GREEN ACRES OF ALASKA

I have a drainage issue on my property and I enlisted Green Acres to solve the problem. They elected to connect all of my downspouts to underground piping and route it away and down slope of my house. For the area of the yard that was being saturated from neighboring, up-slope properties, they merely elected to regrade. Due to the amount of moisture involved, I was skeptical that regrading alone would be enough, but I decided to defer to their professional opinion. When everything was completed last fall, they hydro-seeded the graded area. I was suspicious that again, due to the large amount of moisture involved, all of the hydro-seeded areas would be washed out by spring before it could sprout, leaving me with uncovered soil. That is exactly what happened. I called multiple times last spring that their fall hydro-seeding failed and that they needed to come out and do it again (a whopping 15 minutes out of their day) but they never returned my calls. Ultimately, I went to Lowe's and bought a few large bags of soil and a couple large bags of grass seed and took care of the issue myself - and better than they would have done. If not for the hydro-seed problem, I would have given them four stars as they accomplished everything that they said they would - even though it turned out they needed to do something more than regrading to deal with the massive amount of water inundating my property. However, totally blowing off and ignoring a customer's legitimate complaint due to your company's failure is inexcusable. Therefore, they earn a well-deserved one-star review. If you plan on utilizing these people, have a lawyer on retainer ready to go after them. Otherwise, it may cost you more than a few bags of dirt and grass seed.

When they found there was under $5000 in work they couldn't wait to leave. Said they would email me a bid but I never heard from them.. Four Seasons Construction ended up doing my work and did a fantastic job.

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Original design had to be changed when city inspector drove by and inquired about setback distance of retaining wall and width of driveway base. Trees ( 2 Colorado blue spruce) were installed and warrantied through one winter.  The following spring they didn't look very healthy, but the owner wouldn't acknowledge my phone calls, my letter, or my request to come and look at them.  He sent out 2 employees, they determined the trees to be healthy, did a bit of pruning and left.
Driveway was installed by a subcontractor whose work was also guaranteed by the owner, but, when we had problems with him, the owner declined to offer help.

The work was excellent. The very next day I was called while I was busy and they insisted on payment. By day two I had had 5 phone calls demanding payment. They could have asked for half down before starting the work. Other contractors have invoiced me and I usually pay with in the week but calling repeatedly and insisting on payment that minute is rude. I will never be hiring them again.

Very well! The end result is just what we wanted!

They did a phenomenal job! They brought in a truck load or two of rock and equipment. The gentlemen found out what we wanted including the number of falls we wanted. It was beautiful! Last year we had an issue and we called them. They came right out, dug up the hose and repaired the problem at no cost. They did a great job! They are expensive, but they do exceptionally good work.

I had sought an estimate for a French drain. The way in which Gus described the job I had no doubt that a French drain was what I would receive. I asked if he needed me to be home on the day they did the work and Gus said he preferred I not be there. When I arrived home after work it was clear why he did not want me there. They did not put in a French drain but instead plastic piping alongside the house underneath rock and connected to my downspouts. I called Gus and he said if he had put in a French drain it would have cost double. I never told him my price range so he took it upon himself to decide what I could afford. I decided to wait and see this spring and summer. Yesterday was the telling day with the downpour. I had water running steadily from my downspouts on the right side of the house but on the left where the pipe that merely sat a few inches under rock barely had a trickle of water coming out to the street.
I signed the contract on June 12, 2013 and he did not show up to do the work until August 1, 2013. He advised me they were correcting a major problem with their work elsewhere. This was my first disappointment. I asked that he keep the foliage that surrounded a birch tree but that was all removed. For $1,500, as part of the transplant job, he stuck in several of my wild roses that were already wilted. A couple of them survived.
The only thing done right (that cost $500) was to patch the lawn. The rock is okay that he used for fill but I was disappointed that he didn't use dirt so the plants that he said he would transplant would once again flourish in that area.
I thought because Green Acres had such nice television ads, and that they were a member of Angie's List that I would be getting a good service. I did not.

