When I decided to redo my backyard, I consulted with several contractors. My primary goals were to…read morereplace an aging deck and to cover the yard in pavers reducing the weed potential, which had been an ongoing problem for years. I chose pavers because they have a better track record for longevity than concrete. When I got back the proposals, I appreciated that the one from Forever Green Cali reflected everything I had mentioned in our initial meeting and had the best price. It was clear that attention had been paid during the meeting. Once selected as the contractor, the work began pretty quickly, nailing down details, making selections, identifying the things to stay, etc. The demolition of the existing deck and cleanup of the weeds went fairly quickly. And there were a lot of weeds. The rest of the work of preparing the foundation and sand and then laying the pavers went very quickly as well. Their employees worked very hard and with precision. I had an existing orange tree that was remaining and I really liked the outline that was made around it, including the darker accent pavers. I wanted a tree on the other side of the yard and I had failed to emphasize where I wanted it. When I asked about making a change to pavers already laid out in order to adjust for the tree, Firas was quick to accommodate me, and his employee made the change in no time. This cut out mimics the cut out for the orange tree and really complements it. As a novice at this sort of thing, I appreciated the good suggestions Firas made throughout the process. He and his team were very easy to work with. Part of this process included using their landscape designer to design the planting beds that were around the perimeter. She really took into consideration the kinds of plants I liked and the color scheme that I wanted. After our trip to the nursery, she provided a schematic so that I could anticipate what it would look like and also serve as a guide for the planting of the yard. I absolutely love the result. It is precisely what I wanted. I love the patio that replaced the deck. The edge is trimmed in a darker bullnose paver that makes it visually clear that there is a step down and the lights under the step emphasize this transition. Having broken my arm in the yard five months ago, this is a safety feature that I really appreciate. My backyard is now a much safer place to be which was a primary incentive for this entire project. Did I mention that I love my backyard? It's now a calm and tranquil place to relax. I cannot recommend Forever Green Cali highly enough. If I were to ever have another yard that needed assistance, I would definitely use them again.

Horrible customer service and horrible follow through!…read more Asked for a quote and they came but never heard any follow up from them. Had to email them to tell them after a month we never heard anything back. Then they just emailed with no verbiage of our quote. It felt like they virtually just threw us a piece of paper. Glad they showed thier true colors before we did any business with them. Buyer beware!!

Steve and Awaken Landscapes did an awesome job transforming our very labor-intensive front yard…read moreinto a beautiful xeriscape oasis. We had few ideas on what we wanted, but several ideas about what we did not want. Raquel (Solea Landscapes) listened carefully and designed a beautiful yard, complete with 3D renderings so we could really envision her ideas in our space. They worked with us, even inviting us to shop with them for pots and plants. Steve and Awaken Landscapes did an amazing job in executing her design. Jose and his crew were quick, efficient, and cheerful. They responded positively to our every request, and they kept the job site clean and neat, even with all the mud from February's downpours. Our new front yard is everything I hoped for: beautiful, unique, low on water usage, and easy to maintain. The end result is the talk of the neighborhood. The first night that the accent lights lit up our new yard brought tears to my eyes. Thank you, Steve, Raquel, and all the great folks at Awaken Landscapes.

Steve and his crew were so easy to work with. They were very communicative, on schedule, and on…read morebudget! I highly recommend!

I had a great experience working with Alex and his crew. Alex is knowledgeable and trustworthy and…read moreprovided great customer service--and at a reasonable price. I would highly recommend HF Gardening Services for your landscaping projects.

I would not recommend. I followed their instructions and made an appointment over a week ago and…read moretook time off work to meet with them, but nobody showed or even called. We even called to get an update and only got a voicemail with no call back. If they are this unreliable with their consultations, I can only imagine the issues that may arise during the work portion of the job. No thanks!!

Small job treated with the care of a big job. I had Justin quote on replacing two saplings with a…read moredwarf blood orange and a dwarf fuji apple, sealing the fences, and taking my small narrow side yard and laying in a walkway for garbage can access with a narrow planting bed for future passion fruit vines. Justin made some suggestions, and his crew executed perfectly We went with concrete for easier and safer access, benderboard instead of blocks because of the narrow yard. Simple, cleanly done, bed is edged to contain the soil, trees are well seated and fertilized, irrigation updated for the new plantings, weed cloth under the gravel. Concrete has a nice brushed finish for traction in the wet, tree is staked, can't wait to see them bloom. It's the nice little details that make a quality job. Every day the site was cleaned as if they hadn't been there, they worked quickly and carefully even in the narrow areas. I'm very happy with the job and execution, and highly recommend them.

TLDR; My project suffered from poor planning, inadequate oversight, and unacceptable workmanship. I…read morewould advise others -- especially first-time homeowners -- to proceed with caution and consider other contractors. It took me over a year to emotionally recover from the trauma of working with this business as a first major renovation project. --- Long story below As a first major home improvement project (front yard and driveway remodel), I hired a separate professional designer, had 3D renderings made, selected materials in advance, and clearly communicated the desired aesthetic and expected quality to all bidding contractors. Justin's Professional Landscaping had strong early reviews and was responsive at first. I agreed to a contract requiring over 25% upfront payment (which I now regret). Key issues I experienced: - Repeated requests for payment before corresponding work was completed - An uncomfortable incident where the foreman (Justin's father) came to my home on an off-day claiming he hadn't been paid, despite my having already paid Justin. - Poor daily cleanup, resulting in my HOA issuing a notice - Minimal on-site supervision by Justin - Workmanship issues (photos available), including: A unleveled wall that started leaning forward shortly after installation, uneven capstones and a section creating a tripping hazard, poorly graded and uneven pavers, joint sand not installed promptly, and walkway that was not correctly aligned with my front door. By the time these issues surfaced, I had paid about 90% of the project cost, yet the work was incomplete and did not meet reasonable expectations. A revised scope was attempted for the wall only (against my better judgment), but supervision and execution problems continued. After observing additional mistakes, poor practices and lack of control over the crew, I terminated the contract.

