HILLTOP LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS

Ok, Forman was not on job from get go so several large branches were removed that weren't suppose to be, that was disappointing. Once the foreman man pruner guy came, sorry I can't remember his name several hours after the job was well under way, everything else went according to plan and a great job was done.

They were punctual, cleaned up after themselves daily. They were very responsive to our changes to the original plan, which made all the difference in the outcome. (At one point 20 feet of retaining wall had to be demolished and rebuilt several feet away from the original location) The biggest selling point was that Jim Forrester came up with an excellent design on a beautiful drawing that allowed us to visualize what the completed project was going to look like. The project took 3 weeks to complete but this was fortunate because it allowed us to make alterations in the plan. A previous bidder was going to finish in 4-5 days using power equipment and I am very glad that we did not chose that option because it would not have allowed us to see the project take shape gradually and detect the flaw in our original plan. Following my neighbor's advice I took pictures at different stages of the work and now I have record of where various pipes and electrical wires are located underground. My only gripe: the water feature uses a 670 watt pump (little giant WGP80PW rated 2400-6000 GPH) which pumps too much water for my taste through 1.25 inch piping. A smaller pump and smaller piping could have resulted in lesser water flow and a quieter water feature. There is a handy switch next to our door to the back yard that allows us to easily turn off the pump anytime it is not needed. 6/11/2015 The landscaping looks as good or better as it did the day it was finished.We are very glad we undertook this project. I started using Hilltop more for smaller jobs Ii used to do myself replacing sprinkler heads elsewhere, arborist consultation etc. They consistently deliver good service at a reasonable price.

The Hilltop crew did a truly excellent job in designing and building an entry area for our new home. They installed the bubbling pot water feature and flagstone area.. They then built and stuccoed the block wall and perfectly matched our house's color. They then went the extra mile in replacing some of the plants in the area and in re-installing the gravel surrounding the wall.

Corky Baca did the estimate and his crew was exactly on time for both days work (it took two separated by a few weeks). They were responsive and professional and cleaned everything up extremely well when done. While would have liked the expense to have been a bit less they did an excellent job and we would not hesitated to call on them again as needed.

My experience with them was very good, my one caveat about them was that they were a month late. I was not happy with that but otherwise the work was good.

An estimater came to our property and never got back to us.

Have not done project yet, however will highly recommend.

The crews were on-time each morning and the site was cleaned up each night. They worked the full day each day. The crews were very friendly and helpful with full explanation of their activities. Even though there were drawings, they were very cooperative in making changes and /or corrections. Having people working that listen and take suggestions willingly, makes this size project very enjoyable to work with and complete to everyone agreement and enjoy doing it.

It went well. They were professional and did a good job my only complaint is that I asked them to do some landscaping work and they referred me to another group within the same company and they never got back to me

Never heard back - has been over 2 weeks. Called another firm - they called back in 2 days.

All was done before we moved in and we are very happy with all that was done. There is a year warranty on plants, so we contacted Jim to have some replaced. I have contacted via email but unable to connect with him yet. Partly because I have been out of town and then on 3 week jury duty call. I intend to follow-up with him this month to get 2 plants replaced. Also I want to get an estimate from him to remove the grass in our yard --which is located on a slope and is a waste of water to keep.

They were great. They were very professional. They did their job on time. The people were great. I was just happy with them. I would use them again in the future.

No return call, no return email and no quote.

the 2 workers used a cherry picker and spent about 2 hours trimming the tree, plus 1 hour for clean-up. they did an excellent job - were responsive, courteous and professional.

After our initial consultation we never heard from Hilltop again, so no work was ever provided.

