Lauren's Garden Service
About us
Expert, professional, eco friendly garden design and build company. Landscape and garden design, installation and maintenance. Knowledgable gardeners are able to tell the difference between weeds and garden plants- expert weeders! We use natives and low maintenance plants and source our materials locally. Horticulture degree! We can do weekly or monthly garden maintenance contracts. Native Plant Nursery in Howard County, MD- selling locally grown, locally native plants Mon-Thurs 9-5pm, or nights and weekends by appointment.
Business highlights
23 years of experience
Services we offer
Bay friendly landscapes, Bay wise landscapes, Garden and Landscape design, annuals, certified as Chesapeake Bay Landscape Professional (CBLP). Services Include: Weeding, design, eco friendly, edging, fall bulbs, fertilizing (all natural), flower pots, garden walls., installation, maintain and install. Rain gardens, maintenance, mulching, natives, pathways, patios, perennials, ponds, pruning, rain barrel installation, raised beds, shrubs, soil amendment, transplanting, walkways, window boxes
Amenities
Free Estimates
Yes
Accepted Payment Methods
- CreditCard
Reviews
4.834 Reviews
| Number of Stars | Image of Distribution | Number of Ratings |
|---|---|---|
| 85% | ||
| 9% | ||
| 6% | ||
| 0% | ||
| 0% |
Showing 1-25 of 34 reviews
Alan E.
Aug 2018
Great crew. So pleasant to have around. They work very hard. Easy to communicate with owner, staff and crew. Pricing is most likely on the high end, however, the responsiveness and work ethic is worth it.
Andrew W.
Mar 2018
Lauren's Garden Service was fantastic from start to finish. My house needed some serious landscape cleanup. The work that I needed to have finished included cleaning out the gutters, removing overgrowth around the entire border of the 1+ acre lot, power washing for the house and the deck, and removing devil weed that had taken over our chicken coop. From the moment I first requested a quote, I knew that I was in good hands. They took care of everything that I needed help with, and did a fantastic job. I'll hire them again in a heart beat.
Omar F.
Jun 2017
Lauren's team was always professional and helped us design what we envisioned for our new front yard landscape. Lauren was responsive and answered all of our questions. She was very thoughtful about her plant selection and took into account our concerns regarding deer and our dogs. She cares deeply about her craft and it shows! Would highly recommend.
Response from Lauren's Garden Service
"Thanks so much!"
Alan E.
May 2017
Such a pleasure to have Alex's crew working around our yard. Everything looks wonderful!
Karen R.
Mar 2017
Last spring, I had a consultation from the Maryland Master Gardeners for my new house. I wanted to deal with water runoff and erosion issues, limit the maintenance needed, and provide nice areas to view and to sit. Lauren’s Garden Service was one of the local companies suggested with expertise in ‘conservation landscaping’. This past summer Lauren and her crew did a complete yard renovation, changing the front, side and back of the house. A beautiful stone patio and dry stream bed were installed. All sod was removed, and native plants, including pollinators, were planted. Lauren was fantastic to work with from the first meeting and review of my needs, to the design, and installation. Her crew was professional and courteous – and worked hard! Lauren was very responsive and I love the results! I just had her crew out for a spring cleanup.
Charles C.
Jun 2015
unknown
Vicky R.
Jun 2015
unknown
Mary B.
May 2015
I showed them what I wanted done and they did it all......
TESS T.
Jan 2015
unknown
Carla K.
Jan 2015
unknown
Rachel T.
Apr 2014
Very professional and easy to work with
Gene M.
