Morningstar Landscaping & Construction Inc.

This is our second time working with Jodi. Jodi and her team were once again professional, courteous, responsive and easy to work with. We LOVE our new landscaping and have received so many compliments on it! Would easily recommend her to anyone.

Everything was amazing! Jodi with Morningstar was easy to work with, very communicative and she and her team did an excellent job with both tasks. Her prices were very fair and reasonable for the work and instead of taking over fully, she talked with me and actually listened and incorporated my wants and opinions. I would definitely recommend her and I hope to work with her again for landscaping in the spring and monthly estate care. One of the things I really admired about her was that she was close with her team and worked with them on each project. Overall just a great company! A+!

They were prompt in responding, were on time every day and did good work.

I was finally ready for a big Fall project and contacted several companies in the past, but met Jodi a while back on a consult over a new home I was purchasing and was impressed. She saw my backyard and immediately had great ideas which made me happy and excited. Jodi and her crew created a beautiful outdoor living area patio with a pergola (stained it too) and kitchen for my grill and egg. The kitchen has nice cabinets too and extra counterspace. I love love love the stone and their hardscaping and masonry skills are exceptional. She applied stucco to an outside wall as an accent and everybody loves it. Jodi is big on drainage so she installed a drain system too. She painted the kitchen as well for future holidays, and the final touches were the outside lighting. Just stunning! Will keep recommending this company. Great communication, punctual, highly skilled, great prices, and warranty. Couldn’t be happier.

Great! Jodi is really communicative and knowledgeable, the work looks great. Can't wait to install plantings and use our new outdoor living space this fall!

I’ve never been happier driving up to my house and seeing my beautiful landscape. Jodi and her crew took a large flower bed that had alluded me since we moved in and added beautiful plants with lots of color that filled out this awkward space beautifully. I now enjoy sitting on my porch looking at my beautiful front yard Also Jodi was great to work with. I sent her pictures of flowers I liked and she incorporated them. She listened to what I wanted and made it even nicer than I would’ve imagined.

We used to have a deck that went right up against the side of our house, so close you could step from the deck to the roof. There was only a narrow walkway between the side of the deck and the back of the house to squeeze through, and the stairs were uneven and jagged edge stone that were hazardous-my son tripped once and almost gouged his eye on the corner of one. The wood portion was falling apart with the railing bars dangerously loose and warped planks, and the stone portion was not only dated but completely closed off parts of the yard and blocked the view of the backyard/anything green from all but one of the back windows of the house. Because the yard was blocked, we couldn't walk out of the house directly to the pool without going around the deck, and couldn't even walk directly from the pool to the deck. Because the view was blocked, we had minimal light coming into our house from the back and it was constantly dark in the breakfast area and master-the house itself felt dreary. We talked to multiple contractors who said the stone couldn't be moved or would be an exorbitant cost and had pretty much given up hope of ever having a nice, usable yard. Then, we met Jodi. Jodi instantly impressed us with her can-do attitude, and didn't hesitate to offer suggestions to tackle the project. She took the ideas we previously had, and added her own suggestions so everything evolved along the way. We were so excited to watch the old deck come completely out and the gorgeous new stone go in. Jodi herself is friendly and energetic, and I never once felt as we have with so many contractors in the past just like a check. She often spontaneously messaged ideas or checked in, always responded immediately when I had a question. My children loved her and would come running out when she was on site, and she always spent time with them and listened to them. Jodi's workers were all nice and respectful, and I frequently chatted with several. The quality of the work is wonderful, just see the pictures. Every single person who has been to our new yard is impressed. Not only is the quality good, Jodi constantly tried to get us good values and had cost saving ideas (yes please!). We ended up getting to do more with the yard, such as add a beautiful fire pit, that we thought we couldn't afford to do because Jodi's pricing is so reasonable. At the end, we didn't have much budget left and I thought our meager plant budget wouldn't allow for much so I almost gave up putting anything in; Jodi said to let her see what she could do...and now the plants are beautiful, I am so glad we trusted her. Every single day I look out at that backyard, I am grateful for Jodi. Our new deck has changed how we feel about the house. We cannot thank her enough, and I can say with confidence not only would I recommend her to a friend (I have), I would hire her again, and will as there are several parts of our yard we'd still like to update. Although the pictures largely speak for themselves, we strongly recommend Morningstar!

We had a small flagstone patio job that wasn't a good fit for Jodi's team but she was kind enough to answer my questions and give me some pointers as I met with other folks. I really appreciated her making the time and can only assume that she takes great care of her paying customers.

Great. Jodi and her crew are easy to work with, thorough, professional and did and excellent job. We found their ability to be flexible when we changed our minds about layout or design during the project to be a real asset.

