HORTUS DESIGN

First, the positive: 1. Vijaya was very responsive in answering questions and getting back to us in a timely manner. 2. She was on-site once or twice a day to monitor the progress. 3. Her bid was complete and detailed, specifying exactly what she was going to do. 4. There were some upgrades she did that were not included in the bid, such as staining the vegetable bed and upgrading to a better quality lumber. Negatives: 1. She is far too focused on cutting costs and saving (herself) money. Although she charged us for removal of debris, the material sat in our driveway for three weeks. It was later we realized she was listing the stuff on Craigslist, and having people come and take it away for her "free", or selling some of the things herself. 2. There were certain areas where she didn't order enough material (flagstone, soil, mulch) even though we expressed concerns that there might be a short fall. In the end, the flagstone pathway looks sparse, the berms are just little mounds, and there are areas where the mulch is barely 1/2" thick (rather than 2" per her bid) and the weeds started growing through after only a few days. 3. Some of the plants she brought in were left over from a previous project she did six months earlier. They were not the plants that were specified on our designer's plan. Moreover, they died after less than a month. 4. The workmen left 8 bags of trash (food, water bottles, soda cans, broken tools) that she would not haul away. We had to clean up after them, bag the garbage ourselves, and arrange for a separate pick-up from the city. For the price that we paid (over $50k), I was expecting a top-notch, hassle-free service.