Bright Leaf Landscaping LLC

Michelle did a great job designing our new landscaping for a 25 year old house. She listened to our preferences and carefully considered the various lighting conditions around our yard. The owner Jon actually did the installation with his team. They pulled out some very overgrown bushes and installed the new plants according to the plan. They did an excellent job and even cleaned up everyday after they finished. They also put in new irrigation lines to connect to our existing system.

Nice people - A surprising disappointment I hired Bright Leaf to create a plan for a sizable landscaping project on a house on three acres I recently purchased, including new plantings, irrigation, lighting, etc. I was particularly impressed by the owner Jonathan having been a master gardener at Duke Gardens for many years, and their many positive reviews. The person I met with on all but one occasion was his landscape designer Michelle. She (and Jonathan the one time I met him for about 10 minutes) were pleasant and clearly well intended. The initial plan she presented (which took considerably longer to present than what she had estimated) while professionally executed, was surprisingly disappointing in terms of both plant selection and creativity. I asked for and received at no additional charge some updates to the plan, which was better. I planned to have them complete the project for me until I received their bid, which was almost twice as much as we had discussed and 60-100% higher than several competing bids I received using the plan they provided (their bid also included considerably smaller - less mature plants than the others). During the entire process it seemed obvious they had a lot of other business, were probably understaffed, and even a $10,000+ project just wasn't a priority. To be fair, they appear to be capable people and i'm sure if I was willing to pay twice the price, the project would have been completed properly. I actually liked both Jonathan and Michelle personally and feel bad giving a negative review. Honestly they would have been much better off saying at the outset "sorry, but we're just too busy to take on this project right now" than handling it as they did. I think this is a great example of a small business experiencing "growing pains" that limited their responsiveness. Especially if you are going to charge a super-premium price you need to offer super premium service, and that clearly was not the case here.

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Came out for a meeting. Very professional. Very care and thorough. Very patient with follow up questions. Very accessible by phone and email. Came on scheduled day, no delays despite bad weather weeks before. Flexible and accommodated onsite change requests. Would highly recommend this group of professional landscapers. Will use again.

unknown

We found them on the web. They did great. They came out on the day when it was scheduled. Their design services are very good. They’re well-trained; what plans on what you are trying to achieve. They’re responsive. If you need to call them about something; they’re always right there. They were always there when they were supposed to be.

the receptionist/ estimator was sarcastic on the phone and evidently holds a grudge? I had contacted them several years ago and did not proceed forward with work. This person did not return my initial email request and when finally contacted, stated didn't think you really wanted us as we have been there before. When pressed she finally said the estimate would be $500 to 1500 and given we have multiple dogs would not guarantee the work. With this attitude interfacing with the public, not sure I would recommend to anyone.

They are excellent. They have worked for us for six years now, and they are very honest, capable people. They are very competitive and honest with the price of what the service is in our area. They stand behind their work. They are very easy to work with and very good at incorporating variety into a good plan. If a plant dies, they replace it. They never even question whether we didn't water it properly as they always stand behind their work. If I want to change something about the design during the process, they are quite comfortable in accommodating us. They will be putting in another woodland garden for us soon.

Great job

Very helpful and professional - would definitely use again.

Bright Leaf Landscaping's estimate was great. They are very professional but at this point we're not sure what we're gonna do. He knows what he was talking about, very personable, you can contact him with questions and he's happy to discuss things with me. He gave me advice concerning what were the priority if I couldn't do things at once. His designer that works with him was very creative and I can tell her what I was looking for, she was great as well.

Super!

We love the area that they designed, and we've had so many compliments. Everything is beautiful and the plants they used are high quality. Both Jonathan and Beth are knowledgeable and professional, and pleasant to work with. They are great about explaining the details about the design, the plants, how to care for them, etc. I have only one complaint - slow response to follow-up. Recently, we called to have them check on one of the Japanese Maples and another plant.. We've been waiting 3 weeks, and he said that he'd be out that week. I realize this is their busy time, but follow-up on client concerns is important.