The team at Urban Landscape Group is phenomenal. I spoke to multiple local landscaping companies…read moreand got multiple quotes, and not only was the UGL bid lower than the others, UGL's vision was leaps and bounds more creative and beautiful.
We took a very "organic approach" to managing this project. Rather than pinning down every choice in a formal proposal, one of the owners, Jeffrey, said, "Look, if you're comfortable with it, let us get into the yard and make decisions as we go, rather than creating a set plan ahead of time." He gave me a broad strokes vision of where he wanted to go with the yard, but we didn't quibble over the details. I trusted his skills and experience, so I left it in his hands. They came up with a reasonable budget, and they promised they would take good care of me, and I agreed to stay flexible to their process. I will admit, I was a little trepidatious at first (What happens if something goes wrong? Can I really trust these guys to deliver if I don't have a set plan I can hold them to?), but I was so impressed by Jeffrey's vision and demeanor, I decided to take a leap of faith (rather than demanding that every element follow a set, legally binding layout).
Man, that was such a good decision. They delivered on their promise, and created for me an absolutely gorgeous yard. Totally custom, not at all a cookie cutter design. I seriously couldn't be happier. Plus, the project ended up costing about $40K less than the next lowest bid I got, and they delivered 2X what any other landscape firm offered. It's such great work, people have knocked on the door to ask who did our yard.
This company really, truly cares about residential projects. A lot of landscapers see projects like ours as side work that they get to only when their large commercial clients are happy. Not so with UGL. You can tell that they really just ENJOY the process of making someone's home into a paradise. Such a breath of fresh air.
Also, it's been about 3 months since they installed the yard, and they're still taking good care of us. Jonathan, their plant specialist, stopped by my house after the freeze this year to see how things were looking and give me advice on spring maintenance, and they sent someone over--free of charge--to do minor repairs on a gate they built and to re-stake a tree. They've been paid, they've met their legal obligations, but they're still out here making sure that everything is in ship shape.
This is a company you can trust. I honestly wish I had another yard to landscape, just so I could work with them again.