quality of plants that I've received. Mail order went smoothly. They sent a shipping confirmation, tracking and the package arrived secure with plants in great shape. I've had really good experiences not just getting the trees, but planting and having a good success rate because they have used suppliers such as L.E. Cooke. Two thumbs up!

Edit: I finally got my perennial Kale plant *AFTER* I wrote this review! Goes to show what they care about.

I was in need of a Mother's Day present for my gardener wife. Someone suggested an avocado plant from these folks, so I ordered it. Unfortunately it arrived broken. I let them now via email and overnight had a replacement in perfect shape. GREAT folks to do business with. I'll order again, for sure. Highly recommend them!

Absolutely worth a drive through TP East Oakland. Amazing selection of mostly organic edible plants and trees. I needed rhubarb and they had two kinds. One thing to note, this place is huge. They will actually give you a map at the entrance. Very knowledgable about the plants. 5 stars.

I have no idea where they are getting good reviews. I ordered a large amount of plants online that took months to arrive. I missed the planting season and they repeatedly ignored my requests to cancel the order over the last few weeks. They may have been overwhelmed by the number of orders, but they never stopped taking customer's money. The shipment finally just arrived only because I got PayPal involved and plants are a joke. The strawberry plants are close to death and the blueberry "bushes" are twigs! I highly suggest avoiding this nursery for online orders and stick to in person. They have no problem screwing you when it's not to your face.

CAUTION!!!! Read other reviews on Facebook, Google, Yelp, etc. You may get your tees, you may not. If you do, they'll most likely be damaged!! Takes six weeks and more to ship. Poor customer service and poor logistics! I'll be contacting the board members, as this was the most ridiculous experience I've had ordering online from a nursery!

This was our second order from Planting Justice. We ordered Hardy kiwi both times. After the first year we lost 3 kiwis, so we reordered some more. We live in Minnesota and cannot plant until middle of May. Our shipment arrived in January!!? They are all sprouted, couple of them are gone. I was informed, PJ has 7 day!!! guarantee on plants??? And I am required to request when my shipment arrives. I order from nurseries all over US and most will guarantee their plants for a year. also I don't need to think about when to receive the plants. I will not be buying from PJ any more and will share my poor experience where I can.

They have an amazing selection of fruit trees, certainly the most variety I have seen in the East Bay. All of the staff were very friendly and helpful, and seemed grateful to have us there shopping. I will definitely be back. This is not a fancy display nursery, so if you go on a rainy day bring boots!

Great selection of fruiting trees, bushes, and plants. They have some tropical plants too. I Found some nice herbs for my garden as well. I'm glad I found this lovely plant nursery and support its mission. Happy to see them bringing a positive vibe and place while also beautifying this area of Oakland.

Best customer experience! Everyone was friendly and knowledgeable about the plants and inspected each tree that we bought. The nursery has a huge selection of fruit/ nut trees at great price. Definitely recommend it and going back! Thanks Marina for your friendly service :-)

If you're into rare fruit varieties and fruit trees this is the place or you. Make your list! They have the largest selection in the Bay Area. It's not in the nicest part of town, but hey, work with the resources you have, right? Call ahead to make sure they have what you're looking for and to confirm hours of operation.

Five stars! I love this team! Planting Justice provides gardening expertise, permaculture design, and installation, plus they work for social justice by installing gardens and teaching maintenance and cooking for low-income families, schools, shelters, and prisons, all while employing people with barriers to employment, like graduates of their garden program at San Quentin. My own backyard is big and had potential to be great, but we needed to reclaim areas that were overgrown, consumed with weeds and brambles. Or Rabinowitz, our permaculture designer, was kind and a careful listener to what we wanted from our yard. He has a depth of knowledge about what it would take to make the improvements I needed (and more!). A couple weeks later he returned, along with a tower of cardboard, a ton (literally) of rocks, compost, mulch, and a 4-person team to start the transformation. The next day came the plants: veggies, herbs, berries, fruit trees, vines, natives, flowers, and attractors. Finally, on the third day, they installed 2 extensive drip lines, complete with solar-powered timers and instructions for how to modify and maintain the whole system. On top of that, for every 3 paying clients, they can take on a free installation for a low-income family or other site. They are planting beautiful, productive gardens and teaching clients and school kids how to grow and cook their own healthy food. By using permaculture principles, they create low-maintenance, site-specific, meaningful gardens, that delight and surprise. Certainly, my own kids and myself included, are continually surprised by the amount of food we're harvesting from our own backyard.

