MARK BALES LAWN & GARDEN CARE DBA BLOOMING EARTH

Excellent.

My lawn mower needed repair so I contacted Mark to ask for a quote for mowing. It took a little while for him to follow up due to a Covid issue on his team but he eventually sent a text message on a Saturday and they arrived Monday morning. They are very friendly, nice people, they are very knowledgable about plants, and the mowing was done by noon on Monday.

Mark did a great job. He was responsive after my first request to have someone come out and give me an estimate. He was knowledgeable about the types of plants in my yard and trimmed and removed the items that I requested. Great job. Will definitely hire again

I felt guilty about not mowing on my own, but I was so lucky to find Mark! He is very professional, helpful, and always looking to offer any yardwork service I may ask for (without trying to sell me on things I don't need). I have a large yard for the city, and there are a lot of awkward angles and flower beds which he meticulously maintains every visit. He explained that he comes about once every 10-14 days based on growth which is perfect for my yard so that the grass grows better in some of those shady/less grassy patches but doesn't get out of control in the sunny/lush patches. In the fall, he got a "bunch of spring bulbs" in the fall and offered a great deal on planting them which he carefully labeled so we knew which was which. They looked fantastic and I'll definitely be doing it again next fall! He offers to trim bushes (I have regular ones and rose bushes) whenever they get gangly. He has also helped with my overgrown vines that we're smothering my crate Myrtle. He will take the time to explain why he does what he does and when, but won't trouble you if you're too busy to chat. He never 'pushes a sale' on you, but is always happy to do more if you have something in mind. His prices are reasonable and he always leaves an invoice with an envelope if you need to mail a check later. If you're looking for a landscaper who cares about what he's doing and treats your yard like it's his own, you won't be disappointed with Mark.

He did a wonderful job.

Great. Very happy with the results and service

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I have used Blooming Earth several times in the past and decided to again this year after I had neglected my lawn and gardens for the past year or so. I asked the owner, Mark Bales to come over and give me an estimate. He did so at my convienence and gave me a very detailed account of what was required and got back to me promptly with an estimate. The work was performed when Mark said it would be and he really transformed the property. He has always acted in a very professional and pleasant manner. I plan on using Blooming Earth in the future and have recommended them to my friends.

Mark came by to give me an estimate. He could name all the flowers and plants in my yard. The yard was mowed to my satisfaction. Mark is usually available by phone and email. Whenever I've had a concern about my yard he's been willing to stop by and address it. He's even provided suggestions on what types of plants would thrive in my yard. The yard is mowed as needed depending on the amount of rain and grass growth. I've hired Mark for a second summer and have gladly referred him to my friends.

This contractor impressed me with his knoweldge and professionalism, but the estimate was twice as high at $650 as was the second highest (of seven estimates received). My guess is that for "plain old yard work" which is mostly "labor", that some companies are not the correct choice. I am not saying they were trying to "rip me off"; I am only saying that they probably have more "expertise" (and hence a higher overhead and thus higher price) than was needed for this job. If I have something needing more expertise in the future, I would call them again.

He told me wouldn't cut grass short and it caused an argument. He said he wouldn't do it because the grass was wet. He told me had 30 lawns to do that day and that he had little time for me.

Was a little informal on the phone and when came to do bid but did a very nice job at very nice price. Would definitely recommend.

