Gardens of the Carolinas

It went great!

Great!

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We worked with John Spivey to troubleshoot the drainage problem. John helped us find the problem and then worked with us to develop a solution. Next we had a problem with our fountain. Again he was very helpful in helping us trouble shoot the problem and find a solution. In this case it was a faulty pump. Gardens of the Carolinas removed the pump, tested it, certified that it was faulty, and returned it for a warranty replacement. They then reinstalled the pump and it is working great.

I talked to the provider multiple times. What I purchased was pavers, what I needed was an extensive construction job to build a walkway on my sloped property. I had a budget for the job, but my budget wasn't enough to do the work needed.

The owner, John Spivey, was on my property and giving assistance within hours of being called. He had a state of the art approach and offered professional suggestions and advice. He was very detailed. He did what he said he was going to do. He was timely and did a fantastic job. We are very pleased. We plan to use him again for future landscaping needs.

John made some good suggestions for the project design. His crew did nice work. They were professional, polite and cleaned up the work site well. There was a miscommunication about one of the few details for the design and I wasn't happy with the final result. John was quick to come up with a solution and they continue working until I was completely satisfied. I would have no problems recommending them.

John was great to work with. I contacted him prior to purchasing the Angie's List big deal to ensure that I had a complete idea of the costs. He came over that day and took measurements and explain in detail the process and answered our questions. He was very flexible based on our mutual schedules and allowed opportunities along the way to ask questions and discuss the next step. We are extremely happy with our walkway, he transformed an area full of red clay that we tracked into the garage into a beautiful pathway from our garage to our back porch. John has an attention for detail that included matching the height of the bottom step to the walkway and the clean lines of the stones. We would highly recommend his service!

I like them. I estimated the price based on research and it was reasonable.

The two (2) telescope pier pads (3ft x 3ft x 3ft deep concrete) were actually poured on different elevations (1-1/2" difference). But, they worked around (my) mistake very well. It is a professional looking job and I would not hesitate to use them again. John Spivey responded very quickly to my request. It was the next day, actually. He came to my house, obtained some measurements. The work was started in the next couple of days.

We plan to schedule the work in Nov/Dec. pending completion of our deck construction.

Gardens of the Carolinas did an excellent job of clearing out the overgrown landscaping in the front yard of our home. The house can now be seen from the street! Gardens of the Carolinas president, John Spivey, met with us twice to go over the work to be done and provide an estimate for the work. John had very good ideas on what to do and really understood what we wanted. It took several days for a crew to complete the work and we are very pleased with the result (so are the neighbors). There were three medium size trees that were removed (including the stumps), two sets of overgrown Burford hollies close to the house were removed (again, the stumps too), three large crepe myrtles were seriously pruned, a large bank of overgrown Indian hawthornes was removed. bushes at the end of the driveway were seriously pruned and a pair of magnolia bushes were shaped and pruned. In addition they created a nice stepping stone walkway from the end of the garage to the gate to the back yard and moved a few plants to the walkway. It looks great. And, they removed a sinking concrete slab and brick steps at the side entrance of the house and put in a new set of brick steps and stone paver walkway. It also looks great. The crew worked hard and cleaned up after they were done each day. Gardens of the Carolinas did a great job and I would definitely recommend them for any landscaping work.

I found John at Gardens of the Carolinas through Angie's List. John is the only one of the 4 contractors that I called who actually took the time to explain his process and offer additional information (websites) to review before he and I even met for the project. John was on time and punctual. We had a newborn (which we told him) and he couldn't have been more respectful and professional in his initial consult. . I walked the property with John and my wife joined with the newborn for a few minutes. I was quite impressed with John's attention to detail. As a first time homeowner with little landscaping experience. John made me feel that I was just as knowledgeable after our walk through. Johns price was competitive but very fair. When we decided to use John, we confirmed the quote over email, and when he came for the deposit, we walked the property with his crew foreman Mike, and again reviewed all the work to be done. Mike was very professional and helpful throughout the scope of the project. The project started as anticipated and timeframe was according to plan as well. Mike took the time to consult with my wife and I when the work was starting as we created our wonderful landscape. I was thoroughly impressed with John, Mike and his whole team. They came when they said they would, performed work with great attention to detail, and in a timely manner. His whole crew was very respectful to our family and equally important to our property. We now have a front yard that turns our neighbors heads. John came for the final walk through and spent equally as much time after the project as he did in the initial phase. He answered all questions and gave great maintenance advise. John, Mike and Gardens of the Carolinas, THANK YOU, thank you for your care and treatment of our property. My son will enjoy a rich and hearty front yard for years to come. I HIGHLY recommend John to all who utilize Angie's List. *** Oct 2013- I have kept in contact with John since he sodded our lawn. John has provided continued great lawn management care tips and has coordinated with us to obtain sod to patch an area that I had not watered enough. We cannot say enough great things about John and Gardens of the Carolinas! Thanks guys