Jodi and her team did a wonderful job and were great to work with. Our back and side yards were basically dirt and weeds, and we are on a slope so we had major problems with soil erosion. We needed a quick, low-cost, high-impact landscaping update before putting our house on the market and she knocked it out of the park. We love the updates! Everything looks wonderful and she worked really hard to keep the budget reasonable for such a major job. We have gotten so many compliments already from our realtor's team and our neighbors! And she was super fun and easy to work with, and has given us a ton of advice for our new place as well. Would easily recommend her for any landscaping job!

Jodi Phillips is just the last in a long line of bad contractors I’ve sadly hired who flourish in Austin and are hated by the reputable contractors. Reviews in Yelp and AngiesList indicate most people hire Morningstar for relatively small jobs compared to mine. Mine was a $65,000 dollar job. Angie’s List photos show mainly hardscaping, not landscaping. Morningstar’s website is very pretty. There are a number of awards and professional associations listed so I looked them up. • American Horticultural Society: $35 membership fee, anyone can be a member, no certification involved. • American Horticultural Therapy Association: $145 and you are a member. AHTA Mission Statement: The dissemination of information relating to the principles and practices of horticultural therapy as a treatment modality. Are you hiring a landscaper or looking for a treatment modality? Either way, all you need is $145 to join; there are no professional requirements or training. I wanted a landscaper, not plant therapy. • 2016 Austin Small Business Excellence Award: This is for marketing, not for the quality of services. I found an online article about these types of awards being handed out after a cash donation to the group. I’m not claiming Jodi Phillips paid to get the award, but it’s recognition for marketing and promotion and not for any landscaping excellence. • Angie’s Super Service Award There are a lot of Five Star reviews on YELP and Angie’s. This reviewer doesn’t imply that those are not accurate. I notice most accompanying photographs show primarily hardscaping, not landscape. Little planting areas wouldn’t be hard. My job was just the opposite, lots of drainage and landscaping, and not so much hardscaping. I was sucked into hiring Morningstar by only reading the five star reviews, and I fault myself for not being more thorough. I started talking with Morningstar Landscaping in November/2017. I was ready to get started. When meeting with Jodi, I provided my landscaping plan designed by a professional. I also emphasized the fairly complex drainage issues I needed addressed. I gave Jodi a detailed plat of my drainage problems, showing storm water runoff flow patterns. At the initial meeting with Jodi, I walked the property, pointing out my main drainage concerns. “I LOVE DRAINAGE!!”, Jodi gushed. She effused how much she loves projects like mine, has some great ideas, selling enthusiasm that she’s going to deliver everything you want, and more!! Sign a contract and a very different reality sets in as the months pass by…….. Project Delays My first emails with Jodi are dated November 17, 2017, the last one on July 26, 2018. Read the dates on my emails. Some of the excuses from the beginning: • Can’t get the plants until Spring • Cat bit or scratched her and she has an infected arm • Dogs are sick and are taking her time and keeping her up at night. • Jodi’s sick. SHE'S SICK A LOT. • Her first subcontractor (not her employee) came and I had to walk him through the entire project again after I’d explained all this with Jodi. I gave him detailed rainwater runoff flow sketches of the property, showing how the water flowed and where the problems were. He and I designed the drainage, not Jodi. I gave him the only copy of my lawn irrigation system zones. Jodi was never on site for more than a few minutes, usually just to get a check. • Three weeks later, hearing nothing back, Jodi tells me she had to fire him. I lost three weeks and the ONLY copy of my irrigation zone layout. I had to start all over with a new sub contractor and repeat designing my drainage, the landscaping, and the irrigation system for a third time with him. Jodi was never there. • She didn't start my project until late April-2018, and instead of first installing the landscape beds and installing plants early in the year, Jodi instructs the crew boss to first do the driveway, sidewalks, patio. The concrete would not interfere with the majority of the landscaping beds which should have been installed first before July. Jodi’s probably going to respond that the concrete had to be done first. It didn’t. Doing it first pushed back the planting dates. Summer‘s heat and drought was right around the corner. In late April, Jodi calls me to say a roll-off dumpster was going to be delivered and I needed to meet the driver as early as 6 am and tell him where to put it. I had never had a roll off dumpster delivered before. In the predawn hours, the driver and I discovered the dumpster could not be placed because of my heavily treed property. Jodi did not find a location, did not meet the dumpster delivery herself, and as usual, was nowhere