Armstrong Garden Centers

Love this Armstrong. Staff is very friendly, and always willing to help and answer questions. They’re very knowledgable as well. I wish they had a bit more of a selection of certain plants, but overall very pleased.

This place has the worst service… ever. Every time I’ve come in here I’ve noticed, but today was the final straw. Had to track down an employee, and when I asked her for help she barely gave me the time of day and was awkward. Very odd vibes, bad service and unfriendly attitude. Home depot has far better prices. No thanks. Bye bye.

We had a landscape designer come out and redo our front yard, it was a wonderful experience. Mimi is extremely professional and everything was easy for us to do. Great service from the entire team. We emailed in with lots of questions and Mimi always responded quickly and with a lot of information. I would highly recommend Mimi and the entire Armstrong crew. They were extremely attentive and completely changed the look of our house. So many people have approached us and complimented our new yard and what an upgrade it is.

I went to this establishment today to buy some roses and some other items and took my goods to the counter to pay for them. A clerk decided he didn’t want to wait on me and went to the next person. That person told him that I was first. He still waited on them and told me to wait a second. This kind of rudeness is unnecessary. I have choices on where I spend my money, and I will no longer be going to Armstrong. Prices are inflated anyway, and with clerks like that, who needs to darken their doorway?

This time I stopped at Encinitas store to pick up roses that were ordered in October. I love plants and when I have problems with mildew or something is eating my rose bushes I go for advice to Armstrong’s. I also enjoy looking at the nice pottery they have there and buy… occasionally, even it’s pricey.
The employees are always nice.
Jay now is the manager there. What a nice person and an excellent manager who truly cares for his customers. As I was picking up my roses, I noticed that one of the plants has aphids. He kindly offered to spray it for me. Also gave me some excellent advices and was extremely patient as I was picking some gardening stuff.
Many thanks to Jay and his attentive, helpful crew. Will definitely go back later this season.

This pains me to write this review, because I had been a customer of Armstrong since 1995.
Remember those X-​Hoses that came out a while back — the ones that shrunk up when you turned off the water? They seemed like the greatest thing since sliced bread, until they started leaking and exploding. But before that, I purchased 4 of them from Armstrong.
The other day, I brought one of them back, since it had just exploded. The sales person who originally helped me was very polite, although they couldn’t find my account in their computer system. So he called the manager.
The manager didn’t even bother to look. He told me flat out that Armstrong never carried that item. I told him I had bought them there, and that they even transferred 2 of them from their San Marcos store for the latest purchase. «Well, return them to San Marcos, then» was his curt, rude reply.
I couldn’t believe his demeanor. Basically, he was calling me a liar, even though the sales person listening tried to correct him. He would have none of it. He was one of those young, 30-​something, know-​it-​alls who is clueless about how to treat customers.
As the manager was leaving, I asked him, «So you’re not going to do anything about this?» «Bring in a receipt, and we’ll talk then,» was his brusque retort, and he vanished. I told the sales person, «You know, I’ve been a customer here since 1995. I shop here not because you’re cheaper, because the Home Depot a block away is almost always 30% less than you are. I come here because of your customer service. And if your customer service is inferior to Home Depot, you have nothing. You just lost a 25 year customer over a $ 25 item. I sure hope it was worth it.»
As I was leaving, two of the sales people ran out to my car and told me they would have the manager’s manager call me on Saturday and straighten the whole thing out. No one ever called.
I saw this sort of thing happen with Circuit City years ago. First they go arrogant as a company. Then they hired arrogant, clueless managers. Then they fired everyone who was good at customer service. Then they went bankrupt.
By the way, I have nothing against 30-​somethings. Both my kids fit that description. It’s just clueless arrogance that I have no tolerance for.
Also, I realize that perhaps Armstrong might not be able to get its cost back from the vendor. If they would have explained that, politely, I probably would have accepted it. But to practically call me a liar and deny that they carried the product — well, that was too much.

