D & J LANDSCAPE CONTRACTORS

Donna and her crew were a delight to have around. She was great at communication and frequently checked in to make sure everything was progressing as it should. The job entailed a lot of heavy lifting of large concrete pieces and boulders and her crew did it with gusto, seeming to really enjoy each other and what they do. In the front were able to implement a very specific landscape plan which had been drawn up by a designer. I’ve had so many compliments on the yard in general, and specifically the boulder wall from neighbors and passers-by. And in the back they were able to take a rough plan and tweak it creatively to create a raised bed and patio, the scale was perfect for the large space available and which really transformed the back of the yard. I would definitely use them again.

Began communicating at the end of February, and she came out to look at the site a couple weeks later. At the beginning of April, I was given a very brief description of services and a price that seemed a bit high. She had made some assumptions about the project by looking at plans, which I believe is what made the price so high. We both consulted with the landscape designer to make modifications to bring it within our budget, which I communicated clearly, but was told she would review those changes and get back to me after the weekend. Two weeks passed and I never heard a word back, and ultimately had to find another contractor to work with. I got the impression that our project was not important or high dollar enough to give it the proper attention. I understand that this is a busy time of year, but the fact that we had been communicating for so long, then totally dropped, was really disappointing. It was a waste of my time, as well as the designers, trying to work out the details. When I communicated that we had gone with someone else, she responded quickly to tell us how busy she was and wished us luck.

Donna was awesome to work with. She was very professional, kept commitments, very responsive to questions/concerns.. We always knew where we stood with the project. She offered suggestions for a couple of areas in our yard that weren't initially in the scope of the project (i.e. drainage issues) - which we were grateful for. Her crew was great too. Brian did a beautiful job with the bubbler pathway. Jesus and Brian put in a lot of effort on the entire project. The project was completed quickly, in about 6-7 business days. We were pleased with it all! Highly recommend Donna and crew.

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Demolished front yard. Regraded. Installed a French Drain. Installed new sod. Planted new perennials. Installed pavers and gravel for side yard service area. All work done on budget.

I gave D and J's last moderately-sized job for us as the above example. In fact they were here in April and yesterday (5/8/2014) for routine maintenance. D and J has been our landscaper for 13 years or more. Donna and Jamie are real professionals in their field - landscape design and maintenance. And, they are fun! They have redesigned and completed all sections of our garden in stages; this is a double lot and we have a lot of garden. Designs are creative and functional. One was two sections of bluestone patio; when they were not satisfied with the drainage, they revised it and it's great. Their communication is always straightforward and frank; they won't hesitate to tell us when a certain planting is not a good idea in this climate or in some particular location. They are careful with subcontractors and demand the best. When we get anxious about spring cleanup for a party, they are there! We and they have been an excellent fit, and you can expect personal attention as time goes by.

The project went well overall. It occurred a little earlier in the spring than I would have preferred but I knew I needed to fit into the contractor's schedule so I did not ask for it to be delayed. As a result of the timing, and probably also the particularly wet and cold spring we had, not all of the plants could be planted at one time but that did not cause any significant hardship from my perspective.My only substantial complaints are the irrigation and the lack of the contractor's commitment to the one year warranty. The contractor replaced three plants that died during the summer, but did not replace nine others that were sick or dying, even though I was clear about their condition, which, of course, they also saw for themselves both last summer/fall and this spring, a year later. Based on where the irrigation lines were placed in relationship to the plants, and the fact that it was not a point-source system, I believe seven of the plant deaths were caused by lack of water. They did have an irrigation contractor add emitters in several locations but not all of the locations and it was already too late for some of the plants. I believe the contractor has the expertise to do a good landscaping job, but needs to commit to their warranty and needs to revise how they construct drip irrigation for a design plan that is 100% plants. I would not use the company again in the future as I have used a different company for a similar project since then and am much more pleased with all aspects of the work.

Donna and her crew arrived when they said they would and finished when they said they would. The whole process took 4 days. A few plants were not available and had to be delivered and planted later. Donna also checked back several times in the weeks following the installation and replaced a couple of plants that didn't make it. I had three contractors bid on executing a landscape design prepared by a Donna Giguere (different Donna from D and J!). I told all three my budget was $5000. One gave me a bid of $10,000 and one never prepared a bid (and also never contacted me to tell me wasn't going to bid). Donna of Dand J was the only one who was willing to work within my budget. The end result is beautiful and I get compliments from passers-by all the time.

We did not choose this company for our backyard project but she was the first person to get a bid back to us for a walking path and paver patio. She was very prompt with email replies and coming out to our house (twice), however she was very scattered in conversation. During the first site visit, I would try to describe something and she would move onto another topic without letting me finish, and once she became distracted by something unrelated that she needed to take a photo of with her phone. For the patio she came in ~$3,000 less than other bids (four in total), which was completely shocking, and admittedly tempting financially. After a little investigation as to why she was so much less, we found out that she would omit the sand layer in the patio construction, which led us to wonder what other shortcuts she would make and whether we would really and quot;get what we paid for.and quot; She is a smaller company with less overhead cost but so were two other companies that were getting bids from. We did not look at any of Dand J's completed projects since we became wary of the project quality, and also because we decided other items to our project, like zonal irrigation and lawn re-grading and seeding, which is why our project total was so much more than the ~$9000 for the 450 sq ft patio.

Donna and Jamie were always very responsive and willing to spend any time we required, walking the property, answering questions, and brainstorming potential changes to the initial plan. Their crew and subs were all great. They did all sorts of high-touch things such as bringing samples of pavers to contemplate, meeting us at a pottery store to help select just the right pots for our new plants, and making detailed notes on the original plan so we'd remember what was planted where. We really liked the personal touch of a smaller operation, but never felt we sacrificed quality or experience. Donna has a really great design sense and was able to help us sort out the original design and figure out how to alter it to really fit our space. Basically, Dand J are very good people - honest and hardworking and professional.