We originally requested a bid to redo our flower beds and attach our downspouts to existing underground drain lines. Aaron did not have a boring machine (for getting the pipe under the sidewalk), so we gave that part of the work to someone else. But on the flower beds, Aaron gave us the best bid, and his demeanor and work references gave us confidence he would do a good job. Because we were not sure how much work we could afford to do, we asked for an itemized estimate that would list separate prices for redoing the front flower bed, adding side flower beds, and adding either metal or stacked-stone edging. Aaron did not complain about this request, and we eventually decided to do all the flower beds and include the stone edging. Unfortunately, the estimate did not include a sketched plan of which plants he intended to put where, and we wanted to have a more firm idea of what everything was going to look like. We did not know much about shrubs, etc. going into this job, but we had general ideas of what kinds of things we liked and didn’t like from seeing other people’s yards. Although we should have already done this before calling contractors, we visited nurseries and did online research and began making lists of our plant preferences. Aaron was somewhat hesitant about our doing this, however, as he felt we should trust his professional judgment on plant selections and placement. But given the cost involved and the fact that we would be living with the results, we insisted on having more input than that (although obviously, we deferred to his judgment on issues such as plant hardiness and which plants look good together). He relented and even took time out of his busy schedule one afternoon to meet us at a nursery and go over our plant selections. The work was done as soon as weather permitted, and we could not be happier with the results. Aaron was very neat, and the entire job was done in a day and a half. Perhaps best of all, we don’t have any complaints about the plants because we chose them. My advice to anyone having landscaping done: If you have opinions on plants, etc., do your homework, ask lots of questions, and insist on having input and final say-so on plant selection and placement. It might be a pain for the landscaper, but you will be much happier with the results.