After meeting with several other companies, it was a relief to meet with Mike. He could see the design we were looking for immediately and was willing to sit down look through our many saved images and see easily how to combine our vision with our budget. He also could take opposing wife/husband ideas and combine them into a workable plan.
We have a large corner lot, and it needed a complete overhaul after ten years as a rental. We did a large hardscape with a water feature, gas firepit with an L-shaped concrete built-in bench, bamboo, sculpted areas of sod for our dogs, irrigation and timing, drainage, and gravel pathways. Mike was one of the only landscapers with whom we met who could say, "I think this is a better option," and we knew he would be right. He improved on ideas on which we were sure that we were firm in ways we hadn't anticipated. Example: we thought we wanted floating "islands" of concrete separated by black Mexican beach pebble, in a fashion we had seen on design sites. He incorporated the pebble into poured bands, because he knew it would eliminate the hazard of the uneven surfaces. In the end, Mike improved on our design in ways that were easier than we'd thought.
The crew was there at the same time each day without fail and did an excellent job in not just landscape and hardscape, but in correcting existing issues, tiling, and other detail work. They knew we had dogs and never left the space messy or hazardous.
Months later, we have a green yard with minimal water usage. He came in at less than 10% budget overage which, if you've done serious renovation, is nothing (we removed 49.7 tons of material from the yard before he started), including some improvements and upgrades that we hadn't considered. We would never hesitate to recommend Mike and his crew. Our yard is a relief to come home to every day.
C R., Thousand Oaks, CA
