Hired them to move existing brick pavers back 18", plant some new plants and trees, and install new sod. The contract was broken up into 3 charges, for moving pavers, the sod, plants. At first things seemed okay. We discussed specifics. The previous landscaper put in pavers with no edging, I wanted it, C. Lofton said she could do it. Charge for moving pavers included removing old edging (there was none, moving pavers and replacing on crushed gravel, they did that, and putting mulch in newly created space. That last wasn't done. Final part of charge indicated total bed edging. 3 men showed up, machine removed 18" of sod, loaded sod on truck. C Lofton left soon after arrival and never returned. 2 men began digging a new trench to put in the gravel. After loading the sod they only had enough gravel to lay about 8 feet of brick. The driver left to get gravel, and the edging, which they didn't originally bring. So they had no material and no supervision. They dug out the new trench, took dirt out to the truck, which puzzled me as it was needed to fill the newly created space, and brushed dirt off the bricks while waiting for the driver. He was gone around 3 hours. When he returned, after 11am, the main work actually began. Soon, I noticed the bricks were very above the grass level. I told the man, he agreed, he flipped about a dozen off, removed some gravel and relaid them. He proceeded all the way around the u shaped yard. Only 1 man laid all the bricks. Half way through I asked why they were removing the dirt, so they started to make a dirt pile in the yard. Nearing the end I again saw that the bricks were too high, again the man agreed, and quickly changed it. They took all day. I didn't hear from C. Lofton for several days, and when I called her she said she was still trying to understand why they took so long, as she only estimated it would take them half a day. She pressed me, wanting me to explain. I told her all of the above, and that the ground was very hard from no rain, they didn't have the material etc. She kept repeating that she could not understand why it took so long. I invited her to come over, we would look at it together and she could better undersatnd. I put back the line for the first part, showed her how high he had been putting the bricks, and her first response was "If he did that I will fire him." Then she asked me why they took dirt out to the truck, I said I didn't know, then she screamed that she didn't believe me, if they did that then where was the dirt, and I pointed to the bed. She then said "NO, we aren't going to do this",and started to leave. I reminded her that I had a $2000 deposit, and she had only done the part listed for $500, and she said she would have to figure out the hours and let me know. In actuality they had also spread grub control in anticipation of resodding and transplanted one plant, and yanked out another. C. Lofton later messaged that she charges $1200 per day for a 3 man crew, and she would be willing to negotiate and split the difference between my $500 and her $1200. I might have considered some compromise, but she took no responsibility for underbidding the job, not having the material needed, no supervision, and screaming at me and refusing in any way to consider anything I said. I declined for the above stated reasons, and requested a refund so that I could hire someone else. She said she would have to figure out the cost for the grub control etc. and let me know. My next received message from C. Lofton included a huge amount for the etc. part. Now she had imagined the bill to be $1120 for a $500 job. She listed the charges while changing the original contract language. Now adding (brick) into the edging language and leaving out the original total bed edging language, She added a cryptic charge of "Line marked by customer as top of brick line" whatever that means, for a $240 charge. I changed no line. Charged me $220 for the edging that was part of the original $500 charged, charged me again for removing the sod (that was clearly included in the $500 charge), and $180 for transplanting grasses and one plant, removing another. We discussed removing the grasses, they did not move them. They transplanted one plant, dug a tiny hole and put it in. They removed one weed size plant by pulling it out. Now they offer a $880 refund instead of the proper $1500. They went from wanting $850 in compromise, to $1120. My last offer after that was $500 for the original contract, $50 for the grub control, and $50 for moving a plant and throwing another away. The interesting part is, when the differences first came up, C. Loftons main answer was that she couldn't afford to lose money on the project. I am not responsible for her making a poorly thought out bid, not remembering what we agreed to, to having an alternate definition of what was in the contract, to her not supervising or having her men show up with the right material. She is. read more

We recently had a sprinkler system and new sod installed in our front yard as well as new pine straw laid.Also a total yard cut back. this company did an excellent job, was very responsive to insure we were happy at every step.I give them a 5 star rating and highly recommend to anyone in need of landscaping services. read more

In June 2017 we purchased a house in River Forest and one of the few things that I did NOT like about the house was the landscaping. Fast forward to September of 2018 and I was finally ready to get the yard taken care of. After reviewing a number of companies and receiving a number of emails I went with Lofton Landscaping to take care of a new vision for the lawn. Carolyn who is a landscape architect for the company came out to my house within a couple of days of the first contact to take photos of the lawn and to discuss what my ideas for the yard would be. I had NO idea what I wanted in the front yard. What I DID know is that I wanted the hideous shrubs and overgrown trees taken out from the front of the house. Carolyn was very easy to work with and with minimal input from me. I told her to, "design the front yard landscaping like you would do if this was your house". With that information she emailed me the next morning with her vision of what the front yard would look like. I knew from that moment that I would go with Lofton. Carolyn was spot on with what I wanted the front to look like after only minimal input from me. The landscapers came out about a week or so after putting in a deposit and signing the contract. There was a lot of work to do; remove huge overgrown ugly trees and shrubs, remove the grass which had seen better days, lay down sod, plant beautiful high quality new plants, install lighting for the area and mulch. The landscapers were very professional and did their magic in the span of one day. There was a very small "hiccup" with the transition from our lawn to the neighbors and some slight damage from the landscapers walking on a small portion of the neighbors lawn which was inevitable to get all of the things cleared from our property. Carolyn, Lofton and the landscapers were very quick to address the situation and put down extra sod where the lawn was damaged. I consider that a very minor issue and one that can be expected on such a large project. To say that I am pleased with the new look of the lawn is an understatement. I have had them plant sod in the back yard and to remove some dead and overgrown plants from the back as well. I am also planning on having them work on some more improvements to the back yard next spring. I am more than pleased with the service that has been provided by this company and would highly recommend them to anyone. read more

