Reviews of The Bruce Company (Gardener)

Sara Bellum

So Disappointing. I used to be a big fan, and spent a lot of money in both the nursery and the huge gift shop. The nursery is still nice, but our landscaping is completed so I need little in the nursery. My low rating is strictly due to the store/gift shop. They used to have a wonderful Halloween selection - now they have virtually nothing. Their Christmas decorations used to be so wonderful that I would stop in almost every weekend with family and friends. The group of us spent thousands every year. It used to be so jam packed with lovely items that you had visit several times to see everything. Now they made the store bigger, but the last two years at Christmas were awful. There were so few items to chose from, and while they were always high priced, now it is outrageous. A large area of the front part of the store has scarves, purses and jewelry - YUCK! I can buy that at so many places - I don't want to go to Bruce's for that! One employee tried to tell me they still had tons of things, but with the store bigger it just didn't look like it. I couldn't help myself - I said are you kidding me?!? They actually laughed and said they had been TOLD to say that. The large, badly lit and empty looking store was depressing at the holidays. Should have known when the parking lot was always half empty on the weekends. Our girls' shopping weekends no longer include Bruce's. Someone took over a couple years ago and changed everything - and they should be fired. One of my friends asked a cashier what happened - that the previously beautiful holiday displays were now awful (there is more at Boston Store, for goodness sakes!), and the cashier whispered that they hear that a lot, but management doesn't want to hear it, so no one says anything. Well, management - I can only surmise that your sales have plummeted during the holidays. You should listen to your customers and change your ways.

ken lejsek

Very good service

Seth Nicholson

Great plant selection & knowledge staff.

Patrick Empey

If you bring a bush/tree back that died be ready to hear the 6 different ways that it was your fault. We purchased 5 mugo pines in 2015, 3/5 died. When we went to the counter to get our store credit I was hit with a barrage of questions about why they died. The lady made me describe when they were planted, how the soil was, my watering "technique", my fertilizing technique, etc the entire time countering with what she would have done instead, she literally made a "tssk" sound when I described how we were watering them. It felt like I was talking to a teacher about why my paper wasn't given a good grade. Mugo pines are supposed to be very hearty and low maintenance. They dont require much care or much water. That's why we bought them. Your bushes died, you have a guarantee. Dont make me feel stupid. Give us our money back so we can get new ones. BTW, ive purchased 8 bushes from The Bruce Company, 4 have died. Ive purchased 12 from Menards, none have died...and Menards is half the Price...

Emily Mueller

I go to here often - they have fantastic selection and their houseplants are lush and super healthy, their plants always thrive the best of all the plants I buy. Staff isn't naturally of the approaching kind but honestly? I love taking a long stroll and checking everything out without being pestered. They are always friendly when I do approach with questions or asking for suggestions. Keep up the good work, guys!

Joe Dimick

Shopping at the Bruce Company is always a delightful experience. Great quality plant materials. I always find something interesting for my gardens.

girish kulkarni

They did landscaping for our Veridian home and everything they did is done incorrectly and going to cause us lot of trouble in future. Every interaction with them required tons of calls, emails and repeat visits. On one side of the house, soil level was above the foundation. It is common sense that soil should be at least 6 inches below foundation. Nobody reviewed their work. Grading is wrong in many other places of the lawn. After seeding they are supposed to attach pipe to all downspouts. They left one downspout on top retaining wall rock. I had called them up as soon as I noticed it but they didn't fix it in time. Because of their mistake half of the lawn got washed out when it rained. We have been putting top soil and reseeding the yard regularly to fix this but our yard is still bumpy in lot of places. There were many mistakes with the way they set up temporary irrigation system. When they make such mistakes, they have nobody to verify the quality of their work. When we find these issues, they don't respond in time. After many calls and emails, when they actually come to fix things, they do it without telling us and do it incorrectly. So we have to start calling them again.

