Dig Right In Landscaping Inc

We worked with Jenna to have the rubber replaced, weed out the area and place tall grass in several strategic areas. Jenna suggested we build up the area to 3 layers of brick on the street side as we are on an S-curve. They installed single layer brick around most of the area. They worked quickly and the end result looks very good. We plan to hire them again to replace a planter box outside the front of the house in the future. They also mow our grass once a week and do a very good job.

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With the French drain there was a problem with the sod but it was taken care of. I had another problem in January but the office was closed until March. Listen to the reviewers who detail issues with communication and responsiveness. With the 2017 job I waited a month and a day for an appointment. A snow event with several inches was predicted with for several days with 90% certainty. In preparation I took photos of my garden in case it was covered by snow, which I anticipated. I received a confirmation email the evening before, with no mention of possible cancellation due to weather. I waited over an hour after my scheduled appointment then called leaving a voice mail. I later was told that an email had been sent that morning cancelling the appointment due to weather. It went to my junk mail and I never saw it. I consider it very unprofessional to send an email from an unknown sender 2 1/2 hours before a scheduled appointment and not confirm that the message was received.

Overpriced, poor communication, bad design, long wait time.

I went with Digrightin at the recommendation of a friend who had never personally used them, but had heard some good things. It was a nightmare. I called in mid-March to ensure I could get the work done by early May and was assured this would be possible. All I wanted was turf grass removed, soil amended, and mulch added to the border of my front lawn (not large), but had to go through a mandatory design process that initially would have cost me over $400 in itself. I talked this down to $180 since I had already explained to them I wanted to do the design and planting myself. For $180 I had to wait a month and finally received a piece a paper with a few lines and a bunch of a circles (see photo). Additionally, Julia (project manager/designer) placed the 4' witchhazel tree (root ball depth over 24") and chokeberry right over my sump pump and gas lines. I had shown her the sump line at our first meeting and the gas line is pretty obvious since the meter is on that side of the house. Eventually I made my own design in Photoshop as it was now the end of April and you aren't put on their schedule until a contract is signed and deposit received. Digrightin was quick to take my money but then communication stopped. After multiple emails and much pleading I was finally able to get on the schedule mid-May, otherwise it would have been mid-June. I was told Julia would be contacting me before the project start date but she did not. When she arrived the morning of the work, she was rude and unprofessional. Luckily the actual work and the crew were satisfactory. After work was completed, nobody followed up with me to see how it went. Instead I got a voicemail from Julia saying I owed another $520 for mulch and I needed to pay it that afternoon. This was considerable since my contract only totaled $1000. Julia had grossly underestimated the amount needed and 3x the amount quoted was used without consulting me first. They charge $130/yard.

It was a terrible experience and I will never use them again.

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I had my front yard landscaped by Dig Right In. I made the mistake of allowing them to convince me to do the project in late fall (My home rehab project was not going to make the December deadline and thus I would not be able to move into the home until the Spring and had asked Dig Right In to postpone the project until then since I would not be able to water the newly landscaped yard). Although the owner sent me an email stating he would replace anything in Spring that does not come up he did not keep his word. Here is his promise written in an email: Per our conversation, we will be out in the spring of 2014 to review the growth of all plantings from the fall. This may need to be late April or mid May depending on the weather. We will replace anything that does not come up, and anything that looks partially impaired that is written on the list(s) and drawings that Britny gave you. He did replace 3 trees that did not make it through the winter however one of the new trees he replaced had all the branches broken off one side and all the leaves had holes on them with brown edges. His response to me in an email was: We will be happy to and quot;exchangeand quot; it at the price quoted by Britny, but be aware that it is not a manufactured item but rather a living plant and they have their quirks and imperfections--like people! And yes, you need to wait for the tree to fill out...it's what they do if given water, fertilization and care. I have hired a landscape companies in the past and all the trees and plants they planted were healthy and beautiful. The price Dig Right In quoted was $1400 for them to replace their and quot;quirkyand quot; tree. He also never replaced the plantings that did not come up in Spring. Thus, I have a brand new landscape project which cost me $19k that I never saw in full bloom. I will have to wait for the tree to grow branches and I will have to buy 8 new plantings that never made it through the winter. Bottom line: the owner of the company is not a and quot;man of his wordand quot;. Regretfully, I would not recommend Dig Right In.

