Custom Gardens LLC

Ellen and Oscar put together a great design, did an excellent job with the implementation and landscaping, were cost conscious, and have continued to take an interest in the health and development of the plants they installed.

Ellen has redesigned gardens for me at two separate locations, each time offering excellent, well-informed planning in which I was included as fully as I wished. We met beforehand to visualize plans, then Ellen followed up with plant and garden layout suggestions. If changes were needed (very few), she cheerfully adjusted the plans. She offered interesting choices. When our plans were set, she purchased the plants and her expert team saw that they were put into place carefully. I've received many compliments on each of my gardens, and I can't recommend Ellen't work highly enough! My second garden is smaller than my first. The second garden needed plant removal and mulching after the new plants were in place.

The entire experience from our first contact with Custom Gardens, LLC to the beautiful finished project was excellent. In fact, it exceeded all of our expectations. Ellen Covner, the principal of Custom Gardens, LLC is a consummate professional: extremely experienced, intelligent, creative, and competent. What we most enjoyed about our client-designer relationship with Ellen was the collaborative approach she welcomed. Ellen went to great lengths to understand our vision for landscaping the grounds of an 1810 Colonial home to bring it into alignment with a natural aesthetic for both that era and our region. Ellen committed to substantial research to provide us with a beautiful design and photos of plants with very detailed descriptions. Her proposed choices reflected our aesthetic and she continued to work with us to refine the list so that it perfectly matched our vision. The proposal she submitted was the most comprehensive and thorough that I have ever received from a landscape designer (many photos included to guide our plant selection). Being contractors ourselves, my husband and I very much appreciate that Ellen has chosen to work with high quality plant and material suppliers as well as an expert installation crew. The crew that installed our new landscaping arrived on time, worked hard, we’re congenial and communicative, and stayed late to get the job done. They accomplished more in one day than former landscape installation crews with whom we have worked have been able to accomplish in three. In terms of personality, Ellen is extremely accommodating and easy to work with. At one point, she agreed to meet via FaceTime to be able to look more closely at certain areas of the garden. Additionally, throughout the design/cleanup/installation process, Ellen was always very generous with recommendations on measures we could take to keep the project within our budget. Finally, the icing on the cake is that the final project cost was at the low end of Ellen’s estimate. We are completely satisfied (thrilled, in fact) with the results of Phase 1 of our landscaping plan, and we are already in preliminary discussions with Ellen regarding the next phase of our multi-year landscape plan. Please note that the cost of the project indicated below includes approximately $1,400 for plants.

They did a great job, professional, and thorough. A team of 5 people worked very hard for 2 solid days. Nice crew too. Planning to hire them to do additional work for me, specifically planting new plants in one of the areas that had been overgrown and full of weeds that I had them clear out. I will work with the owner, Ellen, to design the area with plants I will love. Landscaping work is not cheap but Ellen gave me costs up front so I knew ahead of time ballpark of the expense and I was not surprised by the invoice.

My old landscaping was too large and too formal for my house - Ellen and her great crew did a masterful job! They replanted the old large shrubs in sparsely-planted side beds and Ellen designed new landscaping in keeping with the style of the house. Along the way she offered helpful suggestions for the entire property - Ellen is a problem-solver! I love what she’s done and enjoy working with her. I highly recommend Ellen and her Custom Gardens crew to you -

Ellen and her team are excellent to work with. I would recommend them for any project in your yard.

Outstanding! Ellen, Oscar and the entire team are professional and have the highest standards. They have re-landscaped two of my properties and always go above and beyond. She is very responsive and has incorporated our ideas into the overall design. Ellen is extremely knowledgeable and is willing to share her expertise on care and maintenance.

Ellen and her team were fantastic - professional, prompt, and a pleasure to work with. We love our new landscaping and have received many compliments from people passing by.

Ellen and her team did such an amazing job designing and planting our garden beds. Ellen took into account that we were new to this and made sure to suggest low maintenance plants that still beautifully complimented our home. She provided several options to choose from throughout the design process and was very responsive. Her team who constructed the beds was very professional, punctual, and did a fabulous job. We plan on using them going forward for both new projects and maintenance of past projects.