Was in there today to find some plants. Asked for help and she told me the plant was around the corner and that’s it! I went and did not find what I was looking for. I kept standing around wanting to be helped as I was going to spend a lot of money that day as I am remodeling my huge yard. Anyway, I heard a lot of good things about the customer service but when I told my wife about the experience, she said the same thing. Well they lost out on a thousand dollar sale as I went next door to Home Depot where they fully helped me with great customer service and almost half the price!
Oh I also saw this amazing plumeria plant tree there and it was $ 999!!! Then I googled another place and they have the same one for $ 225.00!!! Wow! These people are clueless!

Well let me start off by saying I knew NOTHING about plants, just moved to the West Coast from East Coast and wanted to decorate my patio. Mike was so fantastic! I told him what I was looking for (something relatively difficult to kill, but pretty) and he showed me so many options and really talked me through on what the best options for my first ‘starter plant” should be. Not to mention the veggie section was SUPERB.
Already have my list for the next visit (which will depend on my ability to keep the first one growing)

My husband and I stopped in on Saturday with the hopes of building a small garden on our patio and not a clue how to do it. We looked around at the wide selection of plants and accessories before asking for help. We were assisted by the owner. She was tremendously helpful! I particularly liked her style of customer service. She gave us an idea of what we should look for and allowed us to continue browsing under her guidelines and then followed up with us within the hour. We don’t like to be followed around and constantly upsold so this meant a lot to us! She also made sure to let us know about ALL of our options as far as accessories go and didn’t just point out the priciest ones! We will definitely be back to continue with our new hobby.

I can’t believe I haven’t reviewed Armstrong Gardens until now. This location is not necessarily the biggest or busiest, I think the one by the Carlsbad outlet stores and the flower fields might be – but this store is just as great!
I recently came here to purchase a ficus tree for our home and thought Armstrong would have the size and style I was looking for. Unfortunately, the ones in stock were not as mature as I was looking for but the sales associates were very helpful during my visit. I also wanted to search for two plants to replace our large poinsettias that were in urns at our front entry during the holidays. The area doesn’t get much sun so they helped me select two that will do great in low light.
The prices here are high but they sell quality. I buy all my seasonal flowers at local wholesale flower fields but I use Armstrong for trees, shrubs that will be somewhat permanent. A good point to note is that all their trees and shrubs are guaranteed so if something goes wrong in the first month or so, they can help you either correct the issue or replace.

I really enjoy popping in to this Armstrong location. They are a smaller location, but when I’m looking for seeds or starter plants for my veggie garden, they always have just the thing.
The staff here is quite knowledgeable and they have always been very helpful to me. Make sure to sign up for their rewards club, you’ll always get valuable coupons for great shopping deals. I stocked up on 4″ veggie pots this week, even though it was cold and rainy, and as I was checking out, the cashier pulled his personal heater up from under the counter to help me warm up as I paid. It’s little things like that they always make your day.
Great location, great staff, just a bit smaller so you’ll have to check to see if they have what you’re looking for.

the people that work at Armstrong are really nice and generally quite patient. The prices for their plants are a bit steep though. I haven’t had much look with their herbs, but the fruit tress seem to be doing well.
Let them know where you live and how much sun you get so they can advise you on what to plant and what not to plant. This will save you headaches down the road.

I don’t like giving 5 stars, but this place really deserves it. Any staff member I’ve encountered over the years just seem so darn happy to work there! I’ve asked about out of season plants and have been offered (and received) notification when these plants arrived. They have a nice selection of small trees and shrubs at good prices. The best thing I could say about here is that I always find the slightly different plant I can’t find at discount stores.

Every single time we had specific, unique questions (especially for indoor plants) we receive detailed answers and it was pleasant that a staff member would take the time to offer suggestions for our needs.
I’ve been to several nurseries, and would say so far they have the largest indoor plant selection I’ve seen.
We ended up joining the free membership since we end up almost coming here every single time for our plant needs instead.

Great little garden center! Customer service is spot on and prices are fair. Warren took the time to help me figure out what was killing my plants and gave me a solid education and the right tools to fix the problem without over selling me. Going here made me realize that going to Home Depot for plant needs isn’t worth it. These guys are experts in their craft and take the time to help you. I will be back.

This place is pretty good. The selection isn’t great and it’s small but the staff are very knowledgeable and helpful. Definitely can’t get that kind of service at a big box store. They also have classes that you can attend. I’m going back to see what they have to say about container gardening.