Koolau Farmers is a locally owned/operated nursery and garden supply business that are home…read moregardening experts. It was started in 1938 by East Oahu farmers and a Kailua papaya cooperative as a farmer-founded business entity that shifted from farming to home gardening. Today, it supplies plants, floral arrangements, fertilizers, pesticides, garden tools, etc. for home gardeners. There are currently two locations for Koolau Farmers: Kaneohe and Honolulu (McCully). This review is for the Honolulu location. Items that the McCully location carry include: bromeliads, flowers, fruit, orchids, palms, fruit trees, peppers, tropical fruits, shrubs, soil, trees, veggies, hono hono orchids, dwarf fruit trees (Meyer lemon, Tahitian limes, Naval oranges, jabong, grafted mango, avocado). It also offers seed starting supplies, fertilizers for plants and flowers, worm composting bins; and info re growing and care of indoor potted plants, organic gardening, soil testing, and proper lighting. What brought us to Koolau Farmers is my lilikoi vine that I've had in my back yard for a number of years. With the help of bees, the vine had flourished and produced many delicious fruits for homemade lilikoi desserts, such as lilikoi chiffon pie, lilikoi curd, lilikoi bars, and more. But in recent years, the flowers would bloom, but because there are no bees to pollinate the lilikoi flowers, no fruits are produced. Questions to Koolau Farmers confirmed that there is a lack of nesting sites for carpenter bees (I think they're known as the black bumblebees that we no longer see) to pollinate the lilikoi flowers, resulting in a lack of fruit. According to Koolau Farmers, the flowers must be hand-pollinated instead. Staff provided instructions to my hubby on how to hand-pollinate the beautiful lilikoi flowers. A work in progress, and I'm sure more questions to follow. Then the next project will be our dwarf local orange tree. Where is the fruit? There's a single tiny orange on it, yes, only one! Hope Koolau Farmers can help us on this one! Another work in progress. Staff is very knowledgeable, helpful, and provides helpful guidance. An unlikely spot in urban Honolulu to have a nursery and garden supply store, but I'm glad that it's there! The interior space is not that big, but houses boxes of fertilizers and various home gardening equipment for home gardeners. There may be displays of seasonal items on how to grow certain plants, such as hono hono orchids. Open daily from 8a to 5p. Free parking in the private lot. On the outside private lot are scattered variety of healthy local plants, herbs, orchids, and fruit trees. We look forward in working with Koolau Farmers and knowing that they are there to help us with our home gardening needs!

Gardening in Honolulu, O'ahu, Hawaii…read more.. My parents have green thumbs... it helps when you live in lush Nu'uanu Valley! My siblings and I always had plants around us and learned basic techniques from our parents. My mom has prized hanging heliconia plants and torch gingers. When they're not blooming, she complains, but doesn't water the plants extra nor give them fertilizer. I'm the kind of person who will do something to make her happy. After several suggestions to mom about fertilizer, I went to Ko'olau Farmers on Beretania Street and got a bag of fertilizer. This store has been around for a very long time. It's a locally owned name with another location in Kaneohe! I read the labels and asked the cashier if the one I selected would be good for heliconias... He said that this mix will force the plant to bloom. It won't necessarily get greener. Perfect! I can't wait to see the results!

Nothing like it anywhere…read more.. What an amazing shop providing all things for hydroponics which I'm absolutely clueless though know what it is and do enjoy them as well. I do have a friend who does have a fabulous garden green thumb and all has been doing a bit of hydroponics with a bit of media with trial and error, the gentleman here can answer all your questions and with plants like tomatoes growing freely is just a delight to see and wished I knew how. Not quite ready to give this an attempt, prices here are great and there is a lot to choose from as there's stacks of media and just knowing I do have places like this here in the Old Stadium Square near Niu Soft Serve though parking is limited it's very hopeful for me to start my garden one day. Thank you!

Very knowledgeable. Well stocked…read more Knows how to grow and maintain a garden. Very grateful for your help.

I'm so glad I found this place! The owner is genuinely a sweet lady and will help you to choose…read moreplants that are right for your home environment. I'm definitely coming back to support this local business.

Friendly staff, beautiful plants and it's so well organized! My family loves coming here for our…read moreplants-and they are so healthy and do so well. It's the best place to get your plants! Great selection of fruit trees/vines, succulents, cactus, decorative plants, ti, pretty much anything you can think of.

They have a beautiful selection of plants and accessories to go with it. Their staff is always…read morehelpful and friendly. There's even books about how to take care of plants if you don't know how. It's a nice little place in the middle of a busy city to stop by, even just to look.

