Stenson Landscape & Irrigation, Inc.

Bid came in on time and budget. Crew was 100% professional at all times. Matt's vision for the backyard brought together all of our many requests in a wonderful way.

My wife and I were looking for a one stop company that could do everything we wanted. Neither one of us have the physical ability to do even part of what we wanted and neither did we want to have to contract with multiple companies to get a complete finished product. When Matt of Stenson Landscaping arrived at our home for an estimate I went through what my wife and I wanted. He listened intently to what I was saying and then gave me a few options that he felt would make the project look better. I liked his ideas. Before Matt left he gave me an estimate of what the job would cost and when he could complete the job. Because of Matt's obvious interest in what my wife and I wanted, and his positive demeanor we hired him for the job. The Stenson employees arrived right on time and worked their butt's off the entire first day. On the second day the workers finished all the stone work and began laying a tarp type of material throughout the flowerbeds. I had not expected this level of detail and was very pleased to see how they were going the extra mile to make their finished product the best it could be. As the flagstone steps were being put in place Matt advised me he was going to have a few more pounds of black lava rock brought over and put in the flowerbeds because there were a few spots which didn't look complete to him. The next day Stenson arrived with more black rock. In our sixty some odd years my wife and I have lived in a number of homes in different states and we have never seen such detail and excellent workmanship as that done by Stenson Landscaping. Without question Stenson is the benchmark of the landscaping industry. If you're ever in need of a company to do landscaping for you, big job or small job, call Stenson. You will be very glad you did.

They were on time and very nice. They identified the problem quickly and went right to work. When finished they provided an invoice with the work that was completed. Very professional.

This was a major project. We began the engineering process in February and finished the project in June. The City required a permit. Matt Stenson came up with the plans for how to extend our usable yard into the easement, fence it, and redesign the patio and backyard. The work took 3 weeks and was interrupted by the torrential rains Texas experience in May and June of this year. Matt and his team worked through and around the rain to keep on schedule. Even though our home was 1 to 1.5 hours away from their homes, they were generally onsite by 1000 am and stayed up 8 or 9 pm most nights. Matt has several crews, but it was apparent they worked well together. They helped each other when additional manpower or help was needed. The mortar crew were true artisans. They designed retaining walls that were attractive and functional. The outdoor kitchen they built was a masterpiece. We are receiving rave reviews from neighbors, city inspectors, etc. We just experienced Tropical Storm Bill which blew in from the Gulf of Mexico and brought more torrential rains. The easement and drainage worked exactly as designed by Matt. The city issued the permit and inspected during and after completion with complimentary remarks on the design and construction. What could have been a tortuous process was relatively easy because of Matt's knowledge and skill. The 8 foot cedar fence is another masterpiece. It was built on a combination of retaining walls and existing ground. Part of it had to be elevated and some of it had to be offset to accommodate existing drainage pipes. The fence crew did a marvelous job under difficult weather circumstances. If it was not raining, it was beastly hot. Lastly, the landscraping crew had a heavy lift to work around all the other work going on, but they pulled it together. Irrigation works well and the sod they used looks great. The whole project was mulched. We had a number of maturing trees that needed to be relocated and Matt's experts made it look easy all the while taking precautions to make sure all of the trees and plants that were moved, lived...and they did! All-in-all, a great project, well-designed and well-built. Matt is easy to work with and responsive. We asked for extra things to be done and Matt was more than pleased to accommodate them during the project. We highly recommend Matt Stenson and crew!

Great, the patio and landscaping are beautiful. Workers were polite and efficient. I'll call them again.

We highly recommend Stenson Landscaping. Matt Stenson did everything he said he would, when hesaid he would, at a fair price. After interviewing several firms to landscape our new home we chose Matt Stenson. During the planning process Matt attentively listened to our wishes and incorporated them when appropriate. Recently moving to Texas, all of our ideas were not sound and Matt diplomatically explained this to us when appropriate. We felt that the planning process was truly a two way dialog. While Matt?s proposal was not the least expensive it was exactly the vision we had expressed to him in our first meeting. Matt made several return visits to our home refining his plan and verifying that we were all on the same page. When the physical work began Matt was on site each day and reliably communicated the timing of every step of the project to us to the point of telling us each day what time we could expect the crew to arrive. The crew was very hard working, friendly, and considerate of our property. They were here seven days and each night when they left the site was clean and orderly. Since the staging area was in front of our home we very much appreciated this effort each day. While the plantings have only been in a short time they are healthy and appear to be thriving. We have no reservation that Matt will stand by his warranties should any issues need to be addressed. We are so happy we found Stenson Landscaping and have no hesitation in recommending them.

