Simple Elegance

fine

Terribly.  First Benjamin cancelled our visit to provide us the plans. Then after we received the plans, we discovered that he had mismeasured our front yard.  I essentially blew the fee to Angie's list and the extra lighting plan fee for unuseable plans.  I only found out when I had another landscaper in who tried to overlay her plans on his and found the error.

The service went okay. We ended up doing the project ourselves because their pricing was pretty high. They provided a good design. I had no problem scheduling the deal.

It turns out great. He was really good. He even put like where the drainage is, the things that you don’t even think about like what to drain, what kind of plants to put, where the sun heats, and what you should put here and there and everything. I just wanted it to look pretty and he did design it very well. He used to drive from Sacramento to San Jose just to see us. He knew a lot about every plant; you got just described a plant very general and he would pick up his computer and he would ask if that is what I meant and he never got it wrong. He is really good.

We were really disappointed with Ben.  We specifically asked for an Hawaiian topical landscape, with

fern Gully" greenery.  He took five weeks to deliver the pans and his plant selection were a mix of drought tolerant Asian style mostly, red, orange and purple black plants.  It was so horrible that I went around taking pictures of landscapes in the neighborhood with Ferns and greenery.  He just said those plants would use a lot of water and recommended added two ferns in planters.  To make matters worst the plans did not include the lighting and electrical components we had discussed.  He claimed that the lighting and electrical was not included in the Angie's List Big Deal "Complete" landscape design coupon.  However, he offered the same $299 deal in the "Home Improvement" magazine and it specifically started includes "lighting design."  He wanted an extra $399 to add the lighting design component. Once we had the landscape company he recommended come by for an estimate, the owner explained that Ben used the same plant selection for all of the clients he had seen.  So, it did not matter what we wanted, he saved time by just giving us his drought tolerant cookie cutter plan.  The contractor we hired had to completely redo the plant selection and modify the hardscape patio design to fit our yard.  The only thing that worked was the walkway design. Simple Elegance ripped us off.

We were very impressed with the provider.  However, the current drought and uncertain water usage prospects in the future made us rethink the idea of adding more plants and flowers (even if the plants were changed to desert landscaping.)

They did a great job. I met with them and the initial meeting they were very clear and concise. I was going to give them an inventory with what I already have so they can include that in the design. They are receptive of ideas that and they were helpful.

We had no issues with the service.   He was a very nice gentleman, but we didn’t use the plan

They were very professional and the examples of their work were spectacular.  They did the initial design for our landscaping but we asked them to make some changes with the privacy in our yard and we never heard back from them.

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I then used a general contractor that he recommended to implement the project. They were professional. They were able to design my yard in a professional way and not just randomly plant things here and there. I went back to him because he is licensed and he is very methodical and I wanted a master plan. The plans are on blueprints and he listens and he gives me what I ask for. He had 2 or 3 meetings at the house and he walked the property with me. The plans were great and my only issue was that he recommended the general contractor and said he had a great price. The general contractor said it would take 2 weeks and it took 3 months. I am happy with it now. They were very, very cost effective.

Overall, we really like him. He told us upfront that he isn't a low-water, cactus type designer because it's not his specialty. The plants that he ended up choosing were beautiful, but require more watering than we had desired. He provided us with a very nice presentation of his concept. We made the decision on our own and actually kept some of his choices in the final design. He was very professional and was always punctual with us. He is a very friendly person and we truly have no complaints. He was easy to work with. He isn't pushy or opinionated. The labor is still in process and we hope to have the job complete in maybe a month to a month and a half.  We hired someone else to execute the plan. He is only the designer, not the laborer. We would consider hiring him again and would recommend him.

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Ben Dickerson is plain and simple just great to work with.  I was a bit slow after purchasing the Angie's list special and, to be honest, even after we scheduled the appointment with Ben, my wife and I had not really thought about what we wanted to do in the backyard.  Well, turns out that Ben has been doing this awhile and he guided us gracefully through the process.  I was particularly impressed with the way Ben interviewed us because he was able to look at the yard and talk to us about ideas he thought might work.  Then, quite deliberately I realized in hindsight, he carefully interviewed us to find out what we were looking for.  His ideas prompted us to think about variations and usage that we had not considered before.  In the end, my wife and I discovered we had both been thinking about how best to redo the backyard the same way (lucky for me).  
Our yard is oddly shaped, although it has a fairly standard "L" shaped house (with a tired flagstone patio) but then goes back about 100 feet tapering into a point at the far end of the years.  A good part of the area is grass that has seen better days and takes a lot of water.  We have a big ugly hedge on one side that does block the view of the neighbors pool equipment and a couple of big, mature, pine trees on the other side.  We really like the pine trees and didn't want to lose them.  The yard is deep enough that we wanted a retreat/sanctuary way in the back but wanted a patio or low deck for entertaining too.  We also thought of the traditional patio cover over a built in BBQ should fit somewhere in the mix and wanted to redo the yard with more plants and plant diversity (and with more drought tolerant plants).
Ben measured the yard, took all of our ideas into account, and promised a design in a couple of weeks.  Well, I thought that we would get the design and that would be the end of it.  Nope, not how Ben works.  To our pleasant surprise (and apparently the way he always does business), Ben came back up to the house a week or so later for a second session with the initial set of plans.  Very cool.  He captured the idea for entertaining just right with a great patio, built in BBQ with attached seating, and a great patio cover design. Around the corner from the patio he designed us a second entertainment area as a low deck that we can eventually put the jacuzzi next to (one of my late ideas).  His design removed the hedge and replaced it with a layering of plants that will look a lot better but still block the view of the neighbors yard.  Perhaps best of all, the design included a winding pathway to a third small patio that will be our private sanctuary area.  He also put a small water fall and fountain back there that we really like.  Oh, and the pine trees are still in the design and he picked both ground cover and plants that will do well in their shadow.
So, overall, I am really pleased.  The design he did for us really captured what we wanted.  Ben has really great ideas and he was able to show us many of them in pictures because they are in real yards.  He also has tremendous knowledge of the plants that make sense for our area (our plans identified all of the plant types).  He is punctual, meticulous, and very easy to work with.  I highly recommend Ben Dickerson and Simple Elegance Landscape Design.

I was not exactly pleased with the service. I think it was a style difference and I feel like I was not heard. I did not end up with a design I desired. Scheduling was also a bit difficult at first and they were hard to get a hold of. Once I did get their attention they were very attentive. I paid additional to cover other needs I was looking to have done. I was a little disappointment the deal did not include everything I needed. They laid out a new irrigation system, drainage, plant layout and hardscaping. They were just not able to capture my vision so I had to go with another company.

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He came over and he took pictures and measurements. Then he was going to come back and schedule and time for the work to be completed. We had a hard time getting him back for a follow up visit/scheduling. I would still like to see what plans he has come up with though.

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It went really well.  He was very personable and dresses well.  He has good business ethics.  He knows the work and listened to what I wanted.  He came up with a really good plan.  The yard looks good. The price was fair.   I would use him again.

It was great.  We had a nice consultation.  We are just in the middle of the design phase, and things are going great.

I purchased an Angie's List Big Deal for this service. The gentleman seemed knowledgeable about plans and he knew a lot of subcontractors. My biggest problem was that he personally was not involved in the landscape process. So I simply bought the plans and would have to take them to a different landscaper to actually get the work done. I wanted a full service landscaper. The service was somewhat slow.