Outside Dreams Landscape Design & Construction

I hired Outside Dreams to replace the landscaping in my front and back yard. They were prompt, professional and did an amazing job. The design options were incredible and creative. They will be my go to for all other landscaping needs.

Amy Kruse and her crew do an excellent job in all that they do! Amy's knowledge of landscaping is amazing! She listens to the needs of her customers and puts a fantastic design together that is pleasing to the eye of the homeowner and others that see it. The plants chosen are always agreed upon by both Amy and the homeowner, taking into consideration of look and maintenance. I highly recommend Outside Dreams to those looking for new or refreshed landscaping and will use them again.

Excellent. Beautiful design. Professional workers. Fabulous cleanup.

Outside Dreams has done 3 separate jobs for us. Amy’s design work is fantastic. The crews are great. They are phenomenal at installing pavers.

Amy from Outside Dreams created a design for our front and back yards with curves that flowed together beautifully. The pergola changed the whole look of our patio and yard and made all the difference. The walkways are wonderful and enable me to enter our back yard. The flower garden is perfect to display my multi-colored roses and other flowers. Outside Dreams also maintains our lawns weekly. They do exceptional work and stand behind all they do. Should we need further work done, we will definitely have Outside Dreams do it.

Overall, we’re happy with the new patio we had done. Amy (an owner of Outside Dreams) was receptive to changes to the design we had wanted to make and everyone was on the same page. The paver patio work came out great, I’d recommend them for that. The step they added looks great, the pavers are laid straight and we’re very happy with the pattern. They also replaced a couple of severely chipped pavers upon our request. A couple minor annoyances with the final product, such as staples left in the cedar posts they installed, and on the last day while they were trying to finish it happened to be raining, so a lot of the polymeric sand washed away immediately. This gave the impression to us that they were just rushing to finish with us and move on. We can live with small touch ups we need to do. But there were two big issues we encountered during the process. First, during the initial estimate, my wife and I both heard that for patio work, they dig into the grass about a foot or so past the patio, but they put sod down after the work is complete. That never happened, so now we have a mud moat around our new patio that we need to pay someone else more money to fix. Not to mention the kids tracking mud onto our new patio we’re trying to enjoy. The only excuse we were given was on the last day of work, when we asked about it, the answer was that the patio was too low for the grade of the lawn, we should go 6 feet out into the lawn, regrade and sod. I should also mention this was replacing an existing patio that was already at grade, so variation between the new patio elevation and our lawn came as a surprise to us. Part of the job was removing an existing concrete slab and adding a step, and all that came out good, so I’m not saying they’re wrong on how high/low the patio is, but a warning or an offer to finish the job properly would have been more professional in my opinion. Second issue. Part of the job was to run a buried pipe under the new patio for a gutter downspout. Their bid including corrugated pipe, which after talking to several people with specific experience in drainage solutions, we asked if they could do PVC instead. Outside Dreams said they don’t recommend PVC because there’s no air flow and the water could freeze in the winter. I still to this day don’t understand that, it hasn’t been explained to me. We went with PVC, and since it was a design change, my PE licensed wife asked for a shop drawing reflecting this change. Well, we never received that, and came home one day to find the PVC pipe installed and buried under compacted dirt. We had to call Outside Dreams and had them send out someone, who explained that ‘this is what they (the installers) do’, and ensured us it wasn’t just a closed PVC pipe and it will drain out the bottom. After the first rainstorm, water was left sitting in the pipe. Waited four (4) days, still water. Called Outside Dreams. They said give it a week to drain. Called five (5) days later, so a total of nine (9) days after observing standing water in the pipe. At this point I sent an endoscope down the pipe to check for holes or a way for the water to drain, and sure enough, it’s just a closed PVC pipe. My best guess as to the ‘we don’t use PVC because there’s no air flow’ is because their normal practice is to put a slit in the corrugated pipe to let water drain out the bottom. This is just a guess. That’s not a substitute for a bubbler pot or drywell, which is what we were left to assume was installed since we were denied a shop drawing, because ‘this is what they do’. It's been about 3 weeks now since they said they would get back to me with what they could do, and I've yet to hear anything. So, if you’re just having paver patio work done, I would say go ahead and use them. But my recommendation is to be cautious if using them for anything outside the scope of laying pavers.