Jul 2013
Lauren came out personally to see what the project would be. Lauren was extremely professional and friendly. I liked her right away. Even though I had some idea of what I would like--a peaceful oasis in which to retire and an area which would be restful for the eyes, something in the style of a Japanese garden--I was unsure of the details as how to accomplish this. Lauren came up with specific suggestions of what would work (a stone platform for placement of a bench) and wouldn't work (a stone river because of space limitations) and specific recommendations for plant types. She also suggested what current elements would work with the design, such as using the existing hollies as a backdrop and keeping the English ivy that had invaded our yard from our neighbor as a way to prevent erosion on the bare ground underneath the hollies. She spent quite a bit of time with me. She also suggested that I search the Internet for pictures of what I liked and didn't like in Japanese stye gardens and send them to her, so she could get a better idea of what to incorporate in the design. Upon sending her several photos of my likes and dislikes with a description of why, she sent back some very helpful (and prompt!) emails that finalized the design. I left the exact placement and selection of plants up to her since I had no experience and knowledge with putting these things together. Wow! I was thrilled to see the results. The project took about 2 days--very quick in my estimate. Lauren herself helped with the installation along with two other helpers. There was a small misunderstanding on my part when I thought she was going to clear out some of the lower branches of two of the hollies to make more room for the understory. When I questioned Lauren about it, she explained that it provided a more "natural" appearance, which is an important element of Japanese design, AND provided a screen of the garden from our next door neighbor. Boy, was she right! When I walked up to the stone platform where the bench would be placed, the soundness of her design became evident. She obviously knew what she was doing! The only reason I gave them a "B" for price was that I was a bit surprised at how much it cost, but that just may be due to my lack of knowledge about what such services cost. When I think about the amount of labor involved and the number of plants purchased (over 30) it may very well be reasonable. I did like Lauren and her responsiveness so much that I didn't bother to get another estimate. I will pay extra for good service! We have since placed a cedar bench on the stone platform and placed a small meditating lion among the plants. It will be exciting to see how it looks once the plants start to fill in. I now LOVE looking out my kitchen window and sitting up there in my little oasis. I would gladly recommend Lauren's services!
Response from Lauren's Garden Service
"We really enjoyed working in your yard and giving you a wonderful garden space to relax in! Thank you for all the wonderful words, we strive to make our clients thrilled about their outdoor spaces."
Stephanie J.
Jun 2013
They're wonderful. What really stood out to me was that Lauren comes out and gives you an estimate. She really takes in exactly what you want and she is very green so she uses a lot of all-natural stuff. She tries to provide native plants as opposed to just any old plants. She tries to provide plants that will live in the area. I've had other lawn services come out and they sometimes don't even know what plants you have. I had a yard already and I had to have stuff moved around and I wanted things removed and moved and I wanted certain plants, and she's really good because she has a background in horticulture, so she knows what's going to grow where. It's not like somebody who's just sticking a plant in the ground and they really don't even know what they're talking about. She's very knowledgeable and knows the plants in this area very well. So I really appreciated that. They did a great job, they were here on time, they finished really quickly and they did everything exactly the way I wanted it so it was really nice. I had gotten other estimates that were higher and didn't offer as good quality. We're probably going to use them again in the fall.
Response from Lauren's Garden Service
"It was a pleasure working with this client! We did some transplanting of existing plants and adding some new plants to make everything have a little more curb appeal. We also weeded, edged, removed a holly tree and mulched."
Virginia K.
Mar 2013
I like them. They were recommended to me and I've had over $1000 worth of work done by her company and it's very good. She comes on site and listens to me, takes notes. She is very thorough and she gave me good quotes. Then she has workers that came in and removed the shrubbery, she even had them came in with some kind of a big thing that took out the pieces of wood. And she put in some really nice plants. I will use her again in the Spring.
LESTER D.
Nov 2012
Great!
Robert W.
Jul 2012
This is the second time I have used their services and I continue to be impressed with their expertise, professionalism, hard work and knowledge of landscaping. They arrived when promised, discussed with my wife and me what had to be done and proceeded to trim the shrubbery to our specifications. The workers did the job in an outstanding manner and to our complete satisfaction. after completion of the work they informed us that a bill would be forecoming via email. It did and I paid promptly and happily. I would not hesitate to use them again and i highly recommend Lauren's Garden Service.
Gretchen B.
Jun 2012
The invoice was not broken down by item.The mulch layer applied was not adequate as it has disappeared in many areas. The transplanting was not done, and the company said they would come in September to complete the job.
The company did not come to complete the job in the fall and did not contact me about when they could come. In the spring they did not contact me again, so I contacted them, told them I no longer wanted them to move the plants and wanted an adjustment on the bill which was fully paid. I was told because the job took longer than they thought it would, there would be no adjustment. I reminded them I had found them through Angie's list and had yet to write a review, and was told a check would be in the mail. I received a check for $25.00. This is inadequate, but I will simply write the review and you can make up your own mind.
