Merrifield Garden Center - Fair Oaks

No hardwood mulch was delivered, although I specifically requested it at the Garden Center. Partially my fault... didn't spot it on the invoice, which is cryptic and uniformative. Workmen never cleaned dirt off siding or driveway, never bothered to lift slab in front of portico and fill to grade with rest of area. Even though I was at home, they never informed me when they finished so I could inspect their work. Never left printed instructions about care and watering of the plants. Next time I'll do the work myselt. Won't use this and quot;highly ratedand quot; company again.

I go to Merrifield Garden Center all the time for my supplies. They have a great staff and I get all of my flowers and plants there too. They're not inexpensive, but they're very good. I've lived in the area for a long time and have gone there for years. I made the mistake of trying to do my side lawn and grow stuff that just wouldn't grow there, so I finally realized that I had to go to the pros for this and that's why I said it was worth the money because the ground cover that they planted is thriving. It's doing really well and it's just really attractive. I know they're more expensive than if you go with a small landscaper, but they really are worth it because they know what the heck they're doing. It depends on what you want; if you want good and pay for it or do you want cheap and pay for it.

After a verbal estimate. We agreed on the price for extensive yard work (since found out it was very high). Never received a written contract. Many assurances it was being sent. Gave up after three weeks!

The way the contract read was that they were going to level the front yard, repair right and left front yards, mulch the beds, transplant trees/shrubs, and prune the hedges. The lawn was repaired in a way that created a patchwork appearance in the front yard. It was not repaired in a way that was appealing, which was troublesome as we are trying to sell our home. They reseeded the yard but did not put anything in place to hold the seed down. That evening all of the seed was washed away with the rain. They failed to transplant the plants, they failed to return my calls with my dissatisfaction. They used inferior mulch. When the manager came out he was embarrassed of how the yard looked. But still did not reimburse me for the job. The foreman, not the landscape architect, was very professional and he knew it was a poor job.

They are a good value. They are not the cheapest or most expensive. They have a good stock and they stand by their product. They are totally honest and reliable. I have been using them for over 30 years.

The crew that came out to plant the rather large trees (Arbor Vitae and Hollies) was very puctual and totally professional. The crew chief Roberto was just the best--he knew exactly where to plant, how to plant, and how to make it all look great. He even suggested one more arbor vitae to fill out the space, we we did have him plant and am really glad that he did. It made everything look really finished and nice. Can't say enough good about Dave Ostroski either--the landscape designer ALWAYS keep in touch with me and let me know what to expect and when. He went over plant care with me and really took the time to make sure everything was as planned. I would definitely want him and his planting crew on my next project.

I visited several nurseries in the area to include Washington D.C. MGC had the best quality out of all the nurseries I visited, but I couldn't give them an and quot;Aand quot; because a few of their shrubs/trees looked borderline unhealthy, but those were anomalies. MGC has by far the best selection and their staff are extremely knowledgeable and friendly. The Merrifield location has true experts while the Fair Oaks location is hit and miss. I visited their Gainesville location, which didn't have as good of a selection as the other two locations, but their staff members were very helpful and nice.My only real complaint is their price. Their price is extremely high and can be as much as three times higher than other nurseries. I can understand to a certain extent their higher price since they have the best selection and quality, but what I couldn't understand is the different prices between the different locations. All locations are part of the same company, but the prices can be as much as $400 different. They tried to tell me that some products from different states cost more, but I took photos of every tree, plant, and shrub and the states were the same. I compared products that were all the same sizes. I feel this is a bad business model. I also had another unfortunate pricing experience with MGC. I saw a tree that I wanted listed for $295 on Friday evening right before closing. I would have bought it, but I didn't have my Groupon on me, so I came back Saturday morning and the price was raised to $495. When I asked about the increase in price, they told me that they mislabled the tree (a smaller size) the day prior and couldn't offer the tree to me at $295. So I went to the Fair Oaks location and found the same tree, only bigger, for the $295 price. Of course I bought the tree, but this was not an isolated incident because there were other trees that were different prices between the two locations. Some were higher priced at Merrifield and some were higher at Fair Oaks. For the most part, the higher priced trees were at Merrifield, but they had the more knowledgeable staff. Most of MGC's products were the same price, but for the trees I was in the market for, they were different. If it weren't for the price issues, MGC would be all and quot;Aand quot;s and and quot;Band quot;s.

