SUNSHINE LANDSCAPE

I used Sunshine Landscaping to install stone edging around my planters. They installed them directly in front of multiple sprinklers. They refuse to fix the problem they caused with their installation. Now, I must pay to fix the problem they caused. I HIGHLY recommend you choose a landscaping company who will be responsive to their customer's needs and strive to make the customer happy . . . I am not!

I had Sunshine redo my lawn (strip away old soil, add new top soil & hydro seed). The quality of the soil they brought in was awful (we were told it was “clean” soil but that was definitely not the case based on we have more weeds now than we had before) and the hydro seed was very poorly done. We have many bare spots. I understand that I need to over seed eventually but we have several “flat” areas of the yard where nothing came up. I have a sprinkler system and watered 3 times a day so that is not the issue. The worst part for me is that Rich refused to even come and see the issue. I can understand issues in putting in a lawn, but not standing behind your work is a BIG issue for me.

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unknown

I have waited a year since work was completed to better review the company. The work done was outstanding. Sunshine replaced our brick retaining walls with Versa-Lok block and the results are beautiful. They removed our front steps and the walkway to the front of our house with blocks and pavers. Everything has remained solid, level and in place.

I like doing business with a local company, they were easy to work with and provided design suggestions. Nicely done.

unknown

the first couple of times sunshine provided services were reasonably ok. the patio is beautiful and the fire pit is ok, although now that I have seen others, ours could have been done much better.



they did pretty major landscaping in the front yard - pulled two very large pine stumps from trees that were recently cut down. at their request, we didn't have the stumps ground down because they thought it would be best to just pull them out and they could do it without a problem. after a full day of attempts, they had to bring in bigger machinery and it was done. when we got the bill, we found out that the bigger machinery cost us another $1500.



they weren't able to get to us until very late in the summer, so we did not have the selection in plants that he had initially promised - some were not available at all (to be fair, he did adjust the bill accordingly). others were leftovers from the summer - very small and beat up. the plants were thrown in the ground. most holes were not deep enough and the plant died. another tree almost died because it was planted too deep (thankfully our new landscaper was able to save it). most of what was transplanted did not make it. much of what was supposedly taken out is growing back. once behind schedule, it was very clear that we were no longer a priority, other than get it done and get out. very sloppy. can not stress that enough.



worst of all was what they did to our lawn. where there is heavy machinery, there is lawn damage - everyone gets that. they destroyed much of our front yard. they brought in sand (they called topsoil) and sprayed the hydro stuff everywhere. it was in our neighbor's yard. all over trees, everywhere. furthermore, they broke off numerous sprinkler heads and just buried them. didn't even try to fix them or identify where they were. We had to find them....



we had a heavy rain and everything washed out. we ended up with sand and hydro spray all over the landscaped area and a good portion of the mulch in the landscaped area washed down the street. when we called, rich sent out a couple of kids to replace the mulch, but did nothing about the flow of water. a week later it happened again. again, we got some mulch. another truckload of sand and hydro spray everywhere. never did anyone ask if we were happy or if the "fixes" worked. no one checked anything. we had to chase rich down to talk about it before it happened again. then he blamed us for not saying something......



rich told us the only fix would be to extend the wall they had built two years before. he didn't know how to slant the lawn to direct water flow................... he was good enough to charge us his cost for the wall. they somewhat fixed a sprinkler head (one). we have grass now, but only because we reseeded it.



our new landscaper replaced all the plants that died (about 15). he replanted a few others correctly, so they would grow in a more evenly distributed way, so they may actually live.



first couple of times with sunshine were fine. rich is a nice guy that very much likes to talk about his $300K+ jobs that that he gets every year. this last time, we very much felt like we got the "b team" (one person told us repeatedly that he was on the lawn mowing detail and not landscaping). once behind schedule, it was all downhill.



it took us getting a new landscaper to really appreciate how bad our last experience was and how bad the service was. they will not be hearing from us again.

• The new sidewalk was completed to my satisfaction in two days. I especially appreciated the attention to detail in getting the sidewalk slope correct. I had to wait a few days for the landscape team to come and plant the new shrubs but that work was completed in a few hours and looks beautiful. I have only gotten complements on the quality of the new sidewalk and how much better the new walkway looks. In all aspects of this work the contractors were very professional.

Couldn't have asked for nicer workers. They did an absolutely beautiful job with little or no "breaks" with the exception of lunch. Even though we had to wait several months longer than we were originally promised to have the work started, the whole job took only 4 1/2 days. So pleased with the results!!!