I chose Living Elements Landscape to take out my lawn and dated shrubs to install low water…read morelandscaping. Carlos Meraz, Project Manager, was very responsive and quick to reply. Kept me updated on the progress. It only took the crew a day and a half to do all the work. I drew up my own design and chose the plants myself for height, sun and water needs so I can't speak of their expertise in that area, but they did exactly what I wanted and I'm very pleased with the outcome. Here are before and after pics. Quite the improvement.

We had our landscaping done by Living Elements for our backyard as well as our front yard for some…read morecurb appeal. They were recommended to us by a friend and I'm so glad that we went with them. We had our initial quote done a year ago by Matt who was so respectful, honest, and responsive. However, life happened and we decided to postpone our landscaping project. But when the time came to revisit our landscape project, I knew I wanted to reach out to them again. They were in my top two choices because of the impression that Matt made a year ago, their reasonable price, and the company also seemed to have an organized system. This time we met with Firas and Yasmine. Firas also exhibited the same level of professionalism as Matt and was so easy to talk to. He communicated well with us and checked up on our project regularly. Our yard might be considered a smaller project for the company but it didn't seem like it with the amount of attention that they provided. We also really appreciate how hands-on Yasmine was with helping us design our project. She was also very flexible with the changes that we needed to make. Problems were solved and issues were fixed without any defensive excuses. We are also thankful for her knowledge and recommendations with regards to our plant choices. Lasly, we had a stellar crew that worked on our yard. It was only 2-3 people at a time who worked on our project which made it more personal. Our main landscape foreman was Jorge and he was detail-oriented and went above expectations. He and the crew made sure that they cleaned up the workplace everytime, they were mindful of the noise pollution, helped us navigate the drip irrigation system, and educated us on maintaining our new yard. Also, as a bonus, I noticed that they segregated their trash properly between regular trash, recycling materials, and green waste. A little thing but speaks volume of their work ethic. Just honestly impressed by the crew's level of professionalism and respectfulness. They're efficient, responsive, and mindful. We have met with different contractors and worked with a great number of people, and I would place the landscaping crew that worked with us in the top 1%. As a whole, they make a great team and I highly recommend working with this company.

Very impressed by the work. Great value for money. Professional site and office personnel and there…read morewas constant feedback. They even fixed an outdoor light that had shorted months after the contract was completed. Would highly recommend. Many thanks to Pablo and his team!

Black Diamond responded by contacting me and apologizing for their miscommunication. Their general…read moremanager Pablo even came to my house unannounced to apologize and take a look at my project. For that reason, I am upgrading my rating to 3 stars. Hopefully, they will learn from the use of AI and we can agree on an solution. Thanks Black Diamond for your untiring effort to contact me and rectify the issue@

It was time for Kelly and I to do our backyard landscape and since we know nothing of landscaping,…read moreI was in need of a designer, consultant , and installer. Finding all of these different types of people and getting them together to understand a clients specific landscape needs while at the same time meeting a schedule and budget can be very difficult and frustrating. My wife and I were at that point until we found Chris Corbett on the internet. Chris was able to meet all of our landscape needs. Since he is formally educated in landscape design, he was able to sit down with us and develop a landscape scheme in a very short time and provide us with drawings. Since Chris is a long time local resident of Davis, he was able to give us great consultation on the types of plants and trees that are indigenous to the area and would thrive in our yard. However, the best part about his business plan is that he personally does the installation of all of the landscape. This allowed me a piece of mind that all of my wishes and desires were going to be met, because no matter how well a set of drawings are presented , there are many aspects of what a client wants that cannot be conveyed on paper. That is established during the constant communication and verbal agreements. Since Chris is a part of every step of the process, none of that continuity between client and installer is lost. Chris met every expectation with regards to schedule and budget. He and his team were always professional and on time at every step of the way. His pricing of the project was exceptionally accurate so there were no surprises at any time during the project. He thoroughly understood our budget constraints and kept that in mind during the drawing process, material selection, and final installation to provide us with a beautiful finished product without breaking the bank. Chris has an extraordinary work ethic and his end goal is to make the client happy. I would highly recommend Chris for any type of landscape project large or small, and to go to anyone else would just be making it harder on yourself. Randy & Kelly Clark

while my intentions were to do something stylish with my landscaping project (a living fence), i…read morewas about to make some amateur mistakes. then i met chris corbett, and he presented several approaches to my project that i never even considered. his consulting made a huge difference for my home and our neighborhood. chris is fantastic. i highly recommend him and his group!

Carol came to our house twice to go over our landscaping ideas and drew out a large plan for our…read morebackyard and had it all drawn on her laptop as well. We were very impressed and it was very well and professionally done. She was very nice and friendly and listened to our ideas as well and integrated our ideas into her design, so she actually listened to what we desired into our backyard design. Highly recommend!

Very impressive dealing with Carol on plans for landscaping of my backyard. It is so sad that she…read morehas passed away.