I called Steve for a project in my yard that involved water fountains. He asked a lot of good questions regarding the job, was very polite and understanding and told me that was not something he could take on at this time. He was very transparent and upfront about it, and also recommended someone that could work out for us. He helped me, even though he was not going to gain anything from it. I was a total stranger to him. Steve is honest and reliable, and gives good advice. I will surely call him the next time I am looking to get landscaping done around my house. read more

Ecotopes was recommended by a friend and after our first design consultation I was super excited to be working with these guys. I wanted a low maintenance, native only plants in the front yard so the design included much of the area being gravel with a few native plants and a shaded section with shade-loving wildflowers. The back yard has an area where buffalo grass was installed. The guys were very efficient and friendly and kept me informed as to what was going on each step of the way. What I thought was lacking was a plan for how to maintain the plants that were installed. I would appreciate a printout similar to the design layout that gives the name of every plant installed and a brief description of its needs. Barring that, at least an email saying this is what you should do immediately after installation, and then at various milestones after installation (e.g., water everyday, water every week, etc.). Several of the native plants in the front died immediately after installation and Steve did plant replacements but those new ones have since died as well. In fact, half of the plants installed in the front yard have died (or appear to be dead, Steve contends they may not be). The shade tolerant wildflower section of the yard is a mess. It looks like a big patch of weeds and I've followed up a couple of times. The first follow-up was to say that after an extended period of sunshine, warm temps, and rain/watering there didn't appear to be any germination of seeds. Steve advised ordering more seed and provided the vendor and type of seed mix to order. I did so, reapplied seed, and continued to maintain with watering. Temps have been higher and sunshine still plenty abundant. However, everything appears to be weeds so I sought assistance from Steve again to ask how I might identify weed from flower. I also indicated that the replacement plants had died and that I was feeling only 75% satisfied with my investment, which I still consider pretty happy but was seeking help to remedy the remaining 25%. At no point did I question the decisions about types of plants, where to plant them or anything related to the design. I merely wanted help with maintenance of the rather expensive installation Ecotopes provided. Because the initial installation did not provide a list of plants, their characteristics, and maintenance regimen, I felt that a follow up with the expert was not unreasonable, particularly considering the amount of money invested in the project. The response I received was less than satisfactory and dripped with a condescending tone stating outright that I had unrealistic expectations for plant survival and rather than being unhappy with the loss of a few cheap plants instead I should "embrace my role as a steward of the living systems Ecotopes started for me." I don't necessarily disagree with that sentiment either but I would expect a little more customer service from a company that is trying to encourage sustainable landscaping. Sometimes sustainable landscaping is difficult for consumers to embrace because it relies on native plants that aren't always the typical landscaping you see. To help customers fully "embrace" their role as stewards I would simply ask that a little more be done during the execution in terms of providing tips/guidance on maintenance and what to expect or, in the absence of that type of list, a slightly more service-oriented response to concerns from customers after the fact would be welcome. read more

Couldn't be happier with what Ecotopes did for us for us. We had a barren, lifeless backyard and they transformed the space using native plants and creative design. We now have a space that draws in not only our neighbors but also cardinals, owls, blue jays, finches and butterflies. Not only that, we genuinely, liked these guys. They're smart, nice and easy to work with. Our only advice, call them early. As good as these guys are, they're going to be booked solid. read more

We know NOTHING about landscaping, so we hired Steve, Matt, Joe, Mitch, Angelica, & crew to transform our front & back yard. We weren't sure exactly what we wanted, but they took our vague desires & made our yard something to be proud of. They solved a water drainage problem we had from the roof with a gorgeous dry riverbed, they created a whole outdoor room for us in the backyard, and repositioned the entrance in our front yard to really highlight our trees. We highly recommend them and suggest you visit their Facebook or webpage for before & after pictures. We are also really happy that they use all local plants so maintenance will be minimal. read more

My husband and I can't say enough about Ecotopes (and Steve!). We used their services in the planning and landscaping of our can't-do-anything-with-it backyard. We have young kids and zero real time to invest in learning how to make our backyard "work"; we knew we wanted something simple, fairly kid-and-drought-proof, and still nice-looking. "Just do a cactus or two," was the pretty standard recommendation. We're really glad we didn't go that route -- Steve showed us how to bring green (yes, green in Texas) into our backyard and now we can't stop staring out our windows. I'm so happy we've finally got the backyard we always wanted. read more

These guys are AWESOME! They built my fence as well as my carport gate. Check out their website for photos! The quote was fair and timely, they showed up when they said they would, cleaned up when they left, and most importantly did an outstanding job. I have gotten so many compliments from my neighbors on the quality and look of my fence. They do more than fences too and judging by mine I do not doubt that the quality of all of their work is top notch! read more

Our yard was sad, sad, sad. Angelica, Matt, Mitch, Steve, etc. turned our ugly duckling yard into a beautiful swan. Neighbors and others walking by stop and do double-takes (Is this the same yard as before?). Believe it, Ecotopes started almost from scratch. They created a beautiful dry creek bed that wraps from front to back, along the natural slope. They installed zoysia, mulch and stunning native plants all around. In addition, they installed stonework and a steel planter box in the corner of our deck. We now enjoy our yard like we never did before, plus we are proud to show it off. These guys work tirelessly. Check out the amazing before and after photos of our yard (Risovi Residence) on their website. read more