My mistakes:Not getting an itemized estimate with prices for each portion of the work.Paying in full before the job was completed.Not using a credit card.
If you use them, learn from my mistakes.
The company did not come to complete the job in the fall and did not contact me about when they could come. In the spring they did not contact me again, so I contacted them, told them I no longer wanted them to move the plants and wanted an adjustment on the bill which was fully paid. I was told because the job took longer than they thought it would, there would be no adjustment. I reminded them I had found them through Angie's list and had yet to write a review, and was told a check would be in the mail. I received a check for $25.00. This is inadequate, but I will simply write the review and you can make up your own mind.
My mistakes:Not getting an itemized estimate with prices for each portion of the work.Paying in full before the job was completed.Not using a credit card.
If you use them, learn from my mistakes.
Response from Lauren's Garden Service
"When we completed this job in July 2011 we suggested to the client that the transplanting of 1 hydrangea shrub and 2 astilbe plants wait until cooler weather in the fall in order to minimize transplant shock. It was an exceptionally hot week and we thought it be best to wait. I called and emailed the client again in August 2011 to schedule September transplanting and never heard back. We assumed she was no longer interested in the work. I received a nasty email in late spring 2012 (after not hearing from the client since July 2011 when she reported being happy with the work) saying she wanted a refund for services not performed. We were initially surprised and confused because we had contacted her and never heard back. I offered to come out immediately and transplant the 3 plants and the client said she was no longer interested. The client demanded we refund her the amount due since she no longer wanted transplanting. We promptly mailed out a check for 3/4 of an hour of service which is how long it would have taken us to transplant 3 plants. As I mentioned earlier- this client was really happy with the results in July 2011 when we did extensive weeding, mulched, removed numerous shrubs and transplanted other small plants in her garden. Our description of the work to be done was extremely detailed and we applied an agreed upon 2 inches of mulch. Although the original estimate called for 5 yards of mulch (we only needed 4), the clean up of the garden beds took longer than estimated so it was still a fair estimate. We pride ourselves on our detail to gardening/landscaping tasks and excellent customer service. We are an honest and professional company and can supply many references to show this."
Catrina M.
May 2012
Lauren and her crew were great. I had a basic idea of what I wanted done and relied on Lauren and her expertise to put into place. It was nice to come home from work and see a complete change. I would definitely use Lauren again and refer her to anyone who asks.
Robert W.
May 2012
Overall it went great! Lauren was more interested in takiong steps to save my troubled plants. Another landscaper was only interesed in removing the sick bushes and replacing them with fairly expensive bushes. Laurens efforts appear to be working so far. My wife and I appreciate her honest appraisals and in giving us viable options. We highly recommend her services.
Response from Lauren's Garden Service
"We really appreciate the work and enjoyed working at your house! Check us out on facebook for after pics of the backyard island shade bed!"
LESTER D.
Mar 2012
I told most of it above.
I have an old, beautiful honeysuckle that has become dense with a lot of dead spots. Lauren told me what she could do about it, which was delicately remove from the interior what could be reached without damaging the healthy branches giving the honeysuckle some room to breathe without overcutting which would also have taken off the healthy portion as well. I appreciated this honest appraisal.
She recommended specific shrubs to plant in one of the empty spots along my back hedge. She picked up on the fact that I love flowering and sweet scented shrubs. She also made the recommendations based on the surrounding border shrubs, and what would fit in; height and soil, and sunlight were also accounted for in her suggestions.
The shrubs were not yet available as it was early in the season. But as soon as they came in she was here to put them in herself. I loved the service level she provided.
I have cars driving down my street and they slow down and even stop just to enjoy my beautiful, lush, colorful garden. I would not hesitate to recommend Lauren's Garden Service (and I already have) to anyone. I am confident that they too would be more than pleased with her landscaping/gardening skills and services.
Lauren herself is professional, knows what she is talking about, pleasant, and responsive. She did what she said and stuck to her schedule. The budget did not "slip" and she was clear about payment due dates. I thought her fee was very reasonable. I interviewed - or tired to interview - 3 other landscapers and they were not as fast to respond or come give an estimate, one never got back to me, Lauren was neither the low nor the high bid. She was the only one who seemed to know what I was talking about and was clear about exactly could and would be done.