They are really good. There was a guy named Jimmy James and he came a couple of times to design our yard when we moved in here. They made our place look gorgeous. Jimmy could read my mind and made this place look exactly like what I wanted so they were great. I think it looks beautiful because he did what I wanted. We got fruit trees from them. We have a plum tree that is doing really well and a cherry tree. We have recommended them. They are a little bit expensive but you get what you pay for.

She was very prompt. She had great ideas. The plants are very healthy. They are very knowledgable about their product. When you go to pick out the plants they are very nice. They have a very good return policy. They are a little more expensive then most but the quality is very good.

They are right down the street from me. They are expensive. They are good even though they are expensive. I could have gotten it done cheaper but it probably would have taken a lot longer.

A MGC designer came to the house within a few days of me submitting a quote request. She arrived late but took her time in reviewing what I wanted to do with my challenging back yard. We discussed several options for my $15,000 price range. After some back and forth and her offering to start the work for a deposit, I asked for an all-in, scratchpad estimate -- $40,000. I know landscaping labor and materials dont come cheap. I also know from previous employment in the trade how prices get padded. This exceeded expectation. I wanted some minor adjustments, not a down payment on a second home. I was fairly confident that I could complete the same work with three buddies, two kegs and a trip to the ER for far less.

They were very prompt and professional and did a great topical plan for our landscaping. I plan to use this company in the spring to complete the landscaping work.

They come ever year and turn on/off our sprinkler system. They planted our trees and landscaped our entire property when we moved in. They are always so helpful and professional.

I didn't like anything about the company, they did a sub par job and late in returning calls. They didn't call back for almost 2 weeks. They were overpriced for the job and did a sloppy job. They left the remaining pieces of concrete and didn't remove all the yard material. This was a very poor effort on their part and I will never use them again.

I contacted Merrifield and was put in touch with one of the designers who came to our house to conduct a survey. She provided us a design quickly and then gave us the opportunity to make changes. She did a great job making some modifications to fit our budget, and then was very prompt and accomodating in the installation. The people who came to do the installation did an incredibly wonderful job - better than I expected.

The design that I obtained was imaginative and effective at using the space and creating a landscape that I thought would be attractive year-round. I visited Merrifield to go over details of the design, and adjustments were made without increasing the budget. The work was scheduled within a few weeks, and Merrifield kept me informed of the plans and the adjustment to the schedule made necessary by weather. They showed up when they said they would, and did the work well. There were a few things that needed adjustment, and Merrifield took care of these efficiently. I'm delighted with the results. I suspect that I might have been able to find a company that was a little cheaper, but I'm not sure that the experience would have been as satisfying and hassle-free.

Punctual, friendly. reviewed landscape plan we had from another company, gave us helpful ideas. submitted written estimate to us in a week. it was about the same as the estimate from the firm which did the initial plan, so we decided to continue with original firm.

Terri, the designer came out the month before in response to my request. She made great suggestions and helped me lay out a plan that can be executed over time. The initial consultation cost $75.00, but it was credited back to me upon completion of the work. Terri and I met at the Fairfax store to shop for trees. We tagged the best six trees and had them moved to her holding area. The cost of the trees and plants at Merrifield are a bit higher than other nurseries, but they do have outstanding quality and unique species. Remember, a 50% down payment is expected at that time of plant selection. Terri was great and arranged the Miss Utility visit and scheduled her crew for a convenient time for me. As it turned out, the crew arrived at the same time a delayed concrete truck finally showed up for another unrelated project. The guys were great and worked around the concrete truck until it left and then started digging their holes. They followed Terri's instructions to the letter and everything looks great. Terri left me with written information about the necessary watering schedule to get the trees acclimated. The crew cleaned up before they left and made sure I was on board with everything they had done. I was, it turned out great. I feel like with Terri's knowledge of the varies species, I finally have the right trees in the correct locations for them to grow, provide shade, and privacy. I hope to work with Terri again, she is outstanding!

