We have a large yard and parking strips with no lawn, just ground covers, trees, azaleas, rhododendrons, etc. About 4 years or so ago we realized that we were unable to keep up with the weeding maintenance and also wanted to get help with pruning and other gardening tasks. Over that 4 year period, we had 2 different landscape services who came every other week and raked, ran the blower and did some weeding. The most recent landscaping service didn't really weed at all and after we were gone for a couple of months, we came home to a terrible weed problem, which we tackled ourselves in a number of areas. It was time to find someone new. We hired Essential Gardeners a little more than a month ago and we have been extremely pleased with their professionalism and attention to detail. The first major weeding task was to remove grasses from one of our ground cover areas that had been just getting worse and worse over the years even with the other landscapers supposedly taking care of it. Our 2nd landscaper didn't even touch it even though we asked him to just about every time he came (and when we were gone, who knows what he did). A crew from Essential Gardeners removed all of that grass and all of the rest of the weeds in our planted parking strips and after a month, we haven't seen a single blade of grass grow back. Pretty impressive! They also did some reparative pruning on a couple of cherry trees that our last landscaper hacked at and they purchased and planted new ground covers in an area we needed help with. They meticulously hand weed with real weeding tools (our other landscapers pulled stuff out with their hands when they did get down and weed, but mostly relied on their rakes, which has created hard packed areas where our ground covers just stopped growing into). Also, the raking by the other landscapers raked out new little plants we put in and broke off the sprouts of the old things we'd planted that come up in the spring. Suddenly, some of the ferns we planted years ago are appearing again! We feel very fortunate to have found Stefany and Kim, we love their cheerful gardening crews, and we love the work they've done for us. We've finally found gardeners who understand about hand weeding and do an amazing job of it. We look forward to working with them long term. read more

I accidentally found Essential Gardners when I was looking for someone to come in and help redo a pathetic looking yard that I have been neglecting for the past months. Based on such good reviews that they had, I contacted Essential Gardners and left a voice mail as to the help I would like. Stefany returned the call promptly the next day and was very attentive in her follow up communications with me to help shortlist some plant varieties that I might like, types of services that could fit what I was looking for and estimated costs associated with their services. Before the week of the services, Stefany also made sure to contact me again so that I knew the exact date they were coming in. The date of the service Stefany and team arrived on the date as promised and did such a wonderful job transforming my sadly looking garden into a lively one. I didn't even have to stay home to monitor them while they work..and upon returning from work..I was really happy with the job they have done. This is the first time I used Essential Gardeners to help me with a small garden landscape makeover...but as I am very impressed with their work quality, honesty, and attentiveness to client needs, I am actually using them help tend my garden on a regular basis going forward as well. read more

Update: I see that the owner has responded and is doing a fine job of displaying the defensiveness and hostility that colored our interactions last year. None of my emails to clarify or specify obvious things like the pruning of hedges that were spilling into the driveway were outlandish or out of scope as indicated. Throughout our brief relationship, I tried to give these guys the benefit of the doubt, but simple questions were met with the aggressive attitude you see below. Mine is not the only review to indicate this level of unprofessional behavior following service that was incomplete. I definitely do not make a habit of negative reviews (this would be my first and only to date), but I did want to do my best to provide what I feel to be a fair recap of my experience with Essential Gardeners in case any others find it of use. I certainly wish I had paid more attention to the review that was so similar to my experience. I stand by my one star review. I acknowledge that some work was done and therefor did not go down a path of "if I could give no stars..." However there is no part of me that could recommend this company to another. read more

We've been using Essential Gardeners for several years now, and their work is amazing. We have a very highly visible front yard/hill, and get comments constantly on how great the landscaping looks. Highly recommended! read more

Essential Gardeners has worked on our lovely garden for several years now. Super professional and knowledgeable. They keep our plants very happy. My partner and I bought our house with a garden, but we know little about gardening, so Essential Gardeners is, well, "essential!" read more

Quality timely service. The owner Stefany is well organized, transparent, and knowledgeable. Her time are responsible and timely. A joy to see the finished product. read more