I have an old, beautiful honeysuckle that has become dense with a lot of dead spots. Lauren told me what she could do about it, which was delicately remove from the interior what could be reached without damaging the healthy branches giving the honeysuckle some room to breathe without overcutting which would also have taken off the healthy portion as well. I appreciated this honest appraisal.
She recommended specific shrubs to plant in one of the empty spots along my back hedge. She picked up on the fact that I love flowering and sweet scented shrubs. She also made the recommendations based on the surrounding border shrubs, and what would fit in; height and soil, and sunlight were also accounted for in her suggestions.
The shrubs were not yet available as it was early in the season. But as soon as they came in she was here to put them in herself. I loved the service level she provided.
I have cars driving down my street and they slow down and even stop just to enjoy my beautiful, lush, colorful garden. I would not hesitate to recommend Lauren's Garden Service (and I already have) to anyone. I am confident that they too would be more than pleased with her landscaping/gardening skills and services.
Lauren herself is professional, knows what she is talking about, pleasant, and responsive. She did what she said and stuck to her schedule. The budget did not "slip" and she was clear about payment due dates. I thought her fee was very reasonable. I interviewed - or tired to interview - 3 other landscapers and they were not as fast to respond or come give an estimate, one never got back to me, Lauren was neither the low nor the high bid. She was the only one who seemed to know what I was talking about and was clear about exactly could and would be done.
Response from Lauren's Garden Service
"Thanks for the great review- we really loved working in your gardens!"
Stephanie W.
Dec 2011
We are so pleased with the result. We will continue to use Lauren's services.
Response from Lauren's Garden Service
"Thanks! We look forward to working in your gardens again!"
Mary V.
Nov 2011
A fantastic experience. We needed the work to improve the curb appeal of our house for sale. Lauren responded promptly to our request, listened to what we needed and came out to do the work within the week. Her attention to detail was remarkable and the quality of the work was excellent - she and Megan are hard workers. We put the flower and shrub choices completely in Lauren's hands and the result was prettier than we had even imagined. After the deer "discovered" our new landscaping, she replied within the day with strategies to protect our investment. Final result - the neighbors and potential buyers gave rave reviews about the landscaping - we got three offers on the house after three days on the market. We will use her again for our new home.
Monica T.
Oct 2011
-- I was pleased to find that this service has a permanent staff, whose native language is english. I was somewhat frustrated to find that I was always communicating with this staff (on site) and not Lauren -- and often the staff was not aware of details of the job that I wanted to discuss. I met with Lauren one time to scope out the project, but it was very hard to speak with her, in person, during most of the project period. I even called her once, after being told by the staff that I had just missed her (at my house), and never got a return phone call. But, eventually, she would answer by email -- that's how we communicated 95% of the time.
-- I was very pleased with the initial work they did of clearing the river rock bed away from the back of the house and putting down sod and grass seed.
-- I then commissioned Lauren to design and then install a new mulched landscaped border from the front and along the side of my end-unit townhouse. Also, to replace the short walkway from the driveway to the porch.
-- The job was started when Lauren had promised and the crew was always punctual. I didnt' care for the plantings that she had selected (partly my fault because I told her what types of plants I wanted, but also she used the smallest of these plants possible -- which I guess is standard practice for landscapers, but not what I had intended). So, I went to my favorite nursery and bought totally different plants (that I picked personally) -- with the benefit of hindsight -- and instructed her to take out the previous and plant the ones I had provided. Lauren was happy to have her crew do this (at not too much extra cost). However, I also had a big issue with the new walkway -- in that it was lower (in height) than the original (i.e. was not flush with the porch). This is not insignificant to me because I have someone in a wheelchair living with me -- the new walkway created a new hindrance to transporting my mother in and out of the house. When I brought the issue up to Lauren, she first insisted that the walkway height was the same as the original. Only after persistent communication with her about this on my part (through emails), did she finally agree to fix the problem (at some cost to me). I also found that I had to take a hands-on approach to making sure the mulch bed design was to my satisfaction.