There were a lot of phone calls back and forth between us in the beginning, all messages that were left were returned in a timely and prompt manner. Everything went great, the people were prompt and couldn't have been nicer. All the work was done on time and in a neat and orderly manner. I was given a picture of exactly what our yard would look like and when they were finished it looked just like the picture. We had a few changes made to the original plan and it was never a problem for them to make the changes. The grading they did to the backyard was perfect, all the rain water we have received has drained away from the house. They were very considerate of myself, my family and our two large dogs and our requirements. Overall it was a pleasant experience and even our neighbors were impressed at how quickly they worked and how they cleaned up their mess everyday before they left for the evening. There was a little bit of a language barrier mostly because of the accent but absolutely nothing that couldn't be over come. So far all the work they did has held up great. Hilltop called us twice to do a follow-up on the work that was done.

We have come into an agreement and we are going to start the work probably in another week or so. The estimate that they gave was high. I liked their professionalism. They gave us a drawing of what they are going to do with everything on it. The experience had been great.

I contacted Hilltop on a Wednesday about scheduling an appointment to visit our property to provide idea, plans and an estimate for several areas of work. Aaron was quick to respond and scheduled an appointment for that Friday. He arrived for the appointment and spend roughly 20-30 minutes walking the property hearing our needs/desires/concerns for the work. He did not take any photos or measurements and took a few notes. As he was leaving he mentioned they were entering their busy season and that someone would be back the following week to take measurements, etc. After a week and a half went by with no word from anyone at Hilltop we reached out to Aaron by phone and email to check in. Four days later we heard back that they were extremely busy, apologies for the delay, etc and that he would have something to us the following week if we could wait that long. We thanked him for responding and told him we looked forward to hearing from him. Three weeks passed and we sent one last email to see if they were still planning to get back to us. That was now almost two more weeks ago and still nothing. Professionalism and courtesy simply not present in our experience. We have undertaken landscaping projects in other homes and we are well aware of the seasonal nature and busy spring common with most companies. We did not have a rigid timeline and were willing to be flexible. Had he initially said the company a) does not have time to work with us or b) has no desire to do the kind of work we were requesting, etc. we would have again, thanked him for his time and appreciated the honesty and professional candor. We understand busy, but a complete failure to respond and then follow through is poor form, at best and says very little about the company. Contacting them was a complete and utter waste of time.

They were excellent to work with. They were willing to work with me and they were able to meet the bid of their competition. They were professional. They were the only company who actually gave me a draft, a computer print out, of what the outcome would look like.

The crew of 4 showed up at 7:30 am and worked all day until the job was finished. They used chain saws, a bucket truck and a chipper to complete the job. They were exceedingly careful with the way that they used the equipment and it was obvous that they had safety training. I was very pleased with watching how well they worked together as a team. They did a good job with the clean up. They stacked the wood that I was keeping and put all the brush and small branches into the chipper.

After we did not hear from them, I called about a week later. The guy was not there so I left a message with my name and phone number. He never called back and no one ever came to do anything for us. I called again a couple weeks later and again got nothing. It was really frustrating being ignored when your trying to pay a company good money to do a job. Hilltop lost out on a lot of money by ignoring us and whenever someone asks if I recommend a landscaper I always say and quot; Just don't go with Hilltop, they are aweful and will never show up after the estimate and draw up landscaping plans like they say they will.and quot;