Green Acres was the 2nd estimate I had gotten. It was comparable to the first estimate but whereas the first company took a month to give me a design and estimate, Green Acres had both within 24 hours and the crew started the day after that. It was an end-of-the season job and I couldn't have been happier with the results. The crew was prompt, were polite, worked hard and cleaned up the work site. The last day of the project was pretty miserable and it snowed days later!
I plan to use them to transform my small front yard into a rock garden with paths.

Hired them to clear my back yard down to the dirt, build a pond, add some elevations, paths, trees, shrubs, replace lawn, put in drain pipes below ground to improve water drainage etc. I had requested several times a particular treatment for the area surrounding the pond and never did get it. They insisted in putting in gravel with rocks of various sizes not the patio type flat pavers I wanted for edging. I had them come back in 2008 to dig the pond deeper and again try to get the surrounds corrected. No luck. Pond depth was fine but surrounds was pretty much the same. The trees and bushes all died (trees were root bound and wrapped within the tubs when tubs were removed and were planted that way.) The rock around the pond began settling after the first year and there was shifting in some of the stones making it unsafe to walk close to the pond edge I had also requested a path from the deck to the beginning of the garden area but was 'talked out of it'. It was like they had a view of how they wanted it and I just wasn't listened to. I subsequently hired another contractor to redo the pond, replace undergound drainage pipes that had been crushed by Green Acres equipment on the second go around, and replace trees and shrubs. It has been two years and the new work has held up beautifully and is exactly what I wanted. I believe that GA has the capacity and capability to have done the work as I wanted it but for some reason I was at the bottom of the list for attention and materials. The crews were great and friendly and Jon was very friendly. He simply didn't respond to my requests but kept indicating that it could be done differently. The other company just said "tell us what you want and we will do it and if you don't like it we will tear it out and do it again until you do like it." And I did at one point have the crew rip out some rock (including glued pieces) because the compaction had not been done properly by the crew. Crew chief never blinked when I told him, agreed with me and had it ripped out and redone. They even replaced the underground pipe (when we found it had been crusted) as a freebie. Oh, and they put down plywood on my lawn so it wasn't torn up by the equipment like it had been done by the prior contractor.

The construction and completion of the retaining wall was above and beyond what I had expected. See my previous description for further details.

It took about 3 days and the crew showed up early and didn't leave until they got done what needed to be done every day no matter how late it was. I was impressed with the work ethic and perfectionism. I would definitely use them again. The project turned out outstandingly. Kudos guys!

Very responsive! Well priced! They did an excellent job on our backyard! Our neighbors were so happy with the progress, they hired Green Acres on the spot to do their yard too!

Great! Could not have been better. I cannot recommend John Cobb more highly. He listened to me, was flexible and was able to navigate the difficult seas of family negotiations through plan development and installation. He designed a lifestyle, not just a landscape. I'm busy, which is the reason why this review is so late, and have no horticultural skills. He designed the beds to meet the conditions of low maintenance and durability. My husband was concerned about winter plowing. He designed the beds to accommodate snow fall from the roof and snow removal while actually improving the aesthetics. And he went beyond that, suggesting features that ultimately create the sense of discovery and coziness as you move around the property, improve and quot;curb appealand quot; (although we have no curbs where we are) and shield our home from view. And, if that weren't enough, the garden will have the colors of Renoir when the time comes.
The installation went off exactly as planned and timed. The crew was excellent, doing exactly what they said they would do - and more. They cleaned up well after the job and were friendly to have around.
Jon did a great walk through after the installation and has been readily available for follow-up (although I haven't need much). He replaced the one plant that was lost in transition immediately and held my hand as I went through my first weeks of nursing the new garden. Then things settled down and we are now in winter. The installation looks wonderful even now.
I'll be back in touch with Jon in the spring to have his team up to prepare the beds for the new year. Green Acres provides a year's warranty on the plants so if some don't make it through the winter it will be a learning experience, not a disaster. That said, I don't think that will be the case. He went over ever plant he selected with me and they all were appropriate for our conditions. I'm really looking forward to the new year.
Bottom line, Jon Cobb and his crew performed above expectations and the job came in at budget and within expectations. I would not hesitate to use them again and recommend them to others.