to be seen. At this point it becomes obvious Jodi had nothing to do with job oversight management. I sent her an email telling her I expected her to start taking responsibility for her company’s jobsite. After that, she stopped by occasionally, but was never on site for more than a ten minute drive-by, never overseeing the work nor even talking to me unless I approached her. I ended up being the default contractor for the job. The crew chief would constantly be asking about the job details, something Jodi should be taking care of. Imagine hiring a builder for your new home, then being asked construction details by the carpenters, electricians, plumbers. That was my experience. At some point, I realized the sub contractor doing my job was just some jack of all trades crew Jodi had found. Jodi had not presented him with the full scope of work, so he had underbid the job. He knew nothing of the planting and irrigation that was specified for the entire backside of the house. The contract specified Morningstar was to follow the landscape design specifications. That did not happen. I got ½” inch of decomposed granite on the pathways, versus the several inches specified. Nor did I get the contract’s specified compost which would be crucial to the new plants. Jodi’s lack of job oversight and semblance of planning resulted in all my plants being installed in July/2018, absolutely the worst time to plant during the heat and drought of Texas summer. During the rushed planting, I was talking to one of the crew. He said he was a roofer but he was hired for my job. These guys did not amend my thick, heavy clay soil when planting. No compost around each plant. They dug a hole in the hard clay and buried a lot of the plants too deep. Then they threw mulch over the beds, half covering many of the plants and high up on the trunks of my live oaks. Plants started dying immediately. The drip irrigation installed was not good. Regardless of a plant’s water requirements, they all got the same amount, if they got any at all. In one instance, 2500 square feet of landscape bed ran off one source, far too much area for the irrigation to function properly. Upslope plants got no water; lower areas flooded and became swamps. There were problems I wanted addressed, but Jodi did not respond, she’d gotten her money. More about that in a minute. Drainage I’d been pointing out all along wasn’t done, my little bit of decomposed granite was being washed away when it rained. Dead plants that died because of the way they were planted and the lousy drip irrigation (she doesn’t warranty dead plants ) There were immediate problems and contractual work not performed. One landscape bed by the front entry door had no plants in it whatsoever when Jodi thought the job was finished. She wouldn’t have known it wasn’t planted because she never was onsite. She and a helper drove up on a Saturday morning and hastily stuck the plants in the ground in a few minutes. I never saw her again, but did have very unprofessional emails/texts afterwards. Speaking of money: Jodi wants all your checks written to Jodi Phillips, not Morningstar. If your project is over $10,000 thousand dollars, she will ask for checks amounts less than $10,000. In my case, that was $9,900 dollars. Why? Jodi takes your checks to your bank and cashes them. Federal banking law requires all cash transactions of $10,000 dollars or more to be reported, so it’s probably not reflected in her tax returns. She could turn over her taxes to the IRS for audit if she disputes this. In my case, she doesn’t collect, report, or pay Texas sales taxes. I didn’t know there were Texas sales taxes on landscaping, but I found out in my post Morningstar research. See my email where Jodi wants to keep me tax exempt. When Jodi had taken my money and refused to respond, I had my landscaping assessed by a master gardener and another person who was a landscape designer and certified arborist. I was told many my plants were put in too deep, that the mulch topping had buried them, that mulch was placed several inches up the live oak trunks and needed to be scraped away. The plantings should have had compost in the planting hole, but were just stuck in the clay soil. The arborist called this putting a $10 dollar plant in a 5 cent hole. None of the drainage worked at all. Where there should have been catch basins, there was a pile of rocks that quickly silted over. The French drain wasn’t connected, and when I did connect it, the discharge point was the same elevation as the French drain so the French drain backed up. While digging up and rebuilding the entire drainage system, I discovered the drain pipe that was supposed to carry water from a gutter had been closed off with a rock and covered up. All the drainage work was like this. Useless. I insisted Jodi come and fix the problems and unfinished work. She said there was a death in the family and needed to deal with that. I sent condolences and waited two weeks before contacting her again. This is when I realized I was dealing with someone with a pathological mental illness. Read the Emails and Follow the Dates how long the project ran. Jodi To: B Nov 17, 2017 at 6:27 AM Morning, that can definitely he taken care of. From pix looks like a need a French drain with 2-3 catch basins. Also gutters will really

