Down to Earth Gardens & Nursery

We have had mixed experiences at this nursery, depending on which sales associate has helped us. On every visit we have been politely greeted, and provided with helpful information to help us narrow down our plants and trees search. The site is well laid out, well signed, and enjoyable to walk through. We purchased quite a few plants and trees, at the end of last season (fall), which appeared healthy, and which were properly handled, fertilized, planted and wintered in excellent soil in our yards. We purchased our fertilizers at Down to Earth, as recommended by the staff there. Most of our plants are doing great now (springtime), but some are struggling to come back (when you buy at the end of the season, and pay full price, you would expect the plants to be fully viable, especially when you don't see leaves on them when buying in the fall). We just purchased some new spring plants (they appear to have been wintered by Down to Earth at their point), and we will see if they spring to life in due course. A few things bugged me when shopping here: - one of the (male) sales associates, was quite arrogant and condescending (know-it-all attitude), which I noted and wrote off as an off-day on his part, but this has been on every occasion - we no longer want to interact with that person. - we had to repeatedly ask one particular (female) sales associate (maybe she's an owner?), for an itemized sales receipt for our records, not just a credit card transaction slip. A reputable business provides these without being asked - her reply was that "they don't take returns, and most itemized sales receipts land up discarded on their parking lot anyway, so as a result they don't routinely provide these." - having purchased hundreds of dollars of plants on a number of occasions, one would think that the staff/owners here, would have a more approachable and reasonable sales/return policy, and stand by their products. They are happy to sell, just not customer "service," their products - and give all customers credit for their knowledge of gardening - not everyone is a novice, and no one should be treated as such or condescended to. Some staff members are more honest than others in pointing out the healthy vs unhealthy plants when making selections, so beware that unhealthy plants are most certainly in the mix there, and not necessarily being culled out by the management in a timely fashion, if at all... - the prices here are up there, but in most cases reasonable for sturdy, healthy, developed plants. - soil bags, fertilizers and ceramic pots are very expensive here, for similar products, but likely represent small business needed profit margins to continue to do business in a competitive market - and lastly, if a business will only guarantee a plant going out but not lasting for a reasonable time after you properly plant it etc. at home, then that doesn't say much for the quality of the plants actually going out. And if you land up having to replace quite a few at your own costs anyway, then perhaps it's better to go to a cheaper nursery somewhere else. Customer's choice. Overall, I would give Down to Earth a satisfactory rating, due to their variety of plants and trees, but would also suggest they make improvements in their attitudes towards customers, as well as their customer service as it pertains to plant reliability.

Absolutely love Down to Earth! We bought our Christmas tree and wreath there last year, and look forward to getting this years from there as well. My husband also loved chatting with Kelly and Eko about our landscape plans as well; very informative and helpful. Highly recommended!

What a lovely, locally owned nursery! I had exceptional customer service from Kelly, who took the time have an in depth conversation with me. She was very personable & friendly. I really enjoyed my experience here & will be back. I love to support local business like this one! Thanks again Kelly!

Two months ago we spent over $500 for 4 trees from down to earth nursery. 3 of the 4 trees are doing fine. One of them is obviously dying. Since then, our experience with down to earth, in particular, Kelly Chashai, has been reminiscent of Monty Python’s Dead Parrot skit. At the time of purchase, we were told to remove the burlap sack before planting. When we removed the tree from the pot not only was there no burlap sack there was virtually no root ball. Just a lump of clay the size of a small soup bowl. Keep in mind this is a 4 foot tree. After numerous accusing and annoying responses to our email questions, Kelly’s last response was “it was healthy when it left here…call an arborist”. Like the dead parrot in the Monty Python skit, nailed to its perch, this tree was kept on life support until they could unload it on some unsuspecting customer. Do not shop here! T & F Regier.

We are very happy with the new deck and railings installed by Down to Earth. Their head carpenter was very easy to work with and very professional. The end result is better than we anticipated and we look forward to having more work done by this team in the future. Thanks!

We picked up a few blueberry bushes for the garden this spring. The staff were happy & friendly (increasingly rare in COVID times it seems). They gave me some great advice and answered all of our many un-blueberry-related questions too with great enthusiasm. They clearly love what they do. I will definitely be back if we happen to need something else garden related down the road.

Unlike the other reviews posted here, ours is for the construction of a deck. We called DTE to quote a retaining wall for our down-sloping backyard. We heeded their advice to avoid this, as the root system for a Garry Oak tree could have been damaged. Plan B was a deck. DTE was very helpful in quoting the project at different sizes and using different materials. We were hung up on the composition of the deck, as I wanted no maintenance, so wood was out. We considered composites, and then settled on Lanai Outdoor Decking. This is a PVC short length (48" x 4 1/2") plank material made in Edmonton that ticked all our boxes: won't fade, bend, lift, scratch, or get too hot in the sun, and it's recyclable. Trevor is a skilled carpenter, and he produced a rock-solid and attractive deck with full skirting that we are very pleased with. DTE used Victoria Railings for that aspect of the job, and the finished product will give us years of pleasure. We recommend Down to Earth for deck construction.

Every time I have gone here, I have been met with smiling faces. They are very knowledgeable and helped me with replacing a lot of plants I lost this winter. Their plants are of the highest quality and their baskets are second to none. I have a stunning begonia basket at my front door and I had someone come to my house to ask where I got it. Highly recommend