In April I called and received an estimate of $65.50 to have my lawn mowed, and finished with the edger and blower. I signed a contract for a years service which was explained to me at the time that during the months when mowing was not needed that we could "work out something for maybe raking leaves etc." this was fine with me as I had been looking for someone to mow the lawn on a regular basis and year's lease with what was explained to me it would entail sounded appealing. There was also a clause on the contract stating "this agreement may be canceled by either party with thirty days notice." There were times when the mowing was satisfactory but the majority of the time it wasn't. I have zoysia grass in the front yard and I had asked Mark to cut it horizontally and not vertically because of a large burm in the middle of the yard which showed up more when it was cut vertically. I was told that it couldn't be done becuase the large mower he used had no place to turn around. I had asked him not to use the standing mower because it cut the grass unevenly, bald in some places and too long in others. He said a regular mower was too hard to use. I know that this could be done because when my son had the time he used our mower all the time in this manner. Mark just seemed to have getting the lawn done as fast as possible instead of paying attention to the quality of what he was doing. He stated that he had a new person on and they hadn't caught on to how to mow the lawn as yet, The lawn looked so bad that neighbors came over and asked what were they doing to my lawn, it looked so bad, they wanted to cut it for me the right way. Since I had the cotnract with Mark, I thought I would give him a chance to rectify the situation. I brought this to his attention and he stated he would try to find a solution so that the line in the middle of the lawn caused by the burm would not show as much. The next mowing he did himself and it looked better but there were still places where the lawn was cut too close. My dad asked him why was he not cutting the weeds along the fence and he replied that they had so many lawns to cut, but he reluctantly used the weed eater on them. Dad did not like the attitude and wanted me to fire him at this point because he felt we were not getting the service from him but I still decided to give him the opporturnity to do a better job. In October I had enough so I told him I was giving him a thirty day notice as stated in the contract that as of November 30th I would not need his service any longer since the grass had seemingly stopped growing. I had sent him an e-mail to this effect and he e-mailed me back that "perhaps I misundertood the agreement that we had "rescinded" that 30 day notice with the sigining of the years agreement. This was all news to me and I don't know who the "we" was that he was referring to because this had never been discussed. I told him that I it was clearly stated on the form I signed that a 30 days notice would end the agreement. He insisted that this could not be done and if I wanted to opt out of the agreement I would have to pay the approx. $225 left on the agreement. I told him I didn't have that kind of money my finances were of such that I had to cut some bills. (I am retired and on social security taking care of my father), he said that I had received a years worth of services and that I was liable for those payments and he indicated that he was having a hard time and I was not being threatened with being on the street, I asked him how did he know what the status of me or my finances were? I live in Webster Groves and everyone here is not affluent as he seems to have surmised. He ended the conversation with a veiled threat that "he would be sending me a bill for the remainder of the services owed and if they were not paid, he would have to do something else" or something to that effect. I did not appreciate being bamboozled in this manner, I would have gone with the monthly agreement if I had known this was how it was going to turn out but it was not explained to me initially in this manner nor was the 30 day clause ever rescinded by me or mentioned to me again. I sent in a check for the mowing in October and today I received a bill for $157.50. I am just very upset about the manner in which this whole experience turned out, courtesy and customer satisfaction were not high on his list at all, there were several times when the mat on my porch was blown off by the blower and no attempt was made to retrieve it or put it back, I had to go behind my hedges to get it. It is little things like this that are helpful and promote goodwill. To pay for services I don't owe and for an agreement to be changed in the middle of the contract without the knowledge of the customer is wrong.

We began to use the service late in the year. The price was fair and the work good. We will use this company again next year.

He seems to be honest. He comes out and does what he says he will and anything extra that I ask at a reasonable price.

I called and left a message and received a return call the same day. Mark was in the neighborhood and came by that evening to give me a quote on lawn service. He was very polite and punctual and took time to talk with me about what I needed and how he could help. I didn't end up using him but I would try him again based on my initial interview.

I was impressed when I initially spoke to Mark. He commented on my trees and knew what he was talking about. I have been pleased with the lawn mowing service and will retain him to do other yard work.

Lawn was mowed every 9 days or so. Always looked great. Mark was very pleasant when I spoke with him on the phone. The price seemed very reasonable.

He is doing a great job! I had the same person for several years, and it started decreasing in quality. I called Mark Bales, and he started cutting the grass in 3 days. He is very prompt and courteous. Price is per visit. It's a pleasure to have someone who is dependable!

I was very pleased that Mark returned by e-mail promptly and gave me an estimate in a few days. The price was competitive and he had several service options to choose from. After I accepted the estimate he preformed the service the next day and did a terrific job. I would be very happy to recommend this company's services to others.

He is about as good as they come. He shows up each week and does the job he was hired to do. I appreciate that he is hard working and just trying to get by like the rest of us. He is a good guy.

Excellent!

Very appealing now. I did have to remind Mark a few times to find out when he'd be coming back. He did major changes to the front. The back clean-up was done in one day, but would've taken me months. I am very pleased.