Blue Iris Landscaping LLC is a custom design and install landscape company that brings artistry and craftsmanship to your home. We have been designing and installing landscapes that fit the way you want to live in your yard for the past 18 years. The owner and main designer Taylor Elkins has two fine arts degrees (B.S.from the University of Wisconsin and a MFA from the San Francisco Art Institnute) and was in the landscape architecture program at the University of Wisconsin.
Blue Iris Landscaping LLC is ICPI (Interlocking concrete paving institute) certified designer and builders of patios and Allen Block certified designer and builders of retaining walls.
We have extensive knowledge of both native and non-native trees, bushes, and perennials. We can find attractive plants to fit most situations.
We use environmentally friendly techniques and specialize in rain garden, shade gardens and a combination of native and non native plants.
Blue Iris Landscaping LLC has years of experience solving drainage problems in older neighborhood where the houses are close together and yards are small.
Call us and get a free first visit.
Business highlights
29 years of trusted experience
Services we offer
Landscape Design, patios, driveways, permeable patios and driveways & retaining wall design and construction, rain gardens, native and non-native tree, bush & perennial gardens. drainage regrading. Exterior Drain piping installed.
We liked Taylor very much but found communication extremely challenging and were very disappointed in the work. RESPONSIVENESS: We originally contracted with Blue Iris in May 2016, asking to be on the schedule for August. Our job kept falling off the schedule, and our inquiries often went unanswered or were only answered after considerable delay. Blue Iris finally said we were definitely on the schedule on November 1. At that point, we declined to have the work done, concerned that new and moved plants wouldn't have time to reestablish themselves before serious cold set in. Blue Iris contacted us in March 2017 to ask if we still wanted the job done. We agreed, asking to be on the schedule in mid-May or alternatively at the end of August. Blue Iris contacted us toward the end of May to say they would be starting the work in a couple of days. Unfortunately, this meant the work was being done during a rare visit from our son and his family, which made it difficult for us to monitor the work's progress. PROFESSIONALISM AND QUALITY: While we were generally pleased with the regrading, we were extremely disappointed by much of the rest of the work. There was a lead worker, who was skilled, and one laborer, who was not, on the job start to finish; other workers came and went, and the quality of their work was very uneven. For example, while we were happy with the careful mulching one worker did, she came for only one day, and the remainder of the mulching left much to be desired. Quite a few plants—some new this spring—were completely buried under mulch that looked like it had been thrown down in haste. We had to carefully search for the missing plants and dig them out from under the mulch. In addition, quite a few of the replanted and newly planted perennials were not watered at all after planting. They barely survived, and only with lots of effort on our part. A beautiful, large bleeding heart we had nurtured for several years was divided into four or five plants, which were then left lying in the sun in our driveway for hours. By the time they were transplanted to the backyard, they were to all appearances dead. Two large branches were removed from one of our lilacs, but otherwise the trees were not pruned. A good deal of underbrush and some dead wood remain on both, and their overall size is unchanged. Nor was the lawn reseeded where the sod had been damaged or removed. We deducted the pruning and reseeding charges from our payment. The final blow was finding, one month after Blue Iris’s work was completed, that our garden is now crawling with the invasive jumping worm. We’ve NEVER seen these in our garden before, so the only conclusion we can come to is that they came in with the soil or, more likely, the mulch. We suspect the mulch because we find them throughout the garden, including in the beds where mulching was the only work that was done. Altogether a very disheartening experience.
Description of Work: We selected Blue Iris based on Angie's List reviews and a warm recommendation by a friend. We originally contacted the company to regrade the soil at the perimeter of our house as one among several strategies for addressing a moisture problem in the basement. This involved removing plants within the several feet next to the house; bringing in, building up, and compacting soil all around the house; replanting the removed plants; and mulching. On one side, we also needed to redirect rain runoff away from our house and two neighbors' houses. Ultimately, we also asked Blue Iris to redesign a small rock garden in our backyard; move some existing plants and/or add some new plants to a narrow bed in the front yard; mulch our entire garden; reseed the lawn where the work removed or damaged sod; and prune our two lilac trees.
Rating Category
Rating out of 5
quality
2.0
value
2.0
professionalism
2.0
responsiveness
2.0
punctuality
2.0
Barbara S.