WORST LANDSCAPERS EVER!! I contacted this company based on the A rating from Angie's List but I have no idea how they got an A rating. I got 3 bids and this was the middle bid and since they had an A rating I selected them. I should have read the reviews like I did after they started because other customers who were not satisfied with this company have similar experiences. They do BAD work!! This is not a professional landscape company with a crew who knows what they are doing. They have no idea how to actually landscape - only haul and carry heavy things. I spent $7050 and should have gotten a professionally done beautiful backyard - but I didn't! When Matt came out to bid the job we walked the backyard and I explained exactly what I wanted, especially for the Red Tip Photinia shrubs that line the back fence. They are a focal point of the backyard. I told him I wanted them trimmed up at the bottom but I liked the fullness at the top. I even used hand gestures to demostrate what I meant. He said he understood what I wanted. The day they started work he asked that I be there to help guide where I wanted the playset to be positioned. After it was moved he left a 3 man crew to start work and left them with no vehicle. They actually did more sitting around then working and did not get much done first day. Under playset is an area for a sandbox. I wanted the play sand I had in a turtle sandbox put in there. Instead they used the play sand in the turtle and mixed landscaping sand with it for the walkway then put what was left in the playset sand box. REALLY was I supposed to let my little granddaughter play in landscaping sand?? (Crew took out bad sand and replaced - should have been done correctly the first time) UPDATE ..THEY DID NOT REMOVE LANDSCAPING SAND ..ONLY PUT 2" OF PLAYSAND ON TOP -KIDS CAN'T PLAY IN IT NOW! Text Matt but doubt I will hear from him since they have been paid!! The next day when I got home from work and looked in backyard I saw my BUTCHERED Photinia. I couldn't beleive what they did to them. They took a chainsaw and just chopped off the entire front of shrubs from top to bottom, cutting through branches 2 and 3 inches thick. They look horrible!! I texted Matt since he was not there and sent him pictures. His response "I'm really sorry ... I'm not sure what else to say". WOW - really that's it? What great customer service!! His crew ruined my shrubs that will take years to grow back and all I get is ' sorry'. They left dead branches throughout that should have been cut out and clumbs of leaves they cut off top stuck in higher branches to dry out and die. It really looks so horrible - I can't even describe how I mad I get everytime I look at them. The rest of the work went pretty much the same way ... POORLY DONE!! I asked to have a fence replaced and moved to 5 feet behind my A/C and the rocks they were laying to extend to in front of A/C. Old fence moved to 1/2 inch behind A/C and rocks only up to fence. There seemed to be NO COMMUNICATION between Matt and the crew. Very unprofessional. (Crew came back and fixed what should have been done correctly the first time) Next was a walkway from shed to pool deck using patio blocks I provided. Walkway started at one edge of doorway to shed and ended 6" shy of other doorway edge. WHY?? I had enough blocks that it seemed like a no brainer to span the entire doorway to make a professional finished look. (Crew came back and fixed what should have been done correctly the first time) I request 2 Hydrangea bushes planted on each side of walk, 1 to eventually grow big enough to hide pool equipment. Bushes were planted in front of shed. Once again, not sure WHY Matt did not communicate to his crew what needed to be done since he was not there. The area had river rock added and they pushed the rocks right up around the bushes. Texas summer heat would have fried any bush surrounded by rocks like a baking over. I should not have had to point out that the bushes needed to be ringed by mulch. As a professional landscaper he should have known what was needed and how to plant them. (Crew moved bushes to correct location and ringed with mulch like should have been done the first time - I provided edging to ring bushes) Another part of the job was to sod the side yard. I didn't think it was necessary to tell a professional landscaping company that before they lay sod the ground should be leveled out. Obviously -it was needed with this company. There were several dips and humps in this section of yard and they just layed the sod right over them. I asked Matt to come out to look at this and he said it just needed to be rolled. I said I didn't think so since they rolled it when they put it down. He said the crew would be done by 5:30 the next day when I got home. They weren't done until 7:30 and rang my bell while I was getting my grandkids in shower and ready for bed. Crew person said Matt had told him to get the check for remaining balance. I texted Matt that they were supposed to be done at 5:30 and if it was still light enough once I got kids to bed I would check it out. He said crew would wait. I went out at 8:15 and crew was not there. I text Matt - no one here and yard still grossly uneven. The crew showed back up and I showed him several areas that were really bad. I had a foot in one place and another 4 inches over and that foot was at least 3 inches higher. I asked what they thought would happen to the high spots when I mowed?? Crew person said he would roll again. I texted Matt that what needed to be done is the sod picked up the ground leveled and sod put down again. Next day Matt texted and said took my suggestion and that it was done. When I looked at it that evening all I could see was a muddy smashed mess that looked nothing like what a newly sodded area should look like. I don't beleive for a minute they picked the sod up and leveled. I think they just soaked the h*** out of it and smashed it down. It took 2 days before it was dry enough that I could walk out there without slipping on all the mud. It is still not level but I have had it with this company and the SLOPPY WORK they do!! I don't want them on my property again. For $7050 I expected a beautiful professional landscaping job but I DIDN'T GET THAT. I could have hired local lawn guys for a lot less and probably gotten better work done. SHAME on this company for the horrible work they did!!

