Madrone Landscapes

Madrone is excellent at design (but it is expensive). The actual bids to implement came in so much higher than other bids....and honestly there is no reasonable reason as to why they charge so much for plants etc. I went on line and priced the same plants and other landscape material and they seemed to up-charge by at least 40%. My advice, hire them for design and shop the work elsewhere...

The project was landscaping of our backyard and it extended over spring and summer, 2014. The design was iterated with Madrone over several weeks. Each iteration of the design was simpler than the preceding, with fewer materials, but surprisingly had a higher estimated cost. At the end, it was not totally satisfactory to us, but we proceeded anyway. Madrone just seemed to not be able to capture what we wanted in the design. We have a huge oak tree and we did not want plantings under the tree. We were shocked to see that many plantings were within the dripline of the oak when they were put in. The first attempt was clearly not to the plan, so we insisted they tear out that area (including irrigation), and redo it. They refused to move plants and shrubs any farther from the tree than the plan showed. Madrone must have misfigured the extent of the tree when drawing up the plans. Communications with the foreman became more difficult at this point.

 

First of all, Madrone did a very good job building the hardscape: flagstone paths, flagstone floor for an existing patio wall area that had been a firepit, placement of cobblestones and boulders. The flagstones and rocks, as well as the (reduced) concrete lawn border, were salvaged from the previous landscaping. They also built a nice redwood grape arbor with seating area. Hardscape is one of their strengths.

 

In all other ways, Madrone did not seem to be capable of truly professional work. Soil preparation was minimal. Subsequent inspection over the last two years has revealed that the depth of preparation did not comply with project specifications in some areas. Plants and shrubs were brought in by the dozens and often left above ground for days without proper irrigation before planting. Many died, probably because their roots had dried out too much; most after the 3-month guarantee period had elapsed. Many of the plantings were hastily done without care, so that they were not firmly in contact with the ground. Some of the day workers hired by the foreman seemed to lack attention and expertise. Sometimes there were delays of several days while the foreman and workers were on other projects.

 

An example of poor planting technique involved the two golden cypresses that we had wanted. The first specimens were nice, appeared healthy, and were about 4 ft tall. Similar ones were planted on common ground by our local HOA about a block away. Ours died almost immediately. Madrone replaced them with inferior plants. In all, there were three replacements, and we ended up with two trees about 18” in height, one half-dead when planted. One has survived after two years, looks OK and is about 2 ft tall. The other has partially recovered, but is still half-dead. Keep in mind that we paid dearly for nice trees! Meanwhile, the golden cypresses planted at the same time around the corner from our house have thrived and are now at least 7 ft tall each!

 

In the planning stage, we insisted that the drainage be good. Madrone’s scheme for draining the lot seemed to be proper, provided that slopes were carefully determined. Much of the drainage seems to be OK, but there are two areas that have problems. One was discovered at the finish of the project. Either much of the lawn is draining outside of the drain pipe into an area that used to be dry, or there is a leak in the sprinkler system pipes. A perpetually wet area was created in which they had planted a very nice persimmon tree. It promptly died due to the wet soil and was replaced with a very inferior tree planted a few feet away. It almost died the first year, but may be reviving. Madrone sent a couple of people to look at the situation shortly after completion of the project, but they finally decided that there was probably no leak. They did not, however seem willing to do anything about the drainage in that area and stopped returning phone calls.

 

When rains finally came in the winter 2014, it became apparent that the drainage in another part of the lot had been seriously compromised. The rainwater backed up against the foundation, whereas it was always dry before in that area. I had noticed some accumulation of irrigation water in that area immediately after completion of the project, but the Madrone representatives said that it did not appear to be a problem. When I tried to contact them in the rainy season, they did not return my phone calls. An outfit that does not stand behind its work is not worthy of patronizing, in our opinion!

 

When the project was completed, I asked the foreman for a diagram of the irrigation system, showing the circuits with areas serviced, and the locations of pressure reducers and filters. He refused, saying that he did not know where everything was. He did list the approximate areas of watering of the 18 circuits, but that information was sketchy. They had used some of the existing irrigation system, tying onto it and modifying it as needed. He dodged the questions when I asked about the type of tubing and components used and told him of the high water pressures in our area. Unfortunately, they had covered over all the irrigation installation before I could inspect it.

 

In summary, this is not a company to consider. Their work was substandard, expensive, and they did not stand behind it. Communication was poor, partially due to the foreman and his attitude. The design was poor, with inappropriate spacings of plants and shrubs. This became very apparent as the landscaping matured.

 

 

 

Initial consult done in timely manner, I hired on spot because I was happy with services offered and the price was right.  The biggest plus is that this company follows eco-friendly, natural landscaping practices and avoids use of artificial chemicals.  They offered composting advice and assistance with my compost tumbler.  They also offer an organic fertilization program at an extra cost.  I only had 2 services so far, and the team is very willing to discuss my yard maintenance needs.  I am just a little concerned about the thoroughness of blowout/cleanout, as I am very particular about this, but  I feel very comfortable bringing any concerns to the attention of the lead guy if necessary.  So far so good!

It’s a small yard and it looks very nice.  They do good work.  Their cost may be a little bit higher than other people but I like their philosophy.  They have an eco-friendly philosophy which a lot of gardeners don’t care that much about.  They follow my own thinking.  I want native plants that are drought tolerant and that is their specialty. I am very happy with the plants they chose.  Their maintenance people don’t always remember what they’re supposed to do for me and I have to remind them.  I find that very annoying.  They do good work when they’re here but I want them to remember what they’re supposed to be doing.  They need to keep their notes in better shape. I had one problem because my plants weren’t getting watered; they had cleaned out a valve and forgot to turn the water back on.  That was a problem. When I called they came out right away; their responsiveness was very good on that.

Very well Rapid response to request. Good rapport with design team and excellent plan to use on site materials and maintain natural environment. Work crew was exceptional. Had some difficult times with rain and our new dogs and they handled it well. Also flexible when changes needed to be made. Good communication when time changes were necessary. Always cleaned up at the end of the day and when project was complete any part of yard that had to be disrupted was put back to original condition. Very cost conscious.