Rana Creek Wholesale Nursery - Carmel-By-The-Sea, California

H. X.

I had a good experience as someone with some basic knowledge about California native plants. Great selection of some hyperlocal trees. Hard to find small oaks endemic to Monterey County and Monterey pines for less. This is a good spot to source hyperlocal for Monterey County habitat restoration projects. Good newer native plant nursery in CA. They will service retail customers in walk-ins. Pedro is a great manager.

Amanda Sibaja

Had a great time walking around the nursery. Found a couple natives I had been looking for. Hopefully the elderberry will like our yard.

River Navaille

Wonderful diversity of drought tolerant and/or native plants and grasses, at very affordable prices. You may have to ring a bell for an employee to come help you (they are busy working all over the property) but once they come they’re very friendly, knowledgeable, and helpful. I will have to make another trip soon!

Dave Anderson

looking for natives at reasonable price. check this place out. its my new favorite go to for natives

Jaia Lin

Just a heads up the compost they sell here in bulk has A LOT of weed seeds (and other random stuff in it like roots, pot pieces, planter labels, irrigation line, etc) in it- probably doesn’t get turned/hot enough to kill them so if you do get a load of compost you’ll be weeding more than you’d like. It’s a bit cheaper than Hana’s compost (probably should be a lot cheaper to be fair) but theirs has no weed seeds and has better organic matter than Rana. Otherwise, rock on Rana, love that you’re here in the valley!

Marielle Breneman

RANA specializes in wholesale but is also open to the public.

The key word is: WHOLESALE. I saw some negative Yelp reviews complaining about customer service. Those reviewers very clearly don't understand the meaning of the word "wholesale," which is in the very name of this business.

WHOLESALE = FOCUS IS ON GROWING and plant health. ? Rana was never really designed for a retail-like "presentation" and, more importantly, WHOLESALE NURSERIES DO NOT BABY THEIR CLIENTS. The expectation is that anyone who walks into a wholesale nursery has decent plant knowledge, to the point that they can identify most of plants to they want to purchase just by looking at them. And wholesale nurseries label by the scientific name of the plant, not the common name.

If a person walks into Rana and leaves dissatisfied due to "lack of customer service," and feels confused because they can't find the labels (which ARE indeed actually present, simply just one one tiny tag per section, and in the Latin name) …I would argue that such a person does not belong in ANY kind of wholesale nursey.

The wholesale shopping process involves usually either coming in with a list in the Latin names, plant size, and quantity needed, and asking for those plants to be "pulled," or the customer can walk around and pull the plants they want. They should first be able to recognize the plant visually, then they can check for the (tiny) tag to verify the ID and check for specific cultivar.

Let those lacking plant knowledge and expecting a highly curated experience go to a lovely retail nursery such Valley Hills or Griggs, where they can pay nearly double the wholesale prices that Rana offers...and get the concierge service that they need.

Now, I am going to review Rana by what actually matters for a wholesale nursery:
1. Plant health (i.e. vigor: strong root systems, good nutrition)
2. Plant hygiene (i.e. being free of pests/diseases)
3. Overall value (wholesale nurseries should be priced lower than retail).

In all three categories, RANA is absolutely AMAZING.

1. Health: ? Every single plant I have purchased from Rana has been exceptionally healthy (I've been a customer for 5 years and spent thousands of dollars here).

2. Hygiene: ? I have a large garden and am always worried about introducing disease, (which can easily happen especially when purchasing from Big Box stores such as Home Depot). Rana actually has a reputation in the community for EXTRAORDINARY PLANT HYGIENE. ? In the hundreds of plants I have purchased over the years, not a single one has ever brought in a pest.

3. Value. ? Prices at Rana tend land somewhere between 50%-65% of what you'd pay at Valley Hills or Griggs. You shop at Rana to save money and get astoundingly healthy plants. You just have to go in with plant knowledge in order to navigate the place.

Now, as for customer service. Yes, you have to hunt someone down if you have a question. This may take about 5 minutes and you may have to walk half a football field. (Welcome to wholesale, baby!) The customer service at Rana is actually quite excellent. Pedro is super friendly and extraordinarily knowledgeable. So what that you have to go look for him? Once he knows you're there, he will be quite attentive to your needs.

Yes, Rana is not the nursery for everyone. Most people should probably stick with the expensive retail nurseries. (Honestly, Valley Hills and Grigg's are great at what they do. And that concierge-style customer service is built into the price of the plants.)

Go to Rana if you want inexpensive plants that are super healthy, as long as you know the basics of plant ID and are familiar with the Latin names of the plants you are looking for. Understand that no one there is going to baby you. This is wholesale. ?Most of the employees are focused on caring for the *plants,* and they are excellent at what they do.

Rory Benedict

We were looking for succulents and decided to visit RANA Nursery. While we didn't find any unique succulents, we did find a small shrub for one if our planters. RANA's offers wholesale as well. They also grow organic seedlings and vegetables in the back portion of the nursery.

don pendleton

Has a decent inventory of Calufornia native, and a few exotic, plant species for sale.