Several weeks ago, I decided it was time to have a few landscaping projects done. I called EIGHT…read morelandscapers. The first one I called was an acquaintance of mine. I scheduled with him twice and both times, he never showed up. I then checked his Yelp reviews and I'm kind of glad he didn't show up. Another landscaper came to look at my projects but never produced an estimate or returned my calls, one had a sky high price, another told me he couldn't start until October so I just cancelled that appointment, and the rest just never showed up for the estimate. Then I talked to Paul. Most of these landscapers I talked to were pretty gruff and had voices like they'd been gargling with gravel between cigarettes. Paul answered the phone and in his soft angelic voice, he asked about my projects and agreed to come out for an estimate the next day. My projects were a scattered mish-mosh because we'd neglected the exterior of our home. While our home was featured in Better Homes & Gardens back in the 1980's, I'm not a "yard guy," so I did basic lawn maintenance and let everything other than the grass go to hell. Paul followed me around my hillbilly yard and patiently listened to my ideas while offering a few of his own. By that evening, he emailed me an estimate with itemized prices so I could pick and choose the jobs that fit our budget for this year. I hired Paul and his crew to install a short retaining wall around our above ground pool, a small paver pad for the pool pump to sit on, and I also had them revitalize our kids' play area with landscaping paper and fresh mulch. Just yesterday, I got an estimate for weekly lawn care from another landscaper (Paul's lawn crew doesn't work in my area or else I would have hired him). I asked this new guy what he would have charged for the projects I had done by Paul. This other landscaper was $600 higher on the retaining wall and paver pad, but $200 less on the play area. So, considering the overall price, Paul was very competitive and I came out ahead based on the one sky-high estimate I got earlier and the estimate this new guy quoted after the project was already done. I'm extremely happy with Paul's pricing and for what I got, I would say his price was beyond fair. As for what I got... Regarding the quality of the workmanship, it's top notch. His crew came out and busted their butts all day long for two days. They worked through the rainy morning one day and had the job completed on time. In fact, the job was actually completed a week ahead of schedule because Paul had a cancellation and squeezed me in early. On top of all that, his crew did a little extra work for free. I had a couple bald spots in my yard and they saw me throwing some grass seed. I didn't even notice this until they'd left, but they used some of the extra grass they pulled up from the retaining wall area to fill in a couple divots and bald spots. The yard is looking great, the projects they completed look absolutely wonderful, and I'll never look for another landscaper again! Paul is now my landscaping go-to guy. As a Realtor, I don't often get clients looking for landscaping work, but he just replaced the guy I used to recommend (the one who blew me off twice). In the end, I'm an extremely satisfied customer! His price was great, his timing was perfect, his finished products were beyond my expectations, and I'm very happy knowing that I've got a very reliable landscaping professional that I will feel confident recommending to clients!

Still waiting for business to come over and give us a quote for our project won't know if we hire…read morethem until they see what we want and price

They returned and did the job correctly. They stand behind their work. I am very pleased with the…read morework.

I actually found AKUI's on Nextdoor. I live in a condo and I represent my HOA. We had a mess in the…read morefront of our condo. Neglected weeds, uneven retainer bricks, and dying shrubs. I called AKUI's for an evaluation/estimate as this was going to be a big project. We wanted the bricks to be realigned or replaced and new mulch put down. AKUI's first cleaned up the weed growth then went to work with the bricks, which were very difficult to remove and realign. I can recommend their services very highly! We (HOA) and our unit owners were very happy with the results. The manager I met, Curtis, is very personable, but more importantly he is excellent at what he does. He's very detail oriented and he took me through every step of the work process. The communication with this company is excellent and their prices are very competitive. They also finished the project in a timely manner. I highly recommend them for your landscaping projects and we (the HOA) will most likely call them back for maintenance.

We were left without a service when my last guy decided he was done cutting lawns after many phones…read morecall I was given Brendan's number and we could not be happier with the service provided.

Cut Right Landscaping provides phenomenal service! Brendan is fantastic to work with--always…read moreprompt, professional, and thorough when explaining projects. Their maintenance is top-notch and incredibly detailed. Any additional projects I've had completed have been handled smoothly and with great care. All around, this is an outstanding company, and I would highly recommend them to anyone!

Hired RAM to do a blue stone project. We had horrible weather and these guys did a great job…read moreworking around difficult environment. They did a great job, and made some nice suggestions. The price was fair and work excellent. Gave us advice on maintenance...we couldn't be happier.

They did some brickwork in our backyard and though it looks really nice, they damaged our…read moreunderground electrical line to the garage in the process, and it took 2 months and hiring a completely different crew to get it running again. I felt it was necessary to warn potential buyers that they didn't yet have the experience to know that this mistake could happen (which I'm sure they do now), and that they initially pushed the blame on us. When I pushed back, they agreed to fix it, but when things got too tough, they gave up and stopped responding. Even though we like the owner and wish everyone well, we were very unhappy with the result.