Greg H

Worst customer service and quality I've ever experienced from a company. We bought a Veridian house so they were already contracted to do the yard. After getting quotes from other landscaping companies Bruce Company was 2.5 to 3 times the cost. We were told numerous times that their high price would come with 60 years of "experience" and top of the line professional quality. Well the yard looks like crap, is full of weeds, ruts, and pools with water when it rains. The landscaping they did is terrible quality, and most of the plants they planted are covered in a black fungus, dead, dying or about to die! The landscaping wasn't even done by them but by another landscape firm they contracted. I could have cut out the middle man (Bruce Company) and hired the other company directly and saved thousands. The boulder retaining walls they installed didn't have landscape fabric behind them so when it rains all the dirt from behind the wall washes down. When the plans did not match the actual yard instead of calling me they just they placed a planting bed in the corner of the back yard, not anywhere close to where I wanted it. I was assured they would fix it, their fix was removing it and not giving me a refund. Very unprofessional, slow response times, limited design choices, poor quality, overpriced work. I regret not listening to my Verdian personal builder when he said I could have the work done by anyone.

Priscilla Polk

Execellent

Don Allred

Bruce company is the single worst contractor that Veridian uses, this company is going to end up losing Veridian a significant amount of business. The Bruce company was supposed to install my yard By the 21st of August, it’s now doubtful it will be installed by the end of the year. They don’t return emails or calls. Overcharge for EVERYTHING! DO NOT USE them!!!!!!! They will not meet the timeline, the plants/grass will die off and they will be difficult to deal with to replace. They are the single biggest complaint from every homeowner in my neighborhood.

Drew .

Tried to replace a tree the graft died on under their one year warranty, they only give you store credit and since the quality trees the they had in stock was so poor I waited until this spring to go get the replacement. Turns out they raised the price and they wouldn't give me the same price when I polity asked. Can't call it a FULL WARRANTY if you cant get a full replacement.

Joe Genna

I wanted an estimate for an Irrigation System and to have edging installed, they wanted to charge me $150.00 just to come out and give me an estimate! Stay away from this company as there are plenty of Companies out there that will come out to your home at no charge. Olson Toon is one of many that will...

Raven Child

Bruce Company landscaped my yard one year ago part of my Veridian Home package. Everything looked nice when planted, but this year over 50% of plants are dead and all beds are over-crowded with weeds. Weeds are expected but not covering all beds and plants. Have called multiple times and left messages for the Bruce Company rep I had one year ago, but no response. Absolutely awful experience with this company. Never would consider shopping or using them in the future.

Charlotte Gumtow

I've tried to contact Bruce Company for the past two weeks for a residential estimate on landscaping, but their account manager has never returned my calls. They did my landscaping two years ago for Veridian and perennial plants are already dead. Have decided to go another route. Sad....

Thomas Kuenzli

Everything for your garden and patio!

Susan Venable

love this place! super friendly and attentive staff that helped me with my selections and provided excellent insight on caring for my plant purchases. highly recommended!!

Jeff J

I spent thousands of dollars on patio furniture that broke one month after warranty lapsed. They wouldn’t stand by their product nor would the company that made the furniture. I will not purchase anything from this company again. Ok, give me the phone number and the first name of your contact person who can resolve this for me. I don’t want the last five people I spoke to who were of no help either.

Rachael P

I've never used their services, however one of their trucks almost ran me off of the road! Once they raced past me, they did the same to the cars in front me. While I had never heard of them before, I will now never use them as a customer.

Ryanne Patton

I went to The Bruce Company on 5-2-13 to purchase some ground cover, perennials. After a nice young lady assured me that the kind I wanted would do great in the area I was thinking about planting, I purchased and planted the same day. I questioned a couple because they looked a little dried out, She said they would be fine. A couple weeks later they all died. I haven't done anything different to my yard or plants. I called to see if they would do an exchange or refund. Neither! $60 down the drain. Menard's or Home Depot it is from now on!!!! Very Disappointed!!!

Kevin Roh

Lots of greenery.

Michael Carton

Really good products and great selection. Minus one start because of high prices. I guess Middleton is an expensive area.

Greg Hallingstad

Bought a Verdian house last April and contracted Bruce Company do to some work. They didn't complete it correctly and said they would fix it first thing in the summer. Its now June and still nothing. I know they are busy but maybe they should hire some more people or not take on the work. I work in product development and when we are busy we don't take on a new customer as we know we wont be able to provide the support they will require. Bruce Company did pay to have the yard reseeded and aerated last fall which was really nice and has made the yard look much better. Then again maybe they shouldn't have taken so long to put the yard in. There were newer houses which got graded and seeded before us.There are still a few bare spots but that's expected with a new lawn. Many of the shrubs they planted came back from the dead an look wonderful. There are still a few dead ones that need to be replaced. I'm still hopeful they will make things right.

