I'm truly shocked to hear anyone could have a negative experience with Robert. Soils Solutions offers incredibly unique and spectacularly beautiful products. We put their California native no-mow fescue blend in our front and backyard, and couldn't be happier with it. First, Robert is just a really nice guy and I always enjoy talking with him. Second, he's always very thorough, detailed, and prompt in his communications. We installed our grass over a year ago, but I still reach out to him frequently with questions about water, fertilizing, and reseeding. He always responds right away, and he addresses every question in my emails. He has a lot of attachments that give you detailed instructions on how to install and maintain your grass, but if you're confused about any of it, he's there to clear it up. It's like we have a concierge for our grass. It's the best! We're so glad that we found Robert and that we installed the beautiful no-mow CA native fescue blend in our yard. read more

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Unprofessional. Sociopath. Belligerent. Con Artist. Fraud. These are the words I immediately associate with Robert Soloquist. My first interaction with Robert came when my boss (who started our company abroad and hired me to manage his company here in the US) brought on Robert to help sell our plants. Robert was given a generous wholesale cost and expected to promote out product in exchange for that cost. During that time he started to become resentful of me, since I was also expected to sell our product to our customers as well. Robert didn't feel like I was worth talking to, despite the fact I was researching our product and writing support guides after exhausting research in our testing and growing fields. He went to a few trade shows and started to belittle the fact I didn't got to the same ones (I'm running a national brand, I cant go to every little event in ventura county) and continued to act disrespectful to me in every email conversation. I sent him a definitive care sheet based on my research, asking if he'd like to add anything, and he didn't reply. Awhile later he started attacking me via email, telling me that he knew more about the product that I did, even going to far as to prove it by sending me his care guide he claimed he write. He proceeded to send me the care sheet I wrote painstakedly, with only changing the brand name into all caps and putting his name all over it. Blatant and intentionally plagiarizing my research and work. Eventually it became clear he was defrauding his customers as they would call me, the brand ambassador and senior manager, to solve problems he created with his limited knowledge of the product. His clients all said the same thing, he was unprofessional, rude, and accepted no responsibility for problems he created out of arrogance and ignorance. Eventually it became longer and longer to get paid on his invoices. He would order plants in spring, and wait 6-9 months to pay us back. My boss was entirely patient with him, charging him interest as per our agreement, but kept up very definitive paperwork showing his balance. Now it's been several months and he's started to completely refuse to pay his remaining balances with us. He's been dragging our brand in the mud with his poor service and inability to work as a team, and his complete and utter lack of professionalism makes me wonder how he's getting any clients at all. My recomendation is this: do not do business with this man. He doesn't understand business, professionalism, or basic horticulture. Steer clear. If you would like a recommendation for a good landscaper, pick one with far better reviews than this wanna-be thug. read more

Soils Solutions - Here's Robert's oh so unprofessional response when I ask him to repay what he's owed to our company. - Landscaping Near Me

Robert is a leader in the sustainable sod and soil reclamation industry. In the more than 10 years we have worked together he has gone the extra mile at every step to ensure his customers are well served. And never hesitates to trouble shoot or offer follow up aide. Even on weekends or after business hours. And especially in complicated shipping logistics and distribution situations. It is a difficult transition to establish native and sustainable sod products when 99% of people only know how to care for and install conventional lawn. Soils Solutions is one of California's MOST vital companies for developing and distributing native and sustainable sod solutions. Robert himself gives excellent advice and even mentorship whenever he can. Would not hesitate to recommend his products and expertise to anyone or any industry in need of it. He is the gold standard of native & sustainable sod installation and management. read more

Soils Solutions - Clients enjoying their low-water sod solution - Landscaping Near Me

Easy to work with and good value. delivered what we agreed, at the agreed time, for the agreed price, what more do you need

If you're considering working with Robert, I strongly recommend that you listen to the other negative reviewers and run for the hills. This man is clearly either a con artist or one of the worst business owners I've ever worked with. After months of back and forth about when his kurapia would actually be available (and 2 price increases in that time), we finally agreed on a date for the kurapia to arrive. I hired workers to install it and everything was set up and ready. I never received an invoice, but he confirmed the delivery date over email so I assumed I would pay after I received everything. I texted him the day before to confirm that the kurapia was still arriving and when I should expect it, and he told me there was nothing in the pipeline because I had never paid the invoice. I checked my email, my spam, my wife's email, my texts... nothing. So I called him to figure out what was happening. He was immediately defensive, and I was frustrated because I had workers coming the next day based on his delivery confirmation. He kept telling me that I needed to complete the invoice before the order was finalized, but this was never communicated to me so there was no way I could have known this. The only communication I ever received was that the order would arrive on Friday. He quickly got angry, and after a minute or so he said "I'm done with this conversation" and hung up. Then, acting like nothing happened, he sent me an invoice (higher than what was initially quoted again), and pretended that he had sent it a week ago and I just never signed it. Needless to say, I won't be working with him, and I recommend just avoiding the drama and BS of this guy. The home improvement process is stressful enough without adding unprofessional people like him into the mix. I now am grateful that he showed his true colors before I gave him a penny. EDIT: I think the tone of Robert's comment pretty much speaks for itself. I mean, if you want to invite that craziness into your life then go ahead - but I recommend going with someone that doesn't see normal customer inquiries as "bothering" him (his words). For the record, he's lying -- he never once sent me or my wife an invoice. Which would have been fine if he had just admitted that and we could have all moved on... but here we are. And yes, my mom did feature him in a nice story for the LA Times about native grasses, which is how I heard about him in the first place. I never asked for, or even insinuated that I wanted anything for free or discounted. Why would I be asking for quotes if I wanted it for free? What a weird guy. read more

