DESIGNSCAPES

Excellent!! We had Designscapes turn our ho-hum contractor shrubs into a beautiful landscape that we are very proud of. Cathleen spent a lot of time with us as we weren't excatly sure what we wanted. She listened to what we said and put it on paper. We get so many complimemts on how beautiful our yard looks. Thank you Cathleen and your crew!! We are going to have our beds maintained on an ongoining basis and consider more design for the future. You will not regret working with Designscapes.

Based on the recommendation of neighbor, we contacted Designscapes about reconfiguring a portion of our front yard. This consisted of removing one tree that had fallen over, relocating a second tree to another part of the yard, and converting the flower bed into our existing lawn to enable a more open space for our children to play in. We communicated our requirements with an onsite visit and then described them again in writing to her when she submitted a proposal. We asked her to provide a sketch of the proposal (which seemed like a pretty standard request), but she resisted saying it would take too much time and she would need to charge extra for the service. On the day the work was completed there were a number of issues that did not go according to the proposal. First, the reconfiguration of the flower bed was different than what was agreed upon in both the written proposal and the onsite visit. Second, the tree that was to be re-located was left with roots exposed to the sun for hours. Third, the part of the flower bed that was to be converted to lawn was just sprinkled with grass seed -- no topsoil was raked, no seed treatment/feeding, and no mulching or stray. Fourth, we had specifically asked for black mulch to be applied to the new areas to match the existing landscaping. Instead, she only provided brown mulch. During the course of this work, my wife and mother-in-law attempted to redirect the workers to comply with the original request, but they refused to listen and only took direction from Cathleen. Cathleen was pushy and refused to even consider doing the work as had been agreed to and was more concerned about getting her crew to the next job she had for that day. The re-located tree lost its leaves in about 10 days and since this spring, has not blossomed (Japanese Plum tree) nor sprouted leaves. The branches are dry. The tree is dead. Upon arriving home the day when work was completed, I was very disappointed in the work performed. Recognizing that she seemed rushed, we asked Cathleen if she would consider bringing her crew back out (with black mulch) and doing the work as we had asked. She said she would if we paid her labor costs.

I am a Landscape Architect and I choose Design Scapes to work in my own yard. They are one of the best.

The project went extremely well.

OMG!! What a great experience we had working with the owner Cathleen. She is just amazing. I'm glad I did not see the previous review listed because we would have never called. Fortunately for us, she was recommended by a friend and we had her come give us a quote. We had previously obtained 2 quotes from A rated landscapers from Angieslist but nothing compared to the vision, enthusiasm and knowledge Cathleen came with. It was night and day. Where the other 2 contractors just asked what we wanted and drew up lame sketches - she ran with it. She listened to our likes and dislikes of plants/shrubs/trees and gave ideas and vision to make our landscape look beautiful year round. We purchased our home less than a year ago and had the contractors landscape. Now we all know how bare, sparse and unattractive their plantings are. Cathleen actually repurposed the plants - moved them to better locations throughout the yard to keep costs down. She then created a masterpiece with new plants in the front yard and rear sides. It was absolutely breath taking and amazing. I love driving home everyday and pulling up to my gorgeous house!! Cathleen's crew showed up on time and were respectful, hardworking guys!! A couple of them have been with her for over 20 years. They were quick to get started, making numerous large beds all around the house, putting new top soil and creating beautiful edging throughout. Then they put all the plants where they were going to be installed and had us analyze and approve before digging the holes and planting them. They shaped up/pruned the crape myrtles, dogwoods and our existing plants and the mulched everything. They completed the entire project in one day - it was amazing!! They left everything neat and attractive - wouldn't know they were ever there with the exception of the beautiful yard!! Cathleen followed up several times to see if we were still as happy as when she left (even happier) and we will definitely use her over and over and recommend her to all our neighbors!!

We were not satisfied. We thought the final result was not worth the price. The quality of many plants we thought were inferior. For example, after 2-3 years, several of the holly trees installed are weird looking and not growing properly. I learned never to accept installation of plants and especially trees unless you have approved them beforehand. Also, the overall appearance of the front yard never came close to the proposed appearance, for which we paid $400 for a color computer image. The company did finish the work requested. The company also replaced several plants that died within the one year warranty.

They always do a great job, I would highly recommend them!

IT WAS A GOOD VALUE FOR THE MONEY. THEY DID A VERY GOOD JOB. THERE WAS NO DAMAGE DONE TO MY PROPERTY OR LANDSCAPING. I FOUND THEM TO BE VERY COMPETENT AND THOROUGH