Update: Steve reached out to me after I wrote my review, and apologized for not having gotten back to me originally. He came out to the house and provided several good environmentally friendly solutions to the weeds. We have since bought a flamethrower which really does take care of the weeds in the rocky places, and have used a potent landscaping vinegar on the weeds in the mulched areas. The yard is already looking so much better, and his original landscaping can now be seen. I am no longer feeling guilty that my neighbors have to look at my yard, and really appreciate his consult. read more

We had a great experience with Steve and his Ecotopes crew. Steve was very good at listening to the concerns and issues that we had with our current landscape. For the initial consult he came out to our house very promptly and at a time that worked for our schedule. He was able to give us a ball park price rage upon understanding our needs. After the design plan was done he came in right within the budget we were looking for. Very pleased and honestly unexpected. The crew was super nice and the schedule was so smooth. They work very quickly and efficiently. The finished product defiantly exceeded our expectations. We just received a weekend of Texas storm and everything held up very nicely. The water drainage on our landscape was the main issue and the work of Ecotopes took care of this issue along with making it very beautiful at the same time. I can't wait to see our plants mature! THANKS ECOTOPES! http://www.houzz.com/projects/561092/balcones_woods--1-14- read more

We had some Texas style, low water, low maintanence landscaping done be these guys and where pleased. They knew their plants and gave us a great design. Can't give enough kudos with them and their work. They where ballpark reasonable price wise. They called back when we called, they showed up when they said they would and they wouldn't take full payment until we where happy with the outcome. If anyone wants to turn their yard into a nice Texas rock garden call Ecotopes read more

I saw one of Steve's installations at an Austin Garden Tour and was impressed with his design philosophy. I was very excited to work with him on our project, which began finally in spring 2012. I loved the design for our backyard makeover. Steve and his crew were friendly, and I did love working with them. However, many of the plants were installed in the wrong locations. Many plants designed for full sun were planted in areas that have dense shade. Other issues include their planting a texas buckeye, which according to the LBJ Wildflower Center can grow to 25 feet, and another unidentified tree, under an oak tree. Consequently, I have lost more than 60% of the plants they installed. The buffalo grass lawn that was installed has never thrived because, as it turns out, buffalo grass has a root system 6 inches to 5 feet in depth, and the buffalo grass sod was installed over a couple of inches of soil that was spread over landscape cloth. I am now pulling out the landscape cloth, adding soil, and seeding with Habiturf. I agree with Melinda T. in that it would have be helpful for them to provide a complete plant list. The only reason I have one is that the plants were installed the DAY AFTER they were delivered to my house, giving me a chance to write down all the names. read more

Nice guys with great ideas (in theory)....but yard design didn't last and they don't warranty their work! True, they were quick, efficient and friendly...and worked within our limited budget. The problem is, 1 1/2 years later and $9000 in the hole, our sweet winding gravel path has completely washed down our sloped yard, many plants have died and the eco designed "grassy area" is a complete mudpit after they had terraced the yard and multiple drainage efforts didn't work. After a visit to our home yesterday, Steve (the owner), remarked "how unfortunate it is". "With more experience, I would have done it differently".....and politely declined to fix it because Ecotopes doesn't warranty their work. Tough luck for me....I'm stuck with a muddy mess!! If you have "a challenging" yard - ie. shade or slope - I would suggest using someone with more experience. RESPONSE: No, I didn't want a "free makeover after 21 months". This would have been your 3rd time to come back to the project. I suppose this was getting expensive for you to fix. The whole idea of planting native is having a yard that requires little maintenance, right? Of course, I don't hold you accountable for blowing leaves or pulling weeds. My review should have been more specific. The front yard, which gets full sun and is flat, has flourished and looks great.....but that was only 1/3 of the job! The side yard where you terraced and changed the drainage, and is mostly shady, became a mudpit. The gutters never impacted this before you changed the drainage pattern. I hoped you would address this inefficient design by perhaps installing plastic drainpipes (again) to divert the water (which another company did and after planting seed, now we have grass again!). Furthermore, in the backyard there is significant slope, where you designed a winding pathway of tiny pebbles that wouldn't stay in place, even after your second effort to add a few large rocks here and there. I suggested for the path, that you should have used larger, heavier pebbles or packed the tiny pebbles down so that the path wouldn't disperse and roll downhill, to which you agreed. I asked that you commit to fix "only what you felt was fair". You agreed and said you would think about what amount of work that would be. Then you wrote to say Ecotopes has no warranties. I stand by my initial comments. read more

Possibly the worst landscape company in Austin. They broke the top off of my sewer clean out and tried to hide it by taping it together with electrical tape and covering it with dirt. That's not even the worst part. They managed to break my main water line to the house and blamed the way the water box was covering the value. When the plumber arrived to fix the value, the owner Steve, refused to pay for it and told his crew to pack up. He complained about not having any water on such a hot Feb afternoon. It was 70 degrees. What kind of landscape company in Austin doesn't bring water with them? He was frustrated that the lawn equipment he rented didn't work on my yard, implying it was my fault we was upside down on this job. In addition, he parked his work truck and trailer in front of my neighbor's driveway. After I talked him off the ledge, he told his crew to go back to work. I told him I had to check on my kid who was napping and I would come back out to resolve the issue. When I came back out, him and his crew were gone. He left me with a broken waterline, waste line, piles of dirt, and a distain for humanity. What a slap in the face to see he charged my credit card too. I wouldn't trust these guys with Roundup weed killer, let alone landscaping. read more