Reviews

All my trees are from here. I ask slot of questions and they are so helpful. Options and honest solutions and recommendations. Best nursery for fruit trees.

Good guys on grounds. Ray is extremely helpful and knowledgeable. Great varieties of plants and trees. Fantastic prices!

I cannot recommend this place highly enough. If you are looking for a fruit tree in the San Diego area, do not go anywhere else. Came here today with my family and my only regret is that we didn't have a giant truck so we could take home one of every tree they have. The prices are great and customer service is exceptional. I can't wait to go back.

Came here on my way down to San Diego from Riverside. Ended up buying an Atulfo mango and Cherimoya tree. They were very helpful. Unfortunately I only had my car so I could barely fit two 15 gal trees in there. I'll be back!

Their avocados are grown in mostly DG soil so they have excellent drainage and aeration. Their citrus and everything else seem to be grown in some kind of wood chips, sand, saw dust which is an industry standard, not because it's a good medium but because it's cheap and lightweight. If you're planting a wood chip grown tree in heavy soil then you absolutely need to plant above grade and ensure you have proper drainage. In 1 year the wood chips will eventually break down and destroy the aeration they once provided. Without proper drainage and aeration your tree will be left to sit in a soupy airless mush.

Overall I would recommend Clausen's nursery for their avocados, mango rootstock (atalufo), wholesale prices (much better prices than HD or Lowes), and because Ray is a cool dude. Their mango trees and avocados have been growing very well in my yard for 2 years. For stone fruit trees I always recommend bare root trees because they are cheaper and in my experience, when transplanted grow much better than container grown stone fruits. For citrus I don't see Clausen's being better or worse than other nurseries.

Knowledgeable friendly staff. Good selection of fruit tree varieties. Plenty of 24" box and 15 gallon. It would be nice if they had some specimen sized material in 48" or 60" box.

Great local nursery, Ray was very helpful. We went there to look at avocado trees.

We purchased some gift certificates for Christmas for the family, very satisfied with the service we received. Ray couldn't help me the day I called but set up a day for me to call him back, so he would be the one to help me over the phone with the certificates. He was very helpful and knowledgeable.

Nice local nursery with a very nice dude that is knowledgeable in those things that grow. He took the time to help teach, load, and even threw in a few jokes. We purchased 5 different trees and they're still alive 2 months later!

If you love citrus trees, and want a large variety, this is the place to go.
People at the facility are there to help if you have any questions. Very reasonably priced.

If Clausen's sold every fruit tree suited for SoCal I would only buy from them. Everything from service to price is A+. Their avocados are grown in mostly DG soil so they have excellent drainage and aeration. If you are looking for some introduction to more exotic fruit trees, Clausen might have it. If you're looking for more exotic stuff then you might have to go to the expensive exotic fruit tree nurseries. Unfortunately, none of those other places compare to Clausen's in quality or service. Ray is an awesome dude who can answer nearly any question when it comes to growing their trees.

The big secret of Clausen's are their mango trees. $73-80 for a 15 gallon Ataulfo mango seedling that is 4' tall and 1-2 years away from fruiting grown in their dg soil. Why is this a big deal? You are getting a 4' mango with a rootstock that is proven to grow well in CA, a well developed root mass and sturdy trunk for half of what other nurseries are charging for smaller grafted mangoes. HomeDepot charges $30-40 for manilla seedlings that are only 1 year old and the trunks are thin and weak. I've seen grafted 15 gal mangoes selling for $300+, you could get 4 Clausen mangoes for $300. Don't want a seedling tree? Graft anything you want onto the Ataulfo rootstock and you can have whatever type of mango you desire.

I drove down from LA just to get a specific avocado tree that I couldn't find locally. I called 20 places around me with no luck. I finally got desperate enough to try places farther down south. Ray from Clausen answered the phone and was super helpful. He had two of the trees I needed and gladly put them on hold for me. I drove down the next morning and got there right when they opened. Let me tel you that if you need citrus, avocado, or apples, that this should be your first stop, not your last like it was mine. So many wonderful fruit trees that it made we want to move to a house with a bigger yard! I am looking forward to going back soon once I can make some more for a 4 in one apple tree that I saw there.

