Skilled, creative, professional and environmentally/socially responsible full service landscaping

Stellar service, great people What a totally professional company! Everyone I've worked with, from Jason, the owner, to everyone on their team is so above-par in their attitude and knowledge. They've done two projects at my property, accomodating my ideas, requests and requirements and being creative about problem solving. They are attentive to details and meet every deadline. Although I used them to finish the work on an existing design, which many companies wouldn't have been so gracious about doing, I know that their design work is amazing and hope to use them for that in the future. read more

The first thing I want to say is I love modern design. I was hoping this review would be different. This review is only the design and drawings as we opted to go no further. We started the process with Jason a year ago--for the design and mechanical drawings. I sought Realm as I liked the design we saw in Tucson Magazine. At that time I gave Jason a budget to work with of no more that $29,000.00 and asked him if he could work with that. We had bought a home that was three years old and the large items (pool, BBQ Zone, most of the hardscape, and irrigation computer etc) was done. We were very specific in what we wanted: A shade structure or expanded sitting area (for outside dining). If building the structure was not possible I was ready to purchase several prebuilts that would work with our aesthetic. A sitting area further out in the yard (a platform) and shade options at this point I was looking a sail cloth. Plantings within the yard for color and shade (low maintenance, low shedding due to pool) Privacy trees at certain places along the parameter for shading--again low shedding and maintenance) We have a side yard that we also wanted planting. The constraints for us were: The shedding of the plants due to the pool. The dogs (two) a design that would offer a space to run and enjoy but not easier access to jump a fence . The design began... The Main issue here is that Jason did not listen to us. He gave us a design that included items we specifically did not ask for or need. We tried to redirected him. The things I specifically asked for (early on): strategic positioning and use of large rectangular metal planters--missing Use of 10 rusted metal grates to create a fence for the side yard. He went as far as asking for the size and number of the grates--but the drawings --never included the fence or anything even remotely close to a design for this item. The design we received was for $95,000. How does $29,000 translated into $95,000. A year spent waiting. Structures we don't want or need. My hope I guess was that we should at least be able to use the plants he picked but then I come to find out that even the shade trees do not meet the minimum requirement of not shedding--Texas Ebony--6 of them (wow-really?) Perhaps I can use the boulder placement--$3000 for rocks. Lets put a chalk mark for expensive lesson learned. read more

Realm just designed my backyard landscape including an outdoor pizza oven, outdoor shower and Petscape (funky pet-friendly landscape) for my two pooches. The owner, Jason, went above and beyond the call of duty- he chose gorgeous native plants, modern building materials and he even brought doggie biscuits for my dogs. Well done, Realm! read more

Realm - a view of a backyard with a fire pit - Landscaping Near Me - Tucson, Arizona

Overall, we've had a very unsatisfactory experience with Realm. We contacted them about landscaping the three courtyards in an older house we bought about three years ago which had very little outside landscaping. Jason's landscaping plan was very creative and we asked them to submit a proposal, giving them some idea of our (fairly substantial) budget. His first proposal came in well above that budget and whittling the project down to what we were prepared to spend was an agonizing process, as we found it extremely difficult to understand Realm's pricing so that we could make informed choices as to what to cut out. Eventually, though, we reached agreement and a revised proposal was implemented. But that only led to a series of new problems. Several of the plantings Realm recommended turned out to be inappropriate to the locations in which Realm placed them and had to be replaced, mostly at our expense. All the staff we dealt with was very pleasant, but there was frequent staff turnover and each new specialist seemed to have different ideas as to what we should do. For example, the first arborist recommended that we do a good bit of work shaping the trees in our yard, which we did at a cost of several hundred dollars, only to have his replacement tell us that different work should have been done and recommend several hundred dollars of additional work. Our most serious problems, however, had to do with our irrigation system. We initially kept the valve assembly that was installed on the property, as a budgetary measure, but accepted Jason's recommendation that it be relocated. Then, about a year later, the valves developed problems and we had to have them replaced. Had we been given any idea, up front, of how much labor would be involved in replacing the valves, we might well have decided to replace them up front, so as to avoid a duplication of these substantial labor costs. Then, about a year later, we discovered that the irrigation was running 24/7 in our back courtyard, leading to a $400+ water bill. A Realm tech came in, fixed the problem, and told us that it was due to "rust in our pipes." He didn't specify which pipes were involved or that there was some feasible remedial action that we could take. Realm made no suggestions along these lines. A few months after that, we returned from a long trip and were greeted with a water bill of more than $700! We figured out it was due to the irrigation valves having become jammed open again while we were away. This time, the Realm tech told us that the problem was due to the galvanized iron pipes that were part of the valve assembly and recommended that we to replace them with the copper pipes, which we promptly immediately authorized him to do so as to avoid another enormous water bill. We pointed out to Realm that they had been negligent in not advising us to replace those pipes both when the valves were replaced and when the first problem with the new valves occurred and asked Realm for some financial relief. Realm first misrepresented that they had advised us about the nature of this problem previously, and when we demonstrated that they had not, simply told us that they no longer wished to discuss the matter and that we had no choice but to pay their bill. We did, but it will be the last bill from Realm that we will ever pay. read more

