ALDERTREE GARDEN

Lisa was quick to respond to our initial inquiry and met with us to walk through the space, discuss our budget and desired level of maintenance, our aesthetic, and how we envisioned ourselves using the space. She not only thought about the humans in our home, but also took our two dogs into consideration. Her thoughtful design included areas for them to run, and areas that were more protected from their digging. She also eliminated any plants that were not safe for dogs--many of which I never would have guessed could pose a problem to pets. At the end of the design process she came to our home to walk us through her beautiful and thoughtful design. At first we were a bit skeptical about going with an all-native design. We worried that the design might not look quite as manicured or intentional as we had envisioned. Lisa's design exceeded our expectations for what we thought was possible using a native palette. Given the scale of the project, we knew that putting in the numerous gardens was going to be a significant financial investment. Lisa worked with us to consider how we might break the overall project into manageable phases, provided cost estimates for each phase, and suggested how we might qualify for DC programs that provide trees and landscaping refunds. She helped to connect us with those resources, and even came back to our property to work with one of the agencies to incorporate their services into her design. The agencies were very happy that we were working with a professional with such a deep knowledge of native plants. A few months later we were ready to move ahead with the planting of our front garden and we hired Lisa to do the work for us. Her costs came in as estimated, she was on schedule, and she was very communicative and responsive throughout the whole process. Most importantly, our new garden came out as planned and looks beautiful. We cannot wait to see it grow and develop over the coming years, and we're looking forward to planting the rest of her design soon.

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The design consultation was really great and I highly recommend Aldertree Garden on that front. Lisa took time and care to understand what it is we value and how our family would use that space, even knowing it is a very small space. I asked about further steps if we liked the design. Lisa said Aldertree Garden could carry out the project based on a detailed plan. It took about a week to get a black and white design sketch using all Latin terms for plantings, which I was able to translate using my Gardening book. The design included the planting of a tree, a lot of milkweed, grasses and other native perennials, separated by a curved paver walkway. The design proposed a nice use of the space. So we decided to ask for a quote to implement the design, which amounted to $2,500. The quote enumerated in one line all the tasks to be completed, including a list of plantings, soil amendments (incl. removing sod), and labor but did not detail those in any way. The implementation took place (without a promised detailed plan) in April and early May, first the tree (half a day/2 people) and then the rest of the plantings (one full day/3 people). While removing the sod carefully and digging considerable holes to amend the soil took the three person team half a day, there were no complications, a few rocks but no debris. The owner spontaneously granted us a $100 rebate because somewhat fewer plants were used. Although (in hindsight) it is clear that the enumeration on the one-line quote did not include the laying of pavers nor rocks under the stairway, the design implied this was part of the project. As I understood on the day of implementation, it obviously was not, leaving us with a sparsely planted front yard, consisting at this time of massive amounts of chunky mulch.
My evaluation takes account of the following shortfalls:
- The plantings, naturally, turned out to be sparse and we were warned it would take a year or two for the space to fill; but it is much sparser than we imagined or the design suggested, with the mulched surface easily outweighing plantings 10:1.
- While the quote did admittedly not include the pavers, nor laying them, the design would make the average user think they are included, especially in conjunction with the very summary one-line quote provided.
- $2,400 is just way too much for what was delivered and implemented. I've had a lot of work done around the house and will say a fair price for this project (no complications) would be around $1,600.
- The type of milkweed used turns out to have orange flowers (common milkweed typically comes with pink or purple flowers), which is fine but not an ideal choice of colors in our setting, and certainly one that a designer should explicitly disclose to and discuss with the owner.

Very informative, useful suggestions to maximize use of backyard.

I purchased the $75 Angie's list deal for a landscape design consultation.  Lisa, the owner, was prompt and polite.  She came to my home and spent almost an hour walking with me through my yard, listening to my desires for the design.  I made her aware of my children's' desire to attract more of the neighborhood's birds and butterflies.  She also took care to propose low maintenance perennials that suited my lack of a green thumb.

As a person with almost no knowledge of gardening, it was quite a relief to have Lisa come in and point me in a direction. Lisa was even generous enough to walk through my back yard -- outside the scope of the deal -- and propose cool solutions for that yard.  The result of our discussions was a sketch of my front yard that included proposed plantings and the locations of the plantings that were selected based on my desires.  The sketch wasn't very elaborate, but it was very helpful.  Given the price, it was a great deal. 

Lisa promptly contacted me and we scheduled an appointment.  She was right on schedule spent a remarkable amount of time reviewing my preferences and surveying the property.  We discussed likes and dislikes and she made notes and recommendations all around the house.  She offered great ideas for some non-standard features and left me energized to tackle projects I knew I could handle and to contact her again for those that are outside my scope and ability.  Lisa is terrific and I hghly recommend this service.