Came back for more!

Didn't think it could get any better, but then I met Ray! Another absolute sweetheart full of personality and so much information.

Arrived with no real idea what additional trees to purchase. Told Ray the conditions of where we were interested in planting and he helped us brainstorm what type of trees could take the conditions.

He walked us throughout the nursery and was so great in answering all my questions and going above and beyond.

Thank you soo much Ray!

Wow! Just wow! Brock and Linda were both the sweetest. My mom and I were truly floored by the variety and condition of all the trees. This is my new Favorite place!

We made 40 min trip for 15 gal Lamb Hass and semi-dwarf Meyer lemon, They both had tons of fruit!

Ended up also leaving with a pink lady semi dwarf and a red Fuji apple tree also. Would have taken more but had no more room in my suv.

We will DEFINITELY be back!

Clausen's is closer to me than a grocery store :) I consider myself very blessed to live in and area that has access to such amazing nurseries. The quality of the trees is top notch with cultivars you wont find anywhere else. Rare citrons, citrus and fruit trees for fantastic prices. Do yourself a favor and try to go with a plan or you will find yourself overwhelmed by the seemingly endless varieties.

Or just wander around and take home whatever tree speaks to you.

You cant go wrong either way. But, prepare to spend some time wandering around. I ordered 13 trees from Clausen's this year and will be back next year for more!

Clausen Nursery now carries the highly desirable/sought after Green Gage plums! Also, Middle Eastern fruit trees--Shaka-Kar-Paleh apricot; Persian Red plum; Pakistani mulberries.

These folks are the real deal! Don't expect to pull up to a fancy mainstream "garden center." Trees trees and more trees! And some fruit bushes too. These guys are more like suppliers but open to the public as well. Prices are incredibly competitive! Selection is fantastic too! We came for, like, 2 trees... and left with 6! We were so happy! We were hosted by Ray and also a very soft spoken gal who was super nice. They both were amazing and we felt so much more educated when we left. We'll be skipping the big name retailers from her on and giving our business to these folks! Thank you!

Awesome nursery! Excellent and knowledgeable customer service that really took the time with me to answer my questions. Never tried to push a sale on me. Always helps me out when I call for tips too. Large healthy selection and prices are right. Clausen's is great!

This is the BEST SoCal nursery. They have Littlecado Wurtz avocado trees. The service is above GREAT. It was a nice ride down there from Los Angeles county. The scenery is gorgeous. We had a GREAT lunch at a local BBQ place and a nice drive back. I will certainly go back to this nursery for future purchases!

Back for the second time, after buying a Grapefruit Tree, that is of the highest quality. Gordon help me select a very nice Bears Lime tree.

Great selection and highly knowledgeable

Arcenio @ Clausen nursery highly recommends the Santa Barbara peach (yellow) and white Fei Cheng Tao peach!!! Very sweet!!!

We bought a fig tree from Clausen. The owner was friendly and knowledgeable, and gave us great advice. My family enjoyed exploring the grounds and we were very impressed with the variety, the care and quality of all the plants and trees, and the prices. The citrus trees especially were so healthy just gorgeous. We will be back many times to come.

My review is based on how great Arsenio was with helping us find the grape plant we were looking for. My husband and I were scouring around where the grapes were, but could not find what we were there for. I wanted to just give up, because being drenched in sweat and not having luck looking for ThomCord grape had me frustrated. Arsenio saved the day! We also went home with a peach tree.

A bit of a funny story. I hung around the spot where people pay to ask the man where the grape plant was that we were looking for. He happened to be helping a Chinese family with their purchase, so I just waited until he was done helping them. He looks at me and asks, "Are you with them?". Uhhmmm....."No!!" I wanted to say, "I'm Filipino, not Chinese."

We stopped in here after seeing all the 5 star reviews. I wasn't really looking for anything specific, just looking around, and this seems like the place you go when you are looking for something specific. There are 7 acres of plants to look through so its a lot! After looking through their plant list we decided to get a kumquat and sapote tree. This is the place where you go if you are landscaping a new house with new fruit trees, and we were sort of just browsing. They have really great prices and friendly service. $21.50 for 5 gallon trees which is a few dollars lower than anyplace I have ever seen!