We couldn't be more pleased with the services of Custom Gardens. Ellen Covner, the owner, is very responsive and has an excellent team to help her wonderful designs come to life. She is very mindful of your preferences, takes detailed notes and sends you several alternatives to pick from. Her knowledge of plants and trees is phenomenal. She is very particular that the work gets done right. All through spring and summer people would stop on the street to compliment our garden. All credit for which has to go to Custom Gardens who have tended the yard and garden for several years before we bought the home last year. We cannot comment on the price because we have not done any comparison shopping.

Custom Gardens began working for us in 2010. We needed help to remove invasive vines and ivies that had covered many of our trees and shrubs. Ellen Covner and her crew were thorough in their work. We found that some trees had died from the vines. Custom Gardens removed the dead material and has worked for us ever since. They check with us to schedule maintenance when it is needed and make sure to ask us if there are any problems that we want addressed outside of usual maintenance. Over the years they created a landscape we have thoroughly enjoyed while optimizing the use and re/use of of older plants. They optimized space with container plantings. Including our favorite herbs. New plants and flowers were in our favorite colors. They planted annuals in containers for the summer, and included plants, such as strawberries, for our children to enjoy. We recently moved to a new house and brought Custom Gardens with us. They reviewed with us the plants on our new property and answered questions we had about them. Some plants needed restorative pruning; others were transplanted to locations that were healthier for the plants and gave us more screening. We are very pleased with their work and delighted to have them on our new property.

We had a great experience with Customs Gardens. We wanted to completely redo our front and side gardens but had a change of plans in the middle of the job. Ellen and her crew were willing to work out our concerns and the finished product turned out just the way we wanted. We would certainly recommend them for your landscaping needs.

I couldn't be happier with the work that was performed. The clean up and mulching work were completed efficiently and carefully. The pruning was more than my husband and I could handle responsibly, and that was done well. Now, months later, our bushes and trees are bursting into leaf and flower, much healthier from the pruning! With Ellen's advice, I selected a magnolia to replace a tree that had become diseased, and that, too, is thriving, even in its first year.

Ellen was a pleasure to work with. We hired her last year to come out and size up our front beds which were a mess. I told her my goal was to not spend my weekends weeding. She delivered. She came out to size up the property and we talked about what I wanted (what to remove, what to add) and all within my budget. She also came up with a detailed estimate so the final price would not be a surprise. Her crew did a terrific job and left a clean property. We had her back this year to do a refresh of the same job. I might also add that she knows her plants and we appreciated her knowledge of plants that are native to the area as well as her knowledge of which plants would be deer-resistant. We would definitely hire her again for future yard projects.

We live in a small twin house and hadn't touched the landscaping since we moved in 2 years ago. We knew we wanted to clean it up since it was too crowded and had become very overgrown, but we didn't have much experience or knowledge to know how to go about the project. We were also operating with a relatively small budget. Ellen did a thorough consultation with us to determine what kind of look we wanted to achieve. She reviewed each plant and tree we had to let us know what could be saved and rehabilitated, or potentially moved elsewhere on the property. She then put together a thorough proposal with various options for the spaces we knew we were going to plant something new. She was always quick to respond and the time between our first meeting and when we had the work done was minimal. Her crew was very professional, they communicated with us throughout the 1.5 days they were at our house to double check placement of plants, etc. In conjunction with Ellen, we changed a few things last minute while the crew was working, and everyone was flexible. Overall, we had a great experience. We felt that Ellen was very straightforward and trustworthy from the start, and we really felt confident in her knowledge approach. We highly recommend Custom Gardens!

First, Ellen and Oscar came to evaluate the property very promptly. The day we scheduled for the visit had rained and we thought they were going to cancel but they didn't. They spend about 90 minutes with us evaluating every area of the property and offering great insight of what needed to be done. We learned so much that day about our place we were actually very excited to get the work done. We scheduled them within days of the consult. They performed the work beautifully. Ellen is very methodical, attentive to detail and professional. We loved working with her and picking her brain for ideas on how to best mange our property. They are definitively going back to continue working on other areas of the property and for regular maintenance. I have spoken with many landscapers and designers before and none of them made feel confident they can tackle the property. Ellen took the time and effort to customize and attend to our needs. We are extremely happy with their services.

Ellen was very responsive. Was able to give us several ideas on how to properly landscape the area. Her crew was very processional and helpful with the whole process. She followed up on some watering issues we had as well. Will definitely use her again.

