Innovative Landscapes Inc

It went well

The Owner (John) was very responsive and knowledgeable for all aspects of the landscaping. He worked with us to find a good combination of plantings that we could be happy with. The only downside was that his personnel were in a transitional phase that meant the schedule slid far, almost to a detrimental level in the fall (when cold weather was setting in). He was very fair in his pricing and final completion. We will see how the plantings make it through this harsh winter (as plants are warranted). We would use him again.

The overall experience was unfavorable. The job was delayed a few times from when the owner said it would occur. The appearance of the team could have been more professional. Even after delayed starts, the job was not given adequate priority by the owner (makes sense that after you make a mistake it is rapidly fixed to keep the customer happy, but not here). The craftsmanship of the retaining wall was excellent. The workers worked hard when they were there. The final appearance of the work was good and the yard was much improved. There were a few small spots where the sod had died despite the recommended watering, but this is a minor issue.

It was a horrible experience.  He never did the weekly cuts and he offerred a rebate for the contract for the 27 cuts.  There was already a dispute for this same issue, but I did not see that until after the fact.  I am experiencing the same problem now!  He never returned any of my phone calls and the grass was never cut.  I had to walk around the neighborhood and find a local kid to get my grass cut.  I paid him for the full summer in advance and he essentially took my money and ran!  He was going to do some additional work for me and he never sent an estimate like he said he would.  I have tried to call him several times and he has yet to respond to any of my calls.  I was so shocked to see that he had stopped cutting my lawn and was still demanding more money for an estimate that he had never given me.  His email address was cancelled and have been sent back to me when I send them to him.  He had agreed to cut, trim, and blow all of the walk ways and decks, but he still has not done the job properly.  Innovative apparently attempted send someone from another company that was supposedly helping them out without informing me of any such arrangements or asking me if that is okay.

They did an awesome job. I would definitely use John again!

We’ve been using them for 8 years and I am satisfied with their service.

THE ISSUE IS ABOVE

I called Innovative Landscapes about fixing up our small back yard, which had been damaged from pets. We wanted to get the grass looking nice again and have some flower beds put in. My call was answered promptly and in a very friendly manner. I scheduled a consultation appointment with the owner, John, who came when he said he would and stayed for a good while answering all of our questions. He explained his suggestions for the yard and helped us understand what kind of care would be needed afterward. We decided to proceed and scheduled for the following week. Everything John and his crew did was done on time and to our satisfaction. The yard has definitely been transformed and looks great. John was always available to us for a call when we had more questions. We would use Innovative Landscapes again and recommend them highly.

Work was not done in the priority order I supplied nor when promised (he promised the walkway would be done by Father's day, but it was not even close).  Some work was not done at all (and was not billed, so that is good).  Any time I suggested a change to his plan, he argued with me.  I wanted the walkway wider, but he wouldn't do it.  The work that got done is very good.  The fence is great!  The walk looks good (even it isn't wide enough.)  So quality of work is good, just not always up to the specs I requested.  He also dug up some of my wife's prized daffodils (which he did reimburse.)

They do a good job and they are very thorough.  They are very friendly and they clean up after themselves.   I didn't have to wait too long to get the job done and they were very prompt.  I paid $800 and that included all the mulch and new beds.

We contacted John Tocce in March 2011 for an estimate, set up a time, and he showed-up on time (in the rain).  He stated the work was all within his scope and emailed us an estimate within a day.  His estimate was over $5,000 less than our other estimate.  

We chose innovative and Johnd explained that we needed to pay 25% down, then 50% after the completion of the retaining wall and walkway, then the final 25% at the end of the project.  We agreed and sent a check to John.

We did not hear from John for several weeks, so began calling him in April.  In early May I sent John an email requesting he send-back the deposit if the project was not going to move forward.  John emailed that his crew would be by in 1 week to start.  

John did start the project on May 14th.  His workers were hard working, pleasant and neat.  They work steadily for several weeks, prepping and building the wall.  One worker in particular was extremely good with the hardscaping and took care to build a great wall.  John stopped by and stated that the wall was going to look great with the top cap.  At this point the wall was only about 1/2 of the height of the septic mound.  John gave us a revised estimate to build-up the wall to the appropriate height ($2900 extra).  

The workers also did a great job with the walkway, using EP Henry materials.

At the completion of the wall, walkway, and removing curb and grass and applying stone base to the driveway expansion, we paid John the next 50% installment plus the $2900 for the additional courses of the retaining wall.

At this point we stopped hearing from John.  We called many times without a response to our request for when the driveway would be completed.  John called us one more time to say he was sorry and that he would call us the next day.  He never called us again.   He did email us in response to state that his driveway contractor was no longer in business, but that he would find someone else.  Months went by until we gave John an ultimatum that the work need to to be done in September.  John responded that our request was reasonable and that Sept should not be a problem.

We heard nothing more from John, so decided to contract a driveway paver ourselves.  We contacted John to request he return the $1500 we paid, in advance, for the paving.  John did return the $1500 to us, so I am changing our review to a C.

They were excellent. They were prompt in getting here. They did the work and everything was right. I never had that kind of work done before but I was pleased with the price.

Our seasonal contract provides for lawn service for 25 weeks, however Innovative Landscape skipped two weeks in a row in early August. When we called to confirm that they were coming the third week they indicated that they had serviced our yard each of the two weeks in question - which was frustrating as the lawn obviously had not been mowed.  They have again skipped the past two weeks of August and when contacted, they indicated that no one could mow due to the heavy rain. Both of our neighbors have had their lawn serviced by other companies each of the past two weeks without any damage and our lawn is a jungle in comparison.