The crew arrived when they said they would. They were a nice, polite bunch of guys. Very hard working. All of the trees and bushes were planted in the correct locations.
By the end of the job, the mulched areas and the new plantings looked great. The problems started immediately when we began watering the lawn. The water from the sprinklers pooled up in several locations, but seemed to soak in after an hour or so. However, when it rained, as it has done frequently this spring, we had 2 large areas of standing water with no sprouting grass. We sent a text message to Rich- the owner- with photos of the problem areas. He did not reply, but did send someone to add more fill and redo the hydroseed. This did not fix the problem. After leaving a message for Rich at his office, he sent his Foreman Kane to look at the problem. Kane agreed that it was an issue and said he knew what he needed to do to fix the problem. He said he needed to dig a swale to direct the water to the culvert. He came back a few days later and once again added fill and redid the hydroseeding. Again, it did not work. It is still a muddy, disgusting mess. My front lawn is a disaster. We cannot even walk on it without sinking into mud. I have had random landscapers stop when they see me outside and let me know that we have a drainage problem, as if I can't see that with my own eyes!!
Sunshine has made a real mess of our yard and I have given up trying to get them to fix it. It is obvious that they do not have the knowledge or capability to create a proper pitch so that the water will drain off. Before we had this work done we did not have standing water in the front yard. They have created a bowl with 2 very large non draining low spots. After 3 rounds of hydroseed there is still no grass growing on those areas. It can't grow. It just drowns in standing water!!! When you look at the yard from upstairs it is obvious that the pitch is not conducive to getting proper drainage.
The owner of the company, RIch, seems like a decent enough guy, but like a lot of companies, he isn't on site when the work is being done. He sells the job, then you never see or hear from him again. I do not believe he has even come by to look at the yard. He sends his foreman.
Thanks to the improper grading of our yard by Sunshine Landscaping, we now have to invest in a landscape architect to remedy the issues or deal with smelly squishy mud in our front yard.

The foreman arrived with 2 workers and went to task removing my front fence and gate. He stated his tractor wouldn't fit. My husband had spoken to the owner and was given 36'' as an appropriate amount for equipment passage which the gate would have accommodated. They had to borrow our tools to do this. They appeared rushed and inconvenienced. They removed 4 small boxwood's without asking, to also allow access for the tractor.
My husband and I had staked where the plants were going. The foreman used a huge corkscrew looking digger and never marked the space when the stakes were removed. The workers placed the Arborvitaes in the holes but never measured the distance to the fence. Needless to say the plants were all over the place and not in a line and at different places near the fence when they had finished placing 3 of them. The Spruce was to go 10 ft by 10 ft from the fence the worker removed the stake before marking. Again no one measured but the foremen walked from the fence counting 10 by 10 with his feet. While planting the Spruce, it was leaning to the left by at least 4 inches, which I told the workers, it was also practically in the middle of the yard. They didn't listen and ignored my request. When my husband arrived he noticed it immediately. He also noticed one of the holes for the Arborvitaes was at least 4 ft to the right of the original site. The foremen stated it was because there was a root. He never told me, and was going to place it out of line and at a big distance to the others. He told my husband " your wife was watching us so she should have said something." I was concerned with the tractor smashing the area plants and the slate pieces of walkway in my yard. Instead of picking up the slate they cracked many, smashed 3. The worker stated he'd bring some in the am to replace. Which never happened. The foreman had sent the tractor away, so we waited for it's return to get the root. My husband also noticed the last tree was off as well and again it was because of a root. My husband called the owner and his main concern was getting a check.That was it! They decided to return in the am to finish.
The Foreman fixed the Spruce in the am, my husband gave him a measuring tool to keep. He dug it up, placed it where it belonged. Although it had to be roped again, it was leaning to the left, after I requested it be fixed.
The worker had to replant the Boxwood's because they were not where they were originally planted. I asked where the slate was and he stated "call Richard, the boss" His attitude was rude and he started rambling about how the job needed the equipment and basically it was our fault. I said how was I to know what you would use and how is that my job? His boss said "Zip it" to him, then turned to me accusing me of arguing and asked for his check. Shocked " I stated when your work is done I will pay you." The foreman took the cost of some of the slate off the bill at my husbands request.
My husband told them he would redo the fence. However they smashed the post on one section and the fence is now unattached.
We were charged an extra $400.00 dollars to remove 2 stumps that took him 5 minutes. We actually didn't mind paying this, but was
surprised they hadn't warned us prior to the job.The foreman told my husband, "whenever we find stumps our policy is to plant as close to the hole as possible." OK if your planting a lone tree or shrub, but not a line of Arborvitaes or hedges. The yard was left looking like a mud bath. The foreman asked if I approved of the placement of trees, I said yes, they never placed the mulch or cleaned the yard as it should have been and hit an existing 50 ft Pine Tree removing a 1ft section of bark leaving it exposed. We understood his driving over the base to get to the yard.
The plants were purchased at a local nursery but due to back orders they could not place them for weeks and recommended this service. We will let them know.

Sunshine Landscaping was recommended to me. The owner was very prompt for the estimate and very knowledgable. The company requires 1/2 of the fee as a downpayment and to put your job on their schedule. I did have a scheduling concern because I needed to resurvey the property line by my garage. The receptionist at Sunshine Landscaping was very concerned and asked to stay in the loop. She was knowledgeable about surveying and put some of my worries at ease. Several days after the survey was completed the building material arrived, two work days later landscapers came. They worked like a coordinated orchestra and had my wall, steps, and backyard fill completed in only two days. It looks beautiful!

The makeover of our backyard done by Sunshine Landscaping company far exceeded our expectations. The workmen who did the job were very professional, accomodating and polite. The brick crew consisted of Frank Oaks and Dan Nelson and the landscape crew consisted of Mike Peters, Tim Morelli, Keith Mollow Sr, Keith Jr, and Keith Donnelly. You can tell that they take pride in their work. We would not hesitate to hire them again in the future. - The Kaisers