Amy Sprouse

Went into this place for the first time the other day looking for plants for my new apartment. I went in expecting to not enjoy myself based on the reviews of the others who have posted here. As soon as I pulled up and stepped out of my car, I came across an employee who did not greet me (expected that). Then, when I entered the doors, she was there again. This time, I took the initiative to acknowledge her with a "hello" and she replied back with the same. I made my way to the live plant section and was pleased to see such an array to choose from. So much nicer than what was available at Home Depot (thankfully). The store is really large with many different areas to shop (not just live plants). I have pets and limited light, so I needed some help with trying to find plants that would work that are non-toxic. I approached another worker there and asked for help. It took her a while to warm up to me initially, but I know that some folks just aren't super social. However, once we started to chat, she offered many helpful suggestions. This may just be that place where the customer needs to make the first move. I left without making a purchase as I needed to do some more research on her plant suggestions. I don't want to invest $$$ only to have them not work out (die). But, once I decide, I'll be back to Bruce to make those purchases.

Tori K

Everyone there is so helpful and friendly, I could chat with any of them all day. They have such a unique offering. No matter what department I am looking in, I find items I LOVE! Not your run of the mill place. Everything I have bought there has been high quality whereas I have bought similar things at other stores that do not hold up. Awesome patio and deck decor, personal favorite.

Timmo Dugdale

Last week, I was working on a problem area of my lawn – wet area due to drainage. I initially went to a different nursery after reading the reviews here and got horrible service (Felly's on Nesbit Road). I decided to go back to Bruce Company because I love their selection. When I arrived, I walked over to the grasses area and within 1 minute, a woman came over and asked if I needed help. I explained my situation – needing to find plants that can withstand wet soil – and she was very helpful. I mentioned the idea of shrubs and she called over another woman. Together, we walked around the grounds, and I was provided several solutions along with a nice handout listing all the plants that met my needs. They left me to make my decision and didn't pressure me at all. The service was EXCELLENT and I felt they went above and beyond to make sure I was helped. Bruce Company is more expensive then other nurseries but I will never go anywhere else! P.S. Their Christmas tree selection is top-notch, as well.

Kelly Matteson

Staff is very unfriendly and doesn't offer to help find things. I have shopped there in previous years, many times throughout the season and bought many many plants, trees and decor, however I will no longer be going. I experienced the terrible customer service twice this year already and have given up! I used to LOVE going to the Bruce Co.

Chase N

Cashier's are not trained very well. Every time I go here to make purchases for the grow season, it takes 4 or 5 people to check me out. Bruce is a wonderful place, but checking out is a nightmare.

benjamin balk

The Bruce Company asked permission to use my property to transport materials for work on an adjacent lot. The supervisor promised they would landscape my property back when they were through. Huge Lie!! They ruined my existing lawn with their equipment and then just planted some seed. If they had come back to check up on their work maybe they would have seed how badly everything washed away two days after they put it down. Now I am stuck with a quickly eroding valley that I will have to spend money on to repair and the Bruce Company ignored my emails. DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY!!

Rachel Kennedy

Don’t walk.. RUN from this company. We built a Veridian home last year and Bruce Company seeded our lawn. The results were bismal! Our backyard is still 50% covered in dirt and no grass is growing. They are complete liars and crooks and said they came back for a redo. No pre notification that they were coming to re seed and I also work from home so I did not see their truck pull up. I even contacted them with 3 emails to dispute that I did not get a redo on my lawn but they offered no help. My backyard looks like it belongs on East Washington street. They really take no time in helping the customer grow their lawn. I had to spend $100 out of my own pocket to correct the front yard at least. Horrible customer service. NEVER again!!

Mitch Quade

Big thanks for making my last minute Christmas purchase happen when I got there just after closing time--great service! Much appreciated!

Ronna L. Jeglum

When I wish to purchase plants or various garden items, I always drive out to Bruce's first. Their personnel help me with ideas, solving problems, et cetera. The plants and trees that I purchase there are always first rate quality and, in many cases, guaranteed for a year.

Ellie Sanchez

The women that assisted me were beyond helpful. I'm so happy with the plant and pot I got for my mom and it is much more beautiful than what I would have come up with alone.

Matthew Lynch

Good selection, reasonable prices, staff could be better. Yes ma'am, I understand that herbs do best outside, but I have an apartment and you don't have to reprimand me a dozen times for growing them inside. And the checkout staff seem a bit...out of it. I had a small purchase, used my card, and asked if I had to sign. The woman shook her head, I started to walk away, so she scolded me and said I needed to sign. Get it together.

