Mike' Mowing and Landscaping

Mikes one of the most unprofessional individuals I have ever dealt with. We searched around for landscapers to remove our bushes and dead grass in the back and replace it with crushed granite. Mike gave us the best quote and he is a good talker he convinced us it would be smooth flat and symmetrical with the pool and the brown border. That's all Mike was was a good talker because after that it was a nightmare. Mikes crew arrived on January 28 his crew smoked cigarettes In front of our house, in our yard and on our front lawn and left cigarette butts. They poured the crushed granite on the street in front of our house leaving a brown stain on the street. But it seemed as if he did the job he was hired to do. Mike finished the job January 28 and advised us to stay off the granite for 10 days. Mike did not even stay to see if the job was finished he left and said he had to go somewhere else. That night I found trash all over the yard big piles and cigarette butts and whataburger left over from his crew. Which they returned to clean but it showed how much of a hurry they were in to leave. On February 6 I walked the yard which was approximately 10 days later when I was advised I could at that time the yard looked like the hill country it was so uneven and to add we had no bad weather it was an unusually warm winter week. The black material was also coming out and you could see it clearly. I advised Mike and he sent his crew over. When his crew arrived days later they were angry to be back and let us know by telling us they weren't happy to be here which was very unprofessional. At that time his employee tried to blame everything on us saying there's prints which there were prints as it was pass the 10 days we were advised. He also tried to say we had a generator on the lawn which I don't even own a generator and a wheel barrel which I don't own and he had one in his hands at that time. He laid down the crush granite In certain areas but it was a different color which he said would fade it's just wet. We waited approximately a month to walk it again and the yard still did not fade it was very obviously different colors. We had mikes crew out a third time and they again placed a different color granite which we advised him again this is not even close to the same color Mike then sent out his crew a fourth time but wanted to charge me to leaf blow the yard which we advised him we would not pay. Of the four times mikes crew was here he only was here half of the time the first day. He is very unprofessional and now threatens to call the police because I want my yard fixed. He continues to blame me for walking on the crushed granite which one I waited the allotted amount of time and two walking does not change the color. There are many good landscapers in the area use someone else who will not take advantage of you and get the job done the first time.

Excellent! Mike and I talked about 2 weeks before the work began. He evaluated what remained of my yard and indicated that 2 large red oak trees needed to be shaped and raised to allow more sunlight. Mike agreed to do that as part of his service. We discussed the layout of the front yard, steps in preparing the soil including tilling all remaining grass to loosen the soil. He then carefully measured the layout, determined that 2 yards of soil along with 3 yards of mulch would be installed prior to 2.5 pallets of Zoysia grass. He was very thorough and open to my questions and concerns. He and I agreed on a price and scheduled the install. No upfront money was required. On the day of the install, his crew and he arrived exactly when expected and immediately started to work. Mike did all the tree-trimming to my specifications and his expertise... he used a new chainsaw blade and painted the removed ends of the remaining branches. All cleanup of branches and debris occurred as it was happening. His crew then removed the plastic landscape border around the yard, and all old mulch. Again, his crew was efficient and focused. Once the mulch and border were removed, Mike oversaw the placement and reinstallation of the of new metal borders, ensuring everything was done by measurement and symmetrical. He was constantly in communication with me to ensure his efforts met with my approval. The remaining lawn was then tilled using a commercial tiller which did a great job with the clay soil. The debris was raked and removed. Then, the new mulch was placed in the metal borders and new soil added to the tilled soil. A higher grade of commercial weed barrier fabric was used which was much better than what had been used previously by another contractor prior to placing the mulch. His crew was very careful to ensure no waste of either the mulch, or the fabric. The metal border was within 2 feet of his estimate with virtually no waste. This completed day 1. Day 2 started earlier as Mike's crew picked up the 1/2 pallet of sod and some additional fabric. He explained that the grass-cutting company would be delivering the other 2 full pallets later in the morning and he estimated they would be finished with the job by 2 PM. The sod they had was placed quickly and the remaining mulch was added to the bordered area. Throughout, they kept the yard very clean and picked up, occasionally clearing any debris throughout the day. At 10:30, 2 pallets of sod arrived, but was rejected as it was Raleigh St. Augustine instead of Zoysia. Redelivery took almost 2 hours, but was installed quickly with no waste. In fact, about 1/4 pallet of sod remained which was added to a bare spot on the side of the house-- no extra charge for that unplanned installation. Upon completion, Mike ensured I was happy with the install and provided instructions for watering and winterizing the new lawn. Mike watered the lawn before he and his crew left. All in all, this was an outstanding installation. The previous company I hired 6 years ago did not do half the job, used cheaper sod, plastic borders, no tilling of the ground, and no tree-trimming... that company charged me several hundred dollars more and I wasn't happy with that job. Mike and his crew did well... I would hire them again and am very content with their professional job! Hope this helps you make a decision...