ECOLOGICAL DESIGN SOLUTIONS

Jason gave us a very accurate estimate for landscaping the backyard including removing an old railroad tie retaining wall and replacing it with a modern wall. The size of the project was very large and took just over 1 week to complete. Jason started work about a week after we signed the contract and never left the job until it was completed. All the workers were very professional, cleaned up after they were done. During the project we ran into some surprises that were unforeseen and beyond our control. This is where Ecological Design Solutions really showed their skills. They quickly modified the designs, worked with the city of Chesterfield to get the necessary approval and were able to complete the project on time by bring in additional workers. The modified design was very good and I?ve already received complements from the neighbors on how well the design turned out. Jason was able to keep the additional cost down and did a very professional job in managing the changes and working with the neighbors to make sure everyone was satisfied with what we were doing. This is where Jason?s demeanor and style really paid off. He was able to balance the needs of a lot of interested parties including city inspectors and neighbors and in the end created a very balanced design. We are extemely happy with the work he and the team did and plan to use him again for our next project.

I paid for the design. The cost of the design was to be rolled into the cost of the project. The cost of the first design would have been almost $10,000. I told him I wanted something more for around $4,000, and I could do some work myself. I never heard back from him and he did not contact me with the new estimate. He did not return phone calls or emails.

We told the owner we were interested specifically in native plants and in suggestions on specific species to use, and that we might do some or all of the installation ourselves. I was under the impression this was his specialty. However, he was unfamiliar with a number of species I asked about, based on readily available materials, not that he needed to include my ideas, but at least respond to them. Also, in several instances on the plan, he was vague, specifying just "fern," for instance, and not a specific species. Also, he used far more non-native species than we wanted, and I thought we had been pretty clear about our desire to focus on natives (I realize that's not everybody's taste, but it's what we asked for, so we felt he should have honored that). One last comment, he never came through on the $50 plant offered at the home show. We asked about it once or twice, then dropped it, but ended up feeling like he was making empty promises.

Met with the owner of the company at my home (he was late) to discuss the backyard. Surveyed the backyard and said he would provide the design for $300 which would be credited if I had them do the work. Weeks went by and I received nothing so I got a hold of the owner and he said it was not done yet, but would be in a week. The following week he came out (late again) with the plan. As he promised it was a computer generated landscape design (not to scale). I was flabbergasted at the number of plants and trees he had for the backyard- there is no way they would all fit in my backyard. Then he showed me the estimate for the work- $34,000. In my opinion he was upset that I asked him why he was taking so long to prepare the design so he presented something I would not approve- keeping the $300 of course.

Frustrating. Mr. Burney designed something much more elaborate than we had asked for and did not include any of the plants we had requested. He proposed a cost of $2000 for installing a very small garden. When we asked how we might scale the design down to a more manageable budget, he took several weeks to get back to us and then said he was not interested in doing the work. He may be fine for customers with large yards and pocket books but did not deliver the kind of service we wanted for our small yard / budget.

Frustrating. Mr. Burney designed something much more elaborate than we had asked for and did not include any of the plants we had requested. He proposed a cost of $2000 for installing a very small garden. When we asked how we might scale the design down to a more manageable budget, he took several weeks to get back to us and then said he was not interested in doing the work. He may be fine for customers with large yards and pocket books but did not deliver the kind of service we wanted for our small yard / budget.