Recommendations for landscaping companies

[lovingit]

We had Jo over for a bid and so far he was the most expensive of the lot. He does nice work but not double the price nice! Won't be calling him back. I wonder if he jacks price up for OH.

what did he quote you for what work?

 

[Paris167]

We had Jo over for a bid and so far he was the most expensive of the lot. He does nice work but not double the price nice! Won't be calling him back. I wonder if he jacks price up for OH.

what did he quote you for what work?

front landscape is simple stone steps with soft scape and back yard is also stone in one section and synthetic grass in the other, sides with cement and a simple water feature in the back. Nothing crazy, very simple. And capella you know the lot sizes are small to begin with. He came in at > $60k - for what? Literally close to double all of our other bids. So maybe like someone mentioned he just gave us some crazy price because he's busy and doesn't need the work. And the only reason we called him was because the sales center at Capella recommended him. How does he get these sales people to recommend him, do you think he bribes them?

 

[JL-CG]

we used KS landscaping based on TI recommendation and we are happy with them.  we talked w/ Uncle Joe and his price is about 30% higher than KS landscaping

We used KS to do a small backyard job for us (they dug up and replaced some of the soil in an existing planter, removed some tree roots, and installed irrigation, some trees and gardenias in that planter). Andru was great to work with, easy to get in touch with, and their price was reasonable in comparison to the other quotes that we received. He and his crew were able to turn our desolate planter into something much nicer, and something that we would not be embarrassed of.

The only issue that we've had is that our gardenias are struggling big-time and most of them may not make it through this year. Andru's come back to our house on multiple occasions and has suggested a few different options to help the gardenias along but, thus far, nothing seems to work (the leaves are turning yellow; in some cases, the gardenia plant is completely dead). The last time we spoke (in October or November of 2014) he made a comment about how gardenias may not have been the right plant to use, given the sun exposure and soil. This was a surprise to me since this was the first time I had heard him express this sentiment.

If I had any criticism of KS, it would be that they should have warned us BEFORE the job that gardenias may not have been  right for our project, especially when we had told him that we wanted something low-maintenance. As the professional landscapers, we relied on them to recommend the right type of plant to use in our planter, so we've been disappointed that we paid for something that may not have been right for our project from the get-go. With that said, he was extremely professional, easy to work with, and seemed to really care about making sure we were happy with their work.

 

[lovingit]

Jo gets a kick back i am sure. His work is whatevers.  He isnt that creative. Old school designs.

Anyone cheaper with creative designs?

 

[eyephone]

We had Jo over for a bid and so far he was the most expensive of the lot. He does nice work but not double the price nice! Won't be calling him back. I wonder if he jacks price up for OH.

what did he quote you for what work?

front landscape is simple stone steps with soft scape and back yard is also stone in one section and synthetic grass in the other, sides with cement and a simple water feature in the back. Nothing crazy, very simple. And capella you know the lot sizes are small to begin with. He came in at > $60k - for what? Literally close to double all of our other bids. So maybe like someone mentioned he just gave us some crazy price because he's busy and doesn't need the work. And the only reason we called him was because the sales center at Capella recommended him. How does he get these sales people to recommend him, do you think he bribes them?

Uncle Jo aka Jo, did a good job branding his name, showing the previous jobs to potential customers.

Who ever you pick, make sure that person is licensed. You can read on a different thread about another landscaper, and the stories people went through.

 

[lovingit]

We had Jo over for a bid and so far he was the most expensive of the lot. He does nice work but not double the price nice! Won't be calling him back. I wonder if he jacks price up for OH.

what did he quote you for what work?

front landscape is simple stone steps with soft scape and back yard is also stone in one section and synthetic grass in the other, sides with cement and a simple water feature in the back. Nothing crazy, very simple. And capella you know the lot sizes are small to begin with. He came in at > $60k - for what? Literally close to double all of our other bids. So maybe like someone mentioned he just gave us some crazy price because he's busy and doesn't need the work. And the only reason we called him was because the sales center at Capella recommended him. How does he get these sales people to recommend him, do you think he bribes them?

Anyone else you can recommend? There are a lot on Houzz but a lot of them take jobs that are $100k +
We are looking to stay around $30-40k.
http://www.houzz.com/professionals/landscape-contractors/c/Irvine,-CA

 

[Paris167]

Does anyone know why HOAs require you to keep 2 feet from the wall for any structures you build like water features or built in BBQs?
Why do they all have that rule? Is it a city requirement?

 

[aquabliss]

I thought it was a city thing but my contractor said every HOA is different.  Basically the wall is their responsibility so they're trying to reduce the possibility of damage by having large trees and structures too close.

My HOA requires 3 ft setback for fireplace or any tree 24" box or larger.

 

[eyephone]

Does anyone know why HOAs require you to keep 2 feet from the wall for any structures you build like water features or built in BBQs?
Why do they all have that rule? Is it a city requirement?

Paris for your backyard you want:
Front and back landscape, Built in BBQ, Outdoor Fireplace, water feature, fake grass/stone, and cement

[previous posts: you mentioned outdoor fireplace so I added in, but you may have changed your mind]

All that mentioned above, doesn't sound simple to me. The landscaper would need to get permits to move/extend the gas line for your built in BBQ, permit to run the electrical wire to put an outlet for the water feature.

In regards to the materials,  I would not get cement, instead I would get pavers.

 

[Arman]

we used KS landscaping based on TI recommendation and we are happy with them.  we talked w/ Uncle Joe and his price is about 30% higher than KS landscaping

We used KS to do a small backyard job for us (they dug up and replaced some of the soil in an existing planter, removed some tree roots, and installed irrigation, some trees and gardenias in that planter). Andru was great to work with, easy to get in touch with, and their price was reasonable in comparison to the other quotes that we received. He and his crew were able to turn our desolate planter into something much nicer, and something that we would not be embarrassed of.

