John Shorb Landscaping

John Shorb Landscaping was assigned to us as part of the DC Riversmart Program, for which they installed two bayscape gardens in our yard. Our contact, Deb, was great to work with and everything has flourished. We liked Deb so much we hired Shorb to do another project at our house including planting a handful of shrubs and a crepe myrtle. This also went well and I appreciated that the workers were careful to avoid harming any of the 'plantitas' that were still coming in from the previous project. Pricing was competitive with other landscapers we've used.

We loved Terra. Shorb is $#!t. I'm amazed John Shorb Landscaping has a "C" rating. If their competence is "average" then don't waste time or money. It's barely one step up from what nature does on its own. Avoid.

Design was good and installation went without a hitch. One bush died in the 1st 2 months and promised to replace it. Six months later I called as never replaced and they apologized for the delay and said would replace immediately. Came back to replace and said wouldn't replace it as where it was placed was the reason it died. Didn't care that it was their design that I paid for that determined where it was placed. Spent over $9,000 total for design, tree and garden installation and wouldn't replace a $25 bush that died almost right after installation at a location they chose.  Would recommend you use any landscaper other than them.

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I am surprised to see there are no reviews from homeowners on Angie's List for John Shorb Landscaping for the past three years. We had a fantastic experience once we found them via the Riversmart Homes program. We first met with Marisa Willis from John Shorb Landscaping who did a thorough review of our front and back yard to provide a plan for a rain garden. After she determined they would not be able to do a rain garden she followed up with me about a front yard landscaping design request. 
Marisa let me know ahead of time it was their busy season and it may take 2-3 weeks to send the proposal. After a few weeks Marisa sent me an initial estimate for the design, materials, and labor for the small area in front of our porch. The final estimate came after she sent me the design and we agreed on the plants. The first design was too basic for what we had in mind so she was able to quickly suggest a variety of plants and made it clear that it would increase the estimate by $200 which was fair based on the design. 
Marisa was very quick to respond each time I had a question and helped me understand the process along the way. She scheduled the planting as soon as they had availability for a fall planting. A team of four men showed up on time, dressed professionally, and quickly got to work on the date of the install. We had an overgrown rose bush that they took care of and included within the new design. Our yard is pretty small so it only took them 2 hours to complete the full job.
I was very impressed with each phase of the process. From working with Marisa as the designer to seeing the final product. We quickly received care instructions on how to water and maintain the planting and given that the plants are guaranteed for a certain amount of time we feel like we made a good investment. 
I also appreciated getting a follow up e-mail from their client relations team member Alex McCarty. Overall we had a great experience.

Well done and all plants are doing well

They were great. They did what they said they were going to do. They were on budget and on time. They were very easy to work with. We get a lot of compliments on the work. It looks beautiful.

The clear professionalism and work ethic is so obvious that it looks like two of my neighbors use them now as well. My grass in particular looks fantastic, and is growing places it never grew before.

They are a little pricier than what I was planning on, but I got what I paid for and more. In particular, the leaf removal was only a little more, but it saved me SO much effort. I hate raking leaves, since it used to be a weekly activity for 3 or 4 months.

They were excellent. They terraced our backyard and built a patio. It turned out great. I liked their design skill and they were very competitive with their pricing. They were creative in terms of being able to give us the person we wanted. They gave us the options of choosing how the rocks were put together and whether we could see the beams or not. The product was excellent and everybody who comes to our house and other contractors like it.  I think it would be better to do the job off season like in the winter. 

We currently live in a modern, award winning home and have been featured in a variety of publications.  After we finished our home I used the last monies I had, left to me by my parents upon their death,  to landscape our property as a memorial to them.  I hired Shorb to help me maintain our designed poperty. Our 'crew foreman' spoke perfunctory english at best and frequently misinterpreted instructions.  When asked to TRIM lawn edges after each mowing he cut sod away and over a period of time removed almost 4inches of professional, highly  lanscaped lawn. We also reported, oer the course of 5 months, many, many problem of browning lawn spots  last summer and were told a variety of possible reasons for this including our inability to water routinely even though we had over a $1000.00 water bill to prove otherwise.  We were eventually told that we had grubs and our lawn was administered  minimal treatment given the circumstances.  We now have a new maintenance contract this year (a highly regarded contractor from your list) and were told that they have never seen such a serious grub infestation.  Over the period of a short year and one half contract that Shorb serviced our property, we went from an award winning landscaped home to a seriously problematic property. 

He was great. He was less expensive then the other bids we got. He was on time and professional. He took around three or four weeks to replace the plants but he did it.