My wife and I have had a lot of contractors out to our home over the years for different projects. John Spivey and his team from Gardens of the Carolinas are by far the best we have ever seen. They have set a new bar for anyone we will use going forward and there certainly won't be another company doing landscaping at our home. It started when I first reached out to John through Angie's List. He immediately responded back and we were able to schedule an estimate within 24 hours. When John came out he took the time to explain exactly what he believed was the best way to approach my project and answered all of my questions. I received the quote almost immediately and it contained different options that I could chose from. He followed up the quote with a telephone call to explain the options and again took the time to answer any and all questions. The quote was extremely competitive and John was flexible enough to meet our schedule so we decided to use Gardens of the Carolinas and it was a great decision. As we got closer to the project, John was always available to answer any questions. One example was a prep question that I had on the Saturday before they were starting. I emailed my question and an hour later had an answer in my inbox. What contractor have you worked with that gets you an answer within an hour on the weekend. Once they started, the team that did the work was extremely professional and the best part was how detailed orientated they were while working on my yard. For example, there was a large stump that I had removed awhile back and was too large for me to depose of it. John saw it and asked if I needed it and the next thing I know it was gone. He and his team made sure that everything was perfect. For example, extra mulch in beds that they didn't even work on, fixed a small patch of my front yard that needed work and pressure washed the driveway after they were done. All of this was above and beyond the original work that we were planning on completely. The job came out even better than I imagined and at the end of the work they even came in under the estimate (even though they needed more sod than expected)! I recommend Gardens of the Carolinas to anyone that is in need of landscaping work. Not only will you be happy with the work but you will experience how a truly exceptional company delivers customer service and quality work at competitive price.

Process begins with extensive planning and discussion. John Spivey spent approximately 10-12 hrs at our house ( 4 separate meetings ) discussing our preferences , goals , budget and expectations. The next step was to meet with his designer and do a walk of the property to discuss in detail our vision for the property. We were then presented a design plan and reviewed the plan with John Spivey that included standing where trees and plants would be placed , even John holding an umbrella where a large shrub was planned so we could see if it would block a view we enjoy. Very interactive process. The planning process began in late Oct , the work began in January and took about 6 weeks to complete. Crew can best be described as craftsmen. Detailed , meticulous , courteous. John Spivey is a landscaper , engineer and artist. He's not moving dirt , he is creating a design that you will enjoy, but one that is also practical for your lifestyle. We have received many compliments from neighbors. Constant communication from John Spivey throughout process. We were away for part of the time and he emailed multiple pictures ( each day ) of the ongoing work including showing how deep drains were dug and how cable lines were not cut during digging. The extensive planning resulted in enjoyable sight lines as we walk thru our home. An area on the side of our house , where our previous pavers had been covered with soil , new pavers have no dirt even after a heavy rain ( important to note: they know what they are doing regarding erosion and drainage ). We are delighted with results that exceeded our expectations.

I'm very pleased with the work done by Gardens of the Carolinas and look forward to using them for additional projects. Owner John Sprivey responded immediately to my inquiry about work to be done. He came to my house and discussed various options for handling the drainage issue and offered more and less expensive options. He provided a written estimate that was informative and helpful becase it broke down the work into individual tasks and sub tasks. He was familiar with a variety of bushes and trees and offered suggestions for when and how to prune them. He seemed very knowledgeable and thorough, and I did not seek other price quotes because I felt like he knew what he was doing and would do it right the first time. If I'd spoken to him prior to doing lots of tree work with a different company a couple years ago, I probably would have handled that differently. John is friendly, courteous, and professional, and his crew was friendly and courteous. John reviewed their work several times for quality control and had them make a few adjustments to meet his standards. The work was finished on time. Before the new drains were installed, it was obvious that the water was washing leaves and debris downhill at several points in my yard, and there was very little grass on the lower part of the yard where erosion was the worst. Now, 6-8 weeks later, I have a lot of grass. I can't say for sure that there has been a hard rain, but I haven't seen any sign of rainwater washing leaves and debris which was obvious beforehand. I plan to have them come back in the Spring to do more pruning and maybe add some stepping stones and more.

John Spivey came out and looked at our lot. He was enthusiastic, had lots of creative ideas about how to fix things. He seemed very knowledgable about what needed to be done and made good suggestions about ways to improve the looks of our home overall. I'm sure he would have done a quality job, but a few weeks went by and it became obvious that he wasn't getting time to work on our project so I realized that if we needed to move quickly, we would be better to choose another landscaper who had already submitted a plan we liked. Also, I had the feeling John wanted to do more than we wanted to spend. I would definitely like to work with him on a future project, this is just not the right time and situation. When I explained to him our decision, he was completely professional about it - which is just what I expected. If you are looking for high quality and plan to stay in your home for a while, I would definitely recommend John Spivey.

They are very prompt, they do what they're supposed to do, they check back on their work after they have left.

From beginning to end, I could not have been happier with Gardens of the Carolinas. Owner John Spivey worked with us each step of the way. He took the architectural design and made a number of suggestions to improve the design in terms of functionality as well as engineering cost savings. Every step of the way he helped us improve the functionality of the design. His crew worked diligently, even working on weekends and holidays. John was on the project daily and met with us regularly, always on schedule. He paid attention to every detail. There is no way I could imagine the project going any better. Every issue that arose was addressed with care and concern, giving us options and thoughts for solutions. On a project of this size ($140,000) there were a number of issues and complexities. All were addressed and resolved with his help. His crew was attentive to detail. They were prompt and hard working. At the end of the project, it exceeded all of our expectations. I will likely call him to do a personal project for me. I would not hesitate to recommend Gardens of the Carolinas.

John (owner of company) was wonderful to work with. During his first visit, we explained what we wanted done and within a few days we received an estimate. He came to our home several times before my husband and I decided on a final job list and estimate. John was extremely patient, easy going and would explain things and offer suggestions. And, he really took our needs (as maintenance free as possible) and wants into consideration. If we had any questions or concerns, he would get back to us quickly and addressed things right away. We have been so happy with the final outcome. Over a year after the job has been completed, I will email questions and he responds with helpful suggestions and answers.

We were very pleased with the work; the workers showed up when they said the would and worked very hard so the project was completed in just a few days. It looks great now. Customer service was fantastic; John Spivey was very friendly and responsive.