HOLM & OLSON LANDSCAPE DESIGN

A partial list of issues: 1. We paid 10% down in the spring to have an early June start date. Even after repeatedly contacting the firm about selecting plants/stones/colors/etc. nothing was happened until late summer and the work did not start until the late August. 2. The project was supposed to take a maximum of five weeks long to complete but it took over thirteen. 3. The raised planting beds on the upper and lower decks are too large and block all the sightlines to the creek from both the upper and lower patios. The designer/project manager verbally “guaranteed“ on more than three different occasions that the sightlines to the creek would be preserved, even when sitting in a chaise lounge on the lower patio. What point is having a water feature if you cannot see it? 4. The printed plan we agreed to had two equal sized upper patio spaces with stairs descending in between. The whole point of the entire project was to have a space on one side where 8 people could sit around a dining table and a space on the other side where 6 or more people could sit and talk. As built, we have a small space on one side of the stairs (not big enough for people 8 to dine or 6 people to sit) and a long space on the other side (but too small to be setup for both functions). We were not notified of the change to the patio and would have never agreed to it. The one “ask” in the whole project is now missing. 5. Many plants on the approved plan were never planted but paid for. 6. The stones used of the stairs and landings down to the creek are not the ones that were approved and do not match or complement the landings. 7. The southwest corner of the yard slopes off at a 9-degree slope but should be close to flat. This was not corrected even after repeated requests. 8. All the plans call for 27 “boulders” to line the stairs going down to the creek. There were only 21 boulders placed by the crew. 6 other ones that were paid for are missing. 9. The color of the retaining wall block that was ordered and arrived was not the color we selected. We had selected a different block that matched our house brick. We were not notified that it was changed, instead we noticed the block was wrong when we saw it being delivered. Now, we have one color stone for the steps to the creek, one color for the retaining walls/patio and another color for the steps by the house. It was all supposed to be a single different color/style that matched our house brick. 10. About 10’ of the main irrigation water supply line running from the front of the house to the backyard was cut and ripped out from under an old retaining wall but not replaced before the new retaining wall was built. Now a new line must be installed. 11. The fire ring was not placed correctly. It’s installed too close to the creek and now it’s now only possible to site on the east side of the ring facing into the smoke. The prevailing wind comes form the west. The old ring it replaced was several feet farther east leaving room to sit on west side. The ring was moved 3 times and is still in the wrong spot. 12. We were shown a tentative plant selection on the initial proposal and were told we could change and finalize things over the summer. We never heard a thing after then and the tentative plants, with no client input, arrived and were installed before we could even review them. 13. At the initial proposal, are one plant request was “no Hosta plants”. Several dozen Hosta plants were delivered to be planted. 14. The north planting bed was supposed to be about 18” from our house to maximize the yard space for lawn games. It’s 4’ away from the house. No one told us this was changed. 15. We agreed to 7 patio lights and requested AC outlets. 10 lights were installed and no outlets. 16. Many of the plants in the planting beds and on the hill are dead. Holm & Olson offers a 1-year warranty on all plants but refused to replace them. 17. The front yard was dug-up and damaged by the subcontracted irrigation company and not repaired. 18. The soaker lines in the planting beds and on the hillside. Are only ½ under the mulch.

They have done everything I ask them to do and they are actually wonderful and the wall looks beautiful. They do what they say they are going to do and they are professional.

The workers were great. They were excellent at staying on the job and getting it done. On the day they finished, they showed up on a very rainy Saturday to clean up the debris that was left in the street - that was exceptional.

It was a long time to get things rolling. The landscape design is quite pleasing. The work was done professionally. We have received many complements from the neighbors.

They were very conscientious and they finished on time when they said they would. We are very happy with the results.