The installation went well

Wonderful. I can not say enough about this whole process. I learned about this company thru DC's excellent RiverSmart Homes Initiative to reduce stormwater run off, etc. I wish I had the time to write the whole story but I just dont right now. The amount above covers my copay for the installed Raingarden of about $75 and my cost for the Bayscape. The city's program paid for most of the Raingarden. I worked with Rasma Plato and she was fabulous, very knowledgeable. I had a few concerns, ie, deer and the care of my American Elm and Red Maple both about 25 years old. All of the plants recommended were native to our area and deer resistant and the company took extra care with the trees' roots. I know because I was there throughout the entire process. Everyone loves my backyard garden. It is beginning to strut its stuff. It reduced the amount of lawn in the back so now I have just a little that is very manageable for me with my hand mower. I cant say enough wonderful things about this experience. I am truly pleased with the result. Rasma was very responsive, always answering my numerous questions and during the installation she was about business and making the project a high quality success. All of the workers on site were professional, friendly and know what they were doing. I highly recommend this company to you.

I enjoyed working with the John Shorb Landscaping team from design through installation of the "zen rock"/bluestone patio. The designer (Sarah), installation project manager (Todd), installation crew lead (Lionel) were pleasant, punctual and responsive throughout the entire project. After understanding my ideas of incorporating large river boulders in the patio design, they did research on Japanese rock gardens to understand the basic concepts, developed a bluestone patio design within my budget, located a supplier of river boulders of the proper shape and size, and presented options on the installation of the bluestones. Their final billing was exactly as they had contracted. The only hitch in the project was the unusually wet and cold winter weather. The mud and rain made the task a bit messy, but the installation crew was impressive -- punctual, considerate of the neighbors, efficient and neat. The weather delayed the completion of the patio until early spring. I love the the "zen rock" garden patio that they created and would highly recommend this team to friends and neighbors.

Todd Krellner, the project manager for all the jobs they performed for us is calm, professional, and very creative and resourceful. Shorb is not the cheapest company but their charges are fair, and they complete the job correctly -- if there's anything wrong, they come back and fix it, no questions asked and no additional charges. They replaced several of the plantings they did for us when they had died a year later, no charge. The retaining wall job was huge -- tens of thousands of dollars but the amount of work involved matched the cost pretty well (we're talking jackhammers to break through bedrock, backhoes to dig a massive footer for the wall, and other heavy machinery). They have also done smaller jobs for us, in the hundreds of dollars. It's all been excellent. We couldn't be happier with the quality of the work done for us by Shorb Landscaping and would highly recommend to anyone, especially if you have a big and challenging outdoor job.

I was very disappointed in them. I thought they would have gardening expertise, but they were just doing crude yard work. They packed the dirt in the asparagus bed too hard when they walked through it (which you should never do), and the spears couldn't break the surface because of this. Also, they didn't prune my roses and they never fixed things that I was told they would. Plus, without consulting me, they cut off the slow growing top of my Japanese Holly Hedge.

We worked with Rob. He came out a couple of times before starting work, and helped us fine-tune our job and stay within our budget. He gave us a projected start date, which was sooner than we expected, and he and his crew came right on time, on the appointed day. They worked quickly, completing the whole job in 2 days. Everything looks beautiful, and all debris was cleaned up completely.

We worked with Rob. He came out a couple of times before starting work, and helped us fine-tune our job and stay within our budget. He gave us a projected start date, which was sooner than we expected, and he and his crew came right on time, on the appointed day. They worked quickly, completing the whole job in 2 days. Everything looks beautiful, and all debris was cleaned up completely.

They do a very good job for us. They come like clockwork every two weeks and if we need them in between they also come. I like the service but I think it is a little pricey. We do get the quality for what we pay for.

Absolutely excellent. Very professional, helpful and courteous. Rob Peterson the designer was excellent and a pleasure to deal with. Crews were also excellent. So pleased that I called John Shorb personally to tell him what a fine job his folks had done. So pleased that we had a 2nd area done after the 1st as we liked the initial results so well.

They come when they say they will. We can communicate by e-mail, as well as by phone. The quality of their plants is very good. They are pricey but worth it.

THE PEOPLE AT JOHN SHROB ARE VERY PROFESSIONAL AND VERY RESPONSIVE; BECAUSE THEY DO A LOT OF WORK IN THE NORTHWEST DC AREA, THEY WERE ALWAYS ABLE TO STOP BY ON LITTLE NOTICE TO ADDRESS A CONCERN

THE PEOPLE AT JOHN SHROB ARE VERY PROFESSIONAL AND VERY RESPONSIVE; BECAUSE THEY DO A LOT OF WORK IN THE NORTHWEST DC AREA, THEY WERE ALWAYS ABLE TO STOP BY ON LITTLE NOTICE TO ADDRESS A CONCERN