I selected Dig Right In based on signs in the neighborhood - they seemed to have their signs in so many yards that really caught our attention. From the start Freyja was extremely helpful. She developed a plan for our entire property and offered pricing for each section so we could choose what to do within our budget. She took into account all of our requests and requirements, improving on almost all of the ideas that we had. We were very happy with the design and the personal attention, we liked that she was sensitive to our budget, and the end result was just as expected. She was very responsive to our questions all through the process, and even 6 months or more after it was done. We'll likely hire them again to finish what wasn't in our budget last season. Also, the workers were great - friendly, obviously experienced and good at their jobs. Will gladly recommend them and would hire them again.

They never sent me a proposal. Prior to leaving my property in May, she told me to be patient as she had quite a few proposals to do and it might be a couple of weeks. I wrote to the company today before creating this review and was told that I was to contact them after clearing some of the brush with another company. The rep is offering to come out to the house again. I do not understand why that would be necessary. I was told that she was going to create a proposal. I am not sure why the rep spent over an hour with me in May walking the property if not to create a proposal plus she was over 30 minutes late.

Very well. We were going to contract them to meet part of our landscaping needs and they had a break in their schedule and was able to do it weeks early. They showed up on time, worked steadily for the day, Work was done well, finished in one day. Extra information provided about other plants we might need and how to care for the lawn. very happy with the work done.

I rejected the Dig Right In plan. A second estimate produced a reasonable plan based on a qualitative discussion right in my yard. The second estimate was half the quoted price and complexity.
I do believe that the Dig Right IN representative was knowledgable, but the $450 up-front charge and the characteristics of the proposed design lead me to believe that their services are more appropriate for municipal or industrial sites than for homeowners.

They charge $23 a visit for weekly lawn mowing. They do organic products and they do conservation type lawn care. They mulch the clippings and they keep it 3 inches or better longer to decrease the amount of water needed.

This is a hard review to write because I have mixed feelings about Dig Right In. I think if you are looking for design work, they are excellent and Freyja, their designer, is talented and great to work with. So Grade of and quot;Aand quot; for that. The crew who installed the plantings was not so great. We warned them we had underground irrigation drip lines and they damaged them in many spots. I know it can be tricky to plant around those, but rather than telling us they taped them (!) and covered them with dirt. So when we turned on the system we had multiple leaks to fix at our expense.
We chose Dig Right for weekly lawn maintenance because they offer organic lawn care. We have used them for weekly lawn maintenance the last 3 years or so. I like their philosophy and our lawn looks pretty healthy, not like a golf course, but we don't care about that, we just wanted organic. The problem is the crew who mowed the lawn each week. They consistently left the gate open and we have a small dog who chases cars. The gate closes easily for everyone else, including Com Ed, etc., so I don't know what the problem is unless they were just careless or in a huge hurry (they usually came and went in less than 5 minutes, we don't have much grass). I did complain about this on a regular basis to the office and I know the office manager was also frustrated that it kept happening. This went on for two summers. At their last visit in fall 2013, they did it again, so when I paid the bill, I mentioned it on there and said I would be looking for a new company. I got no response, which surprised me since I have been a customer for several years and have also had design work done. I may still use them for the organic fertilizers, etc., since there doesn't seem to be any other companies offering that, and the owner seems very knowledgeable. I would like to find a new crew to do the weekly mowing however.
We also had a problem with the Spring Clean Up the first year they did it. I had to call them back twice because they didn't cut down all of the perennials we had left up for winter interest (such as ornamental grasses). I think they did a better job last year, however. So the crew seems to be improving in some areas, but I don't want to risk my dog's life waiting for them to get their act together.

Everything turned out very well. I was pleased with their services and will use them again in the summer.