I came to Clausen Nursery this afternoon in hopes I could interview an employee for a school project. Not only did I receive the best help and will probably get an A+ on my project, but I gained a new friend! Ray at Clausen Nursery was the kindest, most knowledgable guy I have ever had the pleasure of talking to in this business. Ray gave me a great interview for my project, a history lesson on the site/business, and even gave me some publications/magazines for tools as I go through my education and experience with horticulture. If you have not yet made it out to this nursery, then you definitely should soon! You will not regret it! If I could give this place and it's employees TEN stars, I would! the most down-to-earth place and I can't wait to come back and hangout and be happy amongst the trees. Thank you Ray and thank you Clausen Nursery!!

Yes! absolute amazing, very nice trees and to many variety, all people are nice and helpful, thanks Clausen I am very happy with my lemon tree, yellow nectarine, black grape and moro orange.

Stopped by here with my wife and ordered a variety of fruit trees. Such a great place to visit and Oscar was incredible. He had so much knowledge and was super friendly. Service was excellent and anytime I need fruit trees or good advise, I will head their way.

I had spent a day calling all of the nursery's vendors in seemingly all of California state wide, and I could only find my Rangpur Lime tree here. A very friendly and knowledgeable staff then sold me a great tree. All was well worth the three hour drive.

BEST source of big healthy plants for unbeat price. I had more time than money and looked at 8 different top-rated nurseries for BIG avocado trees and also exotic fruit trees. Claussen was literally HALF THE PRICE of 4 nurseries and stayed in touch as they directed me through placement, hole prep, soil prep, drainage, plant choice (as we walked through the nursery together), planting, and watering. They saved me $500 on 3 trees alone. My trees kept their fruit and never got the least bit shocked during the transplant. Thanks guys, Dan

Great tree farm. Solid quality, the service can vary depending on the work load they have. Wish they would grow more of their own pomegranates, apples. They sell a lot of dave wilson product as well. As for their own trees, they control the process of root stock prop, grafting and have a good amount of 24" stock available. Prices are really good.

I love this place!!! Very friendly staff, although they can get busy ( I can take up to an hour of his time picking trees). Lots of veriety and very informational. I will continue to buy dozens of trees from here till i have completed my orchard!!

BIG AVOCADO TREES -- HEALTHIEST -- AWESOME PRICE --NORMAL HOMEWOWNER

These boys helped me the whole way!

-3 different 24" avocado trees will give me fruit year-round starting this year with a huge harvest NEXT YEAR!

They guided me through:
-the holes
-drainage
-soil
-watering
-choosing the Genetics
-choosing the Trees
-TIPS FOR SUCCESS
-delivery
-How good gardeners treat customers (by example)

They gave me the best trees for half the market price in the entire San Diego Area and threw in all the goodies! They take credit and have the best.

Thanks guys,

Dan

Clausen Nursery is great! We were greeted right away by Oscar, who directed us to park and asked how he could help us. We were looking for a tangerine tree and he was full of helpful information that helped us to make a decision. They have a full selection, low prices, excellent quality, and I was allowed to sample the fruit. It was delicious! Thank you Clausen and Oscar, we can't wait for our tree to start producing fruit!

This place is the best! Healthy trees at rock bottom prices... Friendly, knowledgeable, and attentive staff. Went for 3 trees came home with six... Can't wait to go back.

My wife's grandmas favorite nursery for years! We have gone multiple times to Clausen's. We went once to buy an avocado tree and once for a few mandarin orange trees. They usually have multiple sizes of trees for all budgets. If money isn't an issue I would recommend the bigger more established tree. They seem to be pretty busy on Saturdays so be patient. They have a great selection compared to Wal-Mart or Home Depot, but you still have to check back routinely to see what is in season. Clausen's is our go to nursery in the Vista area. I am sure we will be back in the future but right now my wife has maximized our yard with produce trees. They have over 20 acres of trees. Check their website to see what they offer. I think you will enjoy going to a family run place for a change instead of a big retail shop.