Excellent extremely efficient and beautifully done. The staff was knowledgeable and very polite. We are thrilled with the results

Ellen and her team did a great job recreating our landscaping. Our new home had very large beds that she reshaped and replanted for us. She took the time to get to know our tastes and preferences for types of plants, colors and maintenance required. She presented different and creative ideas beyond the generic concepts that other landscaping companies offered and re-purposed some of the plants and an overlooked rock in our yard which saved us money as well.

Ellen was wonderful to work with. She was willing to work within our budget constraints while providing transparent, excellent service. We are thrilled with how our landscape has turned out and will be working with Ellen in the future to bring some life to shaded bed areas around the property. We had partially done the landscape in front of our house and wanted to find someone we could work with to not only guide us along to complete the rest of the front, as well as side of the house, but whom we could develop the rest of the property with. We had an idea of some plants we liked but were not 100% certain on how to tie it all together. Ellen came to view the property and we decided we’d start with her as a consultant (with the intention of doing the labor ourselves). I think this was the best scenario. Ellen listened to what we liked and recommended several options to use, and how to relocate some of our existing plants to tie into the rest of the landscape. Once we decided on the plants we went to local nurseries on our own (which we like to do). Discussing types of plants and soil with Ellen gave us valuable information to search for what we needed. As we found new items, we discussed with Ellen on their practicality in the space (via email and txt). She was always very responsive and would let us know when she was busy on a job and wouldn’t be able to get into details right away. Perennials that were recommended and we couldn’t find were ordered by Ellen and brought to the property. She also found us two wonderful Jane magnolias. Ellen gave us great information on amending the soil and instructed us where to find the elements we needed (we have saturated clay soil). She then showed up to deliver the plants once we were ready and spent time instructing us on how to plant, as well as layout where we were placing everything (both new and items we were relocating). We relocated some of the hydrangeas and black dragons that already existed, and added other evergreen to compliment. All in all a great way to work with a professional and learn. She does have a crew if you don’t want to get your hands dirty as well.

We’ve had a great experience working with Ellen Covner. We really needed help with our front yard (a small strip by the street that quickly becomes a very steep slope leading down to the house); we had worked with two other gardeners, but neither panned out in the end. We wanted minimal yardwork, so were looking for something that would be as close to maintenance free as possible, relatively deer-proof, and - blue. Ellen delivered with a very creative design using native plants, which she and her crew installed in two stages. She was able to make excellent use of some of our existing plants (including the wild ferns, which love our yard!), moving them when necessary to fit into the overall design. Our neighbors are very pleased at the new look, as are we! Even if we had the time to do it all ourselves, we would never have come up with anything as beautiful.

Ellen was a delight to work with. She helped redesign all the beds in the front of our house. We began with an initial consultation where she listened to my needs and preferences (deer-resistant, shade-loving, color variations) and made suggestions. We then communicated via email to finalize the plan. She ordered and delivered the plants, and guided and taught us as we planted (which was our choice due to budget constraints, although she does have a team that work with her). She is personable, responsive, knowledgeable and lovely to work with. In addition, she was willing to work within our budget. We are delighted with the final result.

Ellen Covner and her Custom Gardens staff are extraordinary and a pleasure to work with! After having major stucco remediation done on our house last summer, we were left with substantial damage to our landscaping. In addition to replacing what had been damaged, we decided to overhaul the existing beds. We interviewed three other landscape companies, but contracted with Ellen because she offered, by far, the best personalized service and range of creative ideas for bringing out the beauty of our home. It was a large project, and Ellen spent hours with us discussing possibilities for re-design, color preferences, and plant selections. She presented many beautiful and unusual, deer-resistant options for perennial plants, trees, and shrubs. Ellen also has contacts within the landscaping community that we were able to utilize for tree relocation (Yes! We were able to move large, much-loved trees to different locations on our property!) and hardscaping needs. Our project is still ongoing this Spring and we are looking forward to seeing the dramatic results of the planting’s done last Fall.

The project turned out great. can wait to see it in the spring when things grow in a little more

Ellen consulted with us to determine the look we wanted. She was extremely knowledgeable and helpful. And she had a vision as to how she could best transform our property. First she coordinated with a tree service to address the tree work that was needed. Then Custom Gardens cleaned, pruned, shaped, and mulched. They moved plants that were being mowed by the lawnmower into a bed that was empty after the weeds were removed. The crew was friendly, careful, and well informed. Our yard looks beautiful now. We are very pleased with Custom Gardens' work and have asked them to maintain our property. We give them our highest recommendation!