I would not recommend this company. We first contracted with them @ 3 years ago. I liked the owner designer and they had the advantage of a built in landscaping service. Initially we were very pleased with the design. However, the pricing system was impossible to understand and it was hard for us to make informed choices about where were good spots to cut the project. We eventually agreed on a plan. We liked the design a lot once it was installed. However, it seems the designer didn't take into account our microclimate and some of the plants that were installed had a very hard time in our area. Several had to be replaced more than once. Plus they need more care than I had anticipated, eg covering in winter, frequent trimming, etc. We also chose to use the company for irrigation checks and management, contracting with them for a four time a year assessment. The staff they sent seemed very nice and seemed to know what they were doing. BUT, in 2 years there were 4 different people assigned the work, due to a lot of staff turnover. Each one told us what we needed to do to have a good system that was problem free, yet we continued to have problems. We still do, despite spending a lot of money and being assured that everything was working fine. We also used them for periodic consulation for plant care and maintenance. Again in the 2 years there were at least 3 different people, all nice, but all with different opinions. Bottom line, I got an impression of a company that is not well run. We are VERY clear we will NEVER use them again and I would recommend that others be forewarned if they choose Realm. read more

this was a very bad experience working with this company: they put in 16 toxic plants for my animals, even though I went to this company due to their "animal friendly" advertising and claims they repeatedly (six times) made accounting errors, they promised a unique environment in an picture, after signing the contract, they said the picture was not what would actually happen the majority of the plants they put in were/are dwarfed by two species -- they repeatedly put off request for viewing plants until it was one day before install, when it was difficult to change cancelled appointments browbeated me in email and phone conversations when unsatisfactory elements of the design were brought up (including the accounting errors.) read more

I have had some bad luck with contractors lately so, I decided to go to a higher end place to have my backyard redone. My experience was frocked with one misunderstanding after another and they are VERY expensive. When Baran made her project proposals to me a new irrigation system was included. Baran had to redo the proposals because the pricing was wrong on both. It took them over a month to start my project and then another month to complete it (my backyard is about 250 sq ft). I had to hunt down the project manager to find out any information about my project. At the finish of my project, Realm had forgotten to add the sales tax. I don't mind paying sales tax but, I had thought it was included in the contract. Coughing up the unexpected $500 was really unappreciated. On top of this, I didn't get the new irrigation system Baran and I discussed. They say I only contracted for half and irrigation system. Who does that? Realm's contracts are on online, not on paper and they are extremely vague. During the proposal/contract signing process, there were so many errors that I went through 4 versions before Baran finally produced a product I would sign. Now Realm says I only paid for part of an irrigation system even thought the price on my contract indicates a new one. The bottom line is: my experience was not professional and I am only moderately happy with the end result. You can do better somewhere else! read more