Stopped by this plant shop with a friend because they wanted to get a specific plant for their new…read moreapartment. The shop is located on Cooke Street in the Kakaʻako area of Honolulu. There isn't much space, but they had a variety of beautiful plants, all organized neatly on display. Prices were also reasonable compared to other shops I've visited on Oʻahu. Since it's a small shop, there was only one worker when we visited. We did feel a little overwhelmed at first while looking for the specific plants my friend wanted, but eventually we were able to ask questions when the worker was free. She was very friendly, helpful, and knowledgeable about the plants they had for sale. My friend found two of the plants on their list, but the other one wasn't available due to the shop's limited space. The worker checked the main garden in Mililani and confirmed they had it there, which was super helpful. Overall, this is a gem in the Honolulu area and a really enjoyable experience. I ended up picking out a plant for myself as well. Definitely worth checking out if you're in the area and into plants!

I've frequented this place often when I come to visit and have even placed orders online for a…read morelocal friend for their haku leis. They also now host a former floral shop, Pua Hana from Kaimuki, who provides leis/ haku leis for sale. I've taken classes when they used to do them at Surf Jack eons ago. Service is friendly and I love their selections of plants, florals, prints, and knick knacks. I wish I could take home many, but can't given I am not local to Oahu. It seems they have relocated to a different location now and and are no longer at the Salt shopping plaza.

I visited Paiko for the first time since they moved. Finding the location was easy and there are a…read morecouple of dedicated stalls in the parking lot in the back for Paiko customers. The space is on the smaller side but there is a ton to see! I feel like I made at least three rounds around the shop during my visit cause I kept discovering new things I missed before. They have a selection of fresh cut flowers and greens (don't forget to check the fridge in addition to those out on display in the front). Some potted plants available of various sizes, lots of unique planters of various sizes, and cute plant-related gifts. There was a cute station of native seed packets too! There is a soil mix station if you want to make your own. It's on a smaller side though so probably best for smaller plants and/or terrariums. The staff were busy preparing for an event and the store was going to be closed for a portion of their typical business hours so if you're traveling from far away, it might not hurt to call ahead to confirm their hours for that day. Everyone was friendly though!

Great selection of much needed items for home improvement and that never ending Honey Due List!…read moreFriendly informative Employees a great value with seasonable sales. Value in shopping around to find those must have items. Military Discount seals the deal for me!

Shout out to Kayli for all her help last night…read more So the other day I was cooking dinner for my dad & when I went into his refrigerator, I noticed it didn't seem that cold? But when I checked the freezer, it appeared that it was working properly. I asked my dad if the fridge was okay? And he in turned told me that it was, so I really didn't think anything more of it. Several days later, after shopping for some food for my dad, when I was putting some produce items into his fridge, I again asked him if the refrigerator was okay, then he finally told me "maybe something was wrong". I rechecked the settings on the refrigerator, rechecked the vents from the freezer, seals on the door, and everything appeared to be okay. Being that my dad's refrigerator was 11 years old (I remembered buying it in 2014), I guess it was time for a replacement. Luckily for me, November has rolled around and since a lot of folks will be feasting towards the end of November, "Black Friday" sales have started & Home Depot has their big "Black Friday" sales event for the entire month of November. At first I went to Best Buy, because I purchased the refrigerator & stove from there back in 2014, but upon arriving there, I couldn't get any help so I left the store & headed across the street to Home Depot. Upon lookin' at the fridges, I found a fridge that would fit in my dad's kitchen space & looked for a clerk to help me. Luckily I came across Kayli, and she was so helpful in processing my transaction. Timing was just right for me, as the delivery of the refrigerator was FREE due to the Black Friday sales, and I only had to pay $50 bucks for the removal of the old refrigerator. The refrigerator I purchased was in stock, so Saturday they will deliver it to our house. How's that for great service???!!! Much MAHALO Home Depot, and Kayli! You really helped us out of jam, as I realky needed a running refrigerator, especially since Thanksgiving is just around the corner!

This is the worst landscaping service on Oahu. I was warned by fellow neighbors when I purchased…read morea home in East Oahu not to keep Mulkern, as others had bad experiences. He quoted me $3000 a month as a "new" customer! I couldn't believe anyone would pay that for a 6200 square foot lot, Mulkern had serviced the yard for the realtor while selling the property; grass was burned, trees a mess, and basically only serviced by blowers according to all the neighbors who had witnessed Mulkern employees.