I was waiting (and waiting, and waiting) my online order for 4 month and eventually got some strange looking unhappy plants without leaves and buds. One of them has bareroots. It could be ok 4 month ago, but not so good for September and does not look very professional. If at least one of them will survive, will add more stars.

LONG overdue review. Planting Justice's Transform Your Yard team redid my back yard in 2018. My yard started off as a mixture of weeds and dried out lawn. Planting Justice transformed it into an oasis that produces an astounding amount of food and attracts honeybees, hummingbirds and butterflies. I love that their intake questionnaire asks you how many hours a week you can devote to gardening. I feel like they really took that into consideration when they decided which plants to recommend, and I haven't felt overwhelmed with upkeep. Nicole was my initial contact with Planting Justice. She came to look at the space and discuss what I envisioned. She turned around a proposal fairly quickly, and broke down costs into chunks. The idea is that I could do some of these chunks myself to save on costs, and choose which chunks to hire them for. She was very patient with my obsession with finding just the right gravel. Once we agreed on the proposal, we set a date for the work to begin, and I communicated with Julio and James. Julio, James, and the rest of the team were great! I had a 2 year old at the time, as well as a giant dog. They knew this and kept the work site as clean and safe as possible. Unlike other projects I've done over the years, there were no stray nails or other potentially dangerous things left behind. The job was pretty involved: removing a fence, repurposing the wood from the fence to build 2 huge beds, taking out a couple of inches of dirt/weeds/dried out lawn, bringing in a whole lot of dirt, gravel, mulch and beautiful plants. Planting Justice finished ahead of schedule. And the result is stunning! Two years later, the border plants have grown a lot and are absolutely gorgeous. The vegetable garden has amazing soil and yields a TON. Plus they provided me with great resources to keep my garden going. They also check in quarterly to do some follow up work. Nicole selected plants for the dog run that would withstand dog pee, and they have! The beds are very well constructed, and they are designed to have a wide top so they double as benches. They are just the right height so I don't strain my back when working on the veggies. And also perfect height for my now 4 year old to pick strawberries and help me relocate pesky roly-polys. I'm very much committed to reuse, and asked them to reuse my irrigation control. Unfortunately it hadn't been properly installed by the previous owners, and after a few months, it failed. James came back out and installed a new one for me, and they comped me the labor, even though I had been the one to insist on reuse and they had nothing to do with the faulty material. I really wanted to like working with Planting Justice because their values and their model were so appealing to me. They more than lived up to that hope!

This is now apparently owned by "Planting Justice." I had planned on spending a good amount of $ on fruit trees and shrubs here today. I made the long drive down there. Their website said they were open; I contacted them and got a response that said they would be open. But when I got past all the traffic to their dicey neighborhood, they were not open. They were locked up tight with multiple chains and padlocks. A complete waste of time and gas. I'll continue my business with Raintree Nursery in WA and One Green World in OR and continue to pay the shipping. At least I know they're gonna be there when they say they are.

I've been there couple times and found out that they have plenty plants to choose from. I've been looking for my favorite plants and they've been helping me to look for it. They also have variety of pots for indoor plants. It's kind messy, but 50% off I'll take it. I will definitely come back to look for some plants.

I'm absolutely amazed at all the layers of what this organization does. They really are transforming lives daily from supporting low income and marginalized communities with well paying jobs to reconnecting people to health and a deeper connection to nature. They have a nursery "Rolling River Nursery" where you can get organic plants. I volunteer here whenever I can. I believe in this beautiful dream.

Trees arrived via UPS, great condition and awesome trees! On the down side my order took ~2 month, partially due to summer time no-service for trees. Once the Autumn approached and after I contacted customer support several times, the shipment was arranged and arrived quickly in two days. Overall great trees, been taken good care. Customer support not so great.

My husband and I have been searching for a grafted avocado tree. No luck with Home Depot and Walmart. Found this place at yelp. So happy we found what we want. The place is huge with so much to choose from. We got the lamb Hass Avocado ( self pollination with blooming flowers) and raja asian pear( with small fruits on it). What I like the most about this nursery is all plants are organic certified. Will be coming back. Tips when going there: give yourself good amount of time( place is big) Wear the right shoes ( ground is wet and muddy)

just had the landscaping crew out- and they did a fantastic job. they were well trained, attentive to detail, and very easy to communicate with, in addition to being a top notch work crew. as a former landscaper with 30+ years experience , i've worked with a lot of crews, and i'd give Planting Justice an A+. i would recommend them to a friend in a hot microsecond, and will absolutely have them back

Planting Justice is an inspired organization that does great work in the community. They have a unique model and are committed to both environmental sustainability social justice and creating opportunities for those who have been blocked out.

