Rutgers Landscape & Nursery

They had a landscaping architect that came out and he worked with me as far as price, such as what would run me less if I did it this way, and they did a really great job.  They gave me like a 4-year warranty on the patio itself, from sinking.  They're very professional and so they did an extremely good job.  They're really good.  They're very clean, and not a problem at all.  Everything was good.

After writing a poor review last year about the service I had gotten (see past review),  Rutgers Landscape and Nursery came out to the house to personally listen to my complaints and took responsibility for the poor service.  They offered me a credit in services that totaled the amount of money I had lost.  I appreciated that effort.  Since then, they have come out to do a "Fall Cleanup" and a "Spring Cleanup" as well as making a new plant bed. This is essentially pulling up lots of weeds,  adding top soil, mulching, etc.
The yard does look lovely.  Byron and his crew took their time and did a really nice job.  Byron kept checking with me to be sure they were meeting my expectations.  
The only thing I can say about the whole process is that it takes a long time to get a quote and to nail down a date for the work.  Dave, the landscape architect, is so nice and accommodating, however, the details of invoicing for the service were not completely what we talked about. It was a bit reminiscent of the previous issues so I right away called Dave to make sure that there was going to be sufficient planting materials, etc. for what we had discussed but was not reflected in the invoice.  He made the adjustment right away.  The other issue I had was how long it took to get a Spring Cleanup date.  They knew I was having it done as they came out in the fall and we talked about it.  However, when Springtime was approaching, I was not on the books and had to call several times to find out when they were coming.  The date set was Memorial Day weekend, kind of the last day of Spring....so...again, I let Dave know that I was not happy with that situation and he was able to change the date to May 8th.  
I do think that they try to get it right and I really do appreciate their efforts, but the squeaky wheel theory is advised. 

The landscape architect did not communicate with the installers on what was happening.  This meant that they did not have enough planting material to plant the 7 six-foot tall leylunds in clay conditions.  I purchased the trees from a reputable nursery and was told that Rutgers Landscape would plant them but would not guarantee them.  I trusted that they would plant them correctly in the heavy clay soil that they were aware that we have.  Unfortunately they did not prepare the beds at all and basically just dug holes in the clay and plopped the trees in.  I know this is what happened because when the trees started to fail, rather quickly, I called Sav-A-Tree and their specialist came out and tested the trees for disease and looked and how they were planted.  The trees were disease free and it was determined that they were incorrectly planted.   Rutgers issued me a refund for the planting cost (@$39. for each of the four trees I lost), but I lost a lot of money since the trees cost me $150.each.   My opinion is that they had absolutely no reason to care about the trees that were not purchased through them, but I was trying to save money and their mark up for the same trees was so much higher.  I am concerned about the other three that are left and struggling.  
The hardscaping was reasonably priced and looks nice.  I would recommend only for hardscaping, NEVER FOR LANDSCAPING.

Worked with Rob, very nice and professional person.  Work was done on time, but the crew that was there did not have anyone that could speak English.  That made it hard to ask questions, so I had to reach out to Rob.

Very good to work with.

The planting and delivery were fine. We were upset that we realized after buying the tree that it had some significant disease that required us to cut back some branches. Rutgers made no mention of the disease that had been present at the time of purchase, or how we should have treated it.

Staff @ nursery were extremely helpful in helping me choose the right kind of trees for the area. Scheduling wasn't that great. The job was done when scheduled and went very well. I have used Rutgers Nursery in the past and have found them to be very professional, knowledgeable and stand by what they sell and install.

Provided Good Planning with options

Quality bushes

Very satisfactory results

Stands behind products and service

Tree was of very high quality, and installation was prompt and well done. The fledgling tree survived the ravages of hurricane Sandy just months later, and has now grown to a strapping beauty. The folks at Rutgers nursery know their woody plants, and while they may not be the cheapest in town, their quality is top notch.