Loving Lofton Landscaping for their ability to pay attention to the details. They are careful with my lighting and have not run it over like previous landscapers. I feel confident in having them do other projects in my yard as well. read more

We searched and searched for a landscape design company who worked in our area and had an actual designer who does fancy work. We had no luck with any other suburban landscape company (think Hinsdale, LaGrange, Brookfield, etc) even just a couple miles west of us crossing over city limits to work in Chicago, proper.... until I found Carolyn with Lofton. After one call, she was willing and eager to jump in to see what we were looking for and to assist in executing our vision. We needed inspiration. We needed plans and pictures of available full sun perennials and we needed ideas for placement and color coordination and should we use rock or mulch, etc. I needed constant a flow of ideas and communication and the ability to change it up when I wanted to. We got all of that from Carolyn. She came by on a Sunday to consult and give her initial illustration of what she saw for our front yard. We tweaked and modified until we go it right and we couldn't be happier. Our initial work day was well into May due to weather this year, but Carolyn got her guys out as soon as it was decent enough to start working, in April. What was first thought to be a day and half job took only one day since there were 4 guys on site. They did great work, were respectful and efficient. We had several old bushes and material pulled and hauled away, we had low voltage lighting installed and about 26 plants along with extending our garden area in all directions that really turned out beautiful. I can't wait for everything to grow in, I find myself checking on all my plants daily watching for progress. Carolyn let us know that if anything didn't "take" they would replace it and just today I asked for one plant to be replaced because it appears nothing is happening. She is sending someone out to get that done for us. These things happen. I highly recommend Lofton, great service and price was fair. We're located in Garfield Ridge, Chicago. read more

We couldn't be happier with the excellent work Lofton did for us. They were patient and communicative from our first call through completion of our patio. The professionalism of the crew and the quality of the finished product exceeded our expectations. Highly recommended. read more

Met with quite a few contractors a couple years ago about a drainage problem. Jon came up with a solution no one else offered. It's been about a year and lot's of rain. The drainage is perfect. The nicely graded yard is a joy. The grass and all the landscaping his team planted is doing well. read more

Great company to work with. Affordable, excellent plant knowledge and they listened to my needs.

I asked for an estimate, they came out took measurements and notes. Asked me for a plat of survey. I sent it. They responded that they received it and would have an estimate out by the end of the week. That came and went. I emailed again. He said he was working on it. Never got a quote. Called and they said they would have it shortly. I am disappointed in the lack of follow up. read more

Carolyn met me to discuss the project. I provided a detailed description of the work we wanted. She took notes and pictures and then emailed me a quote that did not include all of the items we had discussed. I asked her to amend the quote. She stated "I'm not excited about doing a job I'm not going to make money on" and referred me elsewhere. What? Stay away. read more

This landscape company is absolutely amazing. They came out quickly, answered every question i had Very quickly and sent me multiple design options. They were very responsive and helpful. I Would recommend them to anyone!! Great job lofton! Thanks again! read more

On time, on budget, nice job on our project including extensive weeding and delivering of yards of mulch. Very responsive with quote and given accurate time frame of when to expect work getting done. Highly recommend and would use again. read more

Very professional and courteous service! The finished job was outstanding and we will definitely be working with Lofton Landscaping for any future projects we might have! read more

The lady that came out was the so rude before I even started showing her the work I needed to be done, I sent her away. I don't know how she has lasted in business speaking to people the way she does. I honestly couldn't believe the way she talked to me. read more

With added work pressures this year, we decided to bite the bullet and hire a lawn service to do a spring cleaning. They gave us a quote for cleaning out our beds, and aerating and fertilizing the lawn, and although it was a little more than I'd budgeted, we accepted. They came this morning, a little too early at 7:15am, but two hours later, they were still cleaning up when I left for work. I came home to the most beautiful yard I've ever had, and it's not even green yet! I keep walking around to look at everything they did, which is much more than we expected. All the beds are edged, cleaned and mulched, my lawn is edged, even the giant pile of leaves inside the trampoline enclosure is gone! This was worth every penny for the amount of time and back aches that would have taken me. We will definitely use their services again. I'm surprised this is the first review, as they seem like a very professional and established business. Sorry for exposing your secret, Riverside/Brookfield! read more

We are very pleased with lofton landscaping. They built a 500 square foot patio with a fireplace and it's beautiful. The landscape architect, Carolyn, was all over our project and made sure we were happy. Changes were not a problem and they remained flexible. They did work that is above and beyond our expectations. I highly recommend. read more

I was very happy with the work they did! Jon was easy to work with and had the knowledge needed to help us with selecting the right plants for our backyard space. read more

I would feel remiss if I did not share my concerns and experience I had in regards to this company. I will try to be brief though my complaints are numerous. That being said, the designer Carolyn was a nightmare. I asked her many questions only to get back "I don't know" without any concern to investigate. The designer seemed hyper-focused on receiving final payment which left a VERY BAD taste in my mouth. Michael the owner operator defended Carolyn and seemed to dismiss my concerns and lack of confidence in her. All this together left me telling anyone who would listen that lofton landscaping is a company to STAY AWAY from. read more

Great service, nice people, value for money. I would highly recommend this company.