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The mulch is high quality and did not have any construction debris or chunks of bark in it. The yard looks fantastic now. The only issue I had is the person who estimated the job made a huge mistake in the amount of mulch necessary to cover the space. The amount needed was about twice what they estimated. They were very nice about it and we split the cost of the additional mulch needed.

I went to a couple of landscapers including Outside Dreams to get ideas for a new backyard design. My back yard felt very small and closed in because of an existing deck that was there when we bought the house and I wanted to look at different options. I called into the office and got an appointment set up with one of the designers. Amy accommodated my busy schedule and I met with her several times to discuss. She was very professional and the design she drew was exactly what I wanted! I decided to go with Outside Dreams for my backyard because of their design. They did not disappoint! The patio that the crew installed is much more spacious than the old deck and Outside Dreams was very flexible when it came to any small changes that needed to be made to my design during construction. It is absolutely beautiful. My kids really enjoy the new fire pit and it’s a space that I really enjoy – especially during the mornings when I can drink a cup of coffee on my new sitting wall in the nice weather!

I went to a couple of landscapers including Outside Dreams to get ideas for a new backyard design. My back yard felt very small and closed in because of an existing deck that was there when we bought the house and I wanted to look at different options. I called into the office and got an appointment set up with one of the designers. Amy accommodated my busy schedule and I met with her several times to discuss. She was very professional and the design she drew was exactly what I wanted! I decided to go with Outside Dreams for my backyard because of their design. They did not disappoint! The patio that the crew installed is much more spacious than the old deck and Outside Dreams was very flexible when it came to any small changes that needed to be made to my design during construction. It is absolutely beautiful. My kids really enjoy the new fire pit and it’s a space that I really enjoy – especially during the mornings when I can drink a cup of coffee on my new sitting wall in the nice weather! Will definitely be back to Outside Dreams for our front yard.

I regret having to report this, but I waited six months for Amy and Felix to make this right, and they have failed to do so.We had been discussing changing our water feature due to excessive water use. Amy Kruse told us that the water feature had to be leaking, and that they could design a nicer feature that would not use as much water. We decided on a boulder bubbler.We agreed on a design, sourced the boulder, and they did the installation. Within 4 days the boulder shifted. I noticed that I had to add water often. I called them, and they assured me that there was no problem. I continued to add water, and they finally agreed to send their crew out to check for leaks. They were not sure, so they filled everything up, and said they would be back the next day. That was the last time I saw them. I have called, emailed and texted Amy Kruse more than 6 times through last summer and this spring. Every time she gets back to me, she tells me that they need a crane to move the boulder, and that it might take weeks or months. The last time I heard from her was March. I have called and left a message again - and no return call. I have had 2 water feature professionals out for consults, and they both agree that the water feature is leaking. In fact, while the second one was doing some checks, the water reservoir lost 4 inches in an hour during a cloudy afternoon. I spent more than $50K on many landscaping projects with this company, only to have them not back up their work. They apparently are and quot;doneand quot; with me, as I have no more big projects. I overlooked other errors and mistakes in other projects, but I am now warning other potential clients.They do pretty good design work, but their oversight of their crews is below par. I have found that if I was not there to watch them and manage every move - they would make mistakes. I stuck with them because they knew the property, and I genuinely liked them. I now regret that decision. I placed a complaint with the BBB, and received an email this morning stating and quot;John,I did receive your call today. I am sorry to hear about that and not being able to fix the leak without 100% control. I will send you a check for all of the labor involved in building your waterfeature. Amy Kruseand quot;This - after a year...