Matt performed the work he suggested was the best solution that would take care my pooling and erosion problems due to water drainage on the north and south sides of the house. The suggestion was to go with french drains instead of catch basins. Another estimate I received suggested catch basins but Matt's suggestion seemed the best solution to cover the large area needed. After the work was performed and we received some heavy rains I notices water pooling in 2 areas. I contacted Matt and he promised to come out and do some additional grading to ensure water flowed properly. He never followed up or showed up. Several months later we received heavy enough rains to notice french drain on the south side of house was not catching all the water and I was experiencing additional surface water runoff . I reached out to Matt via text and phone and included photos of what I was seeing. He has since not responded. I would have liked for him to come back and add an additional catch basin and finish the grading work, but he has been unresponsive.

My water hungry front lawn was replaced with climate friendly plants and ground cover in new beds with beautiful stone borders. The design was perfect for my needs and the installation crew was great. They showed up as scheduled, explained everything as they worked on the project and cleaned up all mess. The new plant beds look great. Thank you.

He did a good job. He just came back out to take them down. We provided all the lights for him and he will keep them for next year for us.

they were on schedule and everything turned out great

It went well, they did an ultimately good landscaping although they missed their fresh appointment. The only issue is that they said they were gonna be out on a Friday, they didn't show and I wound up calling them back after the weekend, they said they were sorry and get me in the next Friday and they actually came on Saturday.