08/2016
5.0
landscaping
+ -1 more
Taylor spent hours with us learning what each of us liked in terms of plant types, heights, textures, colors, density, etc. He then created a very detailed plan of exactly what the new gardens that replaced our old lawn would look like. Plants (perrenial flowers and shrubs) were listed by common and scientific name and photos of each were attached as well. This plan was far more detailed and innovative than any other we had gotten. (The plans from other vendors were free and Taylor charges for his planning, but boy was it worth the cost!!!) We had not envisioned a rain-garden at all. The rain-garden and rock features provide varied terrain and interest in what was a flat square yard. His crew then came with both heavy equipment and muscle and dug out our dense clay soil, graded the yard to ensure no water would collect and back up into the basement, buried tubes attached to the downspouts so rainwater off the roof would flow into the rain-garden, positioned the rocks, laid down the flagstone walkway, and planted the shrubs and flowers. The crew was friendly and efficient. Some of the plantings were transplanted from our backyard and that work was done with care for other nearby plants. They also dug out some old lilac bushes (by hand!!) and replaced them with other flowering shrubs we preferred. When they were done,they cleaned up the site and planted new grass where the flagstones has been laying before being installed. The crew were great to have around. Taylor's knowledge of plants is exceptional. And his plan exceeded our expectations. My husband and I tend to like very different things in a garden. I like a lively jumble of plants and he likes spaciousness. Somehow, Taylor's plan appealed to both of us and we are both very very pleased with the outcome.
Description of Work: Taylor developed a detailed plan that met our requirements. His crew then dug out our yard and side garden, created a raingarden with rock 'highlights' replaced our clay soil with a compost mixture, graded the yard, created a flagstone walk and planted a perfect combination of plants so the yard blooms from Spring until late Fall. They also heavily mulched everything.
Rating Category
Rating out of 5
quality
5.0
value
5.0
professionalism
5.0
responsiveness
5.0
punctuality
5.0
Yes, I recommend this pro
$7,000
Stephen B.
05/2016
5.0
landscaping
+ -1 more
As with our first experience, everything went perfectly. We loved the design ideas that Taylor offered; his design skills are really exceptional. The Blue Iris staff is really excellent. They were a pleasure to interact with, and their dedication to and interest in their work was readily apparent. The staff are real landscapers, not just spring/summer temps. We are totally delighted with the finished product, and would heartily recommend Blue Iris to anyone looking for a truly extraordinary landscaping company.
Description of Work: Blue Iris landscaped our entire yard about 15 years ago. We had them back this year to do major tune-ups and revisions. A number of beds were eliminated and returned to grass. Several new beds were created and planted. Significant maintenance and improvement was done to existing beds, including weeding, pruning, new plantings, mulching and edging.
Rating Category
Rating out of 5
quality
5.0
value
5.0
professionalism
5.0
responsiveness
5.0
punctuality
5.0
Yes, I recommend this pro
$17,000
Stephen B.
05/2016
5.0
landscaping
+ -1 more
As with our first experience, everything went perfectly. We loved the design ideas that Taylor offered; his design skills are really exceptional. The Blue Iris staff is really excellent. They were a pleasure to interact with, and their dedication to and interest in their work was readily apparent. The staff are real landscapers, not just spring/summer temps. We are totally delighted with the finished product, and would heartily recommend Blue Iris to anyone looking for a truly extraordinary landscaping company.
Description of Work: Blue Iris landscaped our entire yard about 15 years ago. We had them back this year to do major tune-ups and revisions. A number of beds were eliminated and returned to grass. Several new beds were created and planted. Significant maintenance and improvement was done to existing beds, including weeding, pruning, new plantings, mulching and edging.
Rating Category
Rating out of 5
quality
5.0
value
5.0
professionalism
5.0
responsiveness
5.0
punctuality
5.0
Yes, I recommend this pro
$17,000
James F.
01/2016
5.0
landscaping
+ -1 more
Taylor spent ample time with us getting to know us and what we wanted to accomplish on our difficult lot. He impressed us with his sense of design and extensive knowledge of horticulture. The plan he laid out was beautifully presented. He listened to us and suggested his own ideas for which we were grateful. We appreciated that he was on the job supervising his crew. His crew was very professional. The work was done in a timely manner, and the site was in excellent shape when the project was finished. We have received many compliments from the neighbors. We look forward to doing business with Taylor in the future.
