LEGACY GARDENS & TREE CARE

I have had Robert work on my yard for four years doing a variety of things. Everything from landscaping to bed cleanup to tree/shrub trimming. He always does an excellent job and truly cares that his work is more than satisfactory to me.

Robert was very professional in his response to my cancellation.

We had been looking for someone for a while, who was willing to clean up, design and landscape our front yard. After consulting with Robert Mills about what we needed to have done, we hired him and couldn't have been happier with the end result. Robert listened very carefully to what we wanted & gave us input based on his knowledge and expertise. After consulting with him, we were certain that we had hired the right person to transform our front yard into a beautifully landscaped area. Robert cleaned up, trimmed bushes, removed dead and unwanted plants, helped with plant selection (he met me at a local nursery to make sure the correct plants were being selected), planted new plants, helped with irrigation issues and oversaw the design of a beautiful flagstone path, sidewalk and landing. Robert was always pleasant to work with and ALWAYS arrived when he said he would. Robert really listened to what we wanted for our project. At one point, he had moved a bush to an area that we had agreed upon. It turned out that I wasn't happy with the location and mentioned it to Robert. Within a couple of hours, he had it moved to a new location! We have been so happy with his work, his work ethic, his ability to listen and his gift for landscape design that we have decided to hire him to maintain our property, something that we hadn't planned on doing. We would highly recommend Robert to anyone who is planning a landscape project. You will be happy with the end result!!

Robert Mills was arrogant and insulting. I was just going to tell him to leave when he said the project probably wouldn't be a good fit. He didn't do any work for us. I wouldn't let him back on my property. We hadn't started a lot of the work we were doing, so he couldn't see what we wanted. All he could see was an old house with ivy, which he referred to as an obnoxious weed. If I can remember his words six months later, you know he was bad.

We were very happy with this latest round of tree trimming. The cute little trees that we planted in the back yard 15 years ago started growing into each other, and with just four hours of judicious pruning Robert opened things up so we can see a little more sky and (more importantly) our trees are not interfering with each other. We trust Robert to listen to our wishes and then carry them out beautifully, and in ways that don't harm the trees. Our first report about Robert was almost four years ago now, and I want to emphasize that he's made a huge contribution to the beauty and practicality of our yard during that time. He knows a lot about trees (as you would expect from a certified arborist) and has made some brilliant plant choices for us, especially around our pond. Highly recommended.

The first stages of the work have been completed, and we feel that we found the best professional help that we could imagine. Mr. Mills returned to begin work exactly as arranged and then worked quietly and efficiently over several days. His level of professional knowledge and skill is most impressive, and at the same time, he shows that he enjoys his work and that he is engaged in creative problem solving throughout the project. He communicates very clearly, does careful research as needed, and provides clear emails to explain options for our review. We intend to continue working with him in the coming months; it's a relief to see our gardening problems solved so well.

Robert Mills spent three plus days pruning, weeding, cleaning up and mulching our front and back yards. Robert is a very hard worker and makes sure that the job is done to our satisfaction.

I've worked with Robert for a number of years now and my landscape has never looked better! When we first met, I was about to have my whole yard 'remodelled'. He had great ideas and worked well with another outfit who razed the landscape, put in full-scale irrigation, hardscape, and sod/plantings. He made sure that the trees were planted correctly, for which I'll forever be grateful. Since that time, we talk almost weekly about our ideas (mainly his) as to what needs to be tweaked, moved, and tended. He has come up with excellent ideas for adding rockery walls, trees, and plants to give the entire space an overall polished, yet relaxed effect. Everywhere you look there's something interesting to see or smell. Robert is very easy to work with, very knowledgeable, and has good connections with other outfits in the area who do ancillary yard-related work (spraying, mulch and bark, rocks, etc.). And who knew he could do irrigation work? He's also very cognizant of what works and what doesn't work in the Pacific Northwest. He's definitely well worth the money.