I love working with Planting Justice! We hired Planting Justice last summer to transform our yard from a lawn into a food garden, and we now have raised beds, herb spirals, fruit trees, a fire pit, drip irrigation, and an amazing amount of vegetables to eat and share! These folks are a joy to work with. We had some issues with the irrigation system, and they have been very responsive in coming over to troubleshoot and fix the problems. We've harvested so much delicious food so far, and it's only getting better. We are definitely planning on continuing our relationship with this great organization to help with our ongoing gardening needs. Highly recommended!

Lots of options to chose from. A very beautiful space. Also I love their mission. The second time I went, there was a super nice and helpful employee who was very friendly and helpful. My cucumbers that I bought a couple weeks ago are doing pretty well. Today I got some broccoli. Fingers crossed, they will thrive.

I had been slowly trying to work on my backyard for over a year. I took permaculture workshops and bought books and even went to permaculture training. But after a year of doing things in fits and starts, I finally realized I needed professional help, both to design the garden as well as implement the design. Planting Justice installed a greywater laundry-to-landscape system and planted an edible garden in my backyard in 2 days. Their knowledge of what plants/trees would be good for my space, as well as their design sensibilities are impressive. They planted avocado trees, kiwi, grape, pineapple guava, persimmon, kumquat tree, and tons of winter greens and herbs. I'm extremely happy with them. I wholeheartedly recommend them. It feels good to know the money I spend is being used to support their programs working in schools, prisons, and in the community.

There was some confusion over an order. Planting Justice solved the problem quickly and fairly.

An extremely wide variety of plants, huge inventory, and reasonable prices. Problem is most of their stock comes in 2 gal. sleeves, so they are very small if you are in a hurry for growth. Helpful, but hard to get hold of a horticulturalist or other expert.

My first order with Rolling River Nursery went quite well. Made the order and it was shipped quite quickly. It arrived in fairly good shape and have had no issues with what I received. My second order, on the other hand has not gone to plan. I made my order on April 1st. I expected, as they warned it might take some time for shipping to occur. As it happened it was a month later instead of the 2 to 3 weeks. Fine, I was just glad it was on the way. Unfortunately I do not know if it was due to poor package prep or UPS, all I know is I never received the package. UPS refused to deliver it to me, saying it was too damaged and torn up so they were shipping it back to Rolling River. I never saw the package at all. Of course I sent an email right away to Rolling River explaining what happened. And..nothing... I sent another email and...still nothing. No response. I tried calling but no answer and the mailbox is full. This is the first time anything like this has happened from any mail order nursery and it is so disappointing. I cannot recommend this company at this time.

I ordered and paid for two fruit tree's from this company over two months ago and I still have not received them with plenty of excuses, they don't answer the phone lately. Now it's June and probably too late to plant them.

This nursery is HUGE. Allow for plenty of time to browse. Love that they have organically grown plants and understand the soil. Wide selection of edible plants and fruit trees.

Good cause but, like so many "cool" young ventures, they are not experienced enough, won't admit it, and don't understand that customer service matters. I paid them at a high hourly rate to design our front and back yards. Design process was extremely slow, communication terrible, and the outcome less than mediocre - which was to be expected: Despite several friendly requests on my part to check in about our needs, which changed during the renovation, the designer refused to even talk with me over the phone until the design was completely finalized with detailed cost overview - this meant I paid for someone to design and calculate items I no longer wanted! Normally, a landscaper presents initial ideas in simple drawings so the customer can adjust. When I pointed this out the designer wrote that I had "too high expectations" - heh? (They credited me for part of that time, which I appreciated.) Then, after a 2-month complete communication gap and passing a deadline I was told my new contact person had been on vacation and sick - all without anybody else telling me that or answering my simple process question. We finally installed just a small food forest together, but trees were planted too deeply despite me voicing my concern. Crew was very nice and worked hard and efficiently, but some of the staff treated me disrespectful and apparently wrote me off as a difficult customer. Well, yes, one can always blame the customers, but I later met someone who never even hired them due to a similar initial experience ... I suggest these guys become a bit humbler and learn about design process and business - or focus on doing good in the world and leave business to others!

