West Oaks Landscape & Design Inc

I forgot to add this important note regarding the reviews on Yelp. The only 5 star review on yelp is from guess who? Cindy Liebau, somehow, maybe, related to the owner Jim Liebau? What a joke. Thats the only way WOL is getting a 5 star review; from a family member!

Waste of money. I honestly don’t know how these people’s are still in business? Take a look at their reviews on Yelp. We paid them $13K and the work done was rubbish. The major issue was the shrubs they put in were sickly and small. We were shocked but we were told they would flourish in a year. RUBBISH! Nearly two years later and they still look sickly. We approached WOL and we got limited response and lots of excuses. We were told to apply fertilize and they should improve. What? After two years they are exactly the same. The bottom line is they don’t care once they have your money. Repeated phone calls to the owner with zero response. If you have a problem, he will disappear. Lousy owner. We have replaced most of the plants ourselves at a fraction of the cost. Biggest mistake we ever made hiring these people; avoid them like the plague unless you want to throw money down the drain.

Beautiful design and loved it. However there were several issues (plants that were to be replaced as under warranty) but have received no response in the past few weeks. It's as if they went out of business. Repeated calls have been ignored. We've pretty much given up on them. It's a pity since the design work was excellent.

We were pleased with the quality of work. They are a family business. They treat us like family and they were willing to work with us on price. Yes, we are planning to use them again.

Started out really good. Jim met with us, listened to our needs and preferences, and put together a solid design that met our requirements and fit in our $15K budget. Construction on our project was started and finished at the agreed-upon dates. So, what didn't we like? 1) The biggest concern was the drainage basin that was created in the front yard. A 5 x 11 pit was dug and filled with landscaping stones; then sodded over so it would not be visible. The pit receives the runoff from the downspouts, sump pump, and french drain along the side of the house. A genius idea, except the sod over the pit all died early the following season. When we called Jim he said there was no reason the grass shouldn't have grown, but he would be happy to do a proposal for a hardscape (additional cost). It wasn't until this year we dug into the dead sod and discovered the reason - the sod was laid right on top of the rocks and felt and no topsoil was used. Our voicemails on Jim's office and cell numbers, inquiring about the pit were not returned. 2) Issued reported within the one-year warranty were only partially addressed. Some areas of dead sod were replaced immediately, but a few dead plants we reported were never replaced. Joint sand that eroded on the patio was also not addressed. These were after we emailed a reminder the following spring, and were promised the issues would be fixed that season. 3) Jim said with certainty that a layer of topsoil was added in the yard before the new sod was installed. We have since dug into several places in the yard while doing later projects, and found this was not the case. 4) Jim did not seem to have an appreciation for modern irrigation systems. Though we spent the extra money to extend and improve our sprinkler system to cover all the new landscaping, Jim insisted on our hand watering every plant and bush daily for the remainder of the season, which took something like 2 hours a day of moving the hose from plant to plant. (until we added splitters on the hose to water multiple plants at once, but still a lot of effort) 5) Other than telling us to water for hours, no care instructions were provided. 6) The last couple times I have left messages on Jim's office or cell number, even with just simple questions, they were not returned. So, did we get our money's worth? Mostly, in terms of the work that was done. Some corners were cut but overall our requirements were met. But was I treated the way I would treat a customer who entrusted me with 15K of work? Given the missed warranty issues and unreturned calls, definitely not.

I love Jim! He and his team did an amazing job on our backyard. Jim designed the work himself (saving us the cost of a landscape architect) and his team executed it perfectly. Jim was very responsive in returning my calls and was a pleasure to be around. His team was very respectable and cleaned up at the end of each day. We are already planning several more projects with him for next year.

unknown

seeded yard, planted trees, installed sprinkler, did some cleanup.
**Multiple emails, phone calls, got promises over and over, all to no avail -he strung me along for over a year, kept promising he'd be here, and never did show. Mentioned he had some other $200k job, and I got left aside. Jim is very pleasant and polite, and seems very knowledgeable, but his follow through is dismal. If he's too busy to take on a small job, he should just SAY SO.
Find someone else who has time and motivation to take care of you, if you've got a small job. Very knowledgeable, nice guy, very lousy service.

unknown

During the evaluation phase, Jim, the owner of West Oaks Landscaping, definitely distinguished himself from the 3 other Landscaping Company Representatives that I received estimates from via his creative and unique ideas.   Once the contract was signed, Jim and his crew were extremely professional while they did an outstanding job of transforming the vision into a reality.   The quality of the work was top-flight and I am completely satisfied with the results, which is why I will be using Jim and West Oaks Landscaping next spring to transform my pond and landscape my front and back yards!
I would highly recommend Jim and West Oaks Landscaping to anyone on Angie's List seeking brickpaving and landscaping work!

Jim was one of 7 contractors we interviewed for this job--3 from friends' recommendations, and Jim and the other 3 from here on Angie's List. We weren't sure what exactly we wanted to do, just that we hated the existing landscaping and had many pictures of examples of what we did like. Jim is very KNOWLEDGEABLE and PROFESSIONAL. He LISTENED and understood our preferences, and came up with a sketch/design as part of his proposal (at no additional cost)--several of the other contractors we considered wanted to charge $300-500 just to make a sketch (a high price just to see what they might have to offer for you).
He had no high-pressure salesmanship, and he did not try to up-sell us on other services, details, or options, like some others did with their proposals. His PRICE WAS REASONABLE and he stayed WITHIN BUDGET limits we set for him.
Although we vasilated back and forth about a few details, Jim was PATIENT with us, and both he and his assistant PROMPTLY RESPONDED to our questions and were FLEXIBLE with our needs--whether meeting in the evening, or requesting additional sets of stone samples as options of building material for our wall.
He started the job PROMPTLY, and his CREW WAS GREAT. They worked very hard, but CLEANED UP well at the end of the day, so it didn't look like a disaster zone. My neighbors even commented as to how conscientious they were, by not starting with loud work that would wake late-sleeping-neighbors too early.
In summer 2015 or 2016 I plan to do additional landscaping in the back yard, and I would happily use Jim again.