I had been wanting to plant more native species in the front yard, but never got around to it on my own. When I learned Lisa Caprioglio of Aldertree Garden specialized in planting native species, she stood out among the garden designers in the area. Lisa met with me to discuss flower and tree preferences and location. She then proposed a garden design for the front and side of the house. After we tweaked the proposed design, she brought her crew to install the gardens. Lisa was really helpful in suggesting what would do really well in the different garden areas.
Once the work got started, we had an additional cost we had not anticipated. We discovered that the soil below the grass was full of pebbles. She and her crew carefully removed the soil one wheelbarrow at a time because they had to avoid the huge number of roots from our prized maple tree. In its place, Lisa filled the area with super rich soil which helped all the plants establish themselves well and even helped the trees nearby.
We now have a bird garden, a side garden, and a forest garden. Lisa created a bird garden to attract the local birds as well as those that migrate through the area. In the summer, at the height of the blooms, we had the regulars--cardinals, house finches, wood peckers, doves, and chickadees. We also had special visits by several gold finches.
We love Lisa's ideas, patience, and work ethic. I have continued to use her services since the garden was first installed. I highly recommend Lisa of Aldertree Garden.

I have been using them for the last 2 years. Everything was great. The owner is very consientious and in tune with gardens and devoted to them.

I have hired Aldertree Gardens to take care of all the pruning as needed. Water when necessary and mulch. We do a lot of communication through email. They have also planted many things. They are excellent.

We enjoyed working with Lisa in the design phase. We found her sensitive to our needs and style and very knowledgeable. Unfortunately, we were less pleased with her communication and the way the work got done. Multiple basic things were not communicated to us - or communicated much later than appropriate: How much time the project would take... the fact that she planted fewer plants than we were told she would plant... the fact that a large feature of the garden would be mailed to our house, without our prior approval (we are never here to receive packages)... The fact that she upped the price without telling us, by adding a feature. These are basic things one should expect of any contractor: clear communication and prior approval if there are departures from the original plan. Overall, planting a small back garden took more than a month, and that month was frustrating, as we waited to hear from her about what was going on. We had high hopes about this -- and we were disappointed. On the positive side, we are mostly happy with the result. It was the process that was the trouble.

We had a hard time connecting with her. We left messages on her answering machine and also sent emails but got no response. We persisted, and finally she responded. Once we got a meeting, we found Lisa to be personable and knowledgeable. We know little about plants and stated we wanted a more natural design and we wanted to have plants that were immune to deer and drought and could survive in the shade. She went out of her way to find plants that met our criteria and presented us with a design that we really liked. When the time came to plant, she did a lot of the hands-on work herself with helpers to do the heavy labor. We loved the end result and repeatedly told her so. Several weeks after the last planting we noticed that a couple of the plants appeared to be dying. We contacted her and she came out in late October. She trimmed a couple of the bushes stating that they would grow back in the spring. She also took samples of the leaves of one of the plants and told us she would get it diagnosed and tell us what to do. We never heard from her about that. Over the past two weeks (it is now May 2011), we've noticed that some of the plants are clearly stressed, at the least, and some look like they are dying. Further, one (and perhaps two) of the plants she trimmed in the fall and said they would come back have not done so. We don't know what we should be doing, if anything, to the plants to make them healthier. We have called and emailed several times over the past couple of weeks, and so far have received only one email back asking for our availability so she could look at it. I would say that there are two main weaknesses of this business. The first is the poor communication. She does not get back to you promptly...even with a message saying she is very busy but has you on her schedule to call back by (....). Also, if these plants are dead, then we have to replace them. Most nurseries will replace plants that show signs of disease within a reasonable period of time. Since we pointed out the plants we were concerned about last fall, we would expect her to either replace them in full or negotiate with us to have them replanted if that is needed, and/or tell us what to do to get them back into a healthy state. It appears none of these things are going to occur due to her ineffective communication with us. We are very frustrated as we truly like the work she did do.
[June 2012 update] On the plus side, after I did this review, I was contacted almost immediately by Lisa. She did come out and told me that the things I was concerned about were the natural part of the cycle of the plants. I pointed out the plant that had died, and she said that she would replace it but that it would have to wait until later in the season. She told me that I would not have to be home and that she would just do it one day. As near as I can tell, that part was not done. HOWEVER, we are quite happy with the garden. It looks better with each season. We do have to weed the area. The plants are happy with very little extra work. So we would hire Lisa again.

She is happy to give you a payment plan. I never felt any pressure to do anything that I did not want to do. She is quite thorough. She is very polite.