This is the fourth stone project I've done. I wanted one contractor to be able to do the whole project or I would have used either one of the two previous stone folks as I was happy with their work. I chose Stenson based on the Angie's A rating, their stated skills and the assurance that they had highly skilled stone wall folks. I got three quotes and Stenson's was in the middle. In order to get an A Stenson would have had to promise what they could deliver and deliver on that promise. I did not find this to be the case. In summary, they quoted 1-2 days and took 4 and had to come back to re-work a small area on a 5th day so it was VERY h****** my schedule. This was the first job the supervisor had ever done like this and he did not have the needed supplies. They ask for 50% up front as a mobilization fee but did not come to the work site on time or with needed supplies. The crew required constant supervision by me so that what was quoted was what would be delivered. On the plus side the supervisor did speak English and the whole crew wore pink shirts in honor of Breast Cancer month. Here are the gory details. I was told they normally started at 7:30 AM. When they weren't there by 9AM, I called and left a message. I was told, they were picking up supplies and would be there directly. The crew arrived at 11:15 and the owner arrived a little later because he was at the bank. Note that he told me he was picking up supplies and would be right there but he was actually at the bank at some point. The quote from Stenson specified Milsap stone in writing so that it would blend with existing stone on my property and coordinate with my neighbor's stone. Oklahoma stone was delivered. It is the wrong brick-like shape and wrong color. They argued with me but I held firm with what was quoted. At the end of the first day the footer was not even poured. They promised they would bring a bunch more people on the next day and get it done on schedule. They had 3 guys and brought a fourth - not what I would consider a bunch more. I knew from other work, it would have taken at least 6. The second day with the footer forms in place, I raised the concern that the footer was supposed to be poured to be level with the ground. Where the ground dropped they had put one step-down. Had they poured with these forms up to 4 inches of footer would be showing above ground in two different areas. They added a second step-down. There would still be two areas where up to three inches of footer would be above ground level. i raised my concern again and was promised it wouldn't be a problem and we had extensive discussion. They lied. There are in fact 2 areas where the footer shows at least 3 inches. I have had to move dirt to cover them. The quality of the footer pour and finish work was excellent - although I had to prompt them to clean the cement splashes out of the street before they dried. The Milsap requires chipping to form the rough wall shape. They use a saw to get the stone to the approximate shape for the wall and then chip it to keep it natural. In many cases, the crew did not chip the mortared edges so the quality is less than it should have been. Instead of chipping over a wheel barrow or in the flat bed or on tarps as others have done, they chipped where it was convenient for them. The supervisor had bragged on the quality of their cleanup. I disagree. After they picked up and raked, I still pulled eight 2-gallon buckets of stone chips out of the grass. In the past one bucket is normal for this size job. The second lower quality in the stone work was the multiple small voids in the mortar joints. Previous stone work had zero voids. For a natural look as I requested the mortar joints between rows of stone should not line up and they do in several locations. To me this is lack of experience showing. Some stones that were too small were used and the difference was made up using a great deal of mortar - again inexperience showing. The stone work is level but does not look as good as it should for an A level rating. There were 7 metal half-circle sprinkler heads that had to be moved for the wall. I asked that the holes remain open until the sprinklers were tested for leaks. The stone work was nearly done and the supervisor left to get materials for the next job. Earlier I had heard him on the phone complaining loudly that I wanted the sprinklers tested before the holes were filled. He said the crew could handle the sprinklers. In the planter the sprinkler had been moved across the planter bed but the new line was only 2-3 inches below the ground - I pointed out that it needed to be low enough for the large nandinas to be planted on top - again, I got an argument that it would be OK. I had them bring over a nandina and then they dug the dirt deeper so the line would be underneath the shrubs. The sprinkler test went badly - 100% leaked. None of the half circles were pointed correctly. Two were installed so badly, they wouldn't even rise. The crew did not have Teflon tape so I provided some, they didn't have some parts they needed so I provided some, they didn't have enough glue so I provided some. I essentially taught them how to fix the problems they had created and provided the materials to do it. The quote included haul off of the dirt removed to pour a footer. Rather than raking up and removing the last of the dirt, they just raked up against the wall.They had buried the sprinkler control valve cover that I had clearly marked with four flags with over 2 inches of dirt and removed the flags. In the process of re-locating this valve, I brought out my own shovel. I asked them to rake up the excess dirt and take it away and the response was the rain would wash it into the grass. After 4 days, I just wanted this done so I gave up. It took me two days and four wheelbarrow loads to move the dirt elsewhere. I wrote the final check which included another $15 per sprinkler head moved. I was OK with this but it bothered me that the request was for $150 vs the $105 it should have been. I could have objected but I was simply tired of arguing. As the crew was leaving I noticed they had left behind a tablet and a few other small items and caught them before they drove off. What I didn't notice is they had taken my one and only shovel with them even though it had been stuck in the ground outside of the work area. It was a high quality shovel that I thought would be easy to replace - after no luck at Lowes or Home Depot or Ace, I called to get it returned. It took multiple contacts and more than a week but I did get it back. Stenson may be good at other landscaping work but I would not recommend the crew I saw for stone work, sprinkler work or project management.

