Scotty Landscape Supply LLC

Description of Work: Landscaping

Description of Work: On September 2013, planted new grass seeds without problems. Also done well with snow removal.

Description of Work: Mulch service

Description of Work: Mulch bark, limestone screenings, gravel, stone, pick up and haul. On site work, hard to get quote, and have used Serenity Farm and others.

Description of Work: We had boulders delivered.

Description of Work: I’m so excited to write about the beautiful patio paver and garden area Scotty’s Landscaping put in for us I can’t help myself on the length of this review. The work was started and mostly completed during the last part of 2011 and completed in late spring this year when conditions permitted the final work requiring consistent warm dry weather. The scope of the project was to put in a paver patio enclosed with sitting walls at the back of the house and three exits into the backyard. Surrounding the patio area we included in our design planting areas for ornamental shrubs and trees and other. The existing space consisted of a pre-formed concrete back step and a 10’ x 10’ concrete pad. Grass beyond that with some existing trees which were no longer very viable for the proximity to the house made up what I would refer to as our existing garden/entertaining area. I have a 1 acre lot overall with about half of the green space in front of the house and half in the back. This project initially began in 2010 when my wife and I engaged a different local landscaping company. I won’t mention that business here but we were disappointed with them. It took considerable time to get our $150 project drawing (2 ½ months) and it came in at more than two and a half times the amount we said we were willing to spend as an investment in our modest home located in the country on Hwy 28 just south of Black Wolf Run. We attempted to work the price down with them by using less costly materials but did not hear back from them until May of 2011, and then the price was still way over our desired cost goals. Another frustration with the original firm we called was that we could not get an itemization of some of the labor costs which we wanted. I had hoped that some of the prep work of removing the existing cement porch, slab, sidewalk and steps as well as split rail fence and trees could have been done by us to reduce the cost. In the end we just felt that the first guys just didn't want our business even though we were talking a considerable amount of money for the project. It was after all of that we wanted to try someone else but had no strong recommendations from friends to work with so we decided to just look for someone in the Yellow Pages. Calling Scotty’s Landscaping was basically a decision made by just choosing someone who had been in business in the area for some time. We called Scott Schaefer, the owner, and asked him to come out and take a look. What a great choice we made. Scott was there two evenings later and within a very short time after meeting him we were both very impressed by his energetic attitude, keen interest in working with us, knowledge of the business and explanation of what his company could do for us. Scott reviewed our project drawing and first project proposal, was complimentary of our concept and suggested some variations and enhancements. Since we shared our past experience of the price discussion we had gone through Scott was immediately confident that the project we had in mind could be done within our budget using high quality materials and workmanship. I then asked about some enhancements which had not been discussed with the original bidder because of their excessive price for the basics. The enhancements included low voltage accent down and up lighting, electrical outlets, and some sort of nice but low maintenance water feature. Scott agreed to re-draw a new plan and bid the original project (at no cost to us) and include separately the costs to us for the enhancements. Within 5 days we had a call back to set up an appointment at our home to review everything. When we met again my wife and I were elated with both the redrawn concept, materials proposed (all presented with catalogs he brought along, and best of all his price. His bid for the original project came in at less than 60% of the re-bid amount from the first company, but more importantly, it was under our original budget range. The frosting on the cake was that the water feature and electric enhancements could be added without bringing us beyond our budget range. We hired Scotty’s on the spot. It was early in September at that point and we worked out a schedule that would put them starting our project early to mid October which was agreeable to both of us. Scott expected the project would take 4 to 6 weeks to complete to a 90% stage with the rest coming in late spring because of the warm weather requirements. In the mean time Scott met with us at the Storybook Gardens Center as well as on his own home patio to show us examples of some of the products we would be using for our project. But shortly after we had worked out our deal I had bigger and better ideas for the backyard as a whole and project creep set in. I couldn't have this beautiful patio without some other fairly extensive cosmetic improvements to the rest of my backyard. I asked for additional quotes from Scott for removal and replacement of an existing herb garden with treated wood walls behind our garage that I had put in for my wife that would be conspicuously close to the patio project. I wanted it to fit in with the new look we were about to get. We also had a very messy planting berm nearby which was basically outgrown by tree growth. That had to be redone and would be improved with large flagstone outcroppings. In addition, a full 1/3rd of my backyard lawn that gave me fits for growing grass, was basically dirt, mud or dust, depending on recent weather conditions and I decided I wanted it replaced with a woodland berm with a meandering border where I could plant ornamental trees and shrubs which would attract the birds my wife so loves to tend to. While I was at it, I had always wanted power for lighting and outlets brought out to the garden and equipment storage shed at the back edge of my property. And then of course you get to thinking about how much more you would enjoy the patio experience if it included a built in gas grill and entertainment servicing structure. That required more drawings and proposals to study from Scott which he excitedly provided. We could tell from the calls he made while we worked up a design for the grill that he was really into this new idea. He provided us with the drawing and it was absolutely grand in appearance but very reasonable in cost. We even worked out a concept that would provide needed storage for our charcoal grill and other stuff with minimal sacrifice on aesthetics. Now we only had one small problem and that was that with the footprint of the grill we had outgrown our original patio concept size. Well I don’t have a shortage of lawn to cut in my yard so I said lets expand outward to provide enough sitting area with the grill. More drawings and proposal changes. But in the end we were very happy with the expanded concept and while it was higher in price now than our original project cost boundary we decided that the value was worth it. And we were still in total lower than our first bidder’s second offer to us, even with a much larger project scope Scotty’s began the work in the promised time frame. For the most part the day to day crew was two young hard working guys. One of them was Scott’s project man and was here from start to finish with the other being one of two or three other individuals in Scott’s employ. The lead man, Jake, was a very personable and professional individual. He worked hard, was very friendly, knowledgeable in his craft and seemed to love his work taking very much pride in this project. We eventually found out that although he had quite a bit of experience doing this work this would be the biggest project he had been in charge of to date. He wanted very much for it to turn out well. Rufus, Rob and a couple of others that were here to assist over time were also excellent and friendly workers. At the end of every day the job site was cleaned up well and they took care not to make a mess of the area under construction so that it would be inconvenient for us to use our yard and for our dog. Our retired neighbor made daily visits and always remarked on how great he thought the guys worked and how much he was enjoying our project progress. We had several periods with heavy rains during the timeframe of the project but the crew seemed to be well aware of when they were coming and covered large area under construction with plastic sheeting to prevent a major mess of mud for us. Rain periods extended the length of time the main part of the project would run by several weeks as did the additional things we requested over the initial project concept. It was a good thing that we had such a mild late fall and early winter as they were to finish the built in gas grill just after New Years , that being the last part of the project other than the final touches of cleaning, sealing and grouting the paver surface which was done in late May and early June. Scotty’s Landscaping also did a fantastic job repairing the areas of the remaining law that were affect by the construction equipment.

Description of Work: They trimmed my evergreen trees and put woodchips down.