I met the Planting Justice team in autumn 2008 through a craigslist posting when I approached them about helping us build a vegetable garden for our school (www.GolestanKids.com). Both Haleh and Gavin immediately showed great enthusiasm and generosity toward our school. Shortly after our first meeting, they returned with tools, materials, and the manpower to build our very own edible garden... all pro bono. They built the beds, supplied the dirt, and even helped the children plant the vegetables. They regularly followed up with us by coming back to check on the vegetable garden, often supplying us with what we needed to help it thrive. They were incredibly proactive while extremely accessible. One year later, when we organized a community work-party to expand our garden on a Sunday morning, they showed up with wood, tools, and the experience we needed to build the new beds. With their expertise, we were able to design an expanded garden for higher yield so that we may source more of our foods from our own garden. They also generously donated new plants to put in our beds. Planted Justice has shown unparalleled commitment and dedication to their community. They have gone above and beyond the call of duty and show a vested interest in helping others thrive. Their problem solving skills and creative solutions for making the most of very limited resources renders them invaluable to the community at large. My only complaint is that there aren't more people like them in this world, but I am confident that they will inspire many others to follow suit. In so doing, their impact will be far greater than their immediate reach.

This place is amazing and well worth the trek. Everything is grown organically, and the nursery does a lot of propagating itself. The selection is unbelievable. They must have forty kinds of apple, for example; they even have 20 or more different varieties of pomegranate. Rolling River also has many exotic and hard-to-find plants, such as medlars, honeybush and dragon fruit cactus. My advice is to look at the nursery's excellent website before you visit, so you can check out the many varieties that you've probably never heard of and select the best cultivars for your location and tastes. On top of all this wonderfulness, the prices are lower than most nurseries.

Responsive, courteous, knowledgeable, enthusiastic and hardworking, Gavin and the rest of the Planting Justice team are simply terrific! During the course of transforming our 25' X 25' yard, Planting Justice demonstrated that they were genuinely interested in creating a sustainable growing environment as pertained to our specific location with indispensable advice on plant variety, positioning and yard preparation. In addition, they readily answered our questions before, during and after the job to ensure that we would be best be able to enjoy the fruits of our labor. As gardening neophytes, we especially appreciated being able to help with the building and planting process as it was a wonderful way to build confidence as well as being a fantastic opportunity to learn valuable techniques from the experts. Planting Justice was also very flexible in working within our budget and the final costs came very close to their projected amount. We recently harvested our first round of produce an look forward to many more!

I had a very bad experience on many levels. As part of the work, I agreed to have a vegetable bed built to replace a wooden bed already in place. I was told it would "echo" the fluid curves of the garden paths. I was told it would be built of small white rocks similar to ones already used for edging in part of the garden. Instead, a grossly oversize structure was created, using large rust-colored rocks piled crudely one on top of the other. Only about half the materials ordered were used but I was charged for all the materials ordered, plus a "deposit" that was added to cost. Thus, the actual cost of materials used was $365, the estimate was $967, which grew to $1267 required as "materials deposit." Even if I had not rejected the over-sized rock bed, there would be a sizable discrepancy, since two tons of moss rock were ordered (at estimated $370), but only about one ton ($185) used for construction of the bed.. The compost and mulch were also over-ordered by about double, even though more mulch was actually used than would have been necessary if the rock structure had remained. The yard was left with debris in it, and a small flagstone wall that had to be disassembled temporarily for the rockbed structure was left disassembled. Everyone involved was gracious and charming. When I pointed out the discrepancies in billing, the bill was revised to accurately reflect the charges, and the project manager visited my home to talk and, as he said, to try to make things right. He disclosed that another customer had had a very similar experience and had said that if the staff were not so nice, he would have thought he was being scammed. Those were my sentiments as well. The project manager agreed to personally perform the hour of follow-up maintenance that was part of the contract, and to use that time to teach me about pruning trees as I had requested. When I initiated a correspondence to set a date for the follow-up visit, the project manager gave me three days when he could make time to come. I responded that since I was retired, and he was busy, he could choose the day most convenient for him, and I would be available. For reasons still mysterious to me, he became very upset that I didn't pin down the date, which he took to be an indication of my "hostility". He suggested that I didn't fit with the spirit of Planting Justice. All in all, not good. I hope this was an aberration, and due in part to inexperience. But I would advise potential customers to pay attention, and not be too disarmed.

The Planting Justice crew were wonderful to work with! I worked with Andrew mostly in the planning and installation. Andrew was knowledgeable, easy going, creative, quick to respond to both e-mails and phone calls, and he worked with in a specific budget!! I had a big space to fill and we did it using some of the materials we had on the property. Such as the old concrete slab, which we used to create flower beds and some old ceramic pipes as flower planters. The crew finished within the time-frame estimated and as I said before within budget!! I'm fairly knowledgeable when it comes to gardening, but no way could I have done the amount of hardscape work that needed to get done to bring my yard to a usable garden space.