Kim and EG Crew! You are beyond amazing! You have made me one HAPPY Gal! Thanks to you my garden is actually a "garden" again, is bringing me joy, peace and looking forward to enjoying the season! After years of chipping away on it by myself, I realized I wasn't getting anywhere, and it was starting to stress me out a bit. Plus, back issues. They took on a big task, IN THE SEATTLE SPRING RAIN, by weeding my front and back gardens, taking out a small, sickly apple tree, unchoking a beautiful, old lilac tree, spreading mulch and spreading joy! I can't thank you enough and am excited to keep working with you on a regular basis each year! read more

After meeting with a number of companies who gave me enormous quotes for what seemed like a simple project, these ladies came out and quoted me a very reasonable price. They also had some good design ideas and, though they were booked out a bit, they worked with me to find the earliest possible date (and one that would be logical for the changing season). They banged the job out in 1 1/2 days, came in under their estimate and even threw in a couple of extra plants for no additional charge. I never have to look elsewhere for my gardening needs and I am very happy about that. read more

Essential Gardeners was such a great find! After wading through dozens of possibilities, we finally decided on them, and we couldn't have been happier. Kim, Stefany, and their entire team are PHENOMENAL! They are great to work with, and they make the entire process easy from start to finish. Prices are extremely reasonable, and the quality of work is better than you will find with anyone else. Stefany has a great understanding of plants, and she helped us decide on species to fill out terraces, rockery, shady path, and yard. In one day they turned our eyesore of a yard into something we are extremely proud of. Our yard has already received rave reviews from neighbors, and it has only been one day! We are having them back to work on something else in a few weeks, and we will be using them for years to come! I will recommend Essential Gardeners to everyone. read more

If you have a yard with lots of northwest native plants, Essential Gardeners is just who you need. We have used their services at two homes over more than 10 years now, and have never once been disappointed. The have numerous trained horticulturists on staff and are very knowledgeable. I like to tinker around in the garden and have done much of the planting myself, but I cannot keep up with the pruning, weeding, raking, etc. Stefany and her crew have been great about scheduling to ensure that the garden looks nice year round, and always are responsive to specific requests for transplanting, hedge training, etc. They have eliminated fungus and a parasite on several rhodies and other shrubs using pet-safe sprays. Nichole has gone above and beyond researching issues for various plants and recommending interventions. They regularly make suggestions (pet-safe rabbit deterrent, plant choices, etc) that I appreciate. And they are so, so nice and polite. read more

Essential Gardeners has been helping us in our yard for over 5 years. Our yard went from a jungle of daunting weeds to a garden that is so enjoyable to relax in and now it attracts a variety of song birds and hummingbirds. They worked each month within our limited budget to divide the work up in chunks we could afford. The transformation happened really quickly! I couldn't believe how fast the weeds in our big city lot disappeared (10,000 sq ft of weeds mingling with plants)! The whole team is really knowledgeable and works very hard. They work on a regular basis to help keep our garden from getting out of hand. The owners and whole staff are friendly and professional. I would highly recommend them for garden design as well as regular maintenance work. read more

Essential Gardeners, LLC (EG) are the ones I refer my real estate clients to. Whether they need help selecting the right plants; need their unruly backyard tamed; or want to create a new organic garden space; EG are the ones to call. The customer service Kim, Stefany & their team provide is unmatched in the industry. I wrote a blog post about them, as well. Read more here: http://www.listedbystephanie.com/Blog/Spotlight-on-Local-Business-Essential-Gardeners read more

Our garden has never looked better than it has in the past several years that Essential Gardeners has managed it. Stefany redesigned our whole front garden, choosing beautiful drought tolerant plants that continue to do well. The team doing the work is extremely knowledgable and experienced -- Essential Gardeners does not hire random laborers, these are stable long-term employees with a commitment to the work. Communication with Kim and Stefany was easy via email, and when I had immediate needs they made time for me in their busy schedule. Also the cost is reasonable for this quality of work. read more

Six years ago we moved into a house on a corner lot with mature growth that was a bit neglected. We had a budget we needed to stick to and we didn't have a huge vision, we just wanted to clean it up and fill in as needed. They heard us and worked with us and the yard looks amazing. We get compliments on our yard all the time and I always give credit to Essential Gardeners. read more

