Masterpiece Landscaping

I met with Chris and we discussed the area of our backyard that needed updating.  I asked Chris for a more visual of what we discussed as I was having trouble imagining it so he did a drawing of what the new landscape would look like.  It looked great and we committed to the project.
Chris Ray and a crew of two removed the old crushed rock that was part of the old landscape.  They cut a new garden line removing lawn, and replaced it with shredded hardwood barck mulch, planted two arborvitae trees and three ground cover plants, a some
other flowering plants.  
From the other side of our yard bordering a wooded area, they removed a crooked box elder and another 4" caliper weed tree.  They replaced them with a Eastern White Pine tree.
Chris provided me with a very detailed estimate and invoice and was professional throughout the project.  The landscape looked like the drawing Chris provided and it is lovely.

Josh and his team came out last year to quote on a big clean-up job in our side yard, where trees and weeds had been growing wild for more than a decade. I wanted an area the kids could play in, and had a lot of preconceived notions about what would be good or bad. Plus, I wanted something lower maintenance.
Of the six landscape companies I had out, Masterpiece was the one who most included my ideas, listened to my concerns, and seemed to really understand plants. Josh even gave me advice on some plant things that weren't included in the job, and nicely talked me out of a few of my more wacky ideas. Plus, he designed a layout incorporating rocks and stumps in a way that looked lovely but was super kid-climbing friendly.
We had to postpone the job for the winter, *after* the plants were purchased, due to an unexpected construction project on the house. By the time spring rolled around, we were unexpectedly moving out of state - so the project went from clean-and-replace to "fix the entire yard." 
Again, Masterpiece came through. They were out for several days working like crazy to clean up the first area. This job turned out harder than expected because we discovered three layers of landscape fabric. They got them all up! Plus, they never made us feel like we were being difficult, and didn't charge us a nuisance fee for the delay or anything.
Since we hadn't scheduled the bigger job ahead of time, we had to wait for the second half of the yard to get finished. Josh kept me in the loop as they tried to fit us in the schedule, and they managed to get to us before we had to leave.
Masterpiece did a flat-out gorgeous job, and even did me a couple favors along the way - like getting a tricky hose splitter off my faucet, and potting a yard plant so I could give it to a friend before we moved. And they cleaned up after themselves better than any service I've ever had before, inside or outside the house.
We love them. If we were staying in town we would use them for spring/fall cleanup and maintenance. We actually *are* using them for maintenance until we leave.

We found this company by doing internet research.  Their website was stunning, have won awards and looked to be an excellent choice.  This is a family owned/operated business.  The owner was responsive and gave us a list of references.  We visited several of their customer's properties and spoke with several.  One customer did tell us that this company has struggled because they expected to have full control of the design and no input by the customer.  The owner was very honest with us in letting us know that they do prefer to have artistic control. He also was up front about the fact that they do not provide any type of planting/landscape plan since they view themselves as artists.  We appreciated his honesty, had seen that their work was lovely so decided to move forward.
Unfortuantely, as we moved forward, the following things happened:
* money requested up front without offering to provide a contract
* not willing to out any type of design plan on paper
* constantly late, no communication on what days they would be working
* Unable to make change requests because owner became angry. 
It was our experience that this company is not willing to collaborate with it's clients.  They prefer to choose the plants, the design and with no input form the customer.  Unless you are comfortable with having zero input and then writing a check- do not hire them.
We learned a lot from this experience.  Never again, will we hire a landscaper that refuses to put a design on paper or that doesn't automatically offer a written contract. 

They were good.

They're very understanding. They know the product. They know how to do the work. So far, so good. If you give them a call anytime of the day and they get back to you right away and answer all your questions. They also tell you as their working, if you got any questions, they could change it. I don't have a certain time for them to be here but they're here when they say they're going to be here and even longer. The professionalism was really good. I would probably use them at one of my other houses.

The workers at Masterpiece Landscaping make everything look very natural. They are really quite artistic. They have a very distinct style. They really are hands on. They are punctual and professional. They worked within my budget. Every project they do is unique.