Met with the lead manager, Fred, in mid October. He took about a half hour to help us understand what trimming was needed plus how to care for the tree's watering needs since it has some minimal drought damage. It's important to note that we have never had the tree professionally trimmed for the full 21 years we've lived here. I was pleased with Fred's price and his approach to the work. Regarding price: his was $485 + tax, while other bids were as high as $550. Regarding timing of the job: Fred's recommendation was to wait until late November or mid-December to perform the work so it could be fully dormant, and the tree could better tolerate such a deep pruning. I received a follow-up call from Fred in late November asking if the first or second week in December would be better for us, and we settled on December 5th about 8:30 AM to do the work. On that morning, the lead worker, Manual, and his two workers arrived about 8:20 AM and began work. After so many years without professional trimming, I was fairly nervous as they first started trimming out the bottom of the tree. So I stopped the work while Manual and I talked about just how high up the trimming would continue. After our conversation, I was confident that his goal was the same as mine, which was to reshape the tree by reducing limbs at the bottom, and to carefully remove deadwood and downturned limbs in the middle and top parts of the tree into a graceful canopy, As the work progressed, it was clear that Manual and his crew were very capable. While removing limbs that were hanging and very close to our roof and seamless rain gutters, they at first cut the limb some, then hooked it and carefully pulled it clear of the hazards, and only then finished the cut. The result was that the limbs fell harmlessly to the ground or a worker grabbed the limb before the final cut was made. All of the cut limbs were shredded on site, and a full cleaning and sweeping of the affected areas was done before they left for the day. The final result was truly an amazing transformation from a intertwined mess of limbs to a graceful, uplifted shape. When the tree begins to bloom in the spring, I am confident that it will be clear that it has had a complete professional and quot;makeoverand quot;. Many thanks to Fred, Manual and Hilltop Landscaping!

We met with Jim Forrester several times to work out the plan and contract. He is such a nice man, so pleasant, so willing to listen to our ideas and incorporate everything that we wanted. They drew up two plans, the second after we saw the first and made changes to it. He was able to come down on the price a little which we appreciated immensely as we were at the utmost limit of our budget. We were told that the job would take 2 - 3 weeks but it took much longer than that. We didn't mind though because watching the progress daily and all the work that it took, we understood why it took so much longer. The work crew that came daily for 8 and a half weeks headed by Juan were so great. They worked Monday through Friday from 7:30 - 4:00 and were on time and there every day. They were professional, hard working, pleasant and we just can't say enough about them. They cleaned up after themselves everyday. Juan was a wonderful foreman. He and my husband kept in touch on an almost daily basis. He answered questions, was open to our input, and made excellent suggestions. We feel that the overall beauty, wonderful feel, and success of a very difficult job should be credited to our foreman Juan who gave us great suggestions as problems arose, and was continually a blessing to work with. They had to put their machinery and materials on our grassy area and the grass was totally destroyed but they replaced it with beautiful sod after the job was done and did so much more to make our backyard so very beautiful. We had definite ideas about what we wanted our water feature to look like and they did a great job with it. There were just a few problems during the project which they fixed as best they could. We love, love, love our back yard now and will be spending so much more time in it. Aesthetically it is relaxing, zen, modern, easy to up keep, and great for entertaining. We thank Hilltop for such a professional and un-stressful experience. We definitely would recommend them to anyone, especially Juan and his team!

Victor and his crew showed up and did the concrete patio and it turned out fantastic. I had them come back a month later and they finished the remaining landscaping. They all have great attitudes, work extremely hard, and are very self conscious about their work. We have spent every weekedn since in our yard enjoying the new space. They also had a lot of great suggestions as to how to arrange some of the decorative parts (rocks/plants) and their input is something your should solicit if you use them. I have recommended them to friends and will use them in the future for other projects. On a side note, if you choose to hire them, put out an ice chest with water for them. When you see how hard they work, they deserve the exta consieration. Prior to having them come in, I hired another company to help with some demo and had to tell them to leave because they apathetic about getting the work done . I ened up doing all the demo. I was tring to save some money so I could get extra benefit from Hiltop focussing on instlation. It was time well spent because when Victor's crew showed up it was like hurricane hilltop hit the yard, They sifted bad dirt, hauled away dirt and debris and got down to the business of getting thigs in shape. I had a couple plan changes and they were very good about acomodating those. They were ok with changes during the entire procss and worked with me on budget issues. When I got the final invoice, it was clear what I had paid for and there were no surprises. Gret team lead with Doug and great crew lead with Victor. The other folks were fantastid. I would hire them again in a second. I cannot speak more highly of them and their work.

All the employees and the owner were very professional and attentive to our requests. We are very satisfied with the overall experience. We highly recommend Hilltop Landscape Architects as the company to go to when you want quality work performed.