Simple Elegance

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

Six months after settling on a design, we are still waiting on our plans; Benjamin has repeatedly missed meetings (if memory serves me correctly, he missed or rescheduled just about every one of our half dozen meetings over the past year) and failed to email completed plans when he said he would, resulting in substantial delay to the project. At present, he is not returning phone calls or emails. I will update this review when plans are received. 

Update: 

After filing a complaint with Angie's List, and a few more delays, we eventually received a new set of plans. Unfortunately the new plans failed to complete the contracted work: Ben removed rather than correcting several design elements we requested, and the elevations (which we paid extra for) were not updated from their previous version (in which they were too rough to be of use). 

I don't expect any additional work from him at this point - it just doesn't seem realistic, and I acknowledge that he probably has put a lot of hours into our project. We've even offered to pay him additional in the case that the project is taking more labor than anticipated. He just seems to not be capable of doing some of the work which he agreed to do and has not given us any explanation, just a year of delays. This poor performance is especially surprising given how otherwise easy Ben was to work with: when he did show up, he was always pleasant and full of ideas - they just never materialized as the plans we commissioned. 

He gave me lots of ideas and then the plans will be fine tuned.

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I wasn’t too happy with the service.  The drawings were good, but the whole dimensioning of the landscaping was off.  I then had to figure out how to put this into the landscaping plan I had. 

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Benjamin followed my idea but suggested some slight but very good improvements. I liked that he did not try to steer me in a complete new direction. He had very good selections for plants that would meet my needs of low maintenance and very little water usage. He was able to develop a plan that would provide color throughout the year. He provided very good detailed plans that the construction contractor was able to follow easily and prevented any misunderstanding between myself and the contractor. I have just finished having the yard landscaped (February) and I am very pleased. Of course all the plants are small at this time but I am able to see how the whole project will look. He made a great suggestion for some iron trellises that looked so good when installed that I had the contractor install one more.

We have waited some time prior to posting this review to provide fair and accurate assessment.
'We purchased a package deal from Angies list for landscaping and quickly learned that it did not cover the scope of the project we had in mind.
Ben was very charismatic and engaging.  We were encouraged and therefore agreed to expand the scope beyond the original Angies' list deal.
Unfortunately, during the process, Ben cancelled several visits and all subsequent scheduling revolved around when he would be 'back in the area'.  Overall it was a rather drawn out process that evolved over several months.
In the end, his plans were of high quality but unfortunately far exceeded the budget we had discussed in terms of feasibility after reviewing with several contractors.  In addition, the contractors we have met with have also pointed out a number of features that are simply not practical from a functionality standpoint.
Overall we were disappointed with the experience.