This is the second time that we've used Rutgers; they did our front yard last year, and finished the back yard this year. They did use subcontractors for the fencing and the pond, and they were both LOVELY to work with. The installation went much more quickly thank expected - the crew was incredibly punctual, motivated, and really moved through the project. I was a little disappointed in a couple of the plantings (plants failed to thrive) but was able to work with Rutgers to ensure that I wasn't charged for the plants that didn't come through. Overall, I would happily work with Rutgers again!

I had a really great experience at Rutgers Nursery. I called 3 different landscapers for advice and quotes. Each landscaper produced a different layout with very varying estimates. Rob Kasper (cell 908-447-7488) was my designer. Before our first visit he asked me to fill out a brief questionnaire and to provide a copy of the survey of the house. Its hard to compare price because all the landscape designs were so different. I liked Rob's layout the best and the price seemed reasonable. I appreciated that Rob really listened to our needs and designed a custom plan.
Rob came to the house for the first visit to discuss landscaping for the front yard and back yard. The next visit was at the Rutgers Landscaping nursery. He printed out a big beautiful full color landscape design and then he walked me through the nursery to actually show me the proposed plant options. Since I'm new to landscaping, I asked a lot of questions and he was very patient and thorough. The visit to the nursery was like taking a personal class on shrubs and plans. The best part is that he was willing to work with my budget and discuss lots of alternatives. We decided to start with just the front yard first.
The planting was scheduled for about a month out. The day before the planting, both Rob and Carlos, the landscape installer, came to the house to mark out the plans. Carlos came on time and took time to discuss the plant spacing with me. We tried some different spacing arrangements and he even made a brilliant suggestion to transplant a tree that was crowding part of the front yard. Carlos was so friendly, patient, and knowledgeable.
All my interactions with Rutgers Nursery were professional and high quality. I was impressed with the designs and very happy with the final product. Its been about a month since the installation and it give me great joy to come home and see all the professional landscaping.

They are excellent. They are very prompt and very responsive. They are very open to working with the property owner on details taking the property owner's requests into consideration when they do their work. They guarantee their work. They come back and fix the slightest problem that there might be. They are well trained and experienced. I would absolutely use them again in the future.

I have always had the highest praise for Rutgers Nursery over the years. I have recommended them to others in my field, and friends and clients over the last 15 years.
Their field staff is excellent. The people who do the work are skilled, hard working and polite. They really care for your property as they work.
Recently though I have had a problem that is really just too bad. The company has a 1 year plant warranty if they plant the tree. I had a River Birch planted in the fall. This spring it was very slow to leaf out. I had my arborist look at the tree and in his opinion, the tree would not make it through the next season.
I contacted the company and asked for a replacement tree. I sent them my arborist's report.
Rather than simply come out and replace the tree without debate, the company has been arguing with me as to the accuracy of the report, whether or not the tree is really dying and the best course of action to take. They have made suggestions such as trim the tree (which in fairness they offered to do for me) and it will be fine next year, or that the arborist is simply wrong. And all of this without seeing the tree.
I have spent in inordinate amount of time on emails back and forth debating the best course of action. I even offered to have them prune the tree if they would extend the warranty for two more years.
They did say that they would come out in August to inspect, or replace the tree, but now they want further discussion.
This is really a shame. They have great potential and generally excellent stock.
They really need to take a lesson in customer service at the management level.
To date, I am still waiting for a resolution. They have made offers

The saleman at the Nursery was very helpful in selecting native trees for the sides of the deck. The overall selection and purchase process was very efficient. The installation crew was on-time and also efficient and neat. My only disappointment was in how they were going to install the trees, with the wire basket intact. Having just had work done on other trees I knew the basket should be removed and the tree flare at ground level. When I brought this to the crew's attention they removed the basket (although I had to lend them wire cutters).

