Outdoor Makeovers LLC

Very poor service Have told them over and over and over again...... Promises unkept

They did a great job. They only did a weekly mowing and I had a small yard. I felt like they did not meet my needs with being able to have fewer mowings but other than that they were very good to work with. Their communication was excellent and I would still recommend them.

The service was adequate, but vastly overpriced. Outdoors Makeovers sent crews out four times, each time adding unnecessary man-hours, trip fees, and pick-up fees. Work performed in the past by Outdoor Makeovers was adequate and fairly priced. I will not call on them in the future.

Craig arrived promptly on April 3 to see the work I wanted done. I walked him through the yard pointing out what I was looking for. He looked around and told me he'd get me an estimate. After both a follow up email (week of April 17) AND phone call (week of May 1), I've heard nothing back. Even after specifically requesting in my voicemail to let me know if they couldn't do the work, I heard nothing. After years of working with the Polish Gardner, going from great customer service to appalling service, I was disappointed. I cannot imagine how a company with such poor follow up can continue to operate.

We received a quote from Brad to do spring garden cleanup (weeding, remove debris, clear out leaves) and to trim perennials and then mulch all garden beds. The crew he sent out thought they were just there to mulch. We showed the crew the quote and write up provided by Brad but all in all they just used their high power blowers and blew the garden beds out; damaged plants and filled our fish pond with leaves, mulch and debris. They did no weeding, pruning, perennial cleanup and threw mulch in the gardens, covering plants, and in some cases, breaking off stems and branches. I tried to call Brad to have him come out and see but voice mail was full so I sent an email with pictures of the gardens. Brad acknowledged that they didn't do the job right and sent a guy out the next day to "fix it". The individual didn't really understand what he was there to do as he tried to blow the mulch off the garden plants with his high power blower. I tried to communicate with the company to adjust the bill since they did not do the job that they quoted me and in response Brad threatened to "put a mechanics lien on the property". We have never had an experience like this and don't recommend this company to anyone.

They took over for a smaller company and had a few higher-end services like planting trees, etc. They do know their plants and they did a good job, if a little pricey. They mulched the roses and put in some ivy for me, along with various other projects. If you're looking to do more simpler things, they may not be your type, but I was happy with their work.

It is still not completed, two months after work started.

I have used The Polish Gardener since the summer of 2007. With one exception, their quality and performance of their service has been exemplary. On the one occasion that there was a miscommunication about the lawn service I had requested, the error was corrected without additional charge. From the grounds people to the office staff, everyone is kind and professional. I recommend them without reservation.

They did an excellent job. It's the best mulching job we've ever had. It's the best job defining the beds. They did a nice job. It was not a big problem at all. The workers were professional.

UPDATE: I'm adding this after reading the response. I tried to write an even-handed report of the service, with the good as well as the bad, but the reply is an attack on me and my yard and contains false information: I contacted the company the day the work was done, as soon as I got home from work and saw what was done. It took him two weeks to come out in response to several calls and emails from me. He never said anything about flagging plants. I planned to be there, but because they came a day early without warning, I wasn't there. The weeds were no worse than they would be in any yard in a wet spring. The yard was well maintained in the prior year; in fact, I have been asked by organizers to apply for the Clintonville Garden Tour last year and this year. I have three large maples, so there was a lot of leaf cover from the winter, which I leave in the beds for mulch -- that's why I called. He didn't tell me "if she could prove exactly what we supposedly took out and how much each item was I would deduct that amount." If he had, I actually might have been able to find photos of the beds from previous years. But take notice -- if they remove perennials from your yard out of ignorance, it will be on you to prove it. $200 off a $1000 job isn't "trying to get something for free." It wouldn't even cover the replacement value of the plants. I would have said this company would be fine for simpler jobs, but the dishonesty of this reply makes me think twice. ORIGINAL REVIEW: I have a large yard with flower beds that are densely planted with perennials, and to be fair, there were a lot of leaves covering the beds from the previous fall. Normally, I do the work in the yard, but because we were preparing to sell our house, I didn't have time. I needed it to be tidy looking. Technically, that's what I got, in the sense that the leaves were gone and the mulch was in place with a clean, though ungraceful edge. However, the job didn't come close to its own standard. The company was very helpful in booking us promptly during a busy season. We agreed on a date -- as I recall, it was within a week or two of when I called. They were also good about coordinating what needed to be done and adjusting the price accordingly; I ordered edging and mulch, but no pruning. So far, so great. Unfortunately, probably because of forecasted wet weather, they came the day before, when I wasn't there. When I returned from work, I was appalled at what I found. At first glance, I could see that most of my perennials were buried in mulch; for many, the foliage was bowing under it. At second glance, I noticed that most of the beds still had a LOT of very visible weeds -- ground ivy aka chick weed, grass, even dandelions. At third glance, I could see the things that weren't there -- after a careful inventory, I identified a list of around 20 perennials that were entirely gone, including swaths of creeping thyme, a wide bed of bee balm and a large, mature epidemium, many ladies' mantle, and a dozen 4-year-old alpine strawberries, all of which I had recently noticed were coming along quite nicely. And they had pruned several shrubs very heavily, in ways that I definitely didn't want. I called immediately, hoping that they could come out to see what I was seeing and expressed how very unhappy I was. They said they would try, but didn't make it until more than a week later. By that time, I had had to excavate several plants. Brad came out and reviewed the yard with me. In response to the remaining weeds in the bed, he said that the workers purposely left them there because they were blooming and they couldn't be sure that I didn't want them. I find that argument absurd, given that they are all very common weeds in this area. In response to the missing perennials, he argued that some had not yet come out because of the wet spring. I'm willing to believe that that is true of a few of them. I'm also willing to admit that it was early enough in the season, that the strawberries, which had been scraped away, did come back with new growth. However, I can still name a good number of others that are gone, gone, gone. He offered to have the team come back to fix it, but his visit didn't restore my confidence that they would do the job correctly the next time, so I didn't schedule that. I indicated that I wanted the price reduced, but I didn't say how much at that stage; I guess I was waiting to see what he would offer. Then, what with showing the house, I have to admit that I forgot about it when I didn't hear from him again. Now, two months later, I have received an "adjusted invoice," which took $50 off. I then asked for $200, and was told that that was impossible and the invoice was final. I gave up and paid it. To my mind, the work they did was simply not up to a reasonable standard, though Brad never admitted that point. I literally cried over my yard when I saw it, and was upset for weeks afterwards. It still burns me to see the spaces where I should now be seeing mature plants in full growth. I don't know what a reasonable adjustment for heart-ache would have been, but I believe $945 plus tax is too much to pay for this work. If I was staying in the house, I would have at least expected them to replace the missing plants, and they would have added up to more that $200.