The only issue that we've had is that our gardenias are struggling big-time and most of them may not make it through this year. Andru's come back to our house on multiple occasions and has suggested a few different options to help the gardenias along but, thus far, nothing seems to work (the leaves are turning yellow; in some cases, the gardenia plant is completely dead). The last time we spoke (in October or November of 2014) he made a comment about how gardenias may not have been the right plant to use, given the sun exposure and soil. This was a surprise to me since this was the first time I had heard him express this sentiment.

If I had any criticism of KS, it would be that they should have warned us BEFORE the job that gardenias may not have been  right for our project, especially when we had told him that we wanted something low-maintenance. As the professional landscapers, we relied on them to recommend the right type of plant to use in our planter, so we've been disappointed that we paid for something that may not have been right for our project from the get-go. With that said, he was extremely professional, easy to work with, and seemed to really care about making sure we were happy with their work.

If your biggest problem and gripe is just that your gardenias aren't doing well and may not have been the best plant selection, consider yourself incredibly lucky. There are horrible horror stories with regards to landscape, and having experienced horrible landscaping issues myself, I wish that a single plant selection was my biggest problem.

 

[Paris167]

Does anyone know why HOAs require you to keep 2 feet from the wall for any structures you build like water features or built in BBQs?
Why do they all have that rule? Is it a city requirement?

Paris for your backyard you want:
Front and back landscape, Built in BBQ, Outdoor Fireplace, water feature, fake grass/stone, and cement

[previous posts: you mentioned outdoor fireplace so I added in, but you may have changed your mind]

All that mentioned above, doesn't sound simple to me. The landscaper would need to get permits to move/extend the gas line for your built in BBQ, permit to run the electrical wire to put an outlet for the water feature.

In regards to the materials,  I would not get cement, instead I would get pavers.

Oh I know we initially wanted all of those things but the quote we got from Jo was only for the water feature with stone flooring and synthetic grass. We were just going to run the lines and get BBQ and fireplace later most likely but we didn't even tell jo about running those lines.

So his quote was for stone patio, synthetic grass. Cement was only for the side yard where trash cans would be.

 

[PS2012]

We have had problems with gardenias as well.  It looks like all of our neighbors who planted gardenias on our side of the street have had issues with the yellowing of the leaves.  Actually, a lot of our plants turned yellow in general - I think it's the soil here, as well as full sun exposure during the day time.  It's been consistent throughout the neighborhood.  We eventually swapped out our gardenias for something more suitable once they started dying off.  They weren't pretty to look at anyway with all the yellow leaves!

 

[JL-CG]

If your biggest problem and gripe is just that your gardenias aren't doing well and may not have been the best plant selection, consider yourself incredibly lucky. There are horrible horror stories with regards to landscape, and having experienced horrible landscaping issues myself, I wish that a single plant selection was my biggest problem.

Yes, you're right that we've been incredibly lucky. I just wanted to let people know that, although we enjoyed working with Andru and KS Landscaping, it was not a perfect job, by any means.

We have had problems with gardenias as well.  It looks like all of our neighbors who planted gardenias on our side of the street have had issues with the yellowing of the leaves.  Actually, a lot of our plants turned yellow in general - I think it's the soil here, as well as full sun exposure during the day time.  It's been consistent throughout the neighborhood.  We eventually swapped out our gardenias for something more suitable once they started dying off.  They weren't pretty to look at anyway with all the yellow leaves!

@PS2012, what did you swap your gardenias out to? We were going to check out Roger's Gardens for ideas on drought-friendly plants but would love input.

 

[OC troll]

Does anyone know why HOAs require you to keep 2 feet from the wall for any structures you build like water features or built in BBQs?
Why do they all have that rule? Is it a city requirement?

Paris for your backyard you want:
Front and back landscape, Built in BBQ, Outdoor Fireplace, water feature, fake grass/stone, and cement

[previous posts: you mentioned outdoor fireplace so I added in, but you may have changed your mind]

All that mentioned above, doesn't sound simple to me. The landscaper would need to get permits to move/extend the gas line for your built in BBQ, permit to run the electrical wire to put an outlet for the water feature.

In regards to the materials,  I would not get cement, instead I would get pavers.

Oh I know we initially wanted all of those things but the quote we got from Jo was only for the water feature with stone flooring and synthetic grass. We were just going to run the lines and get BBQ and fireplace later most likely but we didn't even tell jo about running those lines.

So his quote was for stone patio, synthetic grass. Cement was only for the side yard where trash cans would be.

You should be seeing alot more of Jo nowadays. I heard he moved into Capella. I have a friend that lives there and he's working on landscapping one of the homes right now. Not sure how much they're paying but its stone work all over and they're trimming out the driveway.

 

[aquabliss]

JoJo moved into Capella?  Business must be good.

Maybe he can give Paris a discount now since it would be a short commute to the job site.

 

[OC troll]

Maybe thats why he has higher pricing now, to pay for that Capella house 

 

[zubs]

It's funny how driving a beater pickup truck will get you more construction work than driving a nice car.  People will think you're cheaper than the competition that drives the escalade.

 

[liveatoc]

It's funny how driving a beater pickup truck will get you more construction work than driving a nice car.  People will think you're cheaper than the competition that drives the escalade.

 

[eclipxe]

Mahe's work in Baker Ranch has been superb. No complaints from any of my neighbors. I much prefer his work to MK's work.

 

[mms2020]

Mahe's work in Baker Ranch has been superb. No complaints from any of my neighbors. I much prefer his work to MK's work.

Is that work recent (with in last year)? His work has deteriorated a lot as he has gotten busier. If you are interested in knowing more, search this forum for recent comments about him.