Walkabout Landscape

It exceeded our expectations.

We hired mike (owner) mainly to address minor drainage issue as well as privacy screening along border to neighbors yard near our pool. Mike sold us on additional work including hardscaping, clearing out old landscaping and replanting, and a new patio. Hardscaping and patio looks good. Landscaping mostly consists of small perennials and very average looking. Irrigation was installed functions as planned.
The privacy screening consists of 3 trees to cover an area of over 40'. This doesn't seem like enough but mike said wait till next year as trees grow - I doubt it will cover the privacy needs. But the problems are much worse that worrying about privacy. Mike left several holes all over my yard causing mud and dangerous areas to walk. This was left this way when mike tried to fix irrigation leaks found after installation. But the worst problem is the fact that our drainage issue went from minor to 10x worse. Water gets trapped behind the walls mike built without anywhere to drain except flowing over the top and through the walls right into my pool. Other drainage issues caused by mike is from creating mounds or flowerbeds trapping additional water flowing into my pool almost coming into my home. This happens from minor rainfalls and the middy water is damaging my pool and turning it brown. I had to go to Home Depot and get a 2 pumps to take water away from my house and pool every time it rains. I am now afraid the walls will be damaged as there is a lot of water behind the walls causing it to leak through the cemented joints - so wall damage is inevitable.
We called mike and he sent his irrigation guy to my property who said this job needs major corrections to address drainage issues caused by new walls and new flower beds - the work is approximately $10K due to fact that it now has to be done AFTER the original work Mike performed versus during the time he was building the walls and landscaping (when it would have been much cheaper). When contacting mike to work out how we wanted to address this, he did not return my call and sent someone else to come here for a few minutes to build up some soil above the walls attempting to divert some water. Of course this did nothing to address drainage issue as Im still getting water into my pool over the walls every time it rains.  Mike isn't listening to his own irrigation guy and clearly doesn't want to address what he caused as he hasn't returned over 6 calls, text messages, and emails. I am currently in direct contact with his irrigation guy who I want to fix the problems but Mike won't acknowledge this need with him so we are still stuck without resolution. Although mike seems like a good guy and did create visually appealing walls and patio, he is not taking responsibility of creating a major drainage issue in my yard. He is also not addressing all the holes and mud left in yard. I therefore cannot recommend mike and walkabout landscaping due to accountability and trust.

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They were very helpful. They are a great company. They advise people to go to a certain landscape plan because of water shortages. They also believe in using plants that are native to this area. They really do a good job. I kept their card and information to use in the future, because I like their approach. They were very good about coming out right away. They were very professional and did not try to talk me into anything. They just answered my questions and told me what I had asked them about, as far as information. They were not pushy. They let me make the decision.

It went very well, each step of the work was on scheduled and completed on time and to our satisfaction.  We liked it so well that we had them back to do  a limited update to our front landscape.  We continue to enjoy the layout and design 6 years later.  We've received many compliments on the work of Walkabout Landscape.  I recommended them to a member of my family who also had their front landscape done by Walkabout and it's worked out well too, so that's 3 separate jobs within my family.  I recommend them.

Contacted Mike via phone and discussed what I was looking to do.  Knowing it was not a large job left him up to scheduled based on availability of his crew.  He called me a week later to apologize as had not had a chance to come look at it and we discussed budget to do it.  We mutually agreed to having his crew come out in the next two days as there was capacity.  His crew not only came out as promised but they also came back the following day to finish it up.  Though the scope of work was more than anticipated, he stayed within budget and masr some vast improvement.  This included all new mulch, 50 or so more plants, digging another dry river bed down two sides of the lot (so the fence wold not rot from the dirt against it and also cause the water runs had shifted from the neighbors and clean-up of the existing dry river bed.
The work completed made the back year look amazingly and went well beyond my expectations.  He took my beautiful back yard and transformed it into an oasis of lovliness.  My neighbors are even more jealous.
Anyone looking to have landscape done, call this company,you will not be disappointed.  Not only do they do excellent work at what I believe is a reasonable price there artistic sight and layout is utterly amazing.

It went very well. We think our backyard is beautiful and a year later it's even better! Mike and his crew do a great job!

I contacted numerous landscapers for estimates and ideas. Out of the five contacted, three showed up for the appt., one never returned my call on his estimate that I liked, one was way overpriced for the work and then their was Mike. Mike listened to our problems and desires and created a design that not only brought in natives plants, removed all grass areas but also corrected a water run-off problem when rains were heavy that was perpetuated from my neighbors pool. Additionally as we worked through the job he improved my desires and suggested alternatives that were put into place and were well thought out and now show a better appeal.

The work took a little over two weeks to complete due to the extensive effort. The crew was professional, work long days and everyday during this period. The boulders lining the drive river bed ranged from 200lbs up to 800+lbs.

After completion of the job we discovered two months later, the run-off of the neighbors water was higher than initially thought and washed out sections of the path running along the dry river bed. Mike came back out re-designed the river bed by running an additional branch from higher on the property into the lower river bed using same materials as the lower river bed. This was done at no additional costs as Mike explained he promised no water run-off problems.  At this time he not only replaced plants that had died but also supplemented additional plants  at no costs.

