Today I visited to place a preorder, something I have done in the past for years. I like to do a preorder and pay in advance as I order a substantial amount of annuals. However I was told they will no longer do this. I was treated like I was a bother and with disdain. Managed with a fake smile and haughtiness. It became crystal clear my business was not valued, considered small potatoes (pardon the pun) and that I should just move along, "have a nice day dripping in condescension. I'll never go back despite decades of shopping there and I'll be sure to let everyone I know how elitist and dismissive this organization has become. read more

Buyer beware. Everyone knows that larger greenhouses aren't places for budget buys. But my recent experience at Salisbury at Enjoy shows that they are not even close to being competitive. I purchased a Christmas tree on a one-day 20% off sale. This was for a floor model. Silly me--I should have checked Greenland Garden Centre's prices first. The exact tree I purchased was $10 more expensive at Greenland, but that price was for a new tree. Toe to toe, for a new tree, the Enjoy Centre tree was actually $250 more expensive. I've learned my lesson and will check at Greenland first next time. read more

I am so impressed by the assistance that I got with the repot of my dear Ficus Tree, "Stephen". He is twelve years old and has been with me for a long time. He definitely needed some TLC as his roots were beginning too outgrow his pot. I was emailing back and forth with Stacie about the repot and eventually it got warm enough for me to bring him in. She gave some great advice and got Stephen in a nice new pot that was a more appropriate size. I had also gotten some previous advice about Ficus trees that she nicely explained was incorrect and gave me some great tips about how to care for him from now on. This is my oldest plant and I know he still has a lot of life in him so I want to care for him as best I can! One of the best things about this is I only had to pay for the pot. I was prepared to pay upwards of $100 but the repot and advice was actually free! What a nice surprise! I think more people should take advantage of this great service. I believe I will bring him in again in a few years but of course these trees are temperamental and don't like to be moved too much. I also brought in my little prayer plant and we set him up for new propagation to keep him feeling good as well. Thanks to Stacie and the staff at Holes! It makes me feel like Stephen and my other plant were in great hands and I will definitely be back! read more

Salisbury at Enjoy - Stephen in his new pot - Nurseries & Gardening Near Me - St Albert, Alberta

This is my first time at a Hole's Greenhouse. Judging from the reviews, I'd say I like this place a better than the other reviewers, but maybe that's because I never saw the old location. It's true the Enjoy Center is located in a weird place. My bestie was doing the driving and I had to ask, "Where are we going? I thought we were going to St. Albert?" But we had no problems getting there. We decided we would check Hole's out after the Spirit Expo, which was our reason for being there. I'm definitely on the fence about how I feel about this place. I kind of liked the open concept, but it also made me feel a little lost, like I wasn't sure if I was still in the store, and was the kitchen store part of it? (Staff there need to work on their social skills. Saleslady asked me in a booming snarl if everything was alright. Glared at me the whole time like I was going to stuff my pockets with mini spatulas and pepper mills.) Lovely merchandise. I picked up an air plant and several interesting stocking stuffer items like pickled sea asparagus. I'll bet this place is LOADED with awesome stuff in the spring, and I might want to come then just to see if I can find something special for my garden. Service at the checkout was polite, and she even gave me a bag to hold all the other bags I was carrying from the expo. We were feeling peckish, and thought we might give the cafeteria a try. WRONG! Nine dollars for soup?! I don't care if it's gluten-free and organic. That's all we needed to know, and decided it was probably time to leave. It's right around this time that the weight of snobbery became heavy for us, and we started to feel as though we didn't belong. It's a new place, and it IS St. Albert, so part of me expected things to be a bit pricey, but I think we were in over our heads a little. If I come back to Hole's, it will be strictly for gardening stuff. read more