We were delighted with Mulkern Landscaping & Nursery. We wanted to redesign our landscape,…read moreincluding an irrigation system and an eclectic mix of plants that was relatively low maintenance. Both Kevin and Susan Mulkern really listened to our wishes, but also provided suggestions and insights from their years of experience. It was a continual negotiation of ideas (throughout the process, they never stopped listening to our ideas or confirming that we were happy with what was being done). As a result, we are elated with how our yard looks and continues to evolve. And so far, it has been taking us around 2-4 person-hours per week for the two of us to keep it maintained. For us, this is very doable, and we're finding that, because the yard looks so great, it's enjoyable as well. Kevin's sense of humor is from left field (or perhaps from outside the stadium altogether), so we laughed a lot and enjoyed being kept on our toes to get one of his asides. This made the process fun. Another thing we really appreciated about Kevin was his respect and appreciation for his employees. Not a day passed without him telling them "Thank you" for doing tasks right or for asking questions to confirm that they knew what to do. The fact that he cares enough about his employees to let them know that he appreciates them is yet another reflection on the professionalism of Mulkern Landscaping. He was also very creative about ways to save us money, including using existing plugs of grass to re-establish the lawn. The plugs looked to us like little chunks of dead grass, and we could not imagine that they would ever turn green, let alone fill out the whole lawn area, but it has only been a few months and we now have a full and beautiful lawn! Likewise, some of the plants were "babies" when planted (another money-saver), but they are growing taller and filling out really well. Kevin also went beyond the call of duty. For example, he noticed that one of the neighbor's trees was leaning well over into our space and shedding leaves and twigs onto our roof (up to that point we were regularly pruning back the tree on our side of the fence). He asked my permission to talk with the neighbor about it, and found out that the neighbor wouldn't mind having the tree removed but didn't want to pay to have it done. Kevin had his crew remove the tree, at no extra cost to us and at no charge to the neighbor. Even though the work (and contract) ended, Kevin still stops by from time to time to make sure everything looks good and to see if we have any new questions or concerns. In short, I enthusiastically recommend Mulkern Landscaping & Nursery.

It can be really tough to find the right florist...someone you truly trust with your wedding's…read morefloral design. I initially chose a different florist, but as the process unfolded, I began to have doubts. I decided to keep looking and ultimately found Plant Hawaii--and I'm so glad I did! Working with Scot and the entire team was an incredible experience from start to finish. They were excellent communicators, truly listened to our vision, and created stunning inspiration boards that perfectly captured our theme. What stood out most was how collaborative and transparent the entire process felt. Their online portal was fantastic. It clearly showed each floral request, counts, inspiration photos, and costs. Their suggestions were beautiful and thoughtful. In addition, they were upfront about pricing every step of the way. These are two very important things to consider when selecting a florist. First, having an online portal made it incredibly easy to make adjustments together and immediately see changes reflected in the proposal. Second, clarity around flowers and pricing felt surprisingly difficult when speaking with other florists. Plant Hawaii stood out because they were so clear, organized, and transparent by comparison. On the wedding day, Scot and his team arrived and immediately jumped into action. As a planner, coordinating vendors can be stressful, but Plant Hawaii needed no direction. They built a breathtaking ceremony arch, placed all aisle and reception florals, handed me the bride's bouquet, and made sure I knew exactly where all the leis were. Everything was seamless and effortless. Florals truly set the tone for a wedding, and Plant Hawaii delivered the most jaw-dropping tropical Hawaiian arrangements. The bride envisioned a sunset palette, and the team quite literally painted a sunset sky with flowers. Their attention to detail, artistry, and love for what they do showed in every single element. Mahalo nui to Scot and the Plant Hawaii team. We are so grateful to have worked together! If you're considering them, don't wait!! They are the best!!!

Q: What do I do on weekends?…read more A: Plant shop, but not at Plant Hawaii. New hours as of last week, Mon-Fri only. Closed on weekends. I've actually been there on the days and hours that they say they are open but they were closed. I pressed the Ring button as instructed, but no response. I got into my car but spied another family coming to the parking lot. I got out of the car and followed them. Somehow they had the magic that I didn't have, and got a lovely young girl to open up the shop. I tagged right along, glad that I didn't drive away when I was going to. The girl was really nice. I've purchased a variety of things from them in the past: lipstick vine, hibiscus and etc. The prices are pretty good; hibiscus on the pricier side but they have the Cajun series that I crave so much. Bummer that they are not open on weekends but I totally get it.

I needed the legs of my buffet cut 3 inches so that it could fit underneath my newly installed…read moreplantation shutters. I needed someone to cut them precisely so it could keep the factory look. I checked around and happy I found Satoshi. He cut the legs, matched the finish where they were cut, and added felt bottoms. I am very happy with the outcome and glad that my furniture doesn't look tacky with a bad modification job.

I tried to contact them several times. Left messages and they didn't bother to called me back. Now…read morethere's a recorded message saying they are too busy. I understand they are busy and it's a small business, but at least try to return calls. They might be busy now, but they'll need more customers in the future, won't they? I'm taking my business elsewhere. I appreciate their response below, to which they replied within minutes after I posted my review. But if you have time to reply to a negative review on Yelp, give customers a quick call, especially after they leave you messages. Small gestures like that show good customer service. I contacted other businesses that are also busy but they were accommodating and even made recommendations. We are a small community, we try to support small, local businesses, and it doesn't cost a thing helping each other. Thanks!