We have been wanting to update the front landscaping for sometime and searched Angie's List for a contact. Stenson Landscape drew our attention and we have to say that we would recommend him to anyone. Our objective was out with the old and in with the new. We had two healthy trees in our front yard one of which was planted to close to the home and its root system concerned us so we asked if we could save the tree and Matt was able to save the tree by putting in a root barrier to protect our foundation. In addition, he trimmed the trees to give them a higher canopy and a better view of our home. Since we wanted a whole new look we asked for him to give us the best idea of stone work that would go with our home and he chose the perfect stone and created the perfect landscape. We had all the existing plants and shrubs removed so that we could put all new shrubs, plants and ground cover in their place and from the point of starting the project to finishing the project Matt's personalized attention to our home was professional, courtesy and on point. Results were amazing!

It went very well! I first saw Stenson Landscaping working on my neighbor's house on my street. Then I saw that they were highly rated on Angie's List so I gave them a call. I got Matt Stenson on the phone and he came over later that day to look at what needed to be done. I showed him around the property pointing out all the things I would like done. He gave me an initial estimate of $15,945.53. He asked me when I would like the work done and I told him as soon as possible. He then put me on the schedule to start within the following week. When the workers came I was amazed at the size of the crew. I counted 10 workers total! They came in like a swat team and worked hard and steadily for 4 days (taking a break of 3 days in between the last 2 work days because of the rain). A site manager named Mike took over as supervisor of the crew and I never saw Matt again, even though I did talk to him over the phone to tell him of last minute changes I was making. In the end, I ended up not doing all of the original work that was planned so the actually cost dropped down to $15,363.78 which included an Angie's List discount of $1,643.75 and which was $581.75 less than the original estimate. I appreciated the fact that they were fair and upfront about deducting the cost of items that I didn't have done but were in the original estimate. And I appreciated how their original estimate broke down the pricing so that I could see how much I was being charged for each item. This made it easy to see which items were removed from the final bill because they were not done. I was so happy with them that I called Matt again a few weeks later to do some more stone work in my back yard but I think that job was too small for them and so I couldn't get them to return my calls or come out again. Nevertheless, I still think their team did a wonderful job of renovating my back and front yards and I would use them again if I could get them to come out to our house again.

Workmen were courteous and cleaned up after themselves. I would certainly recommend Stenson to anyone needing work done.

Matt arrived on time and ready to hear more about our project. He walked the property with us, listened to our concerns and provided a speedy, on the spot estimate after stepping out to his truck to work on the calculations. The price was fair and he made good recommendations on how he would approach the project. Although we've decided to postpone this work because we aren't 100% sure about what we want for our yard, we'd definitely call Matt to do the work in future! (He has also really great about our large, noisy but absolutely harmless German Shepherd puppy.)

We had erosion on our property after several heavy rain storms and heavy equipment from pool installation. After reaching out to multiple landscape companies, receiving proposals, then never getting a response on moving forward, we looked on Angie's List and found Stenson's. They accomplished everything on time, to our liking, and will be doing more work for us. Great company to work with.

n the original date of service, Sept. 2nd, I got a call saying they had accidentally double booked the day and asked if they could reschedule. Since I received the call prior to arrival time I was pleased and willing to work with them and rescheduled for Sept. 4th. On Sept. 4th they arrived 10 minutes late, but it was just two guys -- no tractor or gravel. A trailer with gravel arrived about 2 hours later, and they asked it they could drop it on my drive since they needed the trailer to load the tractor, I said ok but they would need to clean it off the black top area of the drive before they left. Then while I was working in the house and on a conference call (I work from home many days) the truck came and dropped 10 yards of gravel on the drive. They later showed up with a "bob cat" type of tractor and started to scrape the area. Since I had to work I could not watch the whole process, but as they were finishing I walked out to check and pulled four pieces of Bermuda grass that were sticking up from the gravel along with some dirt (black gumbo/clay). It appeared to me that they dug out the grass with the tractor, but never really leveled the area. I never saw any type of landscaping leveling go on. I asked about it not being four inches thick everywhere and was told it averaged four inches. I know some areas are deeper then four inches and many are less than four inches. I do understand that leveling this area can be difficult, but that was communicated in the original request for services and in the quote it said, "Install approx 800 square feet road base 4" & level area." I later increased the area to approx 1150 square feet. So rather then making an issue out of that I suggested they call in and ask about cost to add more gravel. They suggested 10 yards and I agreed since that could level it all out and make sure it was at least four inches thick everywhere (even with just a bob cat with front bucket with teeth for digging). They came back with an additional $1000 to do this. I said no that was too much given the original cost and quality or lack of quality that I had already seen today. This was just not what I expected from an "A" rated Angie's list company. I had expected this to be level, as well at a some what more uniformed depth! I would not have been surprised to see this done with a box blade and a rolled to make sure things where level. I spent an hour and a half cleaning up and moving three wheel barrows full of gravel off the black top and spreading it in low areas, something the workers should have done themselves. Did they put down road base? Yes, and if that was all I had asked to be quoted I would give them an "A". Did they level the area? Not in my view. Did they remove the grass from the area? Yes, and what little I have found would not have been there if the area was leveled before the road base was put down. This was at best a "B-" quality job. Was this all their fault? Not sure. I felt like I was clear on what I wanted but maybe not as clear as I thought I was. I thought "level" meant level, plain and simple. I will try out my new pad for a while, but will probably have to call out another vendor to finish the job to my expectations. I really wanted to be able to park my travel trailer here and quickly drop the leveling jacks to stabilize it well it is parked. I did not want to spend 30 minutes leveling it every time I parked it. This is why I wanted it level in the first place.