Great nursery - they have better variety and better prices than anywhere else I have looked (and I have been to A LOT of nurseries in North County). Clausen's price was less than 1/3 of what another nursery was charging for a plant of the same species and age. Service was polite and efficient.

I've visited several tree nurseries in San Diego County, this place is without a doubt the best.

Huge stock of all kinds (and varieties) of fruit trees. Quality the best I've seen (far better than Home Depot - and better pricing).

I purchased a huge 25g Haas Avocado tree with a large amount of fruit on it, and a 15g Eureka Lemon tree that is healthier and more fragrant than anything I've seen.

I will be back for a lime and a fig tree this summer :)

The best nursery I have been to. I got a guided tour of the plants I was interested in and got to try fruit off the planted trees!

Excellent nursery! Great/friendly service from very knowledgeable staff and owner. Fruit trees are high quality and prices the best around! We looked all over North County San Diego and this seems to be the best nursery across all measures for fruit trees. Check it out!

They have trees Noone else has and for less. Better more honest and knowledgeable service:)

Clausen Nursery is as good as it gets. You will NOT regret a visit here!

I purchased a 15 gallon Washington navel orange tree from Clausen's late last summer, and it is thriving. Clausen's trees are much bigger, lusher and healthier than anything you'll find in a big box store, for about the same price (maybe even a little bit less!) and you can't beat their friendly, super-knowledgeable customer service. They are committed to helping you choose and purchase a great tree, and providing the information you need to keep it healthy and productive for life.

If you know what you want, you can get in and out quickly, but you are also welcome to roam their lovely growing grounds for hours, just looking and getting ideas, and the outgoing owner and his staff are readily available to answer ALL of your questions - they even encourage you to call them if you think of any more questions after you leave.

Clausen's has a huge selection of popular fruit trees, and they also grow some wonderful, rare specialty trees (like jujubes and etrogs,) some of which are not advertised on their website. Do yourself a favor and take a Saturday morning drive to Clausen's, and browse their gorgeous nursery - you'll have a great time, and will likely bring home a tree or two that will beautify your garden and provide delicious fruit for many years to come.

I Did my research and after reading most of the reviews I decided on Clausen. I was not disappointed by visiting Here. Like others, Ray helped me. His knowledge of local fruit trees help me decide what I wanted to plant. I picked up a Fuerte, peach, apricot and a couple citrus. The selection is great. The prices are the best. I walked away with the confidence to plant my trees knowing the will grow and blossom in my improved back yard. I will be back for more as the need arises.

This place is awesome! I purchased one of their citrus trees from a big box store in LA, an exotic variety that I haven't seen anywhere else. I had some questions and spoke to LV at the Clausen store in Vista. he was extremely courteous, enthusiastic and helpful. I will try to make it out to the store one of these days!

Clausen nursery has reasonable prices and is one of those gems of Northern SD county. Even if you're not looking for a tree it is a beautiful place to roam around.
And of course if you have any questions they are very helpful.

We are in the middle of a major yard renovation, requiring all new plants. We were referred to Clausen Nursery and I'm so glad we made the drive out!

We've been a couple times, asking a TON of questions about different varieties of trees and the owner is SO knowledgeable. Answered all of questions, ripped leaves and citrus off the trees to let us smell and taste the different types, let us know how to water and care for the trees, etc.

Their prices can't be beat! We shopped around a bit and they had the lowest price on trees by a long shot!

We got a lemon, lime, and avocado tree and I'm so excited to plant them and harvest! We will definitely be back as we need more trees.

Ray is always a big help.They have a good selection and their pricing inline with local nurseries.

My wife and I just purchased a Hass Avocado Tree from Clausen's Nursery in Vista yesterday.  We were amazed by the size of their selection, as with the knowledge Ray had.  If you visit Clausen's try to see if Ray is available.  He not only educated us on the different varieties, but went as far as to look up the required yearly "cold hours" for a few fruit trees were were planning on buying as well.  As professionals in the customer service industry, both my wife and I were very impressed.  We plan on buying all our trees in the future from Clausens and look forward to referring them to our clients as well.

