Inspired Spaces Landscape & Design

In 2014 I hired them to do very extensive work in my back yard. Came to about $40,000. Was generally very pleased. They worked in the middle of Winter and the workers were amazing. In January of 2017, I hired them to do extensive work in my front yard. On this project I'd give them a -C overall. They dug up my drain pipe leading from a downspout and now I have to have the whole 60' length replaced. Had to have an electrician fix landscape lighting wiring mistakes. A number of plants died and Fred told me two months ago that they'd be out soon to replace them. No show. I have called and emailed Fred over a two month period to discuss these matters but he is not communicating. I actually hired him initially on the recommendation of a neighbor. That neighbor recently put his house up for sale and last night he told me that Fred is not returning his calls either. They are fast on design and install but slow to follow up after the job is done.

Installation from start to finish took only 3 weeks. The design and function is exactly what we wanted. We are thinking about adding more to it. We will definitely be using Fred for any further additions to our patio or any other landscaping work.

This was a 4-5 week project, with 3 men working full-time every week day and a couple of Saturdays.  Simply put, their communication was great and effective, every morning and every end-of-day.  The deck has some weird angles, and they did very well here to ensure the sturdiness of the deck. The deck required 9 vertical support beams, each at a different height placed on/in sloped earth. Ensuring this deck is level was a chore. They did it.

We used PVC decking, cable railings, and LED lighting under the hand rails.  All of these are on the higher-cost end of materials for these matters. We left a unique tree emerging through the middle of the deck floor, which they worked around.  They cleaned the area daily.  The deck looks awesome, and even the building inspector said it was the sturdiest support structure he'll see this year. 

They removed old pool equipment housing, cleaned up the area, groomed the soil, leveled the soil, leveled the A/C unit, filled holes and installed ornamental stone.  The housing was rebuilt bigger and better with new cedar and a high-quality gate.

They fixed a faulty downspout near the work space, placed an enormous 4'ft stone in as a step, and removed 3 dying fir trees, cleaning up as if to appear that no trees had ever been there.

We're very happy. Fred's done several jobs for us including rebuilding and reshaping a stone wall, a large circular stone patio, replacing 3 trees on the opposite side of the house, and more.  He does great work, and we trust him and his crewmen.

In 2010 we hired Fred to put in a patio for us. We were impressed with the vision and the unique ideas that Fred presented. The main employee who worked on the site was Abe. Abe was hard working and meticulous in his work. We were thrilled with the results. Had I rated the company at that time I would have given them very high scores. The beds they did for us were nice but they brought in a lot of weeds and thistle with the soil. In late summer of 2013 we had to have other work done that necessitated pulling out part of the patio. We called Fred immediately to put the patio back together for us. We requested that Abe return to do the work and Fred said that Abe was no longer with the company. Fred came out to give us an estimate on the repair and some other work we were contemplating. He encouraged us to have the patio sealed in order to eliminate the weed problem between the bricks, seal in the color and prevent stains on the bricks. The cost was roughly $950. We were a little concerned about the cost but when Fred told us it would last between 7-10 years we thought the result would be worth it and agreed to have the repair work and sealing done. Fred sent his brother and another worker out to do the work. Things appeared to be OK as it was in late fall and just before winter set in. In the spring we noticed that some of the bricks were pulling away from the rest of the patio. On closer examination we saw that the concrete pavers that were used as the base on the initial construction were not there. They had pushed the dirt up to the side of the edge of the patio to conceal that it was missing. The other issue was that we had the same weed problem that we had initially that was part of the reason we had it sealed. We called Fred in May to have him come look at it. He told me he would be out that week. I didn't hear from him again but a neighbor told me that someone was out in Mid-June to look at it. I called Fred and he told me that he saw the work that needed to be done and had me on the schedule and would call the following week. I understood that they were busy and that a repair job isn't bringing in cash so I was OK with a small delay but in mid-August when I still hadn't been scheduled I contacted Fred again. He apologized for the delay and told me they would be out that Friday (8/22/14) to correct the problem. They came out and spent about 5 hours on the repair on Friday on the section that had slipped. Fred's brother told me that he was going to repair the brick in the same way he had before. I told him that wasn't the way it was done the first time and that was what had led to the problem in the first place. The pavers had acted as a foundation and without them the bricks were moving. He told me that they had run out of pavers when they had repaired it in the fall. I told him that I wanted them back in to stabilize the bricks on the edge of the patio so that we didn't have the same problem again in a few months. The repair was done except that one brick on the end was not secured. Since it wasn't it would allow the others to move as well and this concerned me. I had taken off work that day to watch the repairs because of the previous experience. They didn't finish the job so they had to come back on Monday to finish it which meant I had to take another day off of work. On Monday, they added polymer sand between the bricks and told me that would solve the weed problem. They didn't show up until around 3:00 and it took them about 40 minutes to add the sand. There are some areas that did not get filled. I called Fred about the unsecure brick and about the areas that needed to be filled. He told me he would be out with the S.E.K rep who supplied the sealant that has failed. He called a couple of days later to tell me that the rep said the weeds from the beds were getting int the patio and seed from the existing trees contributed to debris on the patio that were causing the problem I was extremely upset by this response and suggested that S.E.K. make it clear that they could not warrant the product as the sales pitch I received said this wouldn't be a problem for 7-10 years. The sealant obviously failed and they intended to do nothing about it. The weeds he referenced in the beds were brought in by Inspired Spaces when they created the patio. Everyone was aware of the beds and trees when they made the representation to me that they could make my patio virtually weed free, with no stains and sustain the color. All of this did not happen. The patio has stains, the color has faded and the weeds are a serious problem. I would strongly recommend against having any sealing done by this company as it is a farce. I had about a 2 month result and now it is exactly as it was before I had the work done. We already have weeds again in the patio and it is now September 11 - roughly 17 days from when the remedy was supposed to have been done. Fred had told me he would come out to look at the loose brick and the gaps in between the bricks that were not filled. I have not heard back from him. I had intended to hire him for other work but after this experience I definitely will not do so. I now have to decide if I want to take him to small claims court to get my money returned for a job that didn't provide the promised results.

