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Category: Nurseries & Gardening [Edit]
Neighborhood: City HeightsMon-Sat. 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Sun. 9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
"Their motto is "Life's a Garden, Dig It!" I truly dig this place. I can never visit this place without spending some money. The problem is…" read more »
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San Diego is blessed to have such a fantastic gardening resource. This past year I picked up a few herb cuttings at the Hillcrest Farmer's Market on a whim and promptly became obsessed with growing my own food. Lacking the space for a gardening bed, I grew a pretty sizable harvest in containers, and I owe its success to City Farmers Nursery.
The owner, Bill, is friendly, approachable, supportive, and a seriously amazing resource. He treats everyone well and will recognize you after only a couple visits. He's also equally helpful to everyone, so don't worry about asking for advice even if you're starting out and growing just a few things. He'll help you troubleshoot what's wrong with your plants, deal with pests using organic methods, and optimize the growth by suggesting the right size containers.
I bought pretty much all my supplies here -- from used plastic containers to pretty colored terracotta pots, "Black Gold" soil (suitable for vegetarians, make sure you check!), poles to prop up my tomatoes and cucumbers, cuttings of herbs I couldn't find elsewhere, fertilizer, etc. But if you've got space and the inclination to create your own landscape they have so many types of trees and flowers, and you can just wander around the property looking at them and checking out the chickens and fish and baby turkeys and what have you. They also carry organic seed if you're not the type to wander around farmer's markets buying baby cuttings from other growers.
As you can tell, I love City Farmers Nursery and think it's one of the best businesses in San Diego. There's so much to learn and the friendly staff will help you out! They really do want you to love the process and will help you through some of the learning curve!
Yaaaaaaay!!!!! One of those truly wonderful, family-owned businesses that make a community special.
I have a black thumb, but I am determined to grow some of my own food. I stopped by City Farmers today and felt the inspiration grow. I had it in my head that I wanted to start from seeds, both to save money and to feel that satisfaction of watching them poke their little heads above ground. Unfortunately I got a bit of a late start this year, and also like instant gratification.
When i saw that City Farmers charges the same for a 4" organically-grown seedling as for a pack of seeds, I swallowed my pride and bought mostly seedlings instead. They have a great selection of organically-grown popular herbs and veggies. I bought silver thyme, sweet basil, a 6-flat pack of gourmet mix salad greens, heirloom salsa tomatoes, catnip (!!!), swiss mint, lemon cucumber and a packet of purple greenbean seeds, plus a big plastic herb trough and a big terra cotta pot for $30.00!
The staff is all amazingly nice. The lady behind the counter hummed the entire time she was ringing me up. Everyone asked if I needed help. The nursery grounds are charmingly Secret Garden-esque, with habitats for pigeons, rabbits, tortoises and a parrot! There is also an adorable but aloof dog roaming around. They also offer FREE classes! The one advertised when I was there was for beekeeping, which is crucially important right now, as our bee colonies are collapsing.
Parking was a little tight, but I would rather shop here and get locally-grown, affordable plants and knowledgeable help than be an invisible number at the big chain nurseries. There's also a little cafe on premises serving breakfast and lunch in case you get hungry - unfortunately it's not owned by City Farmers and they don't serve the produce grown there, but it still looks adorable!
This place is a beautiful, unexpected gem. The staff is friendly and incredibly knowledgeable, and you can find fun, non-ordinary plants here. This place isn't about generic plants, and it isn't about some yuppified "garden experience" -- this is a down to earth place that provides you with the tools to design, plant, maintain, and relax in your own garden oasis -- and whether that means a tomato plant you keep on your balcony, a flower bed, or your entire yard is entirely up to you!
The lot is surprisingly big, considering the neighborhood, but you can go in back of the building to find roses, fruit trees, cacti, and ornamental plants. This place is full of hidden nooks containing unexpected and cool things. It is the absolute antithesis of a big box "garden center", and I absolutely adore it. You might pay a bit more than at a big box sale (but then again, maybe not!), but you totally get what you pay for in terms of service, knowledgeable staff, and variety of selection.
The only drawback I have yet encountered is that the parking lot can be tricky (being small, irregularly shaped, and containing no painted lines). Aside from that, this place is heavenly! If you love to garden (or just want to find out what the fuss is all about) and you live in the city, you NEED to visit this place.
What a wonderful place to get inspired on your garden or yard.
Wisteria, Avocado, and Stag Horns. This place magically takes you away from San Diego the instant you enter the gate. The people who work here are really helpful and patient. There's a mini farm with goats, chickens, and a horse. Your kids will love going to City Farmer's. There are so many interesting plants. If a Koi pond is what you are looking for, they have liners, fish, and more. Do yourself a favour, avoid the large chains and find this special nursery.
They care.
WOW you gotta be kidding me.. I walked into this place and its a gardener's dream! A maze of unique ORGANIC plants and flowers and botanical tropical oasis- there are kio ponds and the birds are singing and the people that work there are incredibly friendly and knowledgeable.. be sure to tall to Margaret- she knows her stuff and is such a hoot!! I got so many new unique flowering plants- and 3 diff types of tomatoes no one else has..and if they don't have what you want they will order it within a week! I only wish I found them sooner- never again will I go to home depo or some big ass chain nursery.. I LOVE this place!