Went back and picked up a really nice 15 gallon macadamia nut tree to replace my 5 gallon tree. Older is better with macadamias and this tree should start flowering next year. Absolutely worth it, the best prices and quality around. I make Clausen a must stop whenever I go down to San Diego.

Their citrus trees are mostly semi-dwarf (can be pruned small) or standard, no true dwarf (2-3 feet tall) since they sell mostly to professional landscapers and orchards. After the latest asian citrus pest outbreak, they don't have too many true exotic citrus like Tahoe Gold (or any of the gold mandarins) though they're working on getting more. Of course, they have far more varieties than most every other place -- Tango, Page, Cocktail grapefruit and many more.

Plus, if you're a member of the California Rare Fruit Growers association you get an extra discount.

Clausen is all about big trees for reasonable prices. Forget 15 gallon trees from Home Depot, Clausen's are huge and the price is right -- $65 or so if I remember correctly. For avocados, they have all the usual suspects including Sir Prize, Lamb Hass and Reed in 15 gals, not in 5s. Their 24" box avocados were loaded with fruit.

I picked up a 5 gallon Linda macadamia nut tree, a Clausen home variety, and a nice Gold Nugget mandarin in a 5 gal. Both were around $19.50, which is better than the $24 at the big box stores. Great selection and pricing if you want to go big. Excellent service as well, main man Ray knows his stuff.

These guys have some amazing fruit trees. I purchased 6 mature fruit trees and Gordon (the owner) was very helpful in giving me tips on how to amend my soil. The trees have been thriving beautifully and I am expecting a big harvest next year.

The guys here know their stuff. Might have to wait a bit as they are all over the place but it's worth it.

Bought four more beautiful, healthy fruit trees in the last week, a Murcott honey tangerine, Babcock peach, cocktail grapefruit (a cross of pumelo and mandarine so it is not sour), and Cara Cara orange.  Imagine the intense smell of citrus blossoms in my back yard.  Heavenly.  These are all mature trees on dwarf stock, with fruit already set, expertly pruned to remain compact.    The drive through rural Vista is so refreshing, so even though we drive an hour to get there, it is so worth it.  He seems to attract lots of customers already, but why oh why has no one Yelped him before?

Completely agree with the other reviewer. We have been in search of a fruit tree nursery and found it. We have visited many others in North Coast San Diego and have been disappointed.

Clausens is the best. He taught us how to prune the trees, when to prune them, when to spray them, which ones to choose, how close to plant. Seriously a wealth of information. We bought a gala apple, a goldkist apricot, and are going back for 12 more tomorrow. Can't wait.

Definitely the best prices and the healthiest trees we have seen. And of course the best customer service.

What a place. My daughter and I went to buy citrus trees.  Gordon and Ray made our day a great one.  We were able to sample some of the fruit to make a more informed decision..., and we learned a ton.  They are an old style customer first business.  Price, quality, selection, and just nice people!.  Whether you are buying 1 tree or big quantity, this is THE place to go.

I love this place!!! I have never had anything except great success from any fruit tree I bought here. The guys that work here are incredibly knowledgeable, and the nursery has a fantastic variety. I can't endorse this nursery more wholeheartedly! It makes NO sense to buy you fruit trees from the home depot or lowes, since you dont know the first thing about where the fruit tree came from. These guys have fruit trees that are raised on site, so they are climate ready for our area. I have been an avid gardener for over 30 years now, and this is, BY FAR, the best fruit tree nursery I have ever encountered.

So, you are planting a number of trees and you want the best price you can find in San Diego County, you want lots of selection, and you are willing to make the drive: Go to Clausen's.  If you only need one tree, it may not be worth it but if you need a few things and a friend needs a few things then definitely go!

Gauvas: $19 for a #5 can, citrus similar inexpensive pricing, blueberries $inexpensive, brambles ditto, avocadoes ditto, etc. etc. Then if there is ripe fruit on the many trees for the picking you can grab a bag of fruit for the best price in town too.

Bottom line: save money over the stores in the City and take a drive to Clausen's!

Awesome place with huge selection, wouldn't go anywhere else for trees in SoCal.

Great place to buy fruit and avocado trees
Very helpful and great prices!