McDonnell Nursery

What McDonnell Nursery does

McDonnell Nursery is a privately held, family-owned retail nursery and garden center founded in 1933 and currently operated by Sarah and Dan McDonnell. The company operates a single brick-and-mortar storefront at 196 Moraga Way in Orinda, California, open Wednesday through Sunday, serving residential home gardeners in the East Bay Area. Its merchandise spans eight plant categories (annuals, shrubs, roses, vegetables, perennials, trees, bulbs and roots, vines, plus succulents and indoor plants) and five garden center departments (gift shop, pottery and fountains, garden decor, garden tools and supplies, and soils/mulches/fertilizers), supplemented by pest and disease control products from brands including Ortho, Safer Brand, Monterey, and Green Light. The company also offers delivery across Orinda, Moraga, Lafayette, Piedmont, and most of the East Bay, plus small-scale planting and potting services.

The underlying technology footprint is minimal: the company runs a standard WordPress website with Elementor page builder, no mobile app, no public API, and no disclosed integrations or AI capabilities. Marketing relies on local SEO, an extensive educational content library (monthly plant care tips for every month of the year, pest and disease guides, climate zone information, dormant spraying guides), a Customer Wall community feature for customer-submitted garden photos, and organic Facebook activity. Pricing is handled in-store with no publicly disclosed price list.

The business model is direct-to-consumer retail with four revenue streams: one-time retail plant sales, garden center merchandise sales, fee-based delivery services, and fee-based professional planting services for small projects. The company has no disclosed funding, no institutional investors, no parent company, and no subsidiaries, indicating a self-funded, family-controlled operation with consistent operations across nine decades.

Name

McDonnell Nursery

Legal name

McDonnell Nursery

Website

https://mcdonnellnursery.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1933

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

McDonnell Nursery is a family-owned retail nursery and garden center in Orinda, California, founded in 1933, selling plants, garden supplies, and home decor directly to residential home gardeners in the East Bay Area.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Retail Nursery & Garden Center

NAICS

Nursery, Garden Center, and Farm Supply Retailers (44424)

SIC

Retail-Building Materials, Hardware, Garden Supply (5200)

akta.pro primary industry

Plants, Seeds & Nursery Retail (Garden Centers) (CRAIAIAB)

Keywords

• Retail nursery
• Garden center
• Live plants
• Garden supplies
• Home gardening

Headquarters

HQ city

Orinda

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Supply Chain, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Retail Plant Sales: Direct retail sales of plants including annuals, perennials, shrubs, trees, roses, vegetables, succulents, vines, bulbs, and indoor plants from the physical nursery location.
2. Garden Center Merchandise: Sales of garden-related products including gift shop items, pottery and fountains, garden decor, and garden tools and supplies.
3. Delivery Services: Delivery to Orinda, Moraga, Lafayette, Piedmont, and most of the East Bay Area for a reasonable fee calculated at checkout.
4. Planting Services: Potting services for purchased plants and small-scale planting services at customer homes (one or two plants) with associated fees.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

McDonnell Nursery is a family-owned retail nursery and garden center that sells live plants across nine categories (annuals, perennials, shrubs, roses, vegetables, trees, vines, succulents, bulbs and roots) plus indoor plants, alongside garden hard goods such as pottery, fountains, garden tools and supplies, soils/mulches/fertilizers, decor, gift items, and pest/disease/weed control products. The store, located at 196 Moraga Way in Orinda, California, also offers paid delivery within the East Bay Area and small-scale on-site planting and pot-up services for purchased plants.

Product overview

McDonnell Nursery is a family-owned retail nursery and garden center offering a comprehensive portfolio of live plants and garden supplies through a single unified Garden Center concept. The core product portfolio spans eight plant categories (Annuals, Shrubs, Roses, Vegetables, Perennials, Trees, Bulbs and Roots, Vines, Succulents) plus Indoor Plants, supplemented by five Garden Center departments (Gift Shop, Pottery and Fountains, Garden Decor, Garden Tools and Supplies, Soils/Mulches/Fertilizers). Services include delivery and small-scale planting services. Educational resources including monthly plant care tips, climate zone guides, and pest/disease control information support the product offering. The company has served the East Bay area since 1933, positioning itself as a one-stop resource for everything for the garden.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Annuals

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• California and West Coast Growers and SupplierscoreOthersEstablished strong relationships with trusted growers and suppliers throughout California and the West Coast. These relationships are reflected in the variety and exceptional quality of plants offered at the nursery.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Lowe's Garden Centers: National big-box home-improvement retailer with comparable in-store garden centers offering plants, tools, and supplies. Represents the mass-market channel that competes with independent nurseries on assortment breadth and price.
• Home Depot Garden Centers: National big-box home-improvement retailer operating extensive in-store garden centers selling plants, tools, soils, and decor at scale. Sets the price-competitive baseline against which independent nurseries like McDonnell differentiate on curation, expertise, and customer experience.
• Costco Garden & Live Plants: Membership warehouse club selling seasonal live plants, roses, and garden items at value pricing in California. Represents an indirect but powerful competitor for price-sensitive plant and garden purchases.

Emerging players

• Léon & George: Premium online indoor-plant retailer delivering large houseplants with pots direct to consumers nationwide. Targets the higher-end indoor-plants segment that McDonnell also carries, illustrating the digital-native threat to traditional garden centers.
• The Sill: Direct-to-consumer online plant retailer specializing in houseplants with a digital-first, content-rich model. Overlaps with McDonnell's indoor-plants category and represents the emerging digital channel competing for next-generation plant buyers.

Direct peers

• Armstrong Garden Centers: California-based chain of independent-style garden centers selling plants, roses, pottery, and gardening supplies with California-specific plant expertise. Larger and multi-location but operates the same retail garden-center model as McDonnell.
• SummerWinds Nursery: Multi-location independent nursery serving the Bay Area and Silicon Valley with plants, garden supplies, and gift items. Comparable retail nursery concept, customer base, and product mix.
• Sloat Garden Center: Bay Area family-rooted retail nursery chain operating multiple storefronts across the East Bay and Peninsula with similar broad plant assortments, garden supplies, and expert-staff positioning. Highly comparable independent garden-center model competing in the same geography.
• Green Acres Nursery & Supply: California retail nursery chain offering plants, garden supplies, pottery, and decor with emphasis on expert advice and customer service. Operates a closely analogous retail garden-center model with broader geographic footprint.
• Yamagami's Nursery: Family-owned Northern California garden center in Cupertino offering a wide assortment of plants, garden decor, and gifts with deep local heritage. Closely mirrors McDonnell's combination of curated live plants, gift shop, and horticultural expertise.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/mcdonnell-nursery

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about McDonnell Nursery