They were very good. He came out and answered all my questions and really made me feel at ease. I called them out several times and they always came right out. They taught me how to take care of my new shrubs and trees and what to expect. He offered further assistance if I had any questions. They started and finished on time and left my yard looking pretty good. I was very pleased.

They were very good and came out when they said they would. When they first placed in the bushes in they were smaller than I had discussed. They prompty came out and planted the correct, new ones in.

The cost of the plant food was between $25.00 and $50.00. I liked their constant support over the last ten to fifteen years. If I needed a good replacement shrub, that's the first place I would think of. It's not too far from my house in Northern Virginia. They are a little high on the price but very good quality. I have no experience with regard to their punctuality on delivering stuff. I have always picked up.

The thing that I liked most was that the work was done well. They did everything that I asked them to do but the communication was very poor. I had to work with Tomasene and he did not respond to e-mails. I sent him a full e-mail with a layout of all the pieces of the project that needed to be done and he showed up on the morning of the work, which by the way was very hard to schedule with them. He didn't have a clue as to what I actually expected him to do because he apparently never read the e-mail that I sent him. The communications with the foreman who actually did the project on the site was hard because he didn't speak English very well. It was hard for me to tell him how I wanted things to be done and he couldn't explain to me as why things needed to be done in a particular manner and he kind of got frustrated with me. The plus side was that they worked out cheaper than a lot of other places and the work was completed relatively quickly. One of the things that I had communicated to them in my e-mail was the removal of a holly bush in the middle of my backyard. He never removed the bush and has not contacted me on when they are going to remove it. We are withholding the final payment on the project until they actually do remove it. I would use them again but I wouldn't like to work with Tomasene. In fact, I did use them again on a separate project. They were so poor and inattentive on the landscaping, but they did an electrical project and they have an electrician who was phenomenal. He came out and was very responsive. He was quick and responded to all my e-mails. We communicated clearly. His people who worked on site were smart and clean and they did their work so well. I don't feel bad about the whole company because it obviously looks like it is just Tom and the people who work with him that don't work well.

they have a fee of $75 to come out and give estimate or somwhat of an idea or design however they charge more to put anything down on paper. I agreed to have them do it as $75 is supposed to be re-applied later when you use them towards materials. It was a nice idea, however they don't keep budget in mind at all. I would have appreciated if they worked with me to do a stepwise approach, but it seemed to be more all or none. I didn't get any follow up from them and it was difficult to get in touch in the first place. They have not done work - I may reach out one more time (so I don't completely lose my money) to see if they can do a part of it, but I think I'm the one at a loss here.

It went well. Their service was excellent. They were puncutal, quick and neat.

I contacted Merrifield thru their website and was contacted by Sharon Ross within 2 days. I received a questionaire to fill out and had an appointment in early April. I spent time with Sharon outside talking about different plants and the look I wanted and she stood there and sketched a design with the names of all of the plants. She also did a sketch of an area in my backyard that I have decided to do at a later time. She was able to give me a ballpark price for all areas on the spot and also websites where I could go and check out the plants she listed to see if I liked them. It took me about a month to hire Sharon for two reasons; I was kept waiting for a design plan by another landscaper that I contacted the same time as Sharon and with all of the heavy rains we had in April there were some water issues in my basement that had to be dealt with first. The June time frame worked for me perfectly and had my water issues taken care of the week before. The job took almost 2 days and Sharon was here twice the first day and once the second to check on things. My husband and I were able to question Sharon about plant care and she gave us tips on pruning some bushes we were able to keep, her knowledge is endless. The main reasons I hired Sharon was her design plan, her passion for her job,her landscaping knowledge and her detail to colors used in the plantings with regards to the color of my house and my bluestone walkway. She split and reused all of my liriope and took into account the many deer that roam our neighborhood. It was fun working with Sharon and she told us if we had any gardening questions to contact her which we feel extremely comfortable in doing so.