Pioneer Landscape Maintenance

Every time they have performed work for us, they have done a great job. Any time there were things that we thought weren't done to our satisfaction, they have always came back and made it 'right'. It's been a pleasure to work with them.

I used their services for about one year before I became fed up with their no-shows, lack of gardening knowledge and need for constant direction.  My initial experience was positive.  I asked Jack (the owner) to install irrigation and set me up on a maintenance contract to fertilize, prune, weed, etc.  I don't have a lawn, so most of the work needed was weed control and pruning. 
Things started of well enough while Jack (the owner) was supervising, but once he turned things over to his employees, the service went downhill.  His crew are largely unskilled, so with regards to their gardening knowledge, they are clueless.  A few of their mistakes include:  Ruining one of my rambling roses by cutting them back severely during the height of growing season. They dug up and removed 4 Heather plants for no known reason. They have know idea how to dead head roses for return blooms, nor did they cut them back in the early winter. They cut down early growing perennials.  They allowed weeds to grow to near maturity before I had to pull them myself. They needed to be told to remove the root suckers that were sprouting up from my neighbors tree. 
Pioneer failed to fertilize at all in the fall, and failed to fertilize early this spring so I have anemic growth.
Pioneer failed to perform weekly maintenance, often not showing up for weeks at a time.  On the occasions they did show, basic weed control was not performed. 
Overall, I would say that if your looking for someone to perform a one time job like landscaping or irrigation install, you might consider Pioneer, but if you're looking for a company that you can rely on to perform regular, knowledgable maintenance, look elsewhere.

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The service was fabulous at the beginning. The day that he was supposed to come in and install the carpet, there was no carpet. I could not get a hold of him. There was no communication for 2 weeks. I repeatedly left voicemails and texts and got no response. I gave him my credit card number and he kept charging it.

Jack did an excellent job at a very reasonable price.  I also paid him $165 for monthly maintenance.  His employee came every week in May but only showed up the first week of June.  I have already paid him in advance for June but he has not shown up since.  He cannot be contacted by telephone and has not responded to my e-mails.  I will not use his services again.

Excellent! Jack and his crew are very professional, honest, attentive and communicated thoroughly with me before, during, and after the project. We couldn't be happier with their performance, professionalism, and quick response to our inquires. We are so pleased with their work, we have hired them on a monthly yard maintenance basis!!!

I had them here in two visits.  They were good.  I was very happy with their pricing.  Everything that was in a mess was corrected.  We had a little lack of communication for a while and it was all good.  They were here when they said they would be.

I called Jack a week ago and he told me that he would be here this week.  His crew (4) arrived at 9 a.m. today.  Under Jack's supervision they spent 5 hours working on the property.  My home is on a very large lot with three tiers of grass in the back.  All I can say is that they did a first rate job and did exactly what my instructions were.  His price was very reasonable, too reasonable.  Based on other quotes that I had received, one of which was twice the amount quoted by Jack, I remitted more money to him than what his quote was.  Jack put me on a monthly maintenance program for a very reasonable price.  His crew will be here once a week to maintain the property.  I highly recommend this company for your yard work.

Jack has provided Landscape service to me for the past 15 or so months.  His crew has done a great job for the most part, and those crew members who do not live up to expectations are usually not around very long.  Unlike many companies, they have a supervisor/foreman that either travels with the crew or behind the crew, checking up on work and leaving a checklist on your door after the work is complete.  I believe that this adds to the overall quality control.

They will be reseeding my back lawn this week, and doing moss/weed control in the front.  I'm expecting great results.

Jack is a nice guy, but sad to say, he is very unreliable and communicates poorly.  Several no-shows, lots of "reasons" but bottom line we just could not count on him showing up, and no emails or phone calls, even in response to our emails asking "are you coming over?"  "Our lawn is getting 6" tall, where are you?"  No response.  We finally just had to write and say "we are finished."  It just was not worth the effort and it put us in a real bind when he would not show up with company coming, etc.  Things looked shabby.  We don't know how he stays in business.  We could not refer him to friends because of the unreliability.  Too bad, and we wish him well.

Jack and his crew helped me immensely by building a fenced dog area and a French drain with a catch basin to help solve my irrigation problems. Jack is extremely responsive, friendly, knowledgable and easy to work with. I love it when contractors can take your ideas and improve them along the way. Not as a blatant upsell, but helping provide solutions for things that I, as the non-professional, would have overlooked. He made sure my downspouts were connected to the french drain, fixed some issues with my fence and gate, offered lots of ideas for improving my original plan and was well informed about the best materials and methods. The service was well worth the cost and I am super pleased with the results.

