Ginkgo Gardens (see notes)

I contracted with Gingko Gardens in Spring 2022 to design and implement a 350 sq. ft. private urban roof garden at my condo near Catholic University with a budget of no more than $6,000. The project, while straightforward enough, had one huge catch: there was no water source on the roof! Landscape designer Thomas Kapfer's brilliant solution was to create the roof top deck garden around something quite new on the market, a "self-watering planter" from Canada. My large rectangular planters have a water resevoir in the bottom of the planter than can hold 20 gallons of water for about 6 weeks, so no need for regular watering for long periods of time even when there is no rain. The planters are filled with a variety of sun-loving, drought-resistant,sweet-smelling perennials, such as Russian sage, catmint, butterfly plants, hummingbird flowers, grasses and 2 vines, honeysuckle and a tangerine trumpet vine. I plan on enjoying this garden, which took about 5 months from first contact on the shop's web site to final installation, for years to come. And I am sure it has significantly enhanced the value of my condo when it comes time to sell - not an unimportant consideration these days.

They were great.

Ginkgo Gardens is really a great company. We've used them a few times and they've always been very prompt and professional. They're also very neighborhood-oriented and offer excellent workmanship.

unknown

Ginkgo told me in April that I would receive the landscaping design in three weeks; it took about six weeks. The plants were finally installed on August 6th. Although Gingko said the lengthy winter we just endured pushed them behind schedule, I still thought it took too long to have the plants installed. Also, during the months before the installation, I found that I was the one calling Ginkgo for information and not the other way around. They were not great at communicating. I also found it interesting that on a couple of occasions when I would call and leave a voice message asking for a return call, I would receive an emailI response instead. Is this a generational thing? I would have preferred the occasional human contact. Additionally, during this process, the staff I communicated with did not exude a lot of friendliness and warmth. They were never unkind; however, I felt that getting my business did not seem to matter to them. Now about the installation of the plants. Ginkgo sent a great team to install them.. My garden looks wonderful and I couldn't be happier. I often receive comments on how nice the garden looks. Ginkgo provided me with detailed instructions on how to care for my plants, which was greatly appreciated.

Ginkgo Gardens has a good selection and is very convenient. IF you want to ask questions, try to go at a time when they are not crowded.

unknown

Thomas and his crew were great to work with throughout the process. Thomas put careful thought into our moisture problem, and offered a few possible solutions. His estimated costs were all considerably lower than another highly rated company on Angie's List. As we were trying to decide exactly what to do, Thomas patiently answered all of our questions. Also, there were several times when he advised us against pursuing options that would have been more expensive. His honesty extended to scheduling of the work. There were several periods where his crew could not come in for sometime (due to other jobs or cold weather), and he was always up front about it. Thomas also was nondefensive when I raised concerns. For example, some reviews on AL suggested that Gingko Gardens was not always good about communicating, disappearing for periods of time in the middle of a job. I let him know up front that I was concerned about this happening if I hired them, and he acknowledged those reviews and promised he would stay in touch with me throughout the job (which he did). Finally, I cannot say enough good things about the crew of men who cut and set our patio stone (travertine). They did beautiful work, and were very punctual, respectful, and pleasant.
Great experience overall!

plants are looking good and bloomed as promised

The designer had a tremendous knowledge of plants and options and was very helpful but we didn't end up hiring Ginko yet to do the full landscaping because of the cost, though we may still hire them. A full catelog of pictures of different plants depending on the lighting would have been tremendously helpful. Instead we were looking up pictures on our iPhones as he suggested plants which was a bit slow and hard to keep track of of.
In the store however, the quality and expertise is very high. I did buy some hostas last year that didn't make it past a few months when planted but everything else has been high quality.

The main problems we experienced with Ginkgo related to customer service/communication.
The initial visit in April was good. The landscaping planner talked to us about what we were thinking, the kinds of flowers and plants we liked/disliked, and different options for the three areas (tree box, front of house, rear patio). He said we would have a plan for review by mid-May with the landscaping itself in June. Unfortunately, we weren't contacted again until Friday, May 31. We made an appointment to meet the following Thursday to review it. The plan was okay; nothing particularly different from most other Capitol Hill houses. We made minor adjustments (hedge height for trimming, etc.) and mailed the signed contract on the 8th. No one confirmed receipt of the contract or let us know a tentative date for the work. We requested updates several times, but didn't receive a response until the June 24th when they told us it would probably be the week of July 22nd. On July 19th, we contacted them to find out if they were coming next week because no one had followed up. They did come out on the 24th to do the work.
Unfortunately, not everything went well. Some things they didn't do because of things they found after starting the work, which are understandable. Others were not, including leaving a gaping hole in the shrubbery between yards that apparently will not be growing back. Even the workers who did it recognized the problem. When they completed the day, no one requested payment, most likely because of the identified problems. When no one from Ginkgo contacted us by the 27th, we contacted them. Gingko left a message on the 30th, saying they would call again on the 31st. On August 5th, we finally were able to arrange a meeting for August 7th. The visit did not go well. It seemed that the representative had no interest in helping to address the problems they created within the current agreement (despite them making other changes to it on their own initiative). They would only take care of them by charging us for additional work. We requested some very simple solutions, such as providing us with some plants to fill in gaps, but they decided they wanted to just give us a small discount off the final price. It appeared that the primary purpose for the trip was to collect the balance due, the first time it was requested.
On the day of the landscaping and on several subsequent occasions, we requested some instructions on how to care for the new plants. No care plans were provided.
Some of the flowers died within a few days of being planted, though the non-flowering parts remained; we hope that means they will bloom again next year. The front of the house did turn out nicely, which is why we still gave Ginkgo a C grade despite the communication and customer service problems we experienced. The treebox was pretty sparse, but as long as the plants bloom again, we will at least have a foundation on which to build. We remain very unhappy with the work done on the back patio.
We had told them initially that we were interested in establishing a maintenance contract for ongoing work, but after this experience we had no plans to use Ginkgo's services again.

Its a great service if you are struggling with your garden.  They tell you what's growing where and why (and why not).  Plus give you great ideas for plants to try.  Two tips:
1. Think ahead about the Qs you want to ask
2. Take copious notes.

Tom Hammond from Gingko Gardens did a great job, even with the postage stamp Capitol Hill front yard he had to deal with. He took my requests very seriously regarding plant and color requests, and also dog-friendly needs.  In addition, he used the limited space as a canvas and not as cookie cutter job. Before starting, I came to the store so he could show me various plants and also edit the plan. The result is lovely, even within my limited budget.  The actual work took only a day.  I would recommend them any time.

I've basically placed the garden in their hands, and they haven't disappointed. They've earned my trust and do a great, great job.  Fair price, tremendous service, great local business.

They do a very nice job.  They trim bushes, plant spring flowers or flowers that have died.  They refresh the small front yard.  They've been coming out to do this 7-8 years.  Recently, their responsiveness has gotten better.

Overall it was excellent.

They came the first time and prepared everything for when they were to come back to finish the job. They never came back to finish. I have tried to call and they do not call back. When they actually do the work they are very good.

I was met immediately upon my arrival. Mark took my plant, checked it for bugs (which it didn't have), cleaned it and re-potted it, for only $5. I bought a new pot from them. I also purchased some nice boutique soaps and beautiful greeting cards. Their selection of plants and pots were both ample and varied.