Ignore every review of Hole's Greenhouse prior to May 1, 2011. Also ignore the address that Yelp gives. Prior to that date, Hole's operated out of a cramped but user-friendly greenhouse on Bellerose Drive. Yes, you had to put up with someone's cart running over your toes but that was a good way to meet fellow gardeners. The stock was well-marked and easy-to-find. Furthermore, the old Hole's was easy to locate and get to from Edmonton or any place in St. Albert. Everything is wrong with the new Hole's, beginning with a name only a salesman in a lime green suit can relate to, Enjoy Centre. The reason for the meaningless title is that the new Hole's consists of a greenhouse, a restaurant (more below) and a spa (currently unfinished). One reviewer compares the new Hole's to IKEA. This is a fitting analogy. The place is humongous (4.5 hectares) but without the charm of Swedish names with o's with slashes through them. The new Hole's is located in a hard-to-get-to industrial park at 101 Riel Drive in St. Albert. My GPS took me out the Yellowhead, up 178 St through half-finished overpasses and residential areas before finding 101 Riel Drive. There's a much more direct route via 170 St. Parking is ample, possibly the only charm of the new Hole's. The entrance showcases the restaurant and the unfinished spa. To get to the plants, a disadvantage for elderly gardeners. I didn't see any wheelchairs for seniors with mobility problems. The plants seem to be arranged randomly under designations so meaningless that I had to ask another customer where she found the tomato plants. Don't bother the people at the information desk because they seem to have important business on the telephone. The staff on the floor try to help but they can't seem to find anything either. The only solution is to walk around and keep looking. Two weeks after we went for our plants, my wife's girlfriend took my wife to try the restaurant. My wife reports that the food is pricey and not worth the price. She reports that the dumplings with the pork and apples ($15) were hard and colud be used as decorative rock in the greenhouse. Her girlfriend had an omlette with vegetables ($13 and on the menu with some fancy forgettable name) and reports that it was satisfactory. I wish Yelp would update their listing for Hole's to the new address and add a separate listing for the restaurand and Spa. Overall, not worth the gas to drive there. read more

If it was possible to give less than 1 star I would! I received a funeral arrangement from Holes, that was to be used at my daughters funeral service, with several damaged and broken flowers. These were totally destroyed and smooshed! I contacted Holes customer service and asked them to send a few replacement flowers so I could fix the arrangement , or to please send a new one. The customer service was terrible and rude. Eventually they did end up sending a new arrangement for the funeral service but not without a very nasty comment from the person who dropped it off. This kind of terrible behaviour to grieving parents of a small child is not acceptable. read more

This is the biggest garden center I have ever seen. An aerial shot of it looks like it's a farm. I discovered this place when I was shopping for a garden Inukshuk to give my parents for Christmas. I'd looked around a lot and found nothing I liked, and this place had several beautiful options to choose from in their garden accessories mega-section. Seriously, this place is loads of fun, even if you're not the green thumb type. Though you can imagine, if you are a herbaphile, you will find everything you could possibly want or need for your garden sanctuary here. I highly recommend coming here at Christmas time. It is so festive, and you can get a fresh-cut tree, fragrant wreaths, miles of beautiful ribbon, home decor, poinsettias, pots, and so much more. There are four or five giant greenhouses attached to this place, so take some time to come roam. This isn't the kind of place to rush through. You'll want to stop and smell the flowers. read more

Salisbury at Enjoy - Get your green thumb here. Photo courtesy of Holesonline.com - Nurseries & Gardening Near Me - St Albert, Alberta

My mom drags me to Hole's quite often, and although I do not have a particularly green thumb, I enjoy coming to this enormous garden centre. During spring and summer, Hole's sells an amazing selection of live plants ready to be planted in pots or in the garden. When winter comes, Hole's stocks up on Christmas trees, Poinsettias and holiday ornaments. Any time of year there are beautiful flower arrangements available for sale. Hole's consists of several greenhouses each of which houses a certain type of plants. For example, there are indoor plants section and bedding plants retail area. Whatever you plan to plant in our garden be it flowers, shrubs or trees, you will find it here. Apparently, many Edmonton and St Albert dwellers think so too as Hole's is consistently busy. read more

Holes Enjoy Center is a one stop shop complete with a casual dining restaurant, bakery, grocery store catering to health food and local made goods, wine store, as well a well stocked garden centre. While some of the prices may seem higher than some others places the increased quality of their products and plants justifies it 'you get what you pay for'. They even have warranty for plant purchases. We've bought a perennial plant that didn't survive the winter and brought it back with receipt from the previous year and the gladly replaced the plant with a new healthy one. Jim Hole also puts on a number of free seminars during the year especially during growing season. These are very informative and always well attended on topics ranging from growing tomatoes to fruit tree pruning and his popular cannabis growing talks. Jim is very personable and is more than willing to stay afterwards and answer questions one on one. I've been going to Holes since the Enjoy Center opened and have always had a pleasurable experience. read more