-- In the end, I was very pleased with the results. Even though I had a few issues with the big projects, I felt that Lauren was able to work with me to resolve those issues to my satisfaction. The only advice I would have is to work on improving communication (on big projects) --- both of my issues may have been avoided all together if there had been more communication in the design phase.
-- I was very pleased with the initial work they did of clearing the river rock bed away from the back of the house and putting down sod and grass seed.
-- I then commissioned Lauren to design and then install a new mulched landscaped border from the front and along the side of my end-unit townhouse. Also, to replace the short walkway from the driveway to the porch.
-- The job was started when Lauren had promised and the crew was always punctual. I didnt' care for the plantings that she had selected (partly my fault because I told her what types of plants I wanted, but also she used the smallest of these plants possible -- which I guess is standard practice for landscapers, but not what I had intended). So, I went to my favorite nursery and bought totally different plants (that I picked personally) -- with the benefit of hindsight -- and instructed her to take out the previous and plant the ones I had provided. Lauren was happy to have her crew do this (at not too much extra cost). However, I also had a big issue with the new walkway -- in that it was lower (in height) than the original (i.e. was not flush with the porch). This is not insignificant to me because I have someone in a wheelchair living with me -- the new walkway created a new hindrance to transporting my mother in and out of the house. When I brought the issue up to Lauren, she first insisted that the walkway height was the same as the original. Only after persistent communication with her about this on my part (through emails), did she finally agree to fix the problem (at some cost to me). I also found that I had to take a hands-on approach to making sure the mulch bed design was to my satisfaction.
-- In the end, I was very pleased with the results. Even though I had a few issues with the big projects, I felt that Lauren was able to work with me to resolve those issues to my satisfaction. The only advice I would have is to work on improving communication (on big projects) --- both of my issues may have been avoided all together if there had been more communication in the design phase.
Response from Lauren's Garden Service
"The client hired me to design a landscape that would have attractive elements each season of the year. We reviewed the colors she liked, what sort of look she was going for, she specified the exact height of the plants she would like and many other details. I worked all of these details into a design that the client did not like. The client gave me a list of specific plants after visiting a nursery and I worked those specific plants into a design- all I did was decide where they would be placed based on height. The member approved this design but had us remove the plants when they were installed. We used the typical 1 gallon size that perennials are sold in and 3 gal size for shrubs. It does take about 3 years for new landscape beds to fill in. We can start with larger shrubs if you are interested but perennials generally aren't available in larger than 1 gallon. My honest opinion about the plants that the client selected is that they will look good only in one short season of the year as they are seasonal flowering shrubs. I like to mix seasonal flowering plants in with some evergreen foundation plants so there is something interesting/curb appeal at all times of the year. I believe that we are actually really good at customer communication and respond quickly as well. I remember the client expecting things to be done a certain way before I had actually gotten to that part of the project- not giving us the time to complete things ourselves before it was deemed 'wrong'. My take on the whole thing is that this customer is very detail oriented and we do well with detail orientation- it's our niche!"
SHERROD S.
Sep 2011
Lauren's Garden Service does a fine job and we would recommend them to others
Luba A.
Jul 2011
Wainwright’s uses all natural products. They really know the difference between a plant and weed. This is important to me because I have a lot of unusual plants in my garden. Also, I like that they weed by hand, because that can be hard to find these days. Like all garden services, I advise that you watch to make sure that they don’t bury any delicate plants when mulching. They offer smart garden design, and good use of native plants.
Response from Lauren's Garden Service
"We usually don't bury the plants in mulch- it's one of our distinguishing traits. We just happened to be starting a new guy that day : ( We do understand why keeping mulch away from the base of plants is important and usually mulch in this way. Please forgive us this one day error!"
Licensing
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FAQ
Lauren's Garden Service is currently rated 4.8 overall out of 5.
Lauren's Garden Service accepts the following forms of payment: CreditCard
Yes, Lauren's Garden Service offers free project estimates.
No, Lauren's Garden Service does not offer eco-friendly accreditations.
No, Lauren's Garden Service does not offer a senior discount.
No, Lauren's Garden Service does not offer emergency services.
No, Lauren's Garden Service does not offer warranties.