WALKER'S LAWN & LANDSCAPING

The design effort was great. They came out, listened to what we thought and then created a visual of what the finished product would look like. The design was creative in some elements, so much so we weren't sure how it would look. We decided to go with Walker's even though they were the most expensive because we thought we would get great service during and after the sale. Once the design phase was done, our experience dimished. The installation, which was done in September 2011, didn't go as well and we had to have them come back to fix some items. They did that in a reasonable manner. When we called to ask how to prepare plants for the winter, we got that information just fine (it wasn't provided when the job was done). Fast forward to this spring and now we can start to see how the elements work together, or don't. The plants put in one part of our yard are very mismatched in size. There are small plants that don't really have many beauty elements, but it doesn't matter because just about everything in this area is being obscured by other plants growing out of control. The 'bush' type plants are taking over and really are not even that attractive. The only thing you can really see is the small evergreen tree in the middle, which seems to be dying and therefore detracts furher from the look. There is a rock feature that is interesting and looks decent but some rocks keep falling over and have to be put back. Up close to the house, not all of the plants have grown - some didn't even come up this year or if they did very little. As well the spacing is terrible. Plants are growing into each other and growing over the landscaping lights while in other areas there is ample room. It appears that while the design looked nice, these folks really didn't have a good idea of the growth patterns of what they put in and how it would all work together over time. Now the really frustrating part, if that wasn't enough. We have been trying to get help with these matters, you know that service after the sale that you hope you get when you pay premium money. Well, no such luck. My wife and I have reached out to them several times over a couple of months. They promised they would come look at things and get back to us. Many times the people we need to talk to are never there but we are promised a call back after they can come look at the issues. Nobody ever comes by and we don't get a call back. This is one of the worst examples of customer service I have encountered. I am not one to post negative reviews but in this case I feel it is warranted. I went into this with Walkers thinking that the premium price would pay off. Now I feel we are abandoned with landscaping that really doesn't work together to add beauty to our home and yard. We will now have to end up redoing it, probably losing many of the plants that are there. This is a total shame because I had such a good feeling at the start. The marks they have received on this review are partly because it appears the landscpaing plan wasn't fully thought out for the future, it hasn't performed well (including dead/dying plants and elements that are falling apart), and most importantly we are basically being ignored at this point. Check in the bank syndrome I guess. I feel we have in good faith tried to reach out to Walkers to help rectify our concerns and create a good outcome. We were not asking for handouts from Walkers, but rather to engage us to find a mutually acceptable resolution. Based on their response, or lack of it, I guess that is not the direction they want to go. As a note, the same folks run Cedar Lake Gardens and Gifts on Mound road in Decatur. Do your due diligence - you want somebody that will support you while the job is being done but also into the future.