BLUFF CREEK GARDENS

Bluff Creek Gardens landscape work goes under the name of Environmental Maintenance Services. Jim came out and looked around and gave us an estimate for what we wanted. He said he would mark on the ground where we wanted the walls, and bring in good top soil/black dirt. We had a steeper sloping yard and wanted some tiers so I could plant vegetables and flowers. He seemed amenable and easy to get along with. The first thing that happened is that his crew came out and began building some terraces next to our house. I had to go out and make them do it over again a few times because they didn't seem to have a sense of how to blend them in with existing rock walls. However, they did what I wanted without complaint. This sort of thing happened throughout the project. It was apparent that though I had told Jim exactly what I wanted, it didn't get communicated to the guys who were placing the boulders. The edge of our property is adjacent to the city wetlands. It dropped off rather steeply about 8 feet before our property line. We asked Jim if it was possible to reclaim the use of the 8 feet by building a wall and filling in the dirt. That is, building the wall without dumping anything onto the city land, which is illegal. He said yes, and we negotiated an additional fee for the cost of this. We had to have our land surveyed to determine exactly where the line was, so we did. When he began work on this part, a whole bunch of dirt got pushed around with some onto the city's land, and they began placing the boulders for the wall within 6 inches of where the edge had been before. When we pointed this out, he said that he couldn't build the wall out any farther. So evidently he changed his mind on this. We said we weren't paying any more for this 6 extra inches and furthermore, he had put stuff onto the city's land. We told him that if the city objected, he would have to remove it. In the meantime, their equipment evidently removed our property corner marker and we had to pay again to have it replaced. All that is what happened during the installation. When they brought out the soil that was supposed to be good black dirt, it wasn't that at all. It seemed of poor quality. So I spent over $700 having horse manure delivered and tilled in. We have a very big yard. I planted a number of things which alternated between dying and looking pathetic. Tests showed the soil to be a PH of 8 which too alkaline for most plants. There is no nitrogen and too much of the other stuff. The PH can be treated, but needs to be monitored and treated for years. So we have contacted the company twice with certified letters saying we want them to replace the soil with soil suitable for our purpose. They have not responded in any way. So right now we have a lawyer who is sending them a letter about this. Our next step is court action.