Description of Work: Designed and installed landscaping. We choose not to disclose the cost of service.
Rating Category
Rating out of 5
quality
5.0
value
4.0
professionalism
5.0
responsiveness
5.0
punctuality
5.0
Yes, I recommend this pro
$1
Richard R.
01/2016
3.0
landscaping
+ -1 more
unknown
Description of Work: Landscaping. Bid was accepted in Feb. Work was to start in April. They postponed until late May...then June, July, August, September and they finally arrived in October. We had to initiate phone calls and messages were rarely returned. Very disappointing. But the work they did finally was quite good. I suggest not putting down a deposit until they actually start work or negotiate some other lever to get them to come.
Rating Category
Rating out of 5
quality
4.0
value
3.0
professionalism
3.0
responsiveness
1.0
punctuality
1.0
$10,000
Jue W.
06/2014
4.0
landscaping, hardscaping
+ 0 more
unknown
Rating Category
Rating out of 5
quality
5.0
value
2.0
professionalism
5.0
responsiveness
5.0
punctuality
5.0
Yes, I recommend this pro
Donna K.
08/2013
2.0
landscaping
+ -1 more
I paid for and received a plan. I chose not to go with this vendor.
Description of Work: I paid for a backyard hardscaping plan that was big on rearranging all of my estalished gardens and low on hardscaping. Essentially they wanted to dig up one side of my established garden and put all new plants in. The hardscaping was high in price and didn't offer what I wanted. Then I asked for another plan for my front yard and I've been waiting for that since May. Not only do I not expect to receive it. I don't expect to ever call them back. They are completely unresponsive. No repsonse to emails. No callbacks except one that said they would get the plan to me in 2 weeks. That was 2 months ago.
Rating Category
Rating out of 5
value
3.0
professionalism
2.0
responsiveness
1.0
$200
Alan S.
04/2013
5.0
landscaping, hardscaping
+ 0 more
We were very pleased with the work overall. Taylor is artful, creative, and very knowledgeable. We solicited three bids for our project, and his was competitive. Not the lowest of the three, but very close, and we were convinced that he would do a better job than the company that submitted the lowest bid. Taylor was willing and able to work with us to modify the design and rein in the costs a bit. Everyone on Taylor's crew was intelligent, friendly, and hard-working. They kept us well-informed of their progress and their plans. The foreman, John, was especially outstanding. The work he did on the retaining wall and the patio pavers was exceptional. He is a very hard worker and a perfectionist.
Description of Work: Blue Iris did a major landscape installation for my half-acre property. The work included installing a large retaining wall and steps, a large patio, tree and shrub removal, numerous plantings, and seeding a lawn.
Rating Category
Rating out of 5
quality
5.0
value
5.0
professionalism
5.0
responsiveness
5.0
punctuality
5.0
Yes, I recommend this pro
$50,000
Brian K.
03/2011
2.0
landscaping, hardscaping
+ 0 more
We were not impressed because it took him 2 weeks to return my phone call that I just received today.
Description of Work: I had called this company to get an estimate for planting some plants, build a retaining wall and some grading.
Rating Category
Rating out of 5
responsiveness
2.0
punctuality
2.0
Response from BLUE IRIS LANDSCAPING
We called to apologize to this customer because the message machine garbled the message and phone number and we could not get through when we initially called.
Rebecca K.
03/2011
5.0
landscaping
+ -1 more
Excellent. Taylor is a wonderful man to work with, sweet, smart, and professional, and has a good crew. He was very patient when we changed our mind about things a couple of times, and came back and replaced a tree that didn't make it.
Description of Work: New garden design and implementation, including bed creation, rain garden creation with rock retaining wall, all new shrubs, some trees, and perennials, soil amendment, mulching, transplanting, and advice.
Rating Category
Rating out of 5
quality
5.0
value
4.0
professionalism
5.0
responsiveness
5.0
punctuality
5.0
Yes, I recommend this pro
$30,000
Robert M.