Papas Landscaping did a fantastic job. Ramiro and his crew were professional, hardworking, and easy…read moreto work with. They replaced my window wells, cleaned up the landscaping, planted bushes, and redid the rock. Everything looks awesome. They went above and beyond what I asked for and paid attention to the details. I will definitely use them again and highly recommend them.

I had a tree that fell on my neighbor's property. I was ready to hire Papas but the neighbor hired…read moresomeone else first. Papas was the best quote I had for the work.

After plumbing repair, we had a trench cut in our concrete porch and asphalt driveway…read more They were able to repair both in one day, quickly and at a fair price. Would definitely recommend

Had my concrete driveway sealed. Jim answered all my…read morequestions and finished the job in a timely manner. Their work went way above and beyond my expectations. I would highly recommend them.

Great job, very responsive, easy scheduling, and they did a very thorough improvement job on my…read moreyard, including moving trees and trimming, as well as mulching the entire space. I would recommend them and would definitely use them again.

On Monday (of Memorial Day no less) I requested a quote to have our front and backyard grass…read morecompletely uprooted, with new sod, and other minor (but important) requests. By Wednesday (less than 48 hour later) the work was completed. The quick response and action was a must have for our situation and the crew impressed me with their efficiency and well done work. The work quoted was similar to others received as well, but the speed in which Dario and the crew could get the work done is what separated their bid. We'll use Dario Garcia on future lawn care needs!

Dario missed his calling in sales. The man can sell confidence by the pallet. Unfortunately, the…read morefollow-through seems to be available only by special order. We hired this company based largely on its excellent reviews and paid a premium price for what we expected would be premium work. The project involved reworking an existing paver patio and surrounding landscaping. Having spent enough time around the construction trades to know good workmanship when I see it, I was disappointed by both the finished product and the amount of supervision apparently required to get the job done properly. The problems began when they discovered they were a few pavers short. This wasn't entirely unexpected--the old patio had two angled corners, while the new configuration required filling out the full square. Dario's proposed solution was for me to spend another $1,200 on all-new material because his supplier supposedly sold the matching pavers only by the pallet. I declined. They ultimately found similar pavers, but they are noticeably different in both color and surface finish. I can live with the mismatch, but after paying what we paid, it wasn't exactly the finishing touch I had envisioned. More troubling were the shortcuts. I was specifically told that proper paver edging had been installed around the entire patio. It hadn't. One corner had no edging at all. Along another side, they reused old edging that wasn't appropriate for the application and left excess material protruding into the landscaping. One of the corner pavers began tilting almost immediately. Along the south side, the solution was essentially to pile dirt against the pavers, lay a narrow strip of sod over it and call it finished. It was difficult to mow and created an abrupt drop at the patio edge. They also managed to puncture my brand-new garden hose during construction. Mistakes happen. What really shaped my opinion of this company was what happened when I tried to get them corrected. After I complained, Dario promised to come to my house between 2:00 and 4:00 the following day. I cancelled my plans and waited. He didn't show and didn't call. I subsequently sent a detailed email with photographs documenting the problems. That generated a flurry of calls and texts. When we finally spoke, Dario insisted on meeting me at the property to go over everything. Fine. We scheduled the meeting for Thursday, August 13 at 10:00 a.m. He arrived at 11:00. To his credit, once we walked the property together, he agreed with my assessment of what had been done improperly and said his crew would return the next day--Friday--to correct everything. Friday came. The crew didn't. When I followed up yet again, I was told they would come the following week. I specifically told Dario that any day was fine except Monday. He acknowledged that and said they would be there Tuesday morning. Naturally, they showed up Monday. I know this because I was in St. Louis and my wife texted me to say the crew was at our house. When I returned Monday evening, I discovered that they had finally reinstalled the edging properly. Progress! Unfortunately, they hadn't replaced the polymeric sand disturbed during the repair, so the newly corrected pavers were left with unfinished joints. Another complaint. Another return trip. Eventually, the sand was installed. And that, in a nutshell, was my experience: the work ultimately got closer to where it should have been in the first place, but only after repeated complaints, photographs, emails, phone calls, missed appointments, changed appointments, showing up on the one day I specifically said I wouldn't be available, and then another call to finish the repair they had just made. I don't expect perfection from contractors. Problems arise, materials don't always cooperate, and crews make mistakes. What I do expect--particularly when paying premium prices--is good workmanship, honest communication, attention to detail, and enough quality control that I don't have to serve as the project's unpaid superintendent. Based on my experience, that's where this company fell considerably short. If you hire them, my advice is simple: inspect everything carefully before the crew leaves, get commitments in writing, and don't assume that because something was supposed to have been done, it actually was. And if Dario tells you he'll be there Tuesday, you might want to keep Monday open.