Erin Palzkill

I tried to call to ask if they had a product I was looking for and had gotten there years before, but could never get an answer or call back. After owner's responce. Too late, found my item at Stein's in Waukesha.

WagnLoad DogWasteBags

What a happy and friendly place! Sue was amazing!! I wasn't quite sure what i wanted, but she gave me some amazing choices and helped direct me complete with color photos and words of advice on planting. Superb customer care!! Leannar was a friendly and happy and helpful face at the checkout. Stop on in and enjoy some happy times!

Julene Garner

I work there, people are very knowledgeable

Steve Sutherland

My review is based on multiple aspects of Bruce. We opted out of the "Veridian-Bruce Plant Packages" with our new home. I'm glad we did as most of our neighbors plants died and/or weren't replaced until mid-summer (worst time). We also had to redo the entire yard that was seeded as they either used a poor seed or just didn't care. Our entire lot had matting down to help with seeding/erosion, but we ripped it up as it does not degrade fast enough to allow grass seed germination. After we removed it, added new dirt/compost.. (Bruce/Veridian back fill/grade with w/e junk dirt they can find), the yard is recovering. Veridian will grade with dirt dug out from local lots, which is usually garbage and full of rocks and not healthy for a yard. Even the irrigation that was installed as a temp. item, was horrible. Going off at wrong times, watering concrete, sprinklers that didn't work at all or got stuck in one position. We removed all of it and just watered ourselves after day 2, results are great and explains why other neighbors had water bills in the $400-600 range after two months. The Veridian/Brice landscape/irrigation packages are worthless. I would highly suggest just spending that 2-4K yourself and having a great yard. (Ditch the Weedman stuff as well, toxic and not worth it) My "2 stars" go towards the plants you can buy yourself. That's the only way to get it done right. I have a yard full of plants from the nursery that are healthy and are 2-3 times bigger than the ones planted a year ago on other lots by Bruce. ~10% didn't make it through winter but those were replaced under the warranty. I would not choose Bruce to do any type of routine or new landscape installation. I do like the selection at the local shop though and they are usually helpful and nice people. Ever notice how all plants state to dig the hole twice as wide and as deep as the root-ball? Watch them the next time they plant something. It's almost always "just as wide as I want to dig", and poorly done. That's why they die. Do it yourself.

Michael Bauman

Terrible. Very misleading. I live 2 miles from the store and was quoted a price for stone delivery only to find out the delivery would be calculated from Verona and would include an additional $50.00 charge. The old bait and switch!

Granite Man

I was greeted at the door and the gentlemen took a cart and load all the items I need. Then I had to go to the back and pick up some items in the yard. The lady at the register called back to let the guys know what I needed and they met me in the parking lot with the items. Very friendly and helpful people.

Lynnette Hickman

Bought a Veridian home which this company did the landscaping and yard work for. They cut corners on every level. The boulders stacked around the house were not placed on filter fabric, therefore they are eroding away and are loose and are a danger to our children. When the house had landscaping done and mulch placed, the mulch was just thrown on top of dirt, instead of the right way, which is to lay filter fabric first. We now get to rip it out and do it right at our expense due to all the weeds we now get to deal with ( a new house. ) The yard we were left with is full of fescue ( 2 types ), thistle and clover. We pointed this out to our Bruce representative and she said small-bladed fescue was ok and to kill the large-bladed with grass killer ( fescue is not ok ). Again, at our expense. No offer to send her people out to spray and get the yard of our brand new house turned around. She saw cinch bugs as well and didn't offer to take care of them. We have now found grubs. Our newly seeded back yard has been eaten by these insects. Her fix was to hand us grass seed and told us to water it. Again, no offers to send the company out to make right the yard that was obviously neglected, only suggestions that all involved OUR money and time on a brand new house. We don't recommend The Bruce Company or that builder.

Eric Glamm

Expensive.

Jordan Konneman

I called The Bruce Company for a quote on residential landscaping. They originally did my yard with Veridian and we wanted to have more work done. Spoke with Jeremy, Account Manager for Residential services who said he would take a ride over and write up a quote. After two weeks, hadn't heard, so called him and was told "This is our busy season, I can't fit you into my schedule". So one of the largest landscaping companies gives a paying customer the 'nose-up' because it's their busy season. So here I am giving them a review because 'it's their busy season'!