Avant Gardening and Landscaping Inc

It went well. They notified me of possible dates and came when they said that they would. They left messages about what was done and information about the job.

They have done it for 3 years now, and did an excellent job on first visits, 2nd visits were somewhat sloppy this year. But they are very expensive. Becky is great and helpful and responsible. The owner is not.

I would probably give them A's all the way through. The price was a little steep but other than that they have good communication, they are responsive. They do what they say they are going to do and clean up after themselves. I think they are a good company and yes I would use them again.

Garden has never looked better.

Excellent! Ross, did a very thorough job of cleaning the yearly accumulation of muck from the pond. Instead of just adding more rock to the bottom, he took rock that had slid down over the years, and manually replaced it on the various higher shelves in the pond. He then added additional gravel as needed. He had to remove the large planting of reeds by removing all of the root systems that had grown under the rock to get the reeds removed. It was not an easy job. Of course, all of the filtering material was completely cleaned and pond start up chemicals were added. He arrived on time, was very patient about my requests, and did a very thorough clean up prior to his leaving. He was very professional and took a real interest in the job. Our pond now looks like it did when we first installed it. This is the third or fourth time in a row that they have serviced our pond. We could not be happier with their service.

It went very well. I really like this company. They were on time, they got back to me when they said they would. The workers were very courteous and I was very pleased.

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It was a very positive experience. They worked very well with us to find out what we wanted. They did things when they said they were going to do them and told us what they were going to do. They were efficient and they did a nice job.

The reply to our request for an estimate and home visit was fast. We had asked if they could work us into their schedule to accommodate getting the work done before an upcoming family event and they did a great job getting us wrapped up in that timeframe and the walls look great. We had several follow up questions after the job and the responses were very fast. We would for sure recommend them for work to anyone and would use them again in the future.

Their price was a little higher than the one we ended up going with. But, we liked their design and we found them professional. They responded quickly. They quickly presented designs and were very responsive to our questions.

It was absolutely wonderful working with owner Liza Lightfoot and her staff. Everyone was knowledgable, creative and patient. Communication was easy - a wonderful collaboration. Everyone stressed Avant's goal of creating a landscape plan that we loved and that grew in beauty over the years. Liza and staff brought a sensibility to the project that is difficult to describe. There are many discrete points of interest, however, the overarching achievement is the masterful placement of rocks and plants, reshaping of the garden and lawn in the front/side yard. The yard went from a pass through area to a "stop and sit a while" outdoor room. It is restful, nourishing and stimulating at the same time. We love it.On the more practical side, the job was started as anticipated and completed on schedule and within budget. The landscape ground crew worked efficiently and well together - a delightful group. Liza was always available if a question came up, as happened occasionally with the placement of a tree or rock, or if it was not clear how to execute the plan on the land. Liza's exacting standards were demonstrated when she had staff re-do a small part of the path and the placement of large two trees. She also was present when the crew came to place the fence panels to insure that they were located for maximum effect. This interplay between owner and work crew played a critical role in getting the project done "just right".We rated Avant Gardening and Landscaping, Inc. "Excellent" in all categories because they are!

Liza, the owner of Avant Gardening, came to our house for several design meetings and listened closely to what we hoped for--a garden that looked its best in the fall and had a slightly Asian look, a graceful transition from our house to the street, and some privacy screening. She took those raw ideas and came up with a beautiful plan we never would have thought of ourselves. Her crew showed up promptly each morning, were always courteous, and informed us of progress made or questions they had at the end of each day. If we asked for a change, for instance in the way the steps were laid out, they made the change immediately, without complaint, and without charge. The plants Liza chose for our garden were absolutely perfect--a slightly Asian look with low maintenance. She mixed colors and textures like an artist--our garden looked like no other garden in our neighborhood. It was quite the talk of the street, too. I can't tell you how often people stopped by to compliment us. In fact, when we sold our house, everyone who looked at the house commented on the incredible curb appeal, and I've no doubt that wonderful landscaping helped us sell in a mere 4 days! I would definitely hire Avant Gardening again, and I can recommend their services without hesitation.

We called to get an estimate on planting 3 shrubs. They wanted to charge a transportation fee and they were only 14 miles away. I felt the minute they found out we lived on the west side of Madison the price went up (to $125). I got someone to do it for $35. I chose them because they were at the Green Expo at the Alliant Energy Center. They had very nice brochures. It's possible our job might've been too small for them.

Our initial consultation and design services went well, and the team that was sent was very pleasant. That was it for the positives. Plantings were incorrect, both in the type of plant and placement, and when we called to ask about the placement the project manager argued with us and told us we were wrong. Upon visiting the site, however, their story changed and we were told that plans were simply "a guide" but that if we wanted the correct plants in the correct place they could do that for us. They claimed to have removed weeds and old plants, and turned the soil, but by the day after they left the entire yard was full of weeds and there was no sign of tilled soil. Again, they made excuses and refused to accept responsibility, but upon "redoing" it we saw an immediate and lasting difference. Finally, the yard is basically ugly, and we will be working for several seasons to move and replant items. There seemed to be nobody on the team with an eye for design, other than the original designer who is no longer with the firm. Worst customer service I have ever experienced, and very poor landscapers.

I made a frantic phone call to Avant s office. I was told that virtually everyone was gone for the day. However, the person on the phone was able to reach Liza, with whom I had dealt earlier. She called me almost immediately and assured me that she was on it. She arrived with a two woman crew shortly after dark. I was able to illuminate the area and they worked, in miserable weather, with pick axes to break a path in the ice and release the threatening water. We subsequently discussed ongoing snow removal to create diversion path in advance to avoid problems caused by unseasonable tricks of nature. There is no way to exaggerate my gratitude to the crew who came out after hours in dark, wet, miserable conditions. They knew what to do and did it.

They came to do the first round of installing. They did it while I was at work. When I got home, much of it was done. They didn't do a lot of it to plan. With the changes that they made, what we wanted to achieve, wasn't. It resulted in goals of the plan not being achieved. I called our contact, who was the designer who came out to see it and was quite upset. She asked me if the owner could come tomorrow so she could see what happened. It almost looked as if nothing had been done. The pavement stone was not near what was on the plan. It was just not functional. With the grating and the grass, you could still see it was not to grade. Water pooled in areas with little rivers running down, so the grass did not grow. When they had finished the first round, they still had a couple of plants that needed to be planted because they were out of stock. The next day, I got a call from the owner. I was ready for her to apologize and ask when she could come see the work. Instead, she told me about the workers coming to plant the remaining plants and confirm the remainder of the payment. She had no knowledge of the problem when I told her, she told me I should talk with the installation supervisor myself to resolve the problem. I told her that I didn't think it was appropriate. The owner then said she would get back with me. She still had not apologized. Then, they sent me an agreement letter with what had needed to be done to resolve the problems and complete the contract. Their initial letter was grossly insufficient. I had to spend a lot of time articulating the issues to a level of detail required to try to work with these people. It almost looked as if nothing had been done. I improved the letter in order to complete all of the issues. It took some back and forth, but we finally got to an agreement. The day they came out to do the things based on the letter, I came out to check the work. They were widening the plan area in a manner that was butting up against a birch tree and not to plan specifications. The plan was right there. I invested a lot in a plan that they had to start with, and it just did not turn out the right way. In the front, there are still a couple of loose stones. They were supposed to come out to repair them, but they still have not and now it is winter time. They have not even called. We were planning on doing more work with them in the future, but not now.