BINH ORIENTAL GARDENER

Our large yard was becoming overgrown and we do not know how to care for plants and shrubs. Our previous caretaker had passed away last year. We prefer that the shrubs and trees be trimmed in a and quot;naturaland quot; style, rather than shaped like boxes or bubbles. We want whatever is best for the individual plant or shrub. Mr. Binh seemed to agree. We had received flyers advertising Mr. Binh's Oriental Gardener service for several years, so we decided to try him. He arrived promptly and walked our entire yard with me, commenting on the various bushes and trees, and how he would handle each one. I was impressed with his knowledge and hired him on a fixed-price bid of $1900 to do the entire yard, including $400 for the bark dust. He and two helpers arrived on schedule and worked consistently for two days. They removed a large amount of trimmings. He then requested payment. They had done a lot of work, but they had NOT completed the entire job. I estimate that about 20% of the work was undone. Parts of the front yard, back yard, and most of the North side of our lot remained untrimmed, with no fresh bark dust. When asked, he explained that they had to begin a big new job tomorrow, but that he and quot;would return next weekand quot; to finish the work. So I paid him in full. In retrospect this was a tactical mistake. Six weeks have passed, and he has not contacted us, nor has he returned to finish the job. So I am faced with a dilemma - I like his work but feel cheated. I believe that the opportunity to get him to finish our job has passed. Life goes on and plants continue to grow... I would probably hire him again, until I can locate an equally capable alternative. But in the future I won't be paying him for his work until every last, single thing is done to my satisfaction. I will return and amend this report if anything new develops. Sadder but wiser. phb

Have used before and did an excellent job every time. Him and his workers really know the best way to style the trees for a japanese style garden doing all trimming by hand. Time and care is taken to determine the best and most aesthetic way to shape and trim.

He was good. He bid for the job and his price was the best so we hired him. He did everything we wanted and the lawn looked very good. We would have done more if we could.

Poor.

Mr. Binh was very knowledgeable and receptive to our ideas and expectations. He could clearly discern what work had been done in the past and what was needed. He and his crew came when scheduled and worked efficiently. For the large amount of work done, I felt we got a very reasonable quote.