IVORY SUMMIT LANDSCAPE

The job got off to a rocky start. I expected Justin out for a couple of days, but he didn't come. Finally, he showed up mid-afternoon one day and dropped off a few plants. I was starting to really worry, but then things got moving. He and a couple of helpers removed the security gate and the existing retaining wall and very professionally began to replace it. They put in proper drainage, which had not been done before. Then they hit the main water line and broke it. Although they probably should have called the utility company in advance, I don't think it would have stopped this accident from happening because the pipe was much shallower than it should have been. So I don't blame Justin for that. Once that was fixed, they finished the retaining wall and did the landscaping. I had asked that several bushes that had grown too large for where they were originally planted be moved to the area above the retaining wall. Justin took care of that, and then picked out some other plants and stones to go in the area. He also built a "box" that sits on top of the retaining wall to put my mailbox in. When he first built it, the mailbox was much too low. So after I asked him to raise it up he did. However, he built the box out of the same timbers used for the retaining wall, and with the additional height it looks horrible and I am going to remove it. The retaining wall looks great and that work seems to have been done very well. However, where the bushes were pulled up to replant was left a mess that I will have to clean up. Also, for the amount I paid, I expected more plants. Because the work was done in the fall, I won't know until spring how many survived. But Justin has a one-year guarantee on anything he plants, so he said he will replace any that do not survive. I think he has good taste in plants and how to place them, and he also built a low planter on the other side of my driveway out of timbers that is very nice-looking. Overall I think he has good taste and does a good job; I just wish that he had cleaned up after himself more. I'm still finding things I have to haul away. Justin is a really nice young man with good taste (except for the mailbox) and all the best intentions. I think with the water main break and other events, he had to rush a bit and thus left some things that normally would have been taken care of.

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Both required some creativity to make work and both were excellently constructed, finished on schedule as promised, and the final price was also as promised.