SOUTHERN BRANCH NURSERY

I wouldn't recommend them at all, absolutely not. He did a very very very poor job. I spent untold amounts of money trying to get people in to rectify the mess that they made. It cost me $4000 and he wouldn't own up to it or remedy it. He never came out to look. He sent one of his lackeys out to reset the pavers and it never was any better. I have been spending hundreds and hundreds ever since to get people to plant things because his plantings didn't take. I finally got somebody to take out the pavers because they were set in so badly. They were dangerous. They were sticking up 2 inches out of the ground. I would catch my toes on them. He was impossible. He was terrible. It was lot of money. I could have spent that money and had it done right. The retaining wall is not really a retaining wall. The guys cobbled together pieces of pressure treated wood and it looks like something I could have done. It's so shabby looking. I'm still correcting what he did. It was so bad. I found him in the Yellow Pages. One of the reasons I went to him was, I used to be a member of the Native Plant Society. He was a member too. So I figured he would try to plant natives wherever possible. But it backfired on me badly. So even though he does have an interest in natives and I appreciate that, he did such a pathetic job for so much money. It's a shame.

I used Southern Branch Nursery for everything from hardscape work to redesigning and maintaining my front garden. Eric is very knowledgeable about all aspects of landscape design and native plant gardens. He is always punctual and follows up on phone calls. He gave me an estimate in November of last year, 2013. I wanted to do some hardscape in my back yard that would help me with weed control. He suggested the materials and installed everything. He also suggested some changes to my existing bushes that made a huge improvement in my back garden. He and his staff are a pleasure to work with. They work very hard and are responsive to suggestions I have for my gardens. The last work that he did for me was excellent. He has done all excellent work for me. The biggest job he did for me was to remove my front lawn and replace it with a native plant garden. The design and installation was a lot of work, but it turned our wonderfully. He put in a lot of plants and the design of the pathways is perfect. And I think I got a pretty good deal. All the plants he installs are guaranteed for a year. He replaces things that don't make it. He also helped me with maintaining and cleaning up the native plant garden. He completely stands behind his work. He is really, really knowledgeable. I have had a lot of different landscaping people come out over the 14 years I have owned this house, and he definitely knows what he is doing and can be trusted to do excellent work. I would use him again and recommend him highly.

On March 5, 2010 we paid a $4000 deposit to begin the work. However, we had to stop the work when we observed the contractor installing new stone mulch without removing old stone mulch and weed block fabric. After many discussions, we added the following services to the above contract on March 25, 2010 for a total of $12,010.25 and approved work to resume: 1. Remove Blue Star Juniper, 5 Lamb?s Ear, 5 Abelia, 2 American Holly, 7 Azalea, 2 Wisteria, English Ivy, Kousa Dogwood, Camellia, Mock Orange Tree, 5 May Night Salvia, 4 Ligustrum, 2 Blue Juniper and 3 Ligustrum ($1260) 2. Pick up, deliver and install 3 ?Leyland Cypress? 6 to 8 foot trees ($1168). 3. Replace Pizazz Lorepetalum with 73 Green Gem Boxwood ($3701.25). After the work was completed, the contractor submitted a bill for the above services plus the following: 1. Elliptical bed: plant 31 new Lorepetalum Purple Pixie, 34 Winter Gem Boxwood, 34 Dianthus Bath?s Pink, with topsoil, new weed block fabric and 57 stone mulch, and create pathway with new Plum Terra Stone and existing Belgian Block ($3520.25). 2. 6.5 days of work $8517.91 + Labor Burden $5460 + Equipment Burden $450 + Additional Material $3186.50 + Sales Tax on Additional Material 79.66 + Miscellaneous Expenses Tax $935.00 + Gas & Transportation of haul-away stone and fabric $280.00 + Fuel Expenses $555.00 = $19,464.07). We were shocked to realize that the $24,000 final bill was twice the second contracted price and over 4 times the original contracted price! After further discussion, the contractor could only produce receipts for $20,000 and agreed that he had double-charged over $10,000. Subsequently, the boxwoods the contractor planted developed scale and turned brown. When the contractor declined to honor their 12-month guarantee, we took one of the half dead boxwoods to another nursery to purchase replacements. We learned that instead of Green Gem Boxwood or Winter Gen Boxwood, the contractor had planted American Boxwoods.

Contractor was paid in full after work performed. I called to report that the lumber near fence was not nailed in at the corner of yard but small pieces of wood leaned against the fence. He argued with me. In a matter of weeks, the stone dust into which stones had been placed washed down the slope and left full thickness of stones exposed above ground. I called about this and he argued with me. After doing some research about walkway installation, I learned that the ground should have been excavated to depth of the stones, rather than place stones on top. He never returned to look at my complaint, but sent a young guy (only after I said I would contact BBB) who said, OK I am supposed to take out all this stone dust. I said I didn't think so, but the ground should be dug out for the stones. The boy didn't agree and basically reset the stones in stone dust. Mr. Gunderson had said if I had heavier stones, that would correct the problem, so I did buy several larger stones (why then did he place light stones there to begin with?). Nothing corrected the problem. The BBB and he went back and forth. They eventually gave up because he is not a member, and they had no leverage. He said the pathway was not a path but a "check dam" for water flow. The contract was for a pathway. To this day, the stones wobble, and are full thickness above the ground level (approximately 1 1/2 inch lip above the ground) except for stones I reset myself or hired a guy to reset. He blamed my physical health and my character. Everyone who walks this backyard trips or nearly so and can see how bad it is. And though I didn't complain directly about the quality of the wood barrier near the fence, it is sloppy and piecemeal. But I can live with that. The flagstones are a safety hazard though, and unfortunately I have to live with that. In one of his last responses, Mr Gunderson basically said he would do lots more (digging and mortar) of course for lots more money. There were many other contradictory and misleading statements on his part, too many to list. Unsatisfactory work, and left me with the taste in my mouth that I had been taken advantage of. Thank you for giving me a chance to review this company. It will cost me a lot to correct what he did wrong and I don't want him to do this to another woman.