I had a coupon book which allowed a buy one get one free plant. Since we were in the neighborhood, I thought we'd check it out. What a great selection! They are only open for retail sales on Saturday from 10:00 I think until 3:00. Luckily we caught the owner just as he was about to leave. I thought we would be in & out and spend less than $10. Not so. Half an hour later and $63 lighter, we came out with about six plants including wild strawberries, sages, and some other stuff that the owner raved about. It's great that the owner is so knowledgeable and - being from the valley - he knew what plants to recommend. The actual nursery has a wonderful peaceful feel to it. You can tell that this place has a lot of soul to it. Update: I received a note from the actual owner! It's great when business owners care about customer comments. So - just to be clear - it was an employee who helped us, not the owner. read more

Middlebrook is a gem in the neighborhood. It focuses on California native and edible plants. They handle a lot of conversion projects where people rip out lawns and go native. Some cities and water companies even pay you to do this. A fun funky garden that features edible plants, a California native plant nursery and some fun garden art pieces. My review is focused on the wonderful earth science classes they teach to kids. Officially called ELSEE (Environmental Laboratory for Sustainability and Ecological Education) project. They teach next door St Leo students as well as other schools who contract with them. Kids learn about earth science, composting, worm bins, koi ponds (kids love sneaking worms out of the bins to feed the koi), eating vegetables and fruits right out of the garden, learning how to grow crops without pesticides, doing weeding, looking into microscopes, planting their own native plants to take home and drawing scientific art illustrations based on how nature's internal structures work. The owner is really an artist working with native plants that is ahead of her time (or a throwback to California's rich agricultural heritage). She hires local college kids wanting to teach earth sciences to help teach her classes. A walk through her garden having them point out all the wonderful edible vegetation in their natural splendid glory was the highlight. Ever seen brussel plants? Wonderful delicate berries that aren't commercially grown because they don't ship well, but have were prized by Ohlone native indians. Have a discussion on how California Oaks are not only pretty, but how their acorns are harvested into Acorn flour, and how California's first people built their lives around this prized tree. read more

Middlebrook Gardens - View from the St Leo parking lot - Landscaping Near Me - San Jose, California

It seems the only way to get attention from this company is put in a bad review. They responded immediately after my review last year and provided some updating to my yard. At that time I indicated that I wanted ongoing maintenance. It hasn't happened. I recently sent a note reminding them that I wanted this and asked what I needed to do to get it, and I have gotten no response. This "zero star" is for their lack of communication and follow through. I'm sure there are other "native gardeners" that would do this for me. read more

I have been here many times taken classes and picked up plants this place is very special. The thing I come away with here is a new way to look at my front yard, the plants I pick to plant in my yard , the water we use and waste and how important it is to use what little dirt we have in smart way. Your yard can be green but it doesn't have to be all grass. Middlebrook Gardens is a place to start your smart garden. read more

I have not been to the nursery, so have no review of their store front. We used Middlebrook to design and install our front yard a couple of years ago, and I wish I hadn't wasted my money. An example of the design mistakes they made: placing ferns in direct sun, where they were going to get fried. And their "monthly gardening follow up"? We were signed up for an hour visit, and they came and left in the half hour I wasn't home - and left weeds and an irrigation system that was still leaking. As for the policy on replacing plants that die in the first month - that never happened. I finally gave up on trying to get someone to call me back and take care of things because it was making me so angry. There should be a zero star options for places like this. (I'm not a super negative person... I gave a 5 star review to our furnace guy, even though we were without heat for a couple of days, because it wasn't his fault the part was broken, and he was still a great contractor.... so my negative review about Middlebrook Gardens isn't me having a negative personality...) read more