We have worked with Robert Sjoquist / Soils Solutions for many years now and he is our GO TO source for information on the purchase, care and maintenance of California Native Plants and especially groundcovers like his Native grasses and KURAPIA. We truly appreciate Robert's knowledge and enthusiasm for the products and services he sells and he always goes the extra mile with his followup and interest in the success of our projects. He is a truly a great source for these landscaping needs. read more

Thank you, Soils Solutions, with your help executing a large kurapia order. Robert went above and beyond to ensure we received quality product in a timely manner. Highly recommend. read more

Worst customer service I've ever experienced. Manager Robert was RUDE & incompetent to a simple task that couldn't be fulfilled. I now see why they have 1 star rating on Yelp . read more

Very unhappy, I regret. I bought 700 s.f. of Kurapia sod from Soils Solutions LLC to save water replacing grass. It is dying. Needs as much water as my grass. It looks good in the spring with regular watering, but when warm weather arrived it started dying. I tried to get solution to stop the dying from the supplier Delta Bluegrass but insufficient support and no solution. Very expensive, spent over $3,500 for 675 s.f. including grass removal, hauling and dumping fees, and Kurapia installation. Maybe Kurapia needs certain soils conditions to flourish. This information should be provided by sellers. I've read others also have issues with Kurapia. I don't recommend it. It's not worth the gamble. read more

Soils Solutions - the shadow of a person on the grass - Landscaping Near Me

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I'm a general contractor and landscape designer. When clients are looking to install a drought resistant garden and they want a lawn I always recommend bent grass from Soil Solutions. Robert from Soil Solutions is very knowledgeable about alternative lawn materials. I look forward to using the kurapia in future installs. read more

Soils Solutions - Mid-city LA. Bent grass installed for drought tolerant backyard landscape. Great alternative to a H20 thirsty lawn. - Landscaping Near Me

I am a residential customer with little to no ability to grow anything. Robert, of Soils Solutions, has been a God Send. He has walked me through all the steps (sometimes multiple times) so that I would get the beautiful lawn I was wanting. I wanted the Native Mow Free grass to look like a small meadow in my backyard and Robert help me achieve that, even though my green thumb proved to be not so green. Robert was there to help me through the hot days of summer by replying to my email pleads for help, or a phone call when needed. At one point, he even brought in a specialist from Delta to make sure I got the proper advise. I couldn't be happier with my backyard, but more importantly the service provided by Robert has made all the difference in the world. read more