We had 4 firms provide designs and bids. Rutgers provided the design that best met our needs and requests, and had the best price by far. They were very easy to work with and eager to rework their plans based upon discussions and feedback. They were unique in working to replant some of our existing shrubs to places where they were better suited to help keep the costs down. They also offered a one year warranty on all plantings. They were very professional and punctual, and our yard has never looked better. Very highly recommended!

They are wonderful. They do really nice stuff. They are a good nursery with excellent selection. I like them. They took pictures of the areas that we needed landscaped and told us what to do. They have got very good nursery stock. They made expert recommendations as to what we should put in. I have spoken to the owner too. They also provide very good expert advice. We are very satisfied with their work and their price. I think we also got some discounts. We will absolutely be using them again this fall. We wouldn't be going anywhere else.

The actual work Rutgers Landscape performed is just fine. We are very happy with our six new trees, the effectiveness of the drainage system, and the very attractive appearance of the retaining wall. The final product is highly satisfactory and the price was fair for the work they did. That's the good news.
However, the process of doing business with them was *extremely * frustrating.
In retrospect, I should have known this would be problem when they didn't respond to the first two phone calls (three days apart) asking for an estimate. I waited another three days and sent an email, and then they did make the appointment. They sent a very pleasant and well-informed person to look at the yard and take notes about our plans.
But it took almost three weeks for the estimate to arrive. When it did, I had questions and sent an email about that. Another several days (and 2 phone calls and an email from me) passed before there was a reply. This pattern persisted until we told them we'd go to their location (a 90 minute drive away) to sit down with them and get all questions addressed. We did so; three days later we mailed the signed contract and a check for the first 1/3 of the total payment.
Then we waited to be told on what date the work to be performed. And waited. And waited. Oddly, during this delay, they didn't cash our check. I phoned the person we'd met with and he said that it was someone else' job to call us with the date.
We waited some more. Finally (this was after about two weeks) I found an email address for one of Rutgers' executives on their website and emailed him with the whole tale and all my frustrations.
That worked, sort of.
He called me the next day, very apologetic, and said he'd look into the matter and make sure everything got resolved. He also walked me through the process (which would include someone coming to mark the locations of the gas and water lines ... but alas, that never happened).
He said someone would call me and quot;soonand quot; with a date for the work to be done.
And then we waited some more. After several days, I called Rutgers yet again and finally got a date for the work.
They arrived on time and did a really great job. The workers were all efficient, pleasant, and very good at what they do. We're really happy with the final product. But ...
They said and quot;someoneand quot; would mail or email us care instructions for the trees. Once again, it took several calls and emails to get the document.
So the bottom line is this: would I recommend Rutgers to a friend? It would depend on the friend. If it was someone very patient with lots of free time, yes I would. But I couldn't recommend them to someone who expects business-like behavior from a business.

He did the design and proposal, switched companies, and then did the implementation with Rutgers. It was easy to work with him and he could understand what we were trying to accomplish. We had confidence that he could do it and he did. It comes down to a plant is a plant is a plant, and who is going to design it and run it. It came down to the laborers and who was going to manage it. It didn't matter what company it was, but who it was installing everything.

We had a dirt driveway, with some leftover gravel. Looked terrible. After interviewing a few "landscape designers", I called Rutgers. Jim Kerr has excellent credentials, just check out his bio on their website. It was a major investment. They put in such a solid foundation for the driveway, I'm confident it will remain as solid long after we're gone. They thought about the drainage pipes, and installed new drainage pipes to the street, rerouting pipes to avoid water problems. They did this all along the long driveway and for the front yard. No other landscaper even mentioned this to us! Neighbors used to come by to watch them work each day. Their attention to detail is remarkable. The entire crew works very hard, and all are very professional and polite. They left the area as neat as possible each day. The work is exceptional. I urge you to view their webpage. My house is pictured, it's the one with the three men in red company shirts standing in the driveway, I couldn't be hapier with their work. Three years later, we still have people asking who did the work. I am planning to have them work on my back yard in the near future. I just know I wouldn't be happy using anyone else.