12/2010
5.0
landscaping
+ -1 more
Very well overall, in some aspects superb. In all elements Taylor and his staff were highly responsive to our desires and (occasional) concerns. Integrity level is very high. Commitment to quality work is very high throughout the company. Project management is very good, with the only problem being communication glitches going from the customer-owner discussions to the owner-workers instructions. These seem to be omnipresent among contractors, and certainly better than usual at Blue Iris. The design experience was a pleasure, with Taylor being patient, flexible, and willing to listen and to provide as much information as needed about plants and hardscape materials. As the work was done late in the fall we haven't really seen the plan in its full glory yet, but certainly looks promising! One minor complaint would be that it didn't seem that as much attention was paid to lawn preparation and planting as to plants and hardscape, where I think Taylor's heart lies. The execution of the plan was also a pleasure. His staff were uniformly excellent and committed to high quality work beginning to end. Taylor bent over backwards to coordinate with our building contractor, including accelerating our schedule with Blue Iris to match some cement work. The work was completed in a timely way. The price was fair based on comparison bids - not inexpensive but also not high. One minor complaint was that more attention could have been given to our budget cap and more concern/response provided when we passed through it. I value integrity very highly, and on this front Blue Iris is at the very top. As one example, they built a very large wooden fence and by mistake did not use exterior nails. Very quickly the nails corroded and stained the wood. The fence was rebuilt in a timely way, no questions asked. In fact, they used new wood, which we hadn't asked for or expected.
Description of Work: Complete re-landscape of a small urban lot, including the design work. Patio, wood fence, new beds, extensive perennial and tree plantings, flagstone paths, small retaining wall.
Rating Category
Rating out of 5
quality
5.0
value
4.0
professionalism
5.0
responsiveness
5.0
punctuality
5.0
Yes, I recommend this pro
$35,000
Mary Ellen B.
05/2010
5.0
landscaping
+ -1 more
It went very well. He came promptly, got here on time, and prepared a drawing of the area. I’m not much of a gardener and I told him that up front; he was sensitive to my priorities. I had a limited budget and I was looking for curb appeal. He prepared a suggested solution that came within budget and would accommodate my lack of gardening know-how. He got back with the estimate within 48 hours and he had people here to do the work within a week. The workers that came to do the work were excellent, his recommendations were excellent, and the plantings still look very nice. I was impressed with his work. I was worried at one point because Japanese beetles were shredding one of the plants and he came over within six hours or so to look at it. He told me what remedies were possible and what the outcomes would be. I went with his recommendation to just leave it because the beetles moved on and the plant looked very nice well into the fall. I had one other estimate and Blue Iris was less ambitious and less expensive. He got the work done within the time frame that I needed it done it. He was very professional. Last summer our street was under construction but he and his crew still showed up and managed to get around it. I had a lot of workers at the house and they were very accommodating in spite of everything and they got it done in a punctual manner. I also really appreciate that they gave me recommendations for another flower bed that I had but couldn’t afford to have professionally landscaped.
Description of Work: Blue Iris Landscaping came and did work for me. They removed very old shrubbery and placed some new plants in a small flowerbed.
Rating Category
Rating out of 5
quality
5.0
value
5.0
professionalism
5.0
responsiveness
5.0
punctuality
5.0
Yes, I recommend this pro
$1,000
Joseph T.
06/2008
5.0
landscaping
+ -1 more
He was very responsive. He was very serious. He did the work on time. We had no complaints. His price is reasonable. I would recommend him and use him again in the future.
Description of Work: We used them several years ago. He does landscaping.
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Service Categories
Landscaping,
Pavers and Hardscaping,
Landscaping - Lakefront,
Leaf Removal,
Lawn and Yard Work
FAQ
BLUE IRIS LANDSCAPING is currently rated 4.3 overall out of 5.
Monday: 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Tuesday: 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Wednesday: 8:00 AM - 5:00 AM
Thursday: 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Friday: 8:00 AM - 4:00 AM
BLUE IRIS LANDSCAPING accepts the following forms of payment: Check,Financing Available
Yes, BLUE IRIS LANDSCAPING offers free project estimates.
Yes, BLUE IRIS LANDSCAPING offers eco-friendly accreditations.
No, BLUE IRIS LANDSCAPING does not offer a senior discount.
No, BLUE IRIS LANDSCAPING does not offer emergency services.
Yes, BLUE IRIS LANDSCAPING offers warranties.
BLUE IRIS LANDSCAPING offers the following services: Landscape Design, patios, driveways, permeable patios and driveways & retaining wall design and construction, rain gardens, native and non-native tree, bush & perennial gardens. drainage regrading. Exterior Drain piping installed.