I went there in response to a craigslist posting for free planters. I still have no idea what this place is. I stopped by on a Saturday at around 2:00. There a few younger people there just sitting. There were no real plants for sale... there were a lot of weeds growing in planters.... but not what I would call a nursery. It's basically a fenced in area with like Pan's Labyrinth if Pan had died about 20 years ago. There's not really an office. The people working didn't really know what was going on. There were literally 3 kids standing around trying to light the brick oven to make a pizza. I was super confused. I'm not sure what these people are selling, but whatever it is, you probably don't want it. Anyhow, so I finally just start asking people. "Do you work here? Is there a manager?" Finally someone looks up and tells me that she's around the corner inside the office. So I politely interrupt her, and just ask. "Hey so I'm just here to pick up planters?" With a completely confused face, she tells me that someone else probably put the ad up and she's not around. She was actually pretty polite. So no planters. End Scene. So, basically, I still have no idea what this place is, but judging by it's general maintenance and appearance, I'm not sure I'd bring any kind of business there. Also, what exactly is a landscape architecture degree? Let's not sugarcoat it, people. read more

We had Alrie Middlebrook design our wonderful front yard a year ago. We removed the lawn and junipers, installing all native plants. Randy did the installation and I couldn't be happier with the final result. (Except for the gophers who decided to move in and eat the roots of several plants!) I had a very specific design asthetic when I met with Alrie, asking that the yard not be the typical "wild" native design. I wanted a more groomed look with continuity. The first plant choices didn't quite work, but after meeting she came back with a beautiful design with concentric mounds and plants that flower throughout the year, bring butterflies, bees and hummingbirds, and needs very little water. The yard went from planting small 1 gallon plants in March, 2016, to fill out nice enough that another landscape architect driving by suggested I put it on the Bringing Back the Natives tour the following year. I thought it was too early, but after contacting the organizers of the tour, we are on it this year! Their followup with three free visits by her gardener were great--he taught me how to care for the plants and replaced a few that had died. read more

Wonderful California native nursery. Conveniently located when you don't have time to drive all the way up to Yerba Buena Nursery. The owner Alrie is very knowledgable and a professional landscape architect. Get rid of those wasteful lawns and plant natives! read more

We just had our bare front yard turned into a beautiful, bird friendly garden. We have many bird feeders, and I wanted the to be the main focus of the design. Middlebrook Gardens sent Tara out to discuss our ideas. She came back with an outstanding plan. It's very aesthetically pleasing for humans as well as the birds. If you are looking for a company that not only puts plants in the ground, but designs a appealing garden, call Middlebrook Gardens. read more

I felt uncomfortable and pushed by the owner who talked as if she was full of herself and showed little interest in my needs and suffered from failure to listen. She probably means well and might benefit from self-awareness. Not my cup of tea. read more

I am very happy with the design created for my front yard. My thirsty grass was removed and CA native's were planted instead. The removal of my old yard was efficient and new plants were installed along with the drip system to get them established. I was very surprised with how small the new plants were given the cost of the project. The "meadow" that was planted became a crows playground with many of the sedge spikes pulled up and tossed. Finally had netting laid over the "meadow" and the crows finally disappeared. Four months later, the "meadow" has not recovered, and the plant guarantee did not apply due to the crows. The three maintenance service appointments made were not done. I currently have a dirt "meadow" in my front yard that is very disappointing and can't get Middlebrook Gardens to actually come out and plant new sedge that I have to pay extra for. A company that started out so good really fell apart. read more

We used Middlebrook Gardens to landscape our yard. We have a somewhat difficult yard, as we have a heritage oak, lots of shade and a steep hill. They did a wonderful job of creating a California native, low water use woodland garden. Nancy was our designer and she met with us several times to help us make decisions. We had the landscaping done last fall, and this spring the yard has been just beautiful with flowers and growing plants. We are about to start using their maintenance service, so will see how that goes. read more

Middlebrook staff has been wonderful to work with in the process of relandscaping our front yard with California natives and a native fescue meadow. We are so happy with the look and feel of the project. Alrie is a terrific designer and Randy, a very flexible, and capable implementor. We love the dry creek, the Connecticut blue walkway, the fountain, the meadow and the plant choices. Our yard now complements our house. We will enjoy this project for years! read more