THE ENGLISH GARDENER

Called English Gardener for an estimate on pruning Monday and left a message on their voice mail, name, phone #, reason I called and where I was calling from. Told them I could be reached at work any time before 5 pm. By Wednesday I didn't hear back so I called again this time someone answered the phone. She told me that they received my message but that when they called back they asked for Don and the operator told them that Don doesn't work here. The problem was that my name is Tom and the number I gave them was a direct line to my personal work phone. After that she apologized for the mix up and said that the owner Joseph would call me back in the next couple days. I told her that I will be off from work the next couple days and that he could reach me at home. I gave her my home phone # and she repeated it confirming that it was right. Over the next seven days I received NO phone calls from him and am still waiting. I ended up calling another company and they responded in a very timely matter. Came out to the house on the appointed day and time and looked over the job. Sent out the estimate the next day and I received it in the mail the day after.

turned out beautiful

This past weekend we had a lot of snow again--starting Friday. On Sat, I called and left a message saying we were stuck in the driveway and could not go out to dinner because the driveway was not plowed. As of today--Monday--the driveway has still not been plowed. I have received no contact from them. Although Joseph agreed to contract to plow my driveway and clear the sidewalks, he only did it once--after I called. This weekend he just left us with no plowing at all.

From our first meeting with Joseph, we were impressed. He listened to our ideas and then suggested other ideas, many of which we liked. He provided addresses of other customers so we could see their work. Between that meeting and the start of the work, he was a little difficult to get a hold of. But once the work started, the workers were quite professional. The arbor is beautiful, although the build-time was such that we could have had a similar store-bought one installed for substantially less money. The raised bed (we originally wanted wood but Joseph talked us into stone) is good but not as attractive as we anticipated. We think that our soil (very much clay) was not prepared as well as it should have been before the new shrubs were planted (but we ran into this with other landscapers too). We thought his estimated price was a bit high but not unreasonable. And the budget came in just about exactly where he said it would. I sent an email to Joseph after the work was completed (one of the shrubs didn't look so good to me) but I've never received a reply. I didn't send a followup email or call.

He went to my house and reviewed my request and never contacted me back even when I tried to contact him.

tance of Seasonal Landscaping who finished the back and side yards. The composite decking that was supposed to be Trex is some nameless knockoff that was installed so poorly, half the boards are popping up. The material that wasn't supposed to fade or chip, has done both. On top of that, the deck was installed without proper drainage above the basement sill plate and now we have leaking into the basement. They did not re-install the siding they removed until I threatened them and then we found out they had thrown it away. I will say their designer Richard List was a prince of a man and incredibly talented. How he ended up working for this outfit, I don't know. I do know he left because he was sick of the shoddy work. He did insist they install a Japanese Maple that I had paid for and had never been installed. In the front yard, they sloped the ground toward the base of the house and I'm just amazed we didn't have leaks in the basement from that. Did I get ripped off? I certainly did.

They do a great job, come reliably, communicate well. They are not the cheapest, but do do a great job.

It went well. See above. Our trees and bushes are all doing well.

Our driveway goes up a hill so we contracted the English Gardener to provide snow plowing service as well as sidewalk service for the winter of 2013 - 2014. We have been very pleased. The driveway has been plowed any time that there has been a 2and quot; snowfall - typically either before sunrise so we could get out to go to work or between 2 and 5pm so the driveway was plowed before we returned home from work. There were several occasions during heavy accumulations where they plowed twice in a 24 hour period. We did not need to call at all for the Gardeners to come out and have been quite pleased with their service. Their prices were reasonable compared to other quotes that we received from other services. We plan to hire them again next year.

I'd recommend them to anyone. The quality of their work, the fact that I don't need to contact them, and the fact that they take care of me well all make them top notch people.

The Spring and Summer have been a pleasure. Every week the lawn is cut and borders trimmed just as I had asked them to be! IN the Early Spring Joe, a company representative, came out and went over the entire yard with me asking for specific work we wanted done. He is incredibly knowledgable about all plants, names and their care which was helpful to us as some of our garden needed more TLC than I'd been giving it. He was willing to offer suggestions for future plantings in areas where the old plantings were dead dying or just needed refreshing. We had them cut the lawn and trim the borders every week, and re-seed some areas of the lawn that had been bare. The men who come to do the work are very nice and helpful, also knowledgable about plants. When they did not know answers they called on Joe or an arborist for answers for me. They did a fantastic job. We also had them do a clean-up of all the gardens in the Spring, and we will have a Fall clean-up soon. We also contracted for them to prune all the bushes and ornamental shrubs on the property. Very happy with all the services thus far provided.