We have been using Essential Gardeners since 2006. We use them seasonally for yard maintenance and have had them help us out with special projects as we have redesigned the spaces in our yard. Specifically, we are gradually turning our home and yard into a permaculture homestead. We do a lot of the work ourselves, but are actually quite inexperienced gardeners. Stephany has been very helpful to us in this process in that she understands our overall vision; provides high-quality design and maintenance services that are consistent with our sustainable, organic garden; and she willingly provides us with answers and advice when that is what we are needing to tackle projects on our own. Stephany and her whole crew are wonderful. We would highly recommend them! read more

Stephany and her 2 workers were absolutely amazing. I couldn't recommend them more highly. Their price was very, very reasonable. So easy to talk to them. Go Essential Gardeners.''''Do contact me for a reference. Carmelpope@comcast.net read more

Essential Gardeners did a fantastic job getting our large and overgrown yard into shape in June. Everything about interacting and communicating with Kim and Stefany -- walk through & consultation, estimate including several options for follow up meetings and continuing yard maintenance, scheduling, actual service provided -- was professional, friendly, reliable, straight forward, and prompt. The team did exactly what we discussed (removal of weeds, cutting lawn borders, trimming, clean up) and even stayed under the projected price. The yard was in pristine shape after they were done. They really understand and care about plants and listened to what we needed. I contacted three companies for estimates and Essential Gardeners offered to do more for less than the other outfits who were just going to weed-whack and not actually remove roots. Also, a nice touch was the first thing Kim said when he stepped into our yard ("What a nice yard! You have great plants!") rather than "OMG, what a mess, this is going to be very expensive," which was the reaction of the other two companies. I couldn't recommend them more highly! read more

Wow. For some reason, I didn't see Kim's response to my review of their work. I'm in the process of hiring a landscaper for another bit of work and noticed their response. They said they have pictures. They don't have the pictures of the pruning that they claim to have. At least, they never showed them to me, did not take pictures when I was present, and I could certainly show you pictures of the shrubs and trees that obviously weren't pruned. (A hedge, for instance.) They did not offer to come back (without charging more) or I would have gladly taken them up on it. I am not complaining about paying the price. It would have been fair if the work we agreed on had been done. Since they just did some weeding, it was way out of whack. Their misstatements deserve this update. They have some positive reviews. I can only assume that they skirted doing a decent job at my place because they figured I wouldn't be around to catch it. So, if you're there while they're working, maybe you want to try them. I haven't called them again. There are plenty of talented gardeners. read more

Prompt. Polite. Knowledgable, very knowledgable. Needed a clean up, but wanted someone who knew plants as there are many on our large property with varying degrees of need. Lisa and her crew were on time, worked consistently, cleaned up very well, and now I can go out and now I own the yard, it doesn't own me. Thanks! read more

I met Stefany Muller of Essential Gardeners LLC when she came out to estimate how much it would cost to trim my overgrown English Laurel hedge. She told me that the job was too big for her crew. If so, they should state clearly on their website that they only prune 2 inch high hedges; mine is only about seven to nine feet tall. It's not like I live in Kensington Gardens! In fact, she couldn't find anything in my yard that she wanted to work on and was very snobbish in a "nice" kind of way. Anyone else would have seen dollar signs, since my yard is very neglected. When asked what to do about my weed and moss ridden front lawn, she suggested I ask my neighbors, whose grass, by the way, is as bad as mine. Granted it was pouring down rain, and Easter Sunday, but her lack of enthusiasm was very insulting. She parted by saying that I should get a landscape design and then call her back. Not in a million years!!! read more

Stefany and her team were beyond amazing. So easy to work with, Essential Gardeners always responded quickly, they gave us a contract that we tinkered with so there were no financial surprises, and Stefany took charge even when I was unavailable during the big planting day. She worked around all my limitations and was totally fine with just emailing me a list of plants so I could pick my favorites while at work. I trusted her completely. When I came home to a beautiful yard, I knew I made the right decision. Not only will I use Essential Gardeners again, but I would recommend them to everyone who needs a new yard and/or yard work. read more

These guys were amazing. They were by far the lowest estimate for installing a landscaping plan done by someone else, and they came in right on the nose, after several substitutions and additions initiated by me. It looks great, faithful to the plan. Stefany is an excellent communicator and business person. Everything happened exactly when and how they said it would. I highly recommend them. read more

We so look forward to continuing having Essential Gardeners in our garden. They have wonderful vision, are always prompt and easy to talk to. Everyone leaves our yard better than they found it and they are fun! Thank You! read more