I came here for some worms. Yes.. worms... At first, I thought I could just buy some... but at like ~14 for a bag of worms, I decided to take up the guys offer to dig for my own worms for just 2 bucks. Yea... I actually debated just buying the worms, but it seemed like such a bargain to just dig them.. so worm digging Will and I went. The guy at the register (maybe owner) said those who dig worms together stay together. haha. 30 minutes in the sun digging in "very clean horse poop" and we had a yogurt cup full of worms. I have to say that it really wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. There were some flies, but it didn't smell bad at all. I don't think my first cup was enough for my composting bin, so I will be back in a couple of days to go worm digging again. I also bought a rosemary plant for my little herb garden.. like others in the reviews, I will never again go to home depot for my plants.
City Farmer's is a priceless resource if you live in the city and have gardening or orcharist ambitions. They have a very large site with many little tucked away parts you're guaranteed not to find on your first visit. There are TWO fruit tree sections: one up top behind the store (up the tire steps) and a smaller section (with citrus, avacados, blueberries, feijoa) nearer the front (by the street). The top lot is much larger and has tons of apples, mulberries, figs, grapes, persimmons, pears, jujubes, almonds and peaches (and other stonefruit).
Their prices are very good (most trees are fairly mature and only about $35, less if you take them bare-rooted). They have some stellar compost, equipment, bulk seeds (mostly cover crop) and pond plants/koi. You can easily spend all day here.
The parking lot is often crowded but there's usually street parking up the hill or around the corner which isn't bad unless you have a couple 40-lb. bags of compost to lug.
I am so happy to have discovered this place! I love all the organic plants!! The people are super helpful and nice. I recommend them to everyone. Stay out of those commercial home stores because their plants are crap, go organic. This is a great place!
Fertilizer questions? Curious about a pest? Looking for a vine that will thrive in shade? This is your place. They know their stuff and they have inventory! It's a bit of a wonderland, expect to spend some time looking and being distracted by bunnies, ducks, fish and turtles. And acres of grand growables. Oh! Say hello to the parrot as well!
This is where to go when you really need somebody who actually knows what they are talking about ... supremely knowledgeable, helpful, kind --- at an interesting place --- what more can a person with some gardening problems or dilemmas ask for
City Farmer's Rocks.
Owner Bill Tall is friendly and helpful, (but not actually very tall).
The place is funky and down-home and relatively inexpensive. It's not an upscale slick "landscape center" or huge big box.
They have a good selection of plants, low-chill fruit trees, soils and bulk soil amendments, fish, a little playground, and real farm animals your kids will love to visit.
As others have noted parking is very tight. Unless you plan on getting a big bag of potting soil or a tree, you might be better off parking on the street.
Check out the on-site deli (Nate's) if you are hungry.
One of the last of the independant plant nurseries. It's a pleasure to go in here and have knowledgable staff to talk to (unlike Home Depot / Lowes were you have to wait 7 to 8 minutes for an employee to be paged and when they finally arrive in garden section, they tell you they do not have the answer to your question... aagghh!!). I love that they advocate sustainable farming and gardeing. Cool place to just wander through. Prices are reasonable, and an added plus is the deli on site.
This is a gem tucked away in the city (City Heights to be exact). You can tell this place has been around and weathered neighborhood changes and urbanization, but it keeps the small-town, country charm and is miles apart from the mega-chain box stores (I won't name any names, but their initials are H.D.) that have all-but-crushed many privately owned nurseries/gardening stores. Large selection of local and commonly found landscaping. Plus the livestock (horse, chickens, ducks, birds, fish) will help entertain small children so you can spend more time browsing the expansive grounds pressed between the canyon wall and Euclid Ave. Parking is tricky, but definitely worth the effort.
P.S. They close at 5pm and are closed Sundays. Be sure to get there well before closing time if you don't want every employee you run into giving you a minute-by-minute update of how much time you have before closing.
City Farmers Nursery is a wonderful place within the city. The owner, Bill Tall, is so sweet, friendly, and helpful. I feel like he is a wonderful big brother. He give a lot of help to the community (like school gardens). By shopping at this nursery, you know you are giving back to the community as well. Bill also gives wonderful workshops at the nursery. The nursery is a beautiful, fun place to walk around.
not sure why this place is categorised as a 'toy store' when it actually is what it's called: a nursery...in other words... a place to go to buy live potted plants, soil, seeds, pottery. it's also a place to go to see a live chicken or rooster, horses, a donkey or two, turkeys. it's a fun, cute little nursery, located--as they say--in the heart of the city. love this place. i've purchased many a plant here, and have never found them to later be diseased or unproductive. always healthy and happy. i've also purchased a few plant pots here, but they're a little expensive, so i usually go to home depot or walmart for pots. they also have a vast section of seeds here, a hefty cacti section and a small selection of gardening books. they offer several classes on gardening, and host an annual art fair which showcases local art/ handmade crafts for sale. city farmers is a community treasure. a gardener's delight. you should check them out. the only thing is parking can be a little tricky, but what else is new...?
oh, and there's a good deli which adjoins the nursery (nate's). good sandwiches.
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