Did you know the definition of CONNNING in dictionary meaning " to inspire confidence. While they do not work for Delta grasses he is their primary distributor for Southern California. 1, i was interested in a particular sod from Delta because their spec sheets said the sod is grown in " bio degradable" netting. Most sods need to be grown in some form of plastic netting to hold it in place. While that is not an issue for most people, I didnt want that. I have reasons, long story... digging dogs and chickens, difficulty in reseeding, tangling in garden equipment etc... . So i usually just prefer to do seeds rather then sod. But after reading the specs, on Delta native sod, and its biodegradable netting, I became interested and called the distributor Robert of Sod and Seeds to ask him what did the "biodegradable " netting exactly entail. Turns out he didn't have a clue and rather then get more information from the compsny, he just made stuff up to make the sale. He said, ."...made with organic compounds that will completely disappear in less the a year. ..., " coco fiber, corn husks, coco-puffs, weed, tweed, and other natural stuff" . OMG The word "natural" and "organic" was a recurring theme in his vocabularies. Well.... Turns out, when I get the sod, the stuff is just grown on plain old plastic netting. Delta grass admitted to the misrepresentation in their spec sheets by saying bio-degradable when really they mean "degradable" which is completely different. It's total BS and it's completely bad business on their part. But at least DELTA admitted it. While Mr. Robert their distributor of Soil and Seed later went on on outright lying tirade full of denial. Claiming we never had this conversation prior to my placing the order. 2. He insisted I purchase a bag of Delta's sure start fertilizer for the sod ... I said I prefer not to use any chemical fertilizers and that I would just use something I already have. Well.... Once again he lied and HE INSISTED that Bollero seed starter is 100% natural made only with feather meal and animal manures. BTW we are literally talking about a 20$ bag of fertilizer. How bad could he want this sale? So we get the stuff, and it's of course 100% synthetic chemicals. . Granular multi colored crystal pellets. Says it right on the bag ! Man everyone has been lied to by sales people, but never with such conviction. For a 20$ bag of fertilizer? "Natural and organic" was the mantra he chanted over and over and over. He would have told me the stuff was made of pixie dust if that is what he though I wanted to hear. 3. Everything arrived a day and a half later then he promised, so late that the landscapers had to leave and bail on me for 2 days in a row. Sitting around waiting, i had to pay them for their time for two missed days. then the stuff arrived partially dead and dried up. I contacted Delta directly on that matter, and they did refund me 100$ but also said that they always give their distributors a realistic delivery schedule to tell their customers. And Soil and Seed should have not told me it was arriving a day and a half earlier. Bottom line, I confronted him on all three issues. And... Guess what. He completely denied everything! - said he never claimed the sod was made of biodegradable netting and said I'm stupid because I can't train my dogs to not dig up the netting. And stupid to get it mandgled in the lawn mower. - Said he never claimed the Bolero fertilizer was organic chicken feather natural crunchy-granola hippy stuff. And why would I want to use natural stuff anyway. - said he never guaranteed me a window of time that he said. And I'm stupid for compensating my landscaper for waiting around for two days. FINALLY he called me a crazy hippy and told me to lay off the LSD..... read more

I found Robert and Soii Solutions on the internet years ago. I'm a landscape designer and was looking for low water alternatives for my clients. So many clients are ready to reduce their water usage in the yard, but they don't want to sacrifice the beauty and lushness of the way traditional lawn looks. I love the native no mow grasses, esp. the preservation mix. There are a variety of grasses that are suitable for different exposures and applications. Lately, I've been using the Kurapia. I design a contemporary project in Venice, we needed a durable groundcover in both sun and shade. The Kurapia fit the bill and really suited the clients needs, as far as style and function. Two months ago, I tore out a 1,300 sq ft lawn and replaced it with the roll in Kurapia, it's absolutely stunning! Robert, has always been delightful, helpful and extremely knowledgeable. He has a passion for his products. He has continuously held my hand on projects and trouble shooting problems. (We had cut worms in Burbank last year ruining the grass, he solved the puzzled over the phone and I found the worms under the established sod) I would highly recommend this amazing grasses, they are beautiful, meadow like and create a sense of movement in the yard. read more

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I had a great experience with this company. Robert was helpful and informative from beginning to end. I decided to replace my lawn w/ a CA native sod that requires less watering but has a beautiful, long, meadow-like appearance called Native Bent Grass. It's also a no-mow (if you so choose) and so it makes for a break from loads of upkeep. Robert gave me excellent advice on how to install and care for it, was honest and accurate about the price and the delivery requirements and was on hand to answer my questions the day of delivery. All this service and I am only outfitting a small residence! I would recommend them to friends, neighbors and businesses alike. read more

I had a bad experience with this company. I ordered Delta Bentgrass Native sod (drought tolerant variety) in July - the order was supposed to arrive in the morning but instead arrived late in the afternoon with much of it burned around the edges - likely sat too long on the truck. We installed it anyway, and Robert assured us with lots of watering it would be fine. Well it wasn't - weeks went by watering like crazy in the middle of a drought with no improvement. Robert agreed to send us replacement sod but it's been months now and nothing. He's blamed us for everything including delayed and faulty installation and does not stand behind his product. My last resort was disputing the credit card charge but I'm not optimistic. If you're lucky enough to get sod that is not burned you'll probably be ok but if there's a problem like there was with ours, you'll be on your own and money down the drain. See pictures of installed sod: https://goo.gl/photos/q3usrQQz8dyYnuWm8 read more

I am a professional landscape contractor and have been installing sod and native grasses for over 35 years. We have been dealing with Robert and his native sod company for over 3 years and the quality of the native sods are consistently outstanding. I love the fact that this company is doing everything it can to make native sods possible to install for southern Californians. As with any sod installation in the hottest months of the year, a bit of burning might result, however, this comes right back once the roots establish. I have found that educating the consumer as to what to expect beforehand will go along way in avoiding disappointment. Be prepared to install it the SAME DAY it is delivered! If you wait, even a day, the roots can dry out. Kudos to Soils Solutions for having the guts to grow native lawns, when NO other sod company is doing so. I hope other sod companies get on the band wagon, or perish the way of the horse buggy. For lots of photos of how gorgeous these lawns look once established, please check out the more than 100 photos I have posted on my facebook page:) read more