We were looking for a company to help us landscape our 500 square foot deck. Cara, the owner, helped us create a thoughtful and beautiful design and then bring it to life. read more

I rarely ever do any online reviews but I felt compelled to post a great review after the incredible job that Cara and her team from Elevations did on the small yard I have in my West Village apartment. They were a pleasure to work with and happily took into account our budget constraints, plant preferences and complete lack of gardening skills when coming up with the design. But where they really excelled was their attention to detail when actually doing the clean-up and planting. We have been in this apartment for 8 years and every year have the yard professionally cleaned and planted. We have never been as SATISFIED and HAPPY with the end results as were when Elevations was done. I really can't say enough good things about Elevations. You will not be disappointed if you hire them to work for you. read more

It's impossible to describe just how phenomenal my experience has been with Elevations, but I will give it a go. By the way, found them on Yelp!... We bought a weirdo place with a small roof garden and four balconies. After things went really sour with the previous owner's gardener, Elevations stepped in and saved the day! Here are some of the highlights: 1. Cara White (the owner) does her own site visits even after the initial consult. She responds quickly to phone calls and emails, sends photos (photos!) of her ideas in the low, medium and high-end price ranges, but goes out of her way to find MORE beautiful, MORE affordable alternatives to the options in the high-end category (it's kinda her thing). 2. When the outdated sprinkler system (installed by previous gardener) broke, Cara worked with her network of outdoor experts to repair it and make adjustments to update it, without having to replace the entire system. Affordable fix, and much easier for anyone to operate. All of this happened FAST. During apartment renovations the outdoor lighting system broke (all before we found Elevations). Again, they stepped in and solved the problem FAST, and it was super affordable. I'm telling you, this crew is like a band of MacGyvers. 3. Surprise! After we bought the place our roof (like the tar-layered building roof) started leaking into the baby's room and the entire roof had to be replaced. Cara and her crew worked with the contractor to salvage the previous owner's plants, move the planters to another location, and then actually figured out why the roof was leaking in the first place. I was 8 months pregnant and freaking out. Cara was calm, kind and confident that they would find a solution. They did, and FAST. 4. Now this is just a bonus: Cara and her crew are so great with my kid. She loves them all. They are just a warm lot. Plus, they always take their shoes off indoors, clean up thoroughly after they plant, and never touch anything (or anyone, for that matter) that is not plant-related. They are considerate and conscientious. 5. There are no unwelcome surprises when we get an invoice, because Cara keeps us informed every step of the way. If there's a snafu, she lets us approve her solutions before she does the work. But here's the crazy thing: most of the time she shoots me an email to warn me that the bill will be LESS than the estimate. Why? Because she found this great plant when she was shopping for another client, or a better deal on a planter when she was researching some things for her own place. 6. Cara and the crew are just good-natured, hard-working people. They love what they do, they're creative, and they're contemporary. Working with them has made my life so much easier, even with a new baby. There isn't one bad thing I can say about them! They are great artists, but they're also great problem solvers. The best thing Yelp has ever given me! :-) read more

We researched many many landscaping and design companies to help us with our large patio. Cara was very responsive and respectful of our budget. She put together a very thorough package for our condo board that allowed us to sail through the approval process. Cara has a thorough knowledge of the difficulties that can accompany urban spaces, and she exceeded our expectations time and time again. Her team is also incredibly efficient and knowledgeable. Everyone we interacted with was very focused, professional, and polite. Even when we had a small snafu in the project (the tree that was our focus point was unavailable from the grower), Cara handled the situation with speed and resilience to provide us quickly with many excellent options. I would give her 5 stars, but it did take her over three weeks to get back to us with design options after conducting an on-site visit. We were not in a time crunch, but that did seem like a long time for a relatively small project. It seems she has gotten VERY busy lately (because she's AWESOME), but she may not be the right choice if you want the job completed in a rush. That being said, I would still wholeheartedly recommend her. read more

Working with Elevations and with Cara was a great experience. From the initial consultation through the final execution everything was a breeze. 1. Initial consultation - Elevations was very responsive from the get go and Cara came to our condo to walk through the space with us. She was friendly, outgoing and very creative with our ideas. She took our vision and made it come to life. Cara is truly a pleasure to work with. 2. Installation - While there were some delays with the manufacturing partners, everything was completed in a timely manner and Cara and team communicated any delays to us. Once everything arrived, the install was quick and painless. We sourced our own plants through a family connection, and Cara was very helpful, working directly with our contacts to get everything we needed and get it up to the roof. After install was complete, we had our own private paradise on our roof that we truly love. Cara and team installed: flooring, planters, an arbor, an outdoor kitchen complete with grill, and furniture. All of our friends and family love the space and can't get enough. 3. Follow ups - Cara and Kara have come back several time to maintain our plants and properly winterize our garden to ensure we hit next spring running. Once the spring rolls around, we know Elevations will be back to help us set up. On the whole, an absolutely phenomenal experience working with Elevations with fantastic results. read more

Irrigation system was poorly installed. I had to have another company come in an install a new and better irrigation controller. Some of my Arborvitae trees started show brown spots in some areas about two months after being planted; I watered the trees the way I was instructed to. Also, one of my hydrangea plants had to be replaced after a month. read more

I have a large yard in the Upper East side... one of the few without a cement block obscuring it. The previous yelp reviews were so positive I decided to give Elevations a try. I had planned on spending a few thousand on beautifying the yard and my neighbor also contacted them in hopes of using them as well. After the most lack luster phone conversation, "Cara" asked in a rather desultory fashion for pictures. I sent them immediately. Speaking to her was almost painful. I have no idea how anyone can manage a business when it is so obvious they are not interested in what they do. It was like pulling teeth, or trying to get a teenager to do their homework. Elevations didn't get back to me for a week, and when they did, they sent me a cursory email saying they "couldn't help me with my project". A landscaping company is unable to plant flower's in my back yard? What else do they do? Overall, it was a terrible experience, my neighbor still hasn't heard back from them and I would avoid them like the plague. I had two other companies come out and give me designs and estimates... because apparently, they are interested in pursuing the business they are in. read more

Cara and her team left us speechless - her patience with our somewhat flaky condo board was admirable but the true applause goes for the brilliant work they did beautifying our building's landscaping. They came in on budget and offered suggestions and guidance that weren't even included in the original proposal. Thank you Cara. read more

I do not ever write reviews on Yelp, but I wanted to give a shout-out to Cara. She and her crew were super-efficient, professional and did a bang-up job for a reasonable rate. I would rate her and her team as top-notch and can't say enough good things about Elevations. She is also superfriendly and really cares about your home. read more