If you have a big, expensive project and want to let someone else design it, this company may be very good (look at the photos on their website), but if you have something small, or your own idea of what you want, look elsewhere. They were up front about having a minimum project cost of $10K. I was willing to pay at least that for work on combination of several gardens around my yard. I took Mark around the yard and told/showed him what I wanted to do. Several weeks later (and much longer than he said it would take), I went to his office to look over his plans. Nothing in the plans had any resemblance to what I told him I wanted. He wanted to rip out all the perennial flower beds that all my neighbors and I love for their year-round color (I even get many compliments even from strangers walking by). His plans replaced them all with "Japanese gardens." He told me he's been doing Japanese gardens for years, but what he wanted to do was, at best, Japanese-inspired gardens because they defied a lot of Japanese garden design principles. I've spent a lot of time studying Japanese gardens, including 2 weeks touring Japanese Gardens in and near Kyoto Japan with Judith Clancy who has written a book on the subject, so I know what is and isn't a Japanese garden. There is much more to Japanese garden design than putting rocks and trees in together. EDS did landscaping for a neighbor a number of years ago. The work in front is lovely, However, in back there are 5 evergreens that looked very nice when planted, but were placed too close to the house and now that they have grown will have to be taken out because the branches are rubbing against the siding and the trees are blocking windows. One of the berms installed and another area also became overrun with European Snow on the Mountain that required Roundup to eradicate it. read more

Mark designed the front of our home five years ago, replacing the old sidewalk with curving pavers and replacing shrubs. The pavers are in a nicely designed pattern, beautiful, but the pavers have begun to settle unevenly in places. Our chief regret is that we didn't check into all three dimensions of the design, to recognize in advance a WATER FLOW PROBLEM. The design incorporates several mounds instead of things on a level/evenly sloped plane; this means that 1. water is not directed away from the foundation of the house 2. rain washes wood chips and soil from the mounds downward. It's impossible to maintain an effective edge between a mound and lawn or driveway, because gravity fights its stability. The plastic edging got buried almost immediately after installation. Where mound meets driveway, it flows onto the concrete sloppily. Another 3-dimension issue is that the shrubs (which looked good on the paper sketch, and which he claimed were all dwarf) have grown into view-blocking too-large-for-the-space monsters. I'm suspicious that the reason for the mounds is that it required minimal excavation. Soil should be amended for its future use! In some places, when I've attempted tucking in a couple annuals, the material just an inch down is class 5, which is not hospitable for plants. We will be having someone else excavate for proper slope and to replace the shrubs; we'll again have a view out the window, but wish we wouldn't have had to spend the money twice. read more

We have used EDS twice and absolutely love their work and the owner Mark. We used EDS initially to do final grading (which our builder could not figure out) and to do the initial landscape plan and installation - see photos. This year we had them come back out and add a fire pit (Photos coming) and as always its quick, painless and AMAZING! read more

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We used EDS a few years back and couldn't be more pleased with the result. I would suggest that you trust the vision. I was skeptical of the plan as it was presented, because he was using trees that I was unfamiliar with. Now - five years later everything he predicted has come to pass - the ornamental oaks in our back yard are stunning and hold their leaves through the winter which gives us a huge privacy break from our neighbor's yard for all but about one month of the year. The ground perennials are filling in nicely and provide beauty and interest. And the use of stone work breaking up the rubberized border creates a tremendous natural look. Again - I was skeptical, but over time my appreciation has only increased. Workers were professional, diligent and VERY cognizant of making sure they kept my yard in good shape. read more

EDS did our yard and site several years ago and still looks fabulous. Always highly talented for everything theyve done over the years from small to large stuff . Owner Mark is top of the class - perfection, creativity, quality, interest, and track record some words that come to mind ! read more

It was awesome to finally discover an exterior design group who could execute a unique contemporary landscape design in the Twin Cities. The work was outstanding and the job was completed from start to finish in just two weeks. The crews were professional and courteous and Mark the owner was always available to answer our various questions. We would highly recommend this company. read more

I would not recommend Exterior Design Studio to anyone. There are other companies who stand by their work, and EDS is not one of them. The work is fine, but if anything doesn't come in, good luck dealing with Mark. When we moved in last October, we had Mark out before the winter to make sure we didn't need to protect the plants. He said "nope, you don't need to do a thing". Come Spring, we lost multiple trees and bushes, some to animal damage b/c they weren't wrapped, and others did not come back up. Had he told me, I would have wrapped the trees. He would not do anything about it "unless we did more work in the backyard." His terms state that he won't replace animal damage, but he also doesn't send out contracts so you can't hold anything against him regardless. I've never bee more disappointed in a small business owner's response to a problem. Do the right thing for your customers, Mark. read more

Exterior Design Studio has been my sole landscape design company for the past 19 years. They've landscaped every home I have lived in and I would not dream of using any other company. I've referred them to my friends who have also become happy customers. Their landscape designs are nothing short of amazing. I value the knowledge, creativity and quality customer service Mark brings to the table. He or one of his office staff always follows up if I have a question. Most recently, I wanted to re-design a section around my back patio. I also can't say enough great things about the crew who came to my home to complete the work. They were attentive to every detail and made the new section of my patio my favorite to date. read more

We had them design our landscaping in the back yard. The designer Mark is very good. Prices may be a bit high, but the end result was up to our high expectations. Very skilled crews. read more

We used them a while ago and found out later we were totally taken advantage of! They quoted us over 100 plants and only put in about 15, plus they re-used several of our existing plants, then never reduced their bid to reflect that they used our plants and stones, at no cost to them. The salesman was extremely high pressure and when I asked to think about it to talk to my spouse he said NO and the price would go up if he left my house without me signing. I should have known better! But now I don't want anyone else to get ripped of by them. The work they did was very generic and many of the plants and roses died the next season. We called and they said they would not be under the warranty because we can not prove we watered them enough etc. Very sneaky way to get out of standing by their work! We contacted them several times and even showed them the mock-up they made us didn't match up with the work they actually did, but they would not do anything for us!! Please do not use them! We can't get our thousands of dollars back, so all we can do now is warn people about how bad of a company this is and hope it does not happen to anyone else!! read more