Robert came out in early summer to provide an estimate to hedge our out of control cedar hedges / trees as well as clean up some fir trees (and anything else that we should be doing). We had recently purchased the house and didn't know where to start. He walked through the yard (front and back) with me, commenting on the status of the trees and commenting on maintenance tips for some plants. He loves trees and plants and does have strong opinions about the care and maintenance of plants. For me, that was great because I really know very little about gardening. It was nice to have someone opinionated to help give us a direction. He does not actually do the tall tree work, but recommended another company to do that work. I needed to discuss it with my husband, before we moved forward. I completely lost track of this project as I was focused on projects inside the house. While Robert was here, we also discussed future options of redoing the yard in a way that would require less maintenace (hedging) - that would be a more natural landscape. That will be down the road several years, but it is good to know of someone who would be good to help with a project like that. In August, Robert contacted me to follow up as I never got back to him. We decided to move forward with him and he coordinated an estimate meeting with the tree guy (arborist). They met here at the house. Robert did a walk through with me prior to bringing the arborist around - so he could make sure we were on the same page. He then took the arborist through the yard and discussed the work. I recieved an estimate from the arborist company and we decided to move forward and have the work done. Robert was out yesterday - with 3 guys from the arborist company. Robert answered the arborist questions, and only came to me with things if we hadn't discussed them. They found a few little trees that we didn't know about (behind other trees) - and they needed to know what to do with them. They did the job as requested (and took out a few extra trees that came up). It looks great. They hauled away A LOT of debris!! While Robert was overseeing, he did a bunch of general pruning - including rhodedendon pruning, shrub trimming, laurel removal, etc. We paid him an hourly rate for the pruning work. The amount listed above was ONLY Roberts work. The tree work was billed seperately. Before leaving, Robert also mentioned he does general gardening work at a lesser rate - and could come back to really clean up the yard over about 2 days. Some of the cleanup would likely result in areas requiring new plants and we'd probably want to mulch - and he would do or coordinate all of that. We are discussing the additional work, but will likley need to put that on hold and attempt to maintain it ourselves to try to save money.

He was very helpful, honest and truthful.

Robert is very thorough and extremely knowledgeable. He was very upfront about his schedule and informed me he would not be able to start work initially. He kept me posted by email as to his availability, and when he was ready to go, he did was very prompt and thorough. He did beautiful work pruning my garden, which has a lot of mature plants and trees which needed shaping, he and replaced a number of plants and installed drip irrigation to keep them thriving, then mulched it all. Robert is probably not the least expensive per hour, but because of his expertise and hard work, he is definitely worth it Robert also was upfront that he didn't do lawn installation, but he was able to coordinate with his brother to do that portion, which is also top-notch. My garden looks really wonderful, and I couldn't be happier, and Robert will be doing a monthly follow-up for odds and ends that will come up.

Initial interview was done. A landscape design was conceptual and not put on paper. Sod was removed and beds were worked. Subcontractors did rock work and drainage. Trees and large shrubs added. All beds mulched.

My wife and I are very pleased with the job done by Robert Mills of Legacy Gardens and Tree Care. We recommend him highly.

Robert is very thorough and does excellent work! Our yard has never looked as good (even when new) as it does now that Robert has completed his work. We contacted Robert because we wanted to re-do the landscaping in our front yard which included a slope that had been difficult for us to plan for and which tended to be either too wet or too dry. Robert's plan included installing rocks to help with the drainage/erosion issues in that area, reworking and amending the soil in all areas, and selecting plants appropriate to the site. Robert is extremely knowledgeable about plants and what works well together yet solicited our input and opinion throughout the entire process. He kept us informed about what was happening every step of the way. He was also able to refer us to someone who could design and install the path we wanted and worked closely with him to coordinate the path and additional rockwork that was needed into the overall design. Robert's high standards gave us confidence that his referrals (someone else came in to remove trees, stumps, and sod) would also do an excellent job (which they did) and we appreciated that he was there to ensure that everything went as planned. It was exciting to see the makeover take shape bit by bit and have nothing but good things to say about the entire process. Because we could see that Robert was so thorough and exacting in his work, we could enjoy watching the project evolve without feeling like we needed to make sure every detail was being addressed appropriately. We could see that it was. We're hoping to have Robert tackle the backyard next!

In a word - excellent! the details of how things progressed are written above. We are planning to retain Robert for regular care of our garden and look forward to continuing the business relationship. Robert is very predictable and keeps his promises. There were no unpleasant surprises. The only surprise was how beautiful things turned out.

Robert Mills arrived on time each of the two days he worked on our expansive overgrown yard. He took no breaks or even a lunch. Certainly an artist to his work he carefully analyzed each tree, shrub and plant before making each cut. At my choosing, I worked along side of Robert each of the two days asking questions and gaining a GREAT education from a true professional with extensive knowledge. We talked of moving a large rhodie. He will do that in October or November. He suggested the dozens and dozens of rhodies throughout the yard be pruned in June to open them up after they bloom. Each of his suggestions was greatly appreciated.

He met with me and we walked the property and discussed what I felt needed to be done, and he gave me his input. He is a very professional man and knows his stuff. I was very comfortable with him and his work was done promptly and orderly. I would and will use him again. Very trustworthy and good!

Excellent! Robert was on time for the first meeting, walked the yard with me, listened to what I thought needed to be done, advised when asked. Outlined work as he saw it and then said he would provide an estimate via email that night. Which he did. He also told me his schedule and how he would fit in my job before he left for an extended vacation. He clearly set my expectations as to when he would begin work and when he planned to finish. He was at my home for the better part of three days. During the day he would check with me to make sure things were going as I wanted. He clearly knew plants and trees and wanted to leave me with a yard I could be proud of. We have already planned to meet at the end of January for him to draw landscaping plans for several areas that need planting. I will have him do this work too. Robert is very conscientious and detailed in his work. He is knowledgeable and very nice to work with.