They've been consistently good. Show up and quickly handle work, they trim up edges nicely. I have a very uneven, curvy lawn and they do fine. They are careful with my flowers and if I forgert to pick up my hose from law, they will remove it gently and not hurt my flowers when putting it to side. They also have helpful emails throughout growing season with reminders about when to fertilize and how to handle various environmental things affecting the lawn , as a courtesy to their customers. Liz is accommodating and responsive to requests.

They are doing a great job.

I was, in the end, very happy with Dig Right In. They did a really beautiful (and functional) job on the rain garden. There was some issue with the retaining wall and tree up front (design miss-communication, not installation or materials) but they kept coming back and finished the job to my liking and specifications with no complaint or extra charge. Very happy.
The designer was prompt with replies by email and the workmen were courteous and cleaned up after themselves.

Not as good as expected. They came out to remove lawn but failed to remove the edging of the entire lawn, which left bad lawn and weeds all around. They layered compost and seed. It rain for many days, which we thought it would help with the watering. Grass finally grew after 3 weeks or so but only in spots!! We called many times and only answering services, which we left messages and was not called back. Finally when we called, we were told that the rain must have washed the seed away and that there were no guarantees with seed. We also asked why they didn't lay down hay to keep that from happening and they said they don't work with hay! Well they never came out to look at it, never came to check on the progress, in our opinion they should have. So after we told them we want it fixed, they said they would come out and lay more seed and compost and pack it down, for a fee of course. We agreed to it and come to find out, they sent a little old lady to come set the seed down, and only seed. They didn't bring a roller to compact it down like they said they would. So now we are left with spots of good grass with weeds all around it. It looks worse than what it use to. We can not afford to get it fix. We are at a loss and we should have listen to the other reviews instead of giving people a chance. We learned our lesson.

Very professional, prepared detailed plans and estimates for each piece of the project. Started and finished project on time, their website shows all of their projects and where your project is in regards status. The crew was professional and knowledgeable and was able to work with us in various tweeks in the project so we could get the look we wanted. There are contractors out there that we provide you with lower qoutes but I guarantee you will not get the same level of communication and profesionalism. Also, Dig Rite In is upfront with all the expected costs and is very detailed in how they estimate a project to avoid and quot;Surprisesand quot; at the end of the project, which is more then common with most contracts who low ball a quote and then charge you overages at the end of the project.
I would recommend Dig Rite In for anyone looking for Landscapping and Drainage work, you will not find anyone in the Chicagoland area more knowledgable and professional.

During the lawn maintenance contract, they chipped one of my raised garden bed composite boards and failed to mention it to me. I realzed it on 5/29 that is was chipped. I emailed them on 5/29 and will now see how long it takes to get a response. Also, I previous gave a review and accidently gave them an overall grade of an A. However, their overall grade should be a C.

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They are very easy to work with. They broke down the job into parts so we could decide to do some things later if we want. Jeff Swano seems to have a good understanding of water and how to make it go where you want it to go. After one year, the swale/rain garden system is still working beautifully. We are still tweaking the aesthetics of the plan and figuring out the plants.

Superior design services, clear communication, clear prices, Excellent installation,quick, high quality, clean and gone! like that! in just 2 days. Follow up the next week with any issues. Only small complaint is that they didn't follow up on the follow up: one bush still need to be trimmed.

This project took a few weeks to complete and it was not without its hiccups...but we worked directly with Jeff Swano the Owner/President, and he made sure everything went smoothly. He was in communication with us constantly, and he did everything possible to make sure we were happy happy happy!
Jeff is an amazing and quot;visionaryand quot; and he really has a superb understanding of landscape design. But his true gift is his ability to understand water, how it works, where it flows, and how to work with it in your yard to ensure that it goes where you WANT it to go...not where it wants to go! If you have water issues in your yard - look no further than DigRightIn! They will fix your problem, and make your yard really beautiful at the same time!
We couldn't be happier, and I will go back to DigRightIn without hesitation for all of my future landscaping needs!

The work went very well. They redid some drainage. They redid the contours of the backyard that fixed the drainage and put in some new drainage pipes. They did some mulching, put some sod down for us and did some concrete work. I would recommend them to others. I would rate them highly and would use them again in the future if necessary.