Three men arrived on June 4 and weeded and edged the front and back flower beds and spread mulch until work had to cease due to heavy rains. The gentlemen returned the next morning and finished the job. The men were professional and very hard workers. The area was cleaned up and the landscaping looked terrific. I have used this firm (Fred Parrish, owner) for many years and have always been pleased.

The landscaping overhaul took three days to complete.  All old plantings were removed, area cleaned up, new soil and plants were installed in accordance with the design.  Stones were installed as designed enhancing the overall appearance of the front of the home.  I especially like that Mr. Parrish uses compost over mulch. 
Mr. Parrish was recommended by a local nursery.  He was prompt in returning my calls, extremely knowledge about the plants and explained each in great detail in response to my questions.  He was open to my suggestions and repurposed as many of my plants/stones as I wanted.  His pricing was fair.  Mr. Parrish responded to emails as promptly as he did phone calls.
The project foreman and team were great to work with, too.  They were considerate of my property and asked permission before placing topsoil in driveway.  At the end of each day, the team cleaned up the work area and removed any debris.
I plan to have Inspired Spaces Landscape & Design return in the Spring to update the remainder of my landscape beds. 
Without reservation I recommend this company.

September 30, 2013

I began working with Fred Parrish on October 10, 2009. I immediately

liked him and his personality and knowledge of Landscaping and Design seemed

perfect. In what follows are some of the projects he has done to my landscape

since that time.

Multiple shrubs and trees virtually everywhere. About half

failed despite regular watering and annual deep root fertilizing by Alum and

Arbor. I pointed out the areas where sun shines at different parts of the day.

I also use the services of TruGreen for trees and shrubs each year.



A major investment was a pond. Multiple waterfalls and at

least 4 filtering systems. This was done in May 2010. In the winter of 2012-13

the pump dried up due to a leak that resulted from a failed $5.00 part. That

was another $300.00 on top of the other $4000.00 plus I had already invested in

the pond. The filtering area where the pump is located adjacent to the deep end

of the pond was bone dry due to the leaking caused by this cheap part. I went

without a working pond for several months and ended up with a splitter to pump

water into the pond on a nightly basis for 2-5 minutes. Lord knows what happens

when cold weather arrives and there is no outside water to pump into the pond!