I think Robert does an outstanding job as an Arborist, but he doesn't move at the pace I would prefer. He insinuates himself into work that he doesn't really need to be present for. For instance, we were transplanting trees and he requested several times to be present for that, but I didn't want to incur the additional cost. The landscaping company did a wonderful job of transferring without an arborist. I would hire him on an annual basis for trimming. I will continue to use him on a strictly arborist use only.

This was the second major job for which we've hired Robert. I noted in a previous report that Robert is NOT the guy you call if you want the cheapest bid in town. Instead, he's the guy you call to come fix the problems created by the cheap contractor you hired two years ago. In our case, that was literally what we had Robert working on: fixing the goofy things that the previous landscaper did. If you care about quality, and you want the job done right the first time, Robert Mills performs. He's extremely detail-oriented. He works on the jobs to the standards he would want in his own yard. We've found Robert to be reasonable about bids. He'll start with an estimate for getting the job done according to his very exacting standards. If that's more than you can afford, and you ask him, "What can you do for X amount," he'll let you know and come up with a plan that works for you. Robert really knows trees and how to make them thrive. They always seem to be happier after he works his magic with them.

Bob responded to my email promptly and set up an appointment to look at the yard and the trees that needed work. At my request, we went through the yard thoroughly, as I had a number of areas of concern and potential projects I was considering. We agreed on the trimming of the hedge, the removal of a small diseased tree, and the pruning of several trees that needed it. In the process of working on one tree, Bob had an idea of how to rescue the sprawling pine so that it would be esthetically pleasing and well mannered. We had considered removing it, which we didn't want to do. This took about an hour or two and the tree is lovely now, so it was well worth it. Bob hauled away the debris and followed up promptly with suggestions for trees to plant in the fall if I wanted to go ahead with that.

I had originally called Bob Mills to do some tree pruning and other landscaping last spring. At the time, we talked about adding some trees and removing and replacing some that were diseased. He suggested some varieties that would be appropriate for the area and the growing conditions and would match my esthetics. He emailed the suggestions to me, with links to pictures that I could look at and consider until the fall, when we had agreed would be a good time to do the planting. When fall came, he returned and we walked the yard, looking again and in more detail at the specific planting sites, and agreeing on first and second choices for trees, depending upon availability of good trees at nurseries (selection is better in spring, but fall gives the tree time to establish itself before summer drought). He advised me about extending our irrigation system to provide drip to each tree (this work was done by another company, as he doesn't do the actual irrigation itself). While I was away on vacation, Bob planted the trees, digging properly sized holes and amending soil. He has suggested some further pruning on a maple tree in the yard but wants to wait until after the tree drops its leaves to save stress on the tree.

I wanted to have an arborist instead of just my day to day landscaper come to prune my trees, because I was afraid of what a clip happy landscaper might end up doing. Robert did a fantastic job. Before he started doing anything he spent time making sure he knew what I wanted, taking care to make sure I understood what impact it would make overall on the trees. He checked in at the end before he packed up to make sure I was 100% satisfied. He also made recommendations and was able to send me pictures of trees as potential replacements for the inappropriate ones put in by the builder. In addition, I liked that he seemed to have a good sense of aesthetics, not just the health of the landscaping.

For a complete overhaul of an existing property, Robert coordinated with a landscaping company to ensure that all plant materials and irrigation were appropriate for the site and its conditions. He made excellent suggestions for alternative plant materials that give more color and character to the property. He supervised the planting of the trees and larger plants. Since the overhaul, Robert has been working weekly to maintain the look and feel of the property. He is quick to spot trouble areas and to suggest organic solutions which he then implements. He's done an excellent job maintaining the area and has made great suggestions for improvements. As for costs, he did not charge me for the time and effort he put into the planning and coordination process. His ongoing rates are reasonable given the type of work he does. (the cost stated above is approximately what I spend monthly for care of a large property during the busy summer months). Fantastic working with him to evolve the property! He's very personable and professional.

Our yard and garden had been neglected for two years. To make matters worse, the pruning that had been done was unprofessional and caused more harm than good. While the landscape had good potential, the work required a professional. Robert completely renovated my garden. Shrubs were expertly pruned, plants were placed in more appropriate locations, debris was removed and the entire yard and garden received a good composting. Robert showed up on time for the initial appointment and for one follow-up appointment. I was very impressed with his knowledge of the trees and plants in my yard along with his readiness to educate me on their names and general information. When he finished the project (ongoing) my garden was beautiful. In the weeks that followed I noticed plants blooming that had become almost dormant. My yard is full of birds and small wildlife and very much enjoyed by my family.I did not receive an estimate for the project, but was told price would be calculated by time and materials. The final price was right about what I expected...no surprises.