My dogs have a fenced area they can access now and I am looking forward to not having mud in my house anymore.

I am looking forward to working with his team on Phase II, a patio and some raised beds!

It  all went  well.

Prompt service on the initial visit and estimate.  Jack carried through on time, even though the weather didn't cooperate.  The yard was a real mess...It would  have taken me forever to get it in shape for showings.

Well, it was a great price.  Jack under bid it.  Even so, he still showed up and cleared it all away, despite probably loosing money in the process.  As usual, clean up was excellent.  His guys both work hard and are thorough.  They even swept up the saw chips on the hardscape.

I was impressed enough, that I threw him extra work on the spot.  Some of the stumps were a bit high for grinding, and I paid him to take them down.   He actually went out and bought a saw with a large enough bar to take down one of the really monster stumps.  That's what I call going above and beyond the call of duty.

AMAZING!! Honestly amazing.

I had just moved to Portland and was not sure of what I needed to get the yard ready for winter.  I called Pioneer and they were out the next day to meet with me. I had a few different companies come out to give quotes and Jack at Pioneer was hands down the most informative, most creative and most helpful of anyone I met with. He begin with a full walk through of my property explaining to me the landscaping that we had and how to care for it.  He really took the time to educate me since I was new to the Northwest.  Once he had a firm understanding of what my needs were he talked me through a few different options for lawn care and service.  Compared with other bids I got I didn't feel pressured and honestly felt like I had an expert who I TRUSTED to give me good advice and advice. I signed up and we scheduled the first service to begin a few days later.  I have been using them every since. 

Pioneer and especially Jack went above and beyond to work with me to get my property in shape for the holiday's even coming out twice in one week!  I have total confidence in Jack to pick the best products (tree's, shrubs and pots) and he took the time to shop around to get me the best prices which he passed along the saving to me. We even went out shopping for pots to put on our front porch and he was an absolute delight throughout the process taking me to 3 stores to pick out the perfect pots.  His knowledge of not only landscaping but local retailers was very impressive. 

If you are looking for an extraordinary landscaper but more importantly an expert who you can trust give Pioneer a call.  They are always willing to go the extra mile!  A++ for superior customer service. 

My initial contact with Jack was lovely.  He was able to come out to give me an estimate on the day that I called him initially.  For the estimate/consultation, he arrived when he said he would.  He is a generally pleasant person to meet with and I was glad that he had multiple ideas for how my property could be improved but didn't necessarily "upsell" me on them in the first meeting.  In retrospect, I realize that I should have gotten a written contract from him but he seemed so generally affable (and had positive Angie's List reports) that I let my guard down when I shouldn't have.  I was fine with the price that he provided and we agreed that he/his employees would do the work the next weekend.  He asked for half of the total price at the end of the first meeting ($200).  

As he was going to be putting down Casoron in my yard a few days prior to the full clean-up, I needed to know when he was coming to spray so that I could keep my dog inside the house.  The day that he said he was coming, he called both my home and cell phones and we arranged a time.  He was on time.  Jack said that the weed spray needed a few days to kill the weeds and that they would do the yard when the weeds yellowed.  We arranged everything for the Saturday clean up and he said that everyone would arrive between 9 and 9:30 am.

By 10:45 on Saturday no one had arrived.  I called Jack and gave my name and address and he was confused as to who I was.  He said this was because he had another customer whose house he was at in another location with the same street number.  In any case, he said that the crew would arrive shortly.  The crew arrived shortly after 11 in the morning and worked until 4:00 or so in the afternoon.  I wasn't home when they arrived but Jack asked my husband if he would like for them to mow the back lawn since they already had the lawnmower in the truck.  I had understood that the lawns were part and parcel of the initial bid.  Jack came back when the crew was about finishing and we looked around.  The yard did look much better.  The crew was efficient and did good work.  When they left for the day, there was still a couple of things that needed to be done (and others that I thought would happen and didn't).  Jack said that they would return on Tuesday to complete the following things: respray for weeds, trim/shape four large bushes, and trim/shape some bushes along the decorative front fence.  Jack also mentioned that he would "finish" off the job with some bark (just to make it look especially finished) and that he would fix part of my sprinkler.  Again, Jack was very affable and seemed trustworthy and so I didn't balk (although I should have) when he asked for a check for the rest of the agreed upon amount (another $200).  He asked me to post a review on Angie's List because his customers were very important to him.  He cashed the check on Wednesday of the next week.