How could they have gotten it soooo wrong?! They had better flow, organization and selection at their old location. I am baffled every time I walk into the Enjoy Centre to try to find the simplest things like pansies, tropical plant selection, or even a pair of gardening gloves. The place is too big and poorly signed. I had to return an item one day and was told I had to go to Guest Services. The person at Guest Services didn't know how to do the refund and actually asked me to come back the next day. The prices are more expensive than ever. This is a sad demise to a very popular and beloved local business. read more

I phoned Hole's Greenhouses to find out if there was a product I could use to control an insect called "Popular Borers". They killed my neighbor's Columnar Aspen and have now attacked mine. I was given a web site where I could send my question to Jim Hole - the expert (so they say). Just a catch, he charges $20 for his advice. I should have just called other green houses but Hole's used to have a good reputation so I went ahead and payed $20 for his advice. Two weeks later I got a call from Jim advising me to call a fumigator that can treat the tree. Huh? $20 for a referral? Even my doctor doesn't charge for referral's made without a visit. Well, we hired the recommended fumigator and for $400 a summer student came to our house, drilled holes and inserted insecticide capsules. The capsules were "Medicap Acecap AC1210 Systemic Insecticide Tree Implants" available through E-Bay for about $3 a piece. Anyone with a drill could have done the same- Instructions come with the capsules. So why didn't Jim Hole suggest that as an option? I suspect he is collecting a referral fee, why else. This is a service not to be trusted. It's about taking as much out of your wallet as possible. read more

At the end of May, 2011, I took my mom to the new Holes Enjoy Centre. "Enjoy" is the not the word I would use for this monstronsity of an industrial building. They moved from the homey greenhouse on Bellerose Drive to an industrial section of St. Albert. My first impression as I walked in was "Ikea". Big, impersonal and so busy, but with many people walking out empty-handed. The prices were absurdly high - $22 for a six pack of annuals - are you kidding me? I overhead a lady telling her other half while looking at a bag of dirt "We can't afford that". I guess they have to pay for the multi-million dollar complex they are in. There is a very large area full of plants and hanging baskets, but the baskets are on a trolley system (something like you see at the drycleaners). This room had ropes across the entrance saying it was for employees only - so I witnessed ladies standing at the entrance watching these plants slowly moving - wasn't sure if one was supposed to grab one as they floated by or not.....and the baskets were not that big - they were quite small in growth. I didn't see a good selection of baskets in the main shopping area. What happened to the personal shopping experience of wandering admist the hanging baskets and having the pleasure of picking one. This industrial trolley system certainly takes that away. Lois must be turning in her grave. Also, what is up with a huge cafeteria/food area - definitely Ikea'ish. My mom and I walked out - there was not one thing in there we wanted to buy - instead we drove down the highway 15 minutes to Morniville Greenhouses and ended buying several beautiful baskets and fillers for half the price of Holes. (Disclaimer: I have nothing to do with Morinville Greenhouses - I live out of Province and was just taking my mom greenhouse shopping for the day.) Holes is expensive, massive and very industrial. Jim Hole and family certainly did their mother no favour by expanding to this extent and only time will tell if they bit off more than they can chew. Holes may have the name in greenhouses, but such an expensive place will not be sustainable, even with Alberta's economy. read more

I used to love Holes. The prices were always high but I was always happy with the quality. My boys took me to the new "Enjoy Center" I have to say, the experience was no good at all. The place is just monstrous and the plants are arranged in an order that is very confusing. I saw many of people there but very few with purchases. They looked as dazed and confused as I was. Prices? Absolutely sky high. I wonder where the enjoy part is? Such a tacky name for a tacky place. I won't be back again. read more

I tried to call on the weekend because I was looking for a specific product and did not want to drive all the way there if they did not stock it. I received a taped message telling me that they were indeed open however I was not able to reach a "real" person to get my question answered. I will take my business to where I can get better customer service. read more