Firstly, the plants are edibles/medicinals that are SUPER rare. I've bought online for years, but going in person was a whole NEW experience! Secondly, the staff were some of the most friendly & helpful people! My mother & I drove two hours to go, & we stayed for like 4 hours. We had so many questions, truly, SO MANY questions. They answered them completely & with joy. We asked for someone to help us find things, & he became our tour guide all over the nursery. I can't recommend this place enough. The prices online are fair, but in person made it so worth it! They care about quality, & value their customers. read more

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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 !! read more

this place is amazing and i'm so glad they exist. staff was super friendly and gave thoughtful explanations and plant advice. variety of fruit trees was unreal. and prices were very reasonable. will be back and would love to check out their other location in el sobrante. read more

Planting Justice - Community Service/Non-Profit Near Me - Oakland, California

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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 !! read more

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. read more

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." read more

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. read more

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? read more

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. read more

Planting Justice - a view of a vegetable garden - Community Service/Non-Profit Near Me - Oakland, California

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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. read more

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. read more

Planting Justice - 4 mountain papayas received from first order - Community Service/Non-Profit Near Me - Oakland, California

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! read more

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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! read more

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 read more

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. read more

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! read more

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! read more

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

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. read more

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. read more

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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! read more

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. read more

Planting Justice - Raspberries in the beds with homemade supports; strawberries planted vertically in a pallet. Very productive already! - Community Service/Non-Profit Near Me - Oakland, California

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! read more

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. read more

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 :-) read more

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. read more

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. read more

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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. read more

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! read more

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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. read more

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. read more

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. read more

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. read more

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) read more

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! read more

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 read more

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. read more

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. read more

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. read more

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