Jodi is EXCELLENT! I don't have enough wonderful things to say about her. We have been corroborating for months on our extensive landscaping project. Jodi has been responsive and come to visit twice to review our project. Our project is awaiting HOA approval and we can't wait to get our modern landscape started. Our project will consist of hardscape, pavers, driveway modification, sod, irrigation, tree trimming and relocation, planters, deck and fire pit area, playground, etc. etc. I have no doubt that Jodi will provide us with outstanding results! We can't wait to watch our front, back and side yard be transformed. I will update my review once the project is complete. Don't hesitate to give Jodi a chance!

Contracted with Jodi to build a new hardscape stone pathway, add gravel, French-drains, and plants. She also addressed phase 2 of my project for electrical landscape lighting, and if it needs retaining walls and over-all landscaping needs. She is extremely helpful, knowledgeable, and does the best job money can buy.

Reached out to Jodi for some new ideas on my property. I live on land and wanted to do most the work myself, but wanted to get the best advice from a professional like her. We Skyped a few times for landscaping and hardscaping ideas, and she did the nicest thing and made an exception and came out to meet in person and see the areas. She was here almost 2 hours taking measurements and pix and really impressed me with wanting to know my tastes and wants. She marked out areas for me, created me a design later, gave me step by steps, and decided to work with me after all. Her guys finished the stone patio area in time for summer, the French drains which did great in these rains, and deer resistant landscaping. I’m so happy for her help and happier I found her. Super thankful and appreciative of all the time and hard work.

Flawless delivery with continuous improvement and honest answer that reflect on her overall kindness as a person. Its not just landscaping its like soulscaping she builds a garden around you and harmony with crazy texas climate.

We brought Jodi back out after using her over a year ago on an extensive large project of ours doing an entire outdoor kitchen living space and landscaping. This phase was getting more plantings in, a stone walkway with gravel, and just getting ready to go into the hot months and re-mulching as well. We have always been very impressed and satisfied with the work given. Jodi and her crew are very respectful and the areas are clean every day. Prompt and courteous and beautiful work. Will keep using them with all our landscaping and hardscaping needs.

Jodi is phenomenally talented! She understands geology, plants and wildlife. She brings it bring it all together to create a healthy, beautiful ecological system.

I'm a returning customer to Morningstar Landscaping. They recently came back to do our perennial design and planting for spring/summer to give us some color in the large bed they constructed in our yard. It looks great! All is beautiful and functional. Jodi is still so helpful when I have questions. Great customer service!

We have been getting estimates on a covered pergola and kitchen ideas, and had our consult with Jodi. She educated us on the difference of construction, prices, and looks and then gave us wonderful input on the variety of grills out there. She gave us the proposal within the week and also 2 local vendors to go look at grill too. We decided to go with Morningstar because we felt the most comfortable with the time spent, and the work sites we visited that they have done. They did a beautiful job on the pergola and love the stonework for the kitchen and landscaping. After months of interviewing companies, we are very satisfied with the work performed and costs. Very nice crew, clean, and appreciate the time Jodi took, and definitely her creative eye.

Everything looks beautiful and couldn’t be happier. My mind is at ease with the French drain and love their touch on the hardscaping. Jodi is very knowledgeable on plants and it’s a fun perk to learn about Herbs and alternative ways plants can help us. Very happy with everything.

Not sure why highly rated. Totally ZERO response to two requests for her services. Have waited BEYOND her stated 3-5 business days that respond. I guess her business must be exceptional. If that’s the case fair enough. Simply respond stating you’re not taking on new business or clients at this time. Takes 30 seconds.

After reading stellar reviews on Morningstar Landscaping, I contacted Jodi because I am limited in my mobility due to back issues, but love and miss gardening. She came out for a consultation which was about 45 minutes, and had great ideas on building raised stone planters so I can comfortably sit and garden without hurting myself. Her crew was extremely respectful and cleaned everyday. Jodi definitely prides herself in her work, and seemed to really understand and care about my physical limitations. She educated me on what a Horticulture Therapist is, and come to find out, they offer more services than I knew. I had them install some outdoor lights and 2 electrical outlets in addition to the masonry work. She planted initial plants for now, because it’s still u predictable weather, but is coming back in the Spring to help me plant more, and teach me about the care. Jodi and her crew did a fantastic job, and were very caring people who also made me laugh for the duration of this project. Will use again for sure.

I have used this company before and had great results. Jodi and her guys did a wonderful job building a new pergola, painted it ( well, stained it), and made a new landscape bed from stone. They mulched it and added drip to the irrigation so it’s all ready for plants. They added an outlet to the back patio as well, which is now convenient. Will keep using them.

I was very happy with the entire process. Jodi designed beautiful flower beds, was interested in what I wanted and open to my ideas. The workers did an excellent job of cleaning up each day after they had finished. I love the final product and would like to hire Jodi again for the back yard.

I've worked with Jodi and crew on two projects now, the most recent being the biggest job so far. We moved into a house with a fantastic outdoor space, but the pool area needed a good bit of privacy screening and landscaping. We pretty much started from scratch. Jodi has a great eye, and you can tell that she very much loves and gets excited about her work. She came up with all the design ideas, advised us on the pros and cons of each, stepped us through the plant options (which she is highly knowledgable about), and helped us make the best decisions for our yard and budget. Her crew is wonderful and hard working to boot. Even post project, I can text Jodi with any question or concern, and she always responds quickly with advice. I tend to be a bit of a perfectionist, and Jodi entertained every little question I had about the process. I highly recommend Morningstar, and will be calling them for our next yard project!