Green Things

Green Things is a 13-acre “home and garden center” that carries pretty much everything you could want for your yard and garden. The company started in 1970 as a truck farm, evolving over the years into a major retail destination for plants and gardening supplies.

Most of the plants are grown on-site, including what seems like acres dedicated to flowering annuals (lots of color!) and poinsettias. They have a nice selection of trees, shrubs, vines and perennials of all kinds and sizes. While they do sell cactus (including some very large ones), there isn’t a huge variety (at least not on public display).

As part of their effort to help customers grow edibles successfully, they have a bulletin board with details about the varieties of fruit trees, grapes and berries they carry, including growing needs and harvest times. I found it helpful in deciding which apple tree to buy.

The houseplants area is one of the largest in town and has a wide range of plants, from tiny polka-dot plants and indoor succulents to huge ficus and banana trees.

Next to it is an air-conditioned area featuring a very nice selection of fertilizers, amendments, organic treatments and other supplies to improve your plants’ growing conditions and control pests and diseases.

There’s also a large selection of hydroponic supplies, you can buy frost and shade cloth by the foot, and there are some basic gardening tools and supplies.

I was surprised to see many different brands and types of compost, soil mixes and soil amendments (sold in bags), from the ubiquitous Tank’s Green Stuff compost and cactus mix to more specialized mixes such as PRO-Mix.

In 2018, Green Things bought Zócalo Casa + Jardin (a Mexican imports company) and moved it on-site. Several buildings hold garden art (such as metal animals, cactus, wall decor, yard art, clay/stone Buddha heads of all sizes, gazing balls, rock sculptures, iron plant stands, and more), as well as art and furniture from Mexico and South America, and a wide variety of outdoor furniture (benches, bistro sets, chairs and tables in various colors and styles).

This is one of the few places where I’ve found good-quality ocotillo fencing for sale. The last time I was there, a 5′ x 7′ roll was $90.

One of the most eye-catching displays at Green Things is the outdoor pottery. They carry frost-resistant pottery in all sizes, shapes, and colors, as well as some composite planters. The number of outdoor pots here rivals that found at some of the stand-alone pottery outlets in Tucson.

I’ve always found the staff here to be incredibly friendly (everyone says “hello” and ask how they can help you) and if someone doesn’t know the answer to your question, they’ll radio for someone who does. I’ve spent a lot of time being driven around in a golf cart to find the perfect tree or shrub (there are areas where they’d prefer customers not to walk by themselves) and never felt rushed into making a decision.

There are regular gardening, design and crafts classes (see https://www.greenthingsaz.com/classes for info).

Green Things is located just off River Road a little west of Brandi Fenton Park. It’s not obvious where it is but there are plenty of signs on River Road pointing the way.

This isn’t the nursery I’d go to for wildflowers or native plants (other than the common ones), but for anything else, Green Things is an excellent choice.