Gardencraft

He's not good on his word. I asked him for references and he laughed and told me to sign up on Angie's List, so I did. He's references aren't great and I'm not surprised. He doesn't respond to emails for weeks. I'm a busy project manager too, and I would get fired by my clients for that. After months of waiting for him to do the work he bid for, I'm going somewhere else.

I wasn't crazy about Al and his communication and demeanor when we met. I still have 2 hours worth of yard work on my tab, but I don't know if I'm going to use it.

Gardencraft, specifically Al, was great to work with, taking our vision and timelines and executing as promised. Will work with them again.

I understand that spring is a busy time for landscaping companies in the Portland area, but I couldn't believe how long it took to find someone willing to do our work. That said, I'm glad it took the time it did because otherwise we wouldn't have found Al and Gardencraft. Al's communication was great. Timely and thoughtful responses. He quickly scheduled the consultation appointment and spent the full hour talking through options and helping me narrow down our priorities for the work. He was even able to providereferrals for work that was outside of his expertise. His crew's work was as solid as his communication. They arrived on time, asked a few clarifying questions, and got right to work. The work was completed as requested and the jobsite was left immaculate. Couldn't be happier with the interaction and the work. We'll definitely work with Gardencraft in the future.

Al and his team were great. Al worked with extensively on a plan to help us increase our yard space and provide some privacy. His team built us an amazing retaining wall and fence that looks beautiful. Everybody was professional and courteous.

Thorough, professional, well managed.

I'm extremely happy with the service. ~$70 generally covers two visits (1 every other week). Sometimes extra is charged at a reasonable rate for over time work. Nearly all the work is done automatically and the yards with wholly satisfactory results. On occasion, I make specific requests via email and they are carried out at the next visit. Al is quite responsive to questions. The one time I had a billing issue, he responded quickly and we figured out the details with no fuss.

Mostly good. The garden is good and neat. We had an issue about cost since I wasn't told up front about some expensive seasonal work, but we were able to work it out. They always come as expected and keep things tidy. The last service did medicore work and never responded to my contact. Al and his team have been responsive and done good work.

Al's crew arrived on the day they said they would. I came home from work at the end of the day and was not impressed with their job quality. There was no edging performed, there were tall grass along the perimeter of the lawn. There was tall grass around the trees and shrubs. I e-mailed Al & told him I was not impressed with the job performed and that we would not need his services again. Al did call later that day and say he came to look at the yard and agreed that it wasn't a good job. He said that perhaps there was a misunderstanding between his crew and the job that was to be perfomred at this house.

I called to ask how far out scheduling was for a paver project, and Al said right now he was scheduling for mid-July. I expressed disappointment, but I then asked if he could come out and provide a bid for the project. He reluctantly said something along the lines of "well, I could if I'm going to get the job. What I'm saying is that I don't want to be a pricing bid." He didn't bother to get any information about my project, and I was about to tell him that the other companies I've spoken to this morning (who are now scheduled for estimates this week) are also scheduling out to July, so that alone didn't eliminate him as a possibility. However, his lack of interest in my project has eliminated him from this (and future) yard projects.

I thought they were great company. They were very friendly and very responsive. They came in on a slightly higher price that is why I did not choose them but in retrospect I should have gotten Gardencraft. They seemed to be great people and they had a better plan.

They provided the bark mulch and left the property very clean. I would use them again. We communicated primarily through email, which suited me fine; I could send pictures of what needed to be done so we could do a preliminary discussion before he came out to my property to bid the job.

Did a wonderful job paid a lot of money. I asked for alot of color in my yard and that's what I got. In the spring after they had done all the work in the summer I had a sprinkler system put in and they put sod down. A man named Jonah came out and did a wonderful job. 70 dollars an hour was worth it.

It was just fine. The price is reasonable. They do a fine job. I don’t have much interaction with them, I don’t see them much. I’ve been satisfied with them. There were no issues.

Al's crew is skilled, punctual and work fast. I've been using them since the early summer and my yard looks fantastic. Highly recommended.

Their price is really good, their crews come on time and do the job quickly, but I am still not sure about how I feel about the overall quality- weeding is somewhat spotty and when I recently asked them to trim some bushes, one set was trimmed poorly and they forgot to do the other set entirely. We like the owner a lot though so I think we will stick with this company but may have to be more vocal about exactly what we want done.

It turned out very well. We were very happy with the work they did. They were easy to work with. They were knowledgeable in the area and they knew what plants to keep and what ones to get rid of. They cleaned things up and removed the materials. It all worked out well. They were good.