The workers showed up when promised and worked extremely hard and cleaned up thoroughly at the end of each day. The project was briefly interupted by a severe thunderstorm but the work proceeded in a timely manner. We were called out of town during the process and one of the owners (Felix) kept us posted via phone and text messages and the project was finished on time and within budget. We were assured that if any problems arose Outside Dreams would stand behind the work and to date there have been no problems but I am confident if there were they would be quicly remedied . We continue to enjoy out new front patio and have received numerous compliments.

Great on-site crew that was always courteous and punctual.

I bought my house last year and the yard was a complete mess - very dated and not maintained. I called around to a lot of landscape companies to get some help, but found that most of the landscape companies were just too busy and it was hard to get an appointment scheduled. I called Outside Dreams and they were very helpful in setting up a time to meet. Amy came out and talked to me about my options and ideas. She was very nice and had great ideas! She came back about 2 weeks later with a design, estimate, and quite a bit more information to go through with me. We decided on focusing on getting our front yard done this year and work on the back next year because of budget. The project started about 3 weeks later. Felix came and went through the design with the crew and answered some of the questions that I had. They were all very courteous and worked so hard! I can't believe the transformation to my front yard! They installed a new paver walkway and steps, patio, sitting wall, new grass, new sprinklers, a tree and lots of bushes. It even makes my house look updated. I have already recommended them to 2 of my neighbors who stopped and asked me who did my landscaping. I enjoyed working with everyone from Outside Dreams!

I was confused as to what to do in my backyard, because it was wide and long. Amy quickly helped me come up with a solution to have a play area for my kids, a few low maintenance bushes. Grass done and overall a backyard that was maintainable for just myself and my kids. It turned out amazing. The office staff was easy to get a hold of and super friendly. Felix and his crew were always ahead of time and so professional and respectful. Their work was beyond my expectations. During this time of year and heat I couldn't believe the work they provided and so timely. Thank you, I will be referring in the future.

My husband and I decided to break up our whole yard (front and back) into multiple phases. The back yard was completed first (last year) as it was in the worst condition - we now have and enjoyable place to hang out and Amy kept our dogs in mind when designing the space for grass. We did have one plant not survive the winter (the other two juniper trees in beside it did just fine) but it fell under the 1 year warranty and they replaced it when the front yard was done this past May. The actual landscaping crew can really make the job and they were hardworking and pleasant to be around.  

The front yard was just finished and the retaining wall is wonderful! The design was able to keep an existing tree in place and mixed in a variety of materials (rocks, mulch, a variety of plants) and blends in nicely with the design of the back yard. We included the sprinkler system in the front as well and the whole job took much less time than I anticipated. The crew (I think one guy was actually on the team from the back yard, too) was also very hardworking and pleasant to be around. They kept everything as clean as possible during the whole process. Some compost was even thrown in the back yard and the grass sure is green now!

The front office staff is very willing to work with special requests and answer all questions. The company does want to make sure you are happy. 
 

All work was performed and completed with highest satisfaction. The space the crew had to work in was not ideal as some areas were constrained by adjacent fencing and our neighbor's sidewalk. Even so, they managed to remove all of the timber, remove dirt and rock, replace a drain, sprinkler line, two sprinkler heads, as well as, build a new wall with more permanent blocks. The crew replaced some sod that was chewed up from the necessary heavy equipment that was used. They were thorough in cleaning up. This project was not easy and I appreciate the effort that went into the crew's attention to detail. The wall looks great.

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I have four small jobs that need to be done in my yard, including cleanup, fencing and a small tree removal. I decided to go with this company, even though they were more expensive, simply because they would supposedly get the work done sooner than some other contractors were promising.

I was originally told two to three weeks from when I signed the proposal. Then we kept getting a lot of rain off and on during May. Since they did not seem inclined to keep me informed on when they would start the work, I had to keep emailing them for a status. Supposedly the rains were delaying some other jobs, so my job was delayed as well. That was certainly understandable! But you'd think they'd bother to let me know?

