Green Hill Landscaping

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Based on the description that this was a small family business, and a couple of decent reviews, I called Green Hill, and got voicemail.  Within an hour, I was contacted by a nice young man who said he would send his dad over to look at the job.
Martin showed up promptly and we discussed the original plan to do two loads of soil (20 cubic yards of topsoil in the front yard, and 20 cubic yards of topsoil in the side yard).  We also talked about removing one tired azalea and replacing it by transplanting another from the back yard.  We talked about moving four additional plants: two boxwoods, and then a hydrangea and an additional azalea.  Martin talked about pruning the boxwoods to make them look a little better.   Martin quoted the price at $800.00 and asked if I thought it was too much.  I told him we wanted to be fair, that we knew it was hard work and that we were too old to do this ourselves.  He met my husband, they shook on the deal, and we made a date to have the work done on April 12, 2014.
I had the first load of topsoil delivered on Wednesday, and when the soil provider delivered, he suggested that we take a load of screened fill on the side of the house to level the ground, and top it off with about 5 yards of topsoil.  The soil provider talked about the timing of the deliveries so that the landscaper got the material when he could use it. 
I called Martin and talked with him about the plan and the timing of the soil deliveries, and he said he would have to come back and look at the job again, and maybe it would be a different amount.  He came and spoke with my husband and said the price would maybe be $1000.  When Martin and his two men showed up on Saturday, I walked around again with Martin and I said he could dispense with the plantings, as I  could manage that, and I wanted to keep the price down.  He said he would see how it goes, and he would come on Sunday at 5 PM to be paid.
When they were done, we were not home, but when we arrived, here's what we found.  Three shrubs were moved and in the correct location.  The holes where the plants were were left open, and that was a surprise.  I would have thought a landscaper might have at least filled in the holes.  In any event, the soil was all spread, but there were lots of big clumps in the soil which we will have to rake out and smooth before we can plant grass seed.  Also, the grading job around our buried propane tank is about six inches too high from the surrounding area.  My instructions were to get the grade to the label on the lid, which reads "FINISHED GRADE", so this was clearly a communications problem.  They covered the label, but at a level a little higher than the surrounding area.  That's something we will have to fix by moving a couple of wheelbarrows of dirt over to the holes and lower area left by the boxwoods they moved. 
Sunday afternoon came and went and Martin did not show up to be paid.  I phoned his cell phone, and also his office number.  I talked to his son, who said he would ask his dad to come by for payment.  I asked what the final invoice amount was.  The son could not remember because he made out so many the day before, but he would look it up and call me back.  He never called back, but Martin did show up for his check.  I asked what the amount was and Martin said "$1,000."  I asked if he had an invoice for me; he did not, nor did he understand that I would want one, as he and I agreed that I would pay him by personal check.  I said I wanted something on paper, a receipt, an invoice, something.  He said he would maybe have his son send it if I would give him our address.  I told him the address was on the check I had just given him.
All in all, the work was okay, but I was frustrated because the communications were tougher than I would have liked.  I think the business practices are sloppy, not illegal or wrong, just sloppy.  I am sorry now that I did not get additional quotes for the job.  If I had, I might have been more encouraged that the price was fair.  I have pruning and raking to do, nothing major, but I just cannot give this supplier a higher grade.

It is a good company.  The guys are pretty responsive and very top.

Martin is a thief.  Each time I needed something done, I have stood in my driveway with him and discussed the job that needed attention (i.e., Spring clean up, Fall clean up, weeding, snow plow).  I show him and tell him what I need done.  He says yes to everything.  We agree on a price for the job.  Each time his performance is lacking.  For example, when it last snowed, I contacted Martin by phone at 2 p.m. when he still had not shown up and asked him if he was coming to do the driveway.  His response:  yes, I will be there in one hour.  He showed up five hours later.  He billed me over the price we agreed upon.  We agreed on $200 for Spring clean up.  He merely blew the lawn and billed me $300.  He left my lawn looking terrible.  He made a repair to the railroad ties along my driveway and we agreed upon a price of $60.  He billed me for $80. 

I have worked with Martin for approximately one year, and each time his performance was lacking.  I gave him the benefit of the doubt and tried his work again, each time discussing with him what work needed to be done. I will never recommend him and will never use him again.  Watch out for what he says and what he does.  They are polar opposites.  He will rip you off by lying to you as he has done to me.

Showed up on time, performed the work as expected, at the price negotiated, and without major issues.  Will continue to go back for similar type of work.

Their very friendly and they will work with anything that you may have..anything from scheduling to to what job has to be done and in what way.

We had originally requested a quote from the company for spring clean up and lawn aeration.  We promptly received a quote for both services.  The quote for lawn aeration was bit high so we decided to only proceed with the spring cleanup.  The company was willing to work within our guidelines and started work on the requested date.  There was a bit of a communication issue the morning when work was to start.  When nobody was home when they arrived I received an email at work asking me to call them.  I called and explained the services I had requested via email, and was told they could not work if nobody was home to show them the property.  About an hour later I received a second call from another individual asking me to confirm the requested services and was told they would begin at that point.  When I returned home the lawn was looking much better but it was clear the company had run out of daylight and would need to return to complete the work.  This was confirmed via email.  The next nice day we had the company did return and clean up the remainder of the lawn.  The lawn looks much better now than before and we are happy to have had the help of Green Hill Landscaping.