In 2011 Fred approached me about an extended front porch,

sidewalk and the replacement of broken concrete in front of my garage door with

brick. He brought excellent designs and said he would remove the concrete that

represented my current front porch. When I awoke and went outside, the crew had

left the garage door open and was jack hammering the concrete in front of the

garage door. Needless to say, mountains of dust settled on my automobile,

garage floor and on every tool and box in the garage. Did not have the common

sense to use a large piece of plywood to protect the garage door or at the

minimum use heavy plastic to cut down on the dust from the jackhammering. What

was worse, the $5700.00 quote for the extended brick porch, sidewalk and in

front of the garage included removal of the old concrete porch via the same

jackhammering aforementioned. No, what Parrish did was to bait and switch. He

instructed the crew to lay several layers of brock over the existing concrete

porch instead of removing it. It looks terrible and has since February 2012.

For this change he reduced the quote a whopping $200.00. This project included

shrubs and small perennials around the extended porch. He failed to come back

and fill in the areas in the brick that the sand had eroded due to it not

sticking. He lied and said he had this summer when he had already said he had

the wrong color and could not complete it when he mulched and edged in May. I

might add he had not shown his face for this project in the spring of 2013. He

was asked to remove a Walnut Tree growing in a beautiful bed built around

gorgeous stone that was crowding out the beautiful hydrangea’s he had planted

in 2011. They ended up dead by July 1st. His worker, JP, said when he was here

they did not remove the walnut tree. Eventually it was either cut down to the

ground or removed, but my beautiful hydrangea’s died a slow miserable death due

to being edged out by this unwanted and unrequested walnut tree.

The final straw was the window well cover that one of his

employees stepped on while laying mulch. This window well cover is on the west

side of my house, next to a large tree and multiple shrubs’. It is well away from the water meter and the

bed has a 4 level stone wall at least two feet from the window well. This is

the same type stone that surrounds my entire home in front, on both sides, in

the back and along the east border of the back yard from my patio to the end of

the privacy fence. These covers are not sold by the company I bought them from

in 2005. They were nice enough to get me one, but the cost was almost as much

as the entire window well and covers cost in 2005. When I asked politely for

him to stop and review the damage (he lives a half mile away from me) and

instead he sent me a nasty accusatory email. I was accused of being a thief!

In 2010 I asked Mr. Parrish for a quote on making a stone

wall and applying gravel to the east bed mentioned above. I thought it high and

he suggested I could pay his two men to do the job directly. I furnished the

materials, gravel and stone. After thinking about it for a day, I had paid the

two workers about $1.50 more per hour than they got from Mr. Parrish, I thought

about the profit Mr. Parrish was losing on this job. I wrote a check after

deducting the wages of the two workers from the original quote and the

difference was $292.00. I went to Fred’s house and gave the check to his wife.

I also purchased a Crimson Maple for the back yard that died

almost immediately. He refused to address my concern that it was not healthy. I

bought a new one last November and had some young friends plant it and it is

doing great. The one Parrish planted was lifted out of the ground in about 10

seconds by these youngsters, meaning it had not been planted deeply enough by

Parrish originally.

In all I have spent $27,388.85 with Mr. Parrish since

October 10, 2009 including the materials for the bed discussed above. But

apparently only six figure jobs are of value to him. He has said he has grown

his business three fold over the past three years which included at least three

$100,000.00 plus jobs.

I can state categorically I will never use the services of

this man again. I can only add that I recommended him to a number of neighbors.

One resulted in about a $5000.00 patio and plants and the rest were smaller.

Four different neighbors have approached me and said they would never do

business with Mr. Parrish again. These were unsolicited comments. Mr. Parrish

comes across as informal and knowledgeable about landscaping and plants. Don’t

fall for his talk. Learn from my mistakes doing business with him. By the way,

he never ever returns calls these days. This I know from experience and from

his former right hand man who is now in a different business.

Stephen Courts

[email protected]

614-777-0551

September 30, 2013

P.S. I just had a professional water features expert complete the repairs and in one afternoon he resolved the almost two year issue with the poor workmanship of Fred Parrish. It cost me $873.00. Parrish had misinstalled the liner and water was leaking from the "Weir" where the waterfalls are located thus draining the water from the pond and the pump. The ground was saturated with water that had escaped the circulation from the pump back to the beginning of the waterfalls. Once again Parrish lied about fixing the pond because it would hav