More rains and more delays. Still no updates, so I had to keep emailing them for a status. Now I'm told it wouldn't be until sometime in July...but since it appeared I was eager to get the work done sooner, I should get another company to do the work! When I asked if there might be some way to get one or two of the small tasks done sooner and put the rest off until later....I was met with silence. They didn't even have the courtesy to get back to me.

In my opinion, not a very reliable company.

It went really well. They were always on time with a good number of workers so they got through the project quickly.
They also cleaned up each day. The crews were friendly and hardworking.

Amy at Outside Dreams designed our landscaping and I trust her with all of the design, plant choices, placement, etc. She did a great job of balancing the plants and making it look nice.

Amy is great! She came out gave us an estimate that was exactly what we wanted. We did have some questions about the design that Amy said would be taken care of. For instance we had two large peonies that needed to be replanted in the garden area, the design had 3 peonies. To me that was not a problem until we realized that the workers rely completely on the design! They ended up splitting our peonies so they could plant 3. Time will tell if it survives. Just make sure that the design has EVERYTHING that you want on it in GREAT detail!

There were a couple of other issues but when brought to Amy's attention were fixed right away. For instance the strip stone was supposed to be glued, but they starting using grout, leaving grey cement in-between the stone. Once we pointed that out they ripped it out and redid it.

Overall I would say they did a great job, just make sure to go over the design and stay on top of the work they are doing. Probably good advice for any project.

See above. I would not recommend them to anyone.

The crew was on time and very polite. They worked hard. I was very pleased with the end results. I could see every corner of my backyard. No trash was left behind.

The owner, Amy had given me a price estimate a year earlier but I was unable to proceed with the project at that time. This year when I wanted work done, she honored the earlier estimate. The work was started and finished on the dates we had planned.The landscapers were always on time, fast and worked very, very hard. Amy always arrived on time, was polite and answered my emails and phone calls immediately.Overall, it was a really easy experience with no glitches or delays and the final project was more beautiful than I ever imaginedI would refer Outside Dreams to any of my friends or family

Don't use this company, they are unprofessional, and could care less about you once they have your money. I was very impressed by Amy at first. She clearly knows what she is doing, and comes across as very professional. She committed to a date, and her crew started on time, and worked tirelesly until the job was complete. Overall, her crew did a fairly decent job. This all happened in October of 2013, so I had 5 or 6 weeks of running my new irrigation system before I had to blow out my sprinklers. Come spring 2014, I was having issues getting the system turned on. Outside Dreams was incredibly unresponsive to my calls. While my yard was burning up, their response was and quot;look onlineand quot;. I asked them twice in 2013 for an instruction manual to operate the system, and they never provided. Come '14 when I need to turn on the system, they don't respond for weeks, and when they finally do, they say and quot;look onlineand quot;. Once I got the system up and running, one of the sections wasn't functioning properly. I asked them to come take a look, and they said they would charge me a service fee. EXCUSE ME!!!! I paid $18,000...THAT'S MY SERVICE FEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have not heard back from them, and I'm incredibly dissapointed. I have several sprinkler heads that aren't working properly, and now sections of my lawn look horrible. While they say they have a year guarantee on the grass, it wouldn't suprise me if I never hear from them again even though I have pictures of my ruined grass. In addition to this, to install the sprinkler system, they had to tear out drywall in my basement to install the line. I asked if repairing the wall was included in the price, and they said yes. I expect it to look like it did before they cut the section of wall out. First their crew was going to leave without repairing. I had to ask them to repair, so they did. The wall is textured. They did not have the skills to texture the wall. They did a half ass job re-texturizing the wall, and now it looks horrible. In addition to this, they were in such a hurry to go to the next job that they never painted the wall. Unacceptable. I invested $18,000 with your company, and this is ow you treat people after you have our cash in your hands. SHAME ON YOU.