Empire One Nursery

On September 24, 2008, mlodymakr from Modesto, CA wrote:

Over two years ago we visited this nursery on a "specialty nursery" trip. It wasn't on our list, but we drove by on our way to another nursery and the building caught our eye. When we went in we were amazed by what we saw. It looked like an overgrown temple ruin in the deepest jungles of China! There were huge ponds with waterfalls and massive koi swimming around. The ponds were filthy. The structures looked like they were all ready to fall down. The whole place was overtaken by overgrown trees, vines, weeds and vines. We found an employee when we wandered into an area we didn't know was closed to customers and asked what this place was. They informed us that the original owner had just bought it back after the people he sold it to ran it into the ground. He was attempting to bring it back to its original glory when we stumbled upon it.

A few days ago we returned to Empire 1 and were blown away by what we found. The ponds were pristine, the trees had been perfectly pruned, the buildings rebuilt and repaired. The entire place was like a dream! The plants were the picture of health and there wasn't a weed to be found. We even ended up eating our lunch on one of their huge picnic tables under a spreading oak. We also bought some fantastic trees, fuscias and misc. plants. We got some great deals. The staff were warm and helpful. This is a place we can't wait to visit again!

On March 13, 2008, jonesbill56 wrote:

I did not like this nursery at all and would never go back. the old owner (I guess) was ignorant, offensive and totally not suited for operating the nursery. There was a young manager who was not much better.
The only saving grace was that I did not have to part with any money as I did not see one thing worth buying~ total waste of my time....

On December 1, 2006, begoniacrazii from Northern California, CA wrote:

I really like this nursery. I always find something to bring home. They grow a lot of their sale stock and keep a pretty decent selection of roses, trees, shrubs, perennials, vines, ferns, fuchsia, geraniums etc.
I love the large (newly renovated) koi ponds.