When asked when they would be able to mow over this past weekend they indicated they would call us back to confirm - that did not happen. When asked if a refund will be provided for the skipped weeks, the scheduler indicated that they were new and would get back to us the next day. That did not happen.

This vendor does fine work when they actually come, but they have very poor communication skills. We will not use them for other services in the future. 

They did a really good job and I get a lot of compliments on it.  They were clean, they did it fast, and it is high quality work.  The people are very easy to talk to because they are nice and friendly.  We did everything by email and they responded quickly.

I have a yearly contract with them and it costs about $35 a week. They are very dependable. They come when they are scheduled to come. The clean up is good as well. I would continue to use them in the future.

They know what they are doing and they clean up after themselves. They were professional and I liked their cleanliness. They clean up after themselves once the job is done. I have a contract with them to do another project. I contacted them a little before the strawberry season started but I am not sure if it’s available as yet.

We met John in 2008 when he gave us an estimate on some landscaping soon after we bought our house. He spent a good amount of time talking to us about what we could do with our overgrown yards and had some truly “innovative” ideas. Our house is on the side of a hill and our backyard is one story up from the front yard and also slopes from right to left. John was the only landscaper who suggested a two tiered patio. We ended up not doing landscaping that year, but remembered John so favorably that we called him for an estimate for a patio in May 2010. We used his two-tiered patio idea as the basis for all of our estimates and happily, John’s was the best estimate we got for the work. Plus, he was able to have all of the work done before our son’s first birthday party in July. We can’t be more thrilled with how everything turned out. This was a really hard work site. The workers had to bring everything up a steep hill to our backyard. They had to cut into the hill with pick axes, dig up all of the rocks, and level everything out. The men were unbelievable workers and very respectful. And they were amazingly artistic – cutting pavers to fit around gutters, blending the electric outlet in the wall, and the little walkway to our neighbor’s house charmingly looks like it should be something out of a fairy tale. As we have a 1-story drop from our backyard, John’s crew also put in a beautiful vinyl picket fence with gates to our house and our neighbor’s yard. He was very practical in reminding us that we would be carrying things into and out of our house to the patio and recommended a wide gate that works beautifully. A picture is worth a thousand words, so we put together this gallery that will show you the work they did - http://flickr.com/gp/mkullen/p93N98. The patio and fence still look brand new, even after our hard winter.

Due to last year's bad winter I signed up at the beginning of this winter with Innovative Landscapes for snow removal. They have always showed up. I've never had to call and remind them. They do a great job of clearing the snow from my driveway and sidewalk which are quite long. They even put down salt. I'll definitely sign up with them next winter.

They were fabulous. They were wonderful to work with. They cleaned up after themselves. They were really, really good. When I responded to them, they sent me an email back confirming that I had talked to them. They sent an email confirming the day that they would be there. When they finished the work, they sent a receipt in an email. I really liked that. When he said he was going to come at a certain time, he came.

They're dependable. They have an average price. They are very prompt though.

We can't say enough good things about John and his crew. Fast, responsive, affordable. Really happy with his work!

John the owner called before coming with a quote, gave me a fair price will start work lst of the month (May 2010). He requested that I pay half of the total bill before he began the work. I carried the payment to the post office on 28 April and had it postmarked. On 5 May after I had to call to see if he received my downpayment. He had and the work was scheduled to be started Friday 7 May depending on the weather. Today, 6 May I received a call stating he could not start the work until Monday 10 May 2010 which was fine with me. Just a little after 9 am, his men arrived in their truck and began the task of taking down the old wall. They dug and measured as they went along to build a strong foundation for the new wall. The wall was leveled to make sure everything was even. They took care not to damage my neighbor's fence or the plants I have in the yard. I am quite pleased with the work that the men did. When they were finished they cleaned up completely and left nothing behind for me to do. The only thing I wish I had did was to take a before and after picture to show how good their work looks in comparison to what I had. The E P Henry retaining wall color is beautiful--have to get plants to enhance this good looking wall!

They do yearly lawn maintenance for me. They put in new bushes in the front as well as in the back yard when they did the landscaping work in the first year. They also put sod down for me at the same time. They did exactly what I wanted them to do and it turned out really nice. I had other landscaping companies who had treated my lawn with fertilizers, but they didn?t care at all. They only put the applications and never informed me as to how to take care of the lawn. There are some companies that don?t seed your lawn and only do lawn fertilization. However, I have been using the services of Innovative Landscapes to cut the grass and do the yearly weeding as well as seeding. They also give you a discount if you prepay for the season. John Tocci is the owner of the company. I have a contract which includes 25 cuts for the year and it?s about $30 for each cut. They come every week for about 25 weeks. I also get the 6 step fertilization and weed control program from them. They charge me about $65 for an application which comes up to $390 for the year. So, the total comes up to $1140. They give me a 15 percent discount on the total amount if I prepay for the year. John took the time and worked with me to give me the look that I wanted for my lawn when I first started working with him. That?s something that I liked about him. So, his crew ripped out all the old bushes, as they were over 50 years old and were over grown too and put in new ones. I then told them as to what I wanted and we went back and forth a few times to get what I wanted. So, he gave me a 4 seasoned garden and I have bushes out there which are reddish that give my garden some color. They also installed the sod. There were 2 sods with which we had some problems, but they repaired them. I had them do some hardscaping work for me around a small garden that I have in the back of the house. So, that turned out really nice and we picked the reddish color to match the shed as well as the house. I liked the quality of their work. We worked together in choosing some new bushes from the nursery. They are very professional and care about how everything works. The crew was very nice and respectful. They also cleaned up once the work was over. They are punctual, as they come on time. I would continue to use their services in the future too, as I have already prepaid for this year.