This spring I contacted Mike for maintenance of the back yard. This included re-mulching the back yard and adding plants. This was at an additional very reasonable cost that was expected. My backyard like most other Texas earth is comprised of clay soil and the hardwood mulch that is being used in slowly reconditioning the soil through decomposition. The costs was far below what I would have spent on my own to do, saved me two weekends of labor (his crew did it in 8 hours) and continued the beautification of the back yard.

I highly recommend anyone who is looking for landscaping work to contact Mike for ideas and an estimate. He was very communicative during the entire process of the initial install, follow-up questions and needs. He also fully explained each plant and how to care for the entire yard in order for the plants to take hold. His willingness to listen to your needs and transform them into real experience is amazing. He goes beyond your expectation, providing value beyond what you thought.

In the past I periodically only used my rear patio but now it is an evening ritual so to unwind from the day's work immensely enjoying my "new" backyard. It was well worth the cost.
  

Mike was fast on his in responding to our call, gave us a detailed diagram of the proposal and also gave clear answers to any questions we had. His crew was efficent, prompt and hard working. The quality of the finished yard is superior, we could not be happier. The only thing that we would probably do different is ask for an intemized accounting of the plants and trees. the only delay during this whole process was the lighting installation and this was mostly out of the hands of Mike. Overall while the cost was expensive we recieved an extremely high quality, professional job from a very responsive and trustworthy tradesman. He not only delivered on his work he also provided useful information on how to care for the plants and yard after the job was completed. We highly recommend WalkAbout Landscaping to anyone looking for landscaping services.

Over delivered!. Addressed areas beyond the scope of what was agreed to. Excellent communication along the way. Started on time, finished on time and the final product exceeded expectations.

The experience was very nice, smooth and professional. He is an artist with plants. He is a bit of a *expletive* but he is an artist with plants.

They were prompt, I liked the design they did, I have been happy with the work quality. The only problem we had is that one of the trees they put in died before the end of the season and it took almost 2 years for that to be replaced. Aside from that, I thought the service was pretty good.

The owner did exactly what he said he was going to do. He got the job done in the time he estimated. He returned all of my phone calls. He came out and replaced some trees and plants that had died under the warranty.

I think it was excellent design and good installation. The end results are attractive. His follow up was marginal. Other than the follow up problems I was really happy, but because of that I don't know for sure if I would use this company again.

Mike arrived on time for our appointment and provided the estimate quickly. The estimate was over what we had said our budget was but we decided to go with Mike's plan as it was after we saw the design. They started as soon as we said we were ready. The job took about a week and a half. The workers did not leave anything laying in the yard each day, they cleaned up as they finished each day. We called Mike after the sprinkler man had been there to tell him that we thought the sprinklers still might not reach a certain area, he came back out the next day to correct the problem. They pulled up some existing shrubs that we had and relocated them to other areas of the yard where they could be used rather than just throwing them away. The yard looks very nice and the flowers are growing quickly. We will call Mike again when we are ready to do the front yard.

Mike arrived on time for our appointment and provided the estimate quickly. The estimate was over what we had said our budget was but we decided to go with Mike's plan as it was after we saw the design. They started as soon as we said we were ready. The job took about a week and a half. The workers did not leave anything laying in the yard each day, they cleaned up as they finished each day. We called Mike after the sprinkler man had been there to tell him that we thought the sprinklers still might not reach a certain area, he came back out the next day to correct the problem. They pulled up some existing shrubs that we had and relocated them to other areas of the yard where they could be used rather than just throwing them away. The yard looks very nice and the flowers are growing quickly. We will call Mike again when we are ready to do the front yard.

He was very prompt with appointment times and estimate. He worked within my budget. He had a vision and was able to tie some difficult landscape together. He cared about the outcome. Initially, one wall section didn't look good. He sent his workers back to redo it until I was satisfied. The workers cleaned up well. He listened to my concerns.

He was very prompt with appointment times and estimate. He worked within my budget. He had a vision and was able to tie some difficult landscape together. He cared about the outcome. Initially, one wall section didn't look good. He sent his workers back to redo it until I was satisfied. The workers cleaned up well. He listened to my concerns.

VERY KNOWLEDGEABLE ABOUT PLANTS AND WITH VERY CREATIVE YET PRACTICAL LANDSCAPING SOLUTIONS AND IDEAS. WILLING TO FOLLOW UP WITH CUSTOMER AFTER JOB IS COMPLETE TO MAKE SURE CUSTOMER IS SATISFIED. VERY DETAILED AND METICULOUS.

VERY KNOWLEDGEABLE ABOUT PLANTS AND WITH VERY CREATIVE YET PRACTICAL LANDSCAPING SOLUTIONS AND IDEAS. WILLING TO FOLLOW UP WITH CUSTOMER AFTER JOB IS COMPLETE TO MAKE SURE CUSTOMER IS SATISFIED. VERY DETAILED AND METICULOUS.