They did a fantastic job! We have received numerous compliments from neighbors. The stone border looks amazing and the beds with the large boulders look very clean and well-kept. The trees look great with the new trimming. The sprinkler system is back in working order. What a great new fresh, clean look in our front yard! Thanks Matt and team for all of the great planning and hard work!!!

We wanted to update our landscaping, but weren't really sure what we wanted, so we asked Matt to take out everything and start from scratch. He asked questions to gauge what sorts of things we liked and didn't like, and then presented his proposal. Work began 3 weeks later, and took 2 full days - one to remove the existing plants and border stones and then install the new borders and prepare the beds with new top soil and drainage, and the second day to install the new plants, flagstones, and sprinkler modifications. We had initially planned to install a water feature near the new sitting area, but that proved to be more costly than we were willing to go, so instead we went with Matt's suggestion of incorporating a few boulders into the design. My wife was skeptical, but we went with it and the results are stunning. Right now, with the new plants relatively small, the boulders look huge, but by next year when the plants will have matured, it's all going to come together perfectly. And the boulders should develop some moss, which will make them look even cooler. We love how everything looks now, and it will only get better. As I write this, we just got over 4 inches of rain in less than 2 hours and the new drainage worked perfectly. For the first time in years, we lost none of the soil or mulch from our new beds.

They were very responsive and met my overall timeline of getting the work done. Kept me updated on 'travel' time and when they would arrive. We went over the list (tree limb clean up; trim bushes and other landscape plants too close to the house. Cleaned out the flower beds that were too 'high' causing a potential termite problem in the future (soil line has to be below the brick line). Additionally, cleaned off all of the 'tree debris' that had accumulated on the roof and mowed the front lawn. All done without a whimper; very professional and cleaned up the misc. trimmed bushes - to the curbside for the city to pick up. All in all, a very nice job. I would hire them again.

They worked very hard and fast. They did an awesome job and knew their stuff! Our landscaping looks awesome! Now we are working with them to plan out phase 2 of our projects. They listen and work with us to plan out a beautiful landscape display.

I got them from Angie?s List. When he gave the quote, he answered all of our questions and he was very good at responding to our questions. It went very well and the only complain I had was that we had some discrepancy on going about getting the job done. They were supposed to repair our sprinklers. Professionally speaking I don?t think they came out to do that because they did not do it and we did not pay for it either. But they not to know what they were doing with it and another gut came and did what they were supposed to do.

The price was competitive and they put me on their wait list soon after talking with them. After waiting for the rains to subside, they worked very quickly to complete in one day. Their crew was very nice and eager to please. They verified each zone was working correctly. They were willing to listen to my concerns about the lawn and hauled off the tree trimmings.The one and only thing I wish they would have done would have been more thorough at cleanup. They left a small bag's worth of plastic caps and hose trimmings around the yard and could have sprayed down the sidewalk. But to be fair, we were trying to get out of the house that evening and were trying to speed things along. I would definitely have them do more work on the house.