I would recommend them to others. I would give them A's across the board.

Overall, they did an excellent job. Their clean-up could have been better.

Experience went from just plain bad to downright horrible, and, at the end, insulting.
I picked this landscaper because owner lived in my neighborhood and I mistakenly thought he'd provide good service and a good result. He was NOT the low bidder: In fact, he was the highest, but he and assistant seemed to listen to what I wanted, and they were both quite pleasant. Until...
1) retaining wall: restructured, was done well, no problems
2) wild area behind retaining wall: growths were removed, grading and weed barrier installed satisfactorily. My specific verbal and twice-demonstrated request of a and quot;natural-lookingand quot; gentle and quot;swoopand quot; of river rock resulted in 3 very large and very stark equilateral triangles outlined in large white stones. Absolutely ghastly. I immediately called and when the estimator came, he told me this was what I had described. He was NOT happy when I insisted the and quot;Denali X 3and quot; had to go. When I returned from work the next day, the 3 mountains had become 3 perfectly-spaced, identically-shaped hills. Thankfully, however, no longer outlined in white. (I later re-did the rock work myself).
3) entryway landscaping [bordered on 2 sides by driveway] : Sturdier weed barrier and plants were replaced. Again, my requested natural-looking river rock was a disaster: A Carl Sagan's sterile black and gray moonscape with white rock circles surrounding every tree and plant. Another frantic call to GA + another visit from estimator = 2 very unhappy people. He was VERY reluctant to have this redone -- which I understand, yet this could so easily have been avoided. But, the job was properly redone, and looks well. However, the Bobcat used to eviscerate the entry area also damaged the connecting edges of the driveway. Another call + same estimator = 2 VERY unhappy people. He said my driveway was older and crumbling. Untrue, as I pointed out the ONLY crumbling was where the Bobcat was used. He said I had caused it by driving over the rock/driveway area, and he had noted this earlier. I tried to explain he was mistaken and that it would be near-impossible for me to drive there, when he told me to my face that I was a and quot;liarand quot;. I incredulously asked if he'd just called me a liar and he replied, and quot;Yesand quot;. Needless to say, our conversation was over. The next day, several cold-patches had been placed over the edges. That patching did not last, but I never contacted them again. For anything. Even though, in the spring, weeds started coming up on all the edges of the weed barrier. When I weeded, and pulled back the rocks, the gaps between the barrier and the edging were 2-4 inches apart.
5) Side lawn work: rubber edging, barrier and gravel were all done satisfactorily, except for the above gaps/weeds in materials
6) remedial yardwork: leveling/ reseeding was satisfactorily done on the lawn affected by this landscaping.

Had a large, sloping, 30 year old garden that was out of control (grass, weeds, perennials, slugs). Got estimates to remove the top foot of soil, level the area with AWW 6x6 walls where needed, and backfill with new top soil. Green Acres was the low bidder. They were able to start the job within a few days, and finished it in two. Easy to work with.

The job went very well from start to finish. A key step was the design phase. Green Acres presented a pleasing design, a fixed price offer and then installed everything in an expeditious and workmanlike manner. Very pleased with the service and the result.

The company has since maintained the lawn and is always on time on the scheduled day of the week, rain or shine. They are fast and thorough. Their 4-man crew finishes each week in about 20 minutes.

Great group to work with. Had them put in a water feature. Had some leaks and they were persistent in seeking out the cause and fixing the leak. They never gave up. I love the work they did.