For a full week I played "phone tag" with Jack and tried to get his crew to come finish the job.  When he left on Saturday, he was coming Tuesday.  I called on Wednesday and he said he was coming Thursday.  I called Friday morning and first he tried to tell me that someone had been there and sprayed (I'd been here all afternoon and no one had come) and then he said he'd be "right over" but never showed.  I had to go to work but later in the day I got a call saying that the "yard had been sprayed."  This was one of several things that needed to be done.  My husband returned Jack's call on Friday night and he said he'd be here on Monday.  On Monday, Jack did come and trimmed several bushes in the front yard and took care of a portion of the other things that he said he would after the initial consultation. He also moved a set of ornamental trees for no reason that I can think of (it was never mentioned...).
 
I realize that in the larger scheme of landscape/gardening, my $400 cleanup job was not the highest priority and that the bulk of the work was completed.  There were parts of the job that were mentioned initially (specifically fertilizing the lawn) that were not completed but I'm willing to accept that was a misunderstanding.  What irks me is that on multiple occasions Jack said he was going to do something (or be here at a certain time) and it took a fair amount of effort and cajoling on my part to get the job finished.  

We asked Jack and his crew to help us care for my 81-year-old father's large lawn. They did exactly the work we were looking for and kept it at a manageable price! We are very happy with Pioneer Landscape's service so far and we hope to continue with this group throughout the summer!! Thanks Jack and crew!

Jack was approachable and struck a great balance between asking my opinion and offering his expertise.  Except for some small issues regarding timing, and an accidental digging into my oil line, I was happy with the work they did.  It was beautiful.  HOWEVER, he needed to be reminded several times of projects I had asked to have completed.; his crew sometimes wouldn't come when they said they would; he lost the contract we had agreed to more than once; and, in retrospect, some of the work that was done, wasn't done well.  For example, the invasive grass and dandelions they removed weren't removed deeply, and have regrown.  Some of the plants they planted have died.  The bulbs in my front bed they promised to dig gently around didn't come up this spring.  My biggest gripe is that they promised monthly maintenance as part of our contract.  They haven't shown or returned my calls.  My new plantings are dying or dead, the grasses have returned, the irrigation system they installed needs to be turned on, etc.  They took the money but haven't fulfilled their contract.  (This may be due to the fact that Jack has been ill, though I have no way of knowing, and for that I'm very sorry.  He's a nice guy.  I expect someone from his team to fulfill his promises, though, even when he can't.)

We started our relationship with Pioneer  with seasonal clean ups. We were really impressed with how quick Jack came to look at our property and give us a bid. They did an excellent job in a timely fashion and so we have hired them for year round maintenance. We also had them do several drainage solutions for us, as well as re-gravel our driveway. Jack has a great team, strives to provide the best service possible and we really enjoy working with him.

They were very curteous, hardworking and efficient. They went the extra mile to make my yard look like I wanted. I am very impressed.

I just starting using them and they are working out fine. I paid $190 for the initial cleanup and $75 for the monthly maintenance. It is still really new with them It is a small company. Jack Dixon is the owner and he is very hands on and very concerned about making things right. He followed up after the cleanup to see if everything was the way I expected it to be. There was something I forgot to tell them to do and he sent somebody out right away. He is very service oriented. I did talk to one other company.

Jack and his crew started when they said they would. They fulfilled the contract above and beyond what I expected. I have never worked with a contractor who had such an amazing crew and desire to satisfy. When they were done, everything was clean and perfect.

Jack is extremely responsive and professional. We agreed on a price and approximate date of service and it was delivered exactly as promised. I would definitely call him again for any future needs.

Jack was very responsive. I called on April 15th and needed the job completed before April 30th. He was able to make room in his schedule and completed all the work on time. Yard looks great! Thanks for the great work. I would definitely consider hiring Pioneer Landscape in the future.

I put a check for $0 under the front doormat, and called to say the check was there. I had to leave a message, when no one answered the phone. About one hour later, the man called and said he had picked up the items, but had been going by my house anyway on the way to the dump, so he would feel guilty for charging anything!! I was astonished! I questioned his decision, but he was adamant, so he hauled my debris for free!