The mulch was laid in the front, sometimes around existing weeds. The back was never cleaned up even after communication to Justin and a written response x 2 from him that they would be back out to do the back area. They missed 1 week of mowing altogether - although they did 1 free mow to correct that issue. I was not pleased with the services as the job was never completed properly.

Four young men performed the work. They arrived early in the day and worked hard continuously for the entire day. They were very pleasant, professional, and thorough. Our original estimate was for around $400 but ended up being over $800. More work was completed than from our original estimate. We were very pleased with the results and plan to use them again soon!

They mow/weed/landscape for us. They do a nice job and save me the trouble of doing it myself!

prompt and thorough- came as scheduled and did a good job

No hassles. Cut the grass when needed. Didn't cut it when it was too dry or not growing.

weeds were not taken out with root - just hacked off, some weeds were just covered up with mulch. Many weeds came back just a few weeks later. It was cheap but also quick/sloppy job.

Polish Gardener provided service in timely fashion as lawn growth and weather conditions indicated need . . .

This summer we also had them do some new landscaping for our front and back yard. Justin walked through our ideas with us beforehand. He shared his thoughts and made notes as we walked around the yard. A week later, we had new beds, dimensional plantings, and lots of color. It really brightened up our house, and it was so much less stressful than trying to figure out how to do it ourselves. They removed the old concrete walkway. And they even put in a small walkway using leftover flagstones they had. It makes the backyard look great. I recommend them to friends and family all the time. Justin and the guys will make your yard look great!

I thought they did a really good job on the major maintenance. We had them clearing out weeds, dead grass, clearing out overgrown hedges. They came by and I thought they were very reasonable. They did what they were going to do at the time of the service. I recommended them to other people.

I called The Polish Gardener to get an estimate and right away the lady asked what area I lived in. She seemed rather quick to respond. Then she immediately said that they don't cover my area. I find that odd because they are not far from me at all. Maybe they don't service the area, but I wonder if she talks to everyone like that.

Not responsive. I even saw the staff mulching the house next door and told them to have owner Justin to give me an estimate. Never heard from them.

the spring clean was done as I had insrtucted. The crew did a good job. My concern is this. I have used this service two or three years in a row and have reccomended them in the past. However this year 2014 when I called to schedule this years spring clean up I was told OUTDOORMAKEOVERS no longer service the Reynoldsburg area. I was very surprised. I could see it if they were not taking on new clients in the reynoldsburg area. But when you already have a customer you would think a company would want to keep them. So Now I have to go around to all my friends and neighbors who have told me how nice my landscaping looked in the past, that I can not reccomend OUTDOORMAKERS.

They are relatively small, and they respond when I call them. They do good work.

The Polish Gardener came on the day I wasn't there. They just come and go. I'd say the only problem I've had is that when I go to the website, sometimes the website is down and I tried to email them, sometimes the email does not go through, they really need to work on that. They said we can send your invoice through email but I haven't received an email. They're really good at what they do, they just to lack on the communication but once they got my message they call me back immediately but you really have to call them, you really can't email. I have been using them for two years. I will use them again, they're very good.

I decided to mow the lawn myself for awhile, for the exercise and to save money, however, if I decide to use a lawn service, I will try this company first.