They were easy to work with.

I put poor Jim through the ringer. Partly because I didn't know quite what I wanted. He came up with several designs and even met us at a landscape distributor to help us pick out material. Our patio is BEAUTIFUL!! This summer we noticed a small problem where water was pooling on the patio and by the landscape. They came right out and fixed it. No hassles. I know that sometimes things don't go 100% as planned, but to have someone stand by their work is what I am looking for. I would definitely recommend West Oaks Landscape and would use them again.

It was a big job! They did a great job! We are very happy! I believe it is a very reputable firm.

I had bad standing water in the backyard. They were able to use peat rock underground to force into clay in order to drain away and help with my problem. It is definitely a lot better than what it was.

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This review is easy to write; if your goal is to be thoroughly satisfied by a job well done, then this is the right company to hire.

Jim Liebau, the owner and operator, is a very pleasant person to work with and is very much a hands-on manager. When I contacted their office, they set up an appointment for Jim to meet with me at my house within 48 hours. On the appointed day, Jim called about to let me know that he was running on time and would be there in two hours as previously scheduled. It was quite refreshing not having to wait and wonder where he was. He showed up exactly when he said he would. We walked around my property so he could solicit my ideas and thoughts of what I wanted and did not want to see. He threw out some ideas and we discussed those as well. In what I though was an unusual, but quite welcome, step we took a look at the neighbor’s landscaping so he could get the general tone of the neighborhood and see what I thought of their landscaping. In the end, he said he would draw up some plans to present for my approval. The plans were done a day earlier than promised, the drawings were easy to understand, and the concepts presented were very much in tune with what I wanted. It was esthetically easy on the eyes and yet elegant at the same time. Very satisfied.

I was given a date when he thought work would commence and a schedule for how long it would take. Allowing for 1 day of bad weather, he started (and finished) precisely when he said he would. Jim was here on the first morning laying out the design on the ground for his crew to follow and, after getting my approval for the layout, work commenced. His team was hard working and professional. They accomplished more than I thought they would on each day. No slackers here. It is clear Jim has trained his crew well since they placed the plants with an eye for the overall design. Things were not just thrown on the ground without regard for esthetics. The worksite was left as clean as possible given the nature of the job.

There were a few extra touches that really impressed me. Jim noticed that the area being landscaped actually sloped towards my foundation, which is a set-up for a leaky basement. He brought in topsoil and regraded the land for proper slope away from the house. Since this involved raising the ground level along the sides of my house, he took the time to add waterproofing and extra drainage so the newly elevated ground level wouldn’t cause problems. It would have been easy to not take this extra step. When the job was finished, his crew power-washed my sidewalk and driveway, instead of just sweeping it, to remove all traces of the construction. There was not anything out of place when they were done. One other touch that was greatly appreciated - he had budgeted for some sprinkler relocation and repair, but this was not needed. Jim offered to reduce the budget by that amount, but had a better idea. He thought he could add some landscaping around the driveway entrance, which was not part of the project, for the same cost if I wanted. In other words, he looked at the whole yard and found a way to add value to his work. Got to love that concern for the customer.

In summary, Jim kept me informed every step of the way, was always on time, his crew worked hard and professionally, and we ended up on budget. There is no question in my mind that I will be hiring Jim again for my next project.

They were good. Their price was a little on the high side for what we were having done.

very friendly, good job and nice clean up...

They did an excellent work. I am very satisfied with them. They were hard workers and efficient. They did a good job. The price was in line. I intend to use them again.

The original job was done Nov 2012 I was concerned that we were planting so late I n the season, but they said they will stand behind their work so I did it. The project included 3 blue holly bushes at $90 each. They looked poorly by the spring 2013. By the fall they agreed that 2 looked dead, and they replaced them, and the other one never grew, and it had a little green on it so they would not replace it. Now all 3 are completely dead, and this company refuse to replace them because they are now out of warrentee. I have never gotten the chance to enjoy actual live plants. I am questioning the location of the initial planting.

The owner nailed the design. I think the crews went above and beyond. They having been doing follow up touch ups and are very responsive. We have people stopping by to see who the landscaper was.

First, the owner Jim had good ideas for the project and how to integrate the drainage solution. He also had some suggestions for reducing costs. I changed my original design to include some of his suggestions. He is obviously very experienced and knowledgeable. We had several meetings before the project started. Jim was always punctual.
The crew was hardworking and skilled. They were here on time and worked long days. They were meticulous and did high quality work. This was a major project and every day it was obvious that they accomplished a lot. Project took about seven days. This was a total tear up of my backyard -- but the crew put everything back together and fixed my lawn before they left.
The finished project looks outstanding - I am very pleased with West Oaks. Highly recommend.

Very good experience. I had several companies quote this job and their design was the most creative and affordable. They showed up on time and did everything they said they would do.

orked on