Al and his crew built us beautiful steps! Al was helpful and extremely professional. He helped us refine our vision and create a project that was beautiful, that also was within our budget. I would highly recommend him for future work!

Our backyard looks amazing. The cost was very affordable. The work was done within the timeframe promised. Al always followed through with what he promised. I would turn to Gardencraft first for any future landscaping projects.

Gardencraft are doing an excellent job. They do a very good job and it's just nice to know that it's going to be done and I don't have to check on anything. They have been working for me for over 5 years. I checked on them several times when they first started and everything was great. One thing I didn't like is they don't have a payment online that you can do. I asked him about it and he said "not now." I really like the fact that he's willing to work with me. They're prompt. He showed up and gave us an estimate. He showed up when he said he would and very professional. The price for the work is excellent.

Al came out promptly and gave the bid. His crew did a great, fast job. Neighbors commented on their work and were impressed. The job came in on bid. A sprinkler line had been nicked by the rototiller so Al came out and fixed it. I would definitely use them again.

Good quality work. No hassle.

Al and his crew did an amazing, timely job. Al was able to come by to provide a quote within a couple days of my first inquiry call. Two neighbors were having open houses less than a week after Al came to provide his initial quote; he re-arranged crew schedules so that they could come by before the open houses to fix up the front yard. He and his crew completed the remaining work within about two weeks of the date when I first called. Al provided professional and timely communications. Invoices were well ordered, clear and aligned with his original quote. Best of all, he and his crew completed each task with a high degree of attention to detail while completing the job on time and within budget . Several friends and even new acquaintances walking by have commented on how nice the yard looks. It's really a joy to start out the growing season with a lovely yard rather than feeling oppressed by an insurmountable amount of weeding. I highly recommend Gardencraft for landscaping needs.

Received prompt email reply and visit from Albert Esterly for estimate of work. Showed up on schedule two weeks later. Worked 6 full days doing clean-up, stonework, planting, irrigation and mulching. Cleanup was thoroughly done by hand, taking care not to damage existing plants. The stonework shape was carefully laid out, the area dug down and 3" of sand/gravel applied and leveled, then the stone was placed and spaces were filled with crushed gravel and dirt which later was planted with moss. At my suggestion, a small drainage pipe was also added to draw any water that might accumulate. But it has rained since and the area drains fine. He was able to find stone that matched my existing walkways. After I showed him pictures of plants I liked, and he shopped for them. I felt he was quite knowledgeable of the nursery stock. I had a chance to approve the selection and their placement. I appreciated that he stayed within budget for plants and passed along his discount. After application of top soil throughout the plantings, drip irrigation was installed to each perennial with provision for other plants. After testing system and reviewing its operation with me, mulch was applied. Albert supervised the work and was on site doing work himself as well. His assistants were friendly and capable. The job was about 10% more than the estimate mostly because the clean-up took longer than expected. I also added gutter cleaning and a small patch of grass to be removed. At first, I though the estimate might be a bit high, but considering the amount of work and the quality of the work, I am pleased with how the job turned out and would definitely use Gardencraft again when I do the back yard.

Badly. He responded promptly to my inital request for an estimate and separated the estimate into front and back as I asked so that I could determine if I could afford to have both the front and back yards done in one job or two. I asked him what type of sod he was going to use and he would not give me a direct answer. I'll begin with the back yard. I asked to have the back yard leveled out. It was visibly uneven as well as physically uneven when you walked across the lawn. After removing the grass, he raked out the soil but did not bring in additional soil. The back lawn remains visibly uneven. He did not put back all of the rocks that created the rock borders around the trees. Now the front yard - I have three steps that meet the sidewalk and wanted the grass on this slope removed and heathers planted there instead. I hated mowing this slope! When he laid the sod in the front yard, the border meeting this flower bed was grossly uneven. I told him that it looked as if the person who had done this was drunk and demanded that it be corrected. He tried to talk his way around this saying he was "just trying to work with the lay of the land". I demanded that he fix this which he did, and agreed that it looked sloppy. He did not use any type of weed block on this slope where the heathers were planted and the grass and weeds grew back and were so thick, I had to hire a gardner to come in and clean it up. Two of the heathers he planted died and when I asked him if they were guaranteed, he said yes "unless they died due to lack of water". The rainy season had ended two weeks prior. He said he would replace them and never did. I went out and bought them myself. He was supposed to fertilize the lawn and told me he was coming over on a specific date to do this, however, I stayed home from work that day due to illness and he never showed up. I doubt he ever came to do this at all. This man lacks skill and professionalism. Don't use him!