Caveat Emptor: This was an odd experience for my wife and I. We were familiar with this person's work. Designed a beautiful garden in our neighborhood. We called for a consultation. The person arrived, reviewed our area of interest, made suggestions, and then offered to write up an estimate. The appointment took about 90 minutes. Then we never heard back from him. As the season wore on, we reevaluated our priorities and decided a full garden make over wasn't in the cards for that year. The following season we thought we would give him another shot, since our recollection of the experience was pleasant and we were familiar with his work and we were really interested in some creative input to make our project unique. Upon arrival there was the usual exchange of pleasantries and then apologies, and quot;we were too busyand quot;, and quot;sorry I didn't get back to youand quot;, and quot;yes, we should have followed up with you.and quot; etc... The congenial and enthusiastic meeting ensued for 90+ minutes, pictures taken, sketches made, rough measurements taken, discussion, and ended with the assurance that we would be mailed an estimate and be given some preferential scheduling due to missing us the last season. Then.... there was nothing. No estimate, no call, just the chirping sound of crickets. Maybe he lost our number? We called the office. The secretary took our number and address and apologized and assured us of a call back and that she would get the message to him. I sent a follow up email. Nothing. Then about 5 weeks later, a long over due apology on our answering machine: and quot;Oh I lost your number and I just found it now so I'm returning your call and would like to do work for you.and quot; You know what? You losing my number and all the paperwork from our estimate tells me two things: either you're incredibly disorganized and/or I'm not important to you as a client. I'm a busy guy, I have a hectic and irregular schedule, just like everyone else, and being a no-nonsense sort of person, I decided I really don't have any more time to waste with this individual. I had to schedule our meeting not once, but twice, on a day off, only to be a party to all the theatrical song and dance of a contractor interested in getting some work. I would never recommend this person to anyone based on his poor reliability, and total lack of respect for our time and decency perhaps to call us back and say, and quot;you know, I reviewed your job and this isn't the work I doand quot; or and quot;your job is just too small.and quot; I can honestly say I've never had someone so blatantly waste my time and feign such interest, despite knowing there would be no follow up.

See above for the answer to this.

I liked the fact that they talked about my needs from my point of view and gave me several different proposals expanding my own imagination. They truly attempted to understand, and help me understand what I was looking for in a new garden. They were working with a tricky problem of draining water away from the home. They were able to do trenching for electrical work when others could not. The owner came over and work directly with the electrical contractor which was great. The plants were just put in November so I have not it completely but so far it has been beautiful and I look forward to continued work with them to continue the landscaping project. The owner was very creative and patient making it a very enjoyably experience.

Their price was very high. They were nice but the only reason I didn't chose to work with them was because of their price. They came out when they said they would come, looked around and they were good.

HORRIBLE DO NOT RECOMMEND FOR SNOW PLOWING

OK, but not great. They do come when they should, even though it can be in the wee hours of the morning, which causes noise (dragging, scraping, revving the engine) and wakes you up. That's OK. They do plow consistently, but they are spotty on remembering to clear the sidewalk, which is a problem in this city. They have also packed a ridge in front of my van (they use a box plow that drops in front of the car then drags it down the length of the driveway, which is a problem for me, even though I specifically asked them to be careful. I do believe that they rotate through different trucks and drivers, and some are great, and some are so-so at remembering everything they should do. So, for the most part, they perform well, but occasionally, you get a forgetful/careless plower.

They are generally very good. They do arrive a bit late for me to get to work in the morning, sometimes. In addition, they wait so they don't have to plow twice in the day in which the snow is higher/deeper than the contracted agreement. This can make the morning a bit tough. But, usually it is not a problem. The price is a bit pricey, especially hard for a single alone woman.

I will continue to use the English Gardener in the future for my spring and fall clean ups.

I am using them for the second season. The price is a bit steep for a single woman. But, they do a nice job and are very reliable. They sometimes wait for more snow to fall so that they don't have to do two plows. But, I can usually get out in the morning for work regardless.

I liked the professionalism and knowledge that they had about landscaping. It was a well manicured lawn before and we needed somebody who knew about the plants and what kind of care they needed. They seemed to have that knowledge. I would continue to use their services if I was still in Buffalo, New York.

Good service, but did have some problems. They came consistently, and when the depth of snow warranted a plowing. But, they were supposed to snowblow the sidewalk also in front of the house to comply with city codes, but did not this year (they were good about it last year, to be fair...). They pushed the snow up into a pile across the sidewalk in front of my house. They came at inconsistent times, including 2 or 3 in the morning, then banged the plow into the concrete of my driveway, at one point pulling up a slab, breaking it, and pushing the pieces up onto the sidewalk with the snow. I do have a slightly uneven driveway, but there was no problem during the previous year's plowing. They were great during the 2008-2009 season, so I don't know why the drop in carefulness this year. Maybe it depends on which guys are driving the trucks/plows from neighborhood to neighborhood. So they're reliable, but depending on which crew you get, they can be a bit sloppy/rushed.

The company was very easy to work with and was very willing to work within my budget without sacrificing beauty. The men who planted were very friendly and knowledgeable. I was impressed with how thorough they were throughout the process, making sure all the plants were placed favorably and the front of my home was clean and well-watered when they left. I only wish the company was a bit more prompt about notifying me when the actual planting would take place; however, the end result easily made me forget about this minor hassle.

They come frequently and do a remarkably thorough job. I have had disappointing luck with snow removal in the past, but I am delighted with English Gardener. I think next year I will expand the service I contract for with them.

Peter The English Gardener goes out of their way to please the customer. They take a lot of pride in their work. If there ever is any kind of problem, they are quick to get it right. We have used them for about three years and we would not use anyone else.