Aposhian Turf Farms

The work was great, they were easy to work with. They were good, and timely. The price was decent and they are competitive.

This company removed our old, dead lawn.  It was great.
The brought in new sod and it was awful.  It was mismatched and looked like it was already brown and dying.
We called this company and discussed our concerns.  The responded with a crew that removed the sod and replaced it with the most beautiful sod you have ever seen.  Although the initial sod was not what they promised or what we expected, they made it right.  We have the most beautiful lawn on our street.  As with all contractors...stand your ground and make them deliver what they promise.  Don't settle.  The final word...I would use them again....and again....and again.  Mistakes happen and they are willing to make it right.

The work was done great. The only negative was that it was not very organized. The team did good work and it turned out well. It just took longer and more was more work for me then it should have.

The main point-of-contact guy (crew manager?) who came to our house for the estimate and later for the work itself was exceptionally friendly and very responsive.  
The crew were all extremely efficient and quick and very clean.  They were quiet and unobtrusive, and we were always amazed at how little time it took them to do the work over the 2 or 3 visits they made to finish everything.  They never left any mess anywhere.
When removing the diseased lawn with a machine, they accidentally tore out our buried phone, internet, and cable lines.  They took full responsibility, calling the phone company IMMEDIATELY and coordinating repair and billing directly with them.  (Century Link, on the other hand, was horribly unresponsive in reburying the line and did an extremely sloppy and unprofessional job of digging through our yard, totally messing up our newly replaced lawn.  This is not a direct reflection on Aposhian, but it was a shame we had to deal with this.)  Be sure, if there is any question, to have the crew manager contact the phone, gas, etc. companies prior to work, even if it is "shallow" lawn work and have the area marked for utilities lines ahead of time.  We could have avoided a mess on our end if we had insisted on this.
Despite the phone line mess, we would definitely use Aposhian again.  They were very concerned about making us completely satisfied.

They really took care of my front yard, but I was a little disappointed in my backyard. This may be because as they were working in the front yard, I told them that I would like to put in the backyard as well. They got rid of the weeds first and then they put the sod down, but they didn't do that with my back yard and I've got weeds coming up through the sods. However, their price was really good and other than that, they did a really good job.

The concrete and sprinkler work was done very well.  However, what was supposed to be a three day project completed in two weeks time took 3 months.  They did not show up when they were scheduled and did not communicate with me at all.  Someone always apologized, but it was the most frustrating company I've ever worked with.

It went well. I was looking for a few ideas from the start and got a pretty broad explaination and quote.  Luckily my wife was able to brainstorm and work with the crew once they arrived.  Overall worked out wella dnwe are please and plan on bringing them back to do some more upgrades in the future.

On time, efficient, communicated well. Good quality.

I thought they did an excellent job and were thorough. The sod looks great, I loved the color. They did mess up the grade on the sod, but came back and fixed the problem. We already plan on using them again and would recommend them to others.

Overall the work went very well. A bulk of the work was completed in only a couple of days. Before starting any work Aposhian met with me to find out what I wanted completed.  Once I accepted the bid Aposhian scheduled a time to get started.  When Aposhian started a bulk of the work was completed within the first two days.  After completing the work Aposhian contacted me to make sure I was happy with the work completed and that I didn't have any questions on my new sprinkler system.

I've waited this long to file this report because I wanted to see how these areas would look in Spring of 2012.   I don't think it's too early in the 2012 gardening year for me to conclude I will have to re-do one area.  The raised bed (with the roses) looks fair but I don't believe I got the agreed-upon quantities of soil and mulch.    The other planted area (where groundcover was installed)  will have to be grubbed out and completely replanted.  The starts (perhaps 200) were not planted so much as just set down on top of the soil.  (And for this area also, Aposhian apparently added a lot less soil than needed and planned for, why I don't know.....the calculations for new soil to be added were all theirs.)

 I didn't realize this had been done (because of the mulch) and complained later.   These perennials slowly failed in 2011 and have all just about died off.  When I move the mulch aside, I find very little soft soil, as if hardly any had been added.  In another area planted at the same time with the same groundcover and with sufficient new soil, this year's growth is excellent.

I had quite a few questions for the Aposhian foreman throughout the day and he seemed concerned that I didn't have the greatest confidence in him and his crew.  He made a comment to the effect that he wasn't quite sure why he'd been sent out on this particular job, saying "I usually only work with sprinkler systems." 

I chose this firm because of their great Angie's List file, but it didn't work out for me. 

They came out and they were really good.  I liked them a lot.  I spent more like $250 on their services because I had them do extra things.  I don’t remember but my husband does.  They were really good.  They said they were going to come by one day but they missed it by a few days.  I would possibly use them again in the future.

I actually really did like the workers. They worked really hard. There was a little bit of miscommunication between us and the management, not the workers other than that the most part was very good work. I think they could improve more on the communication part of it like getting back to people quicker and understanding exactly what they wanted because there is still part of our landscape that we thought they were going to do but they didn’t. I really have no idea what prices would be charged for the work, so I would grade them ‘B’ for price. I think I would use them again.

It was a good experience.  They are very thorough and that was the thing that I was impressed most about.  They were the only ones who came out to the site and walked through it.  The other quotes that I got were based on the plan and footage that I explained to them.  Aposhian came personally to walk the property over to make sure he understood exactly what I was looking for.  He came two weeks after the bid and did the job.  Just after he finished up and I started cleaning it started to snow. It cost me $5300.  I had to place two phone calls just to get some information on winterizing.  They did not come to winterize it but I had some questions.  I never got a phone call back and that was the only dark mark on the whole experience. They were a little unresponsive with follow up. During the actual process they were excellent.  They were generally responsive it was just the last part.  They are a very reputable company and they get a lot of business so they are very busy. I was planning to give it a couple of days before they called back but I never got a call back at all and that was the only dark mark.  When I do the backyard in the spring I will contact them again. 

Are they a good company?  Yes.  Are they excellent?  No.  

First, I had them reinstall and repair a sprinkler line.  The one they did works fine, however, they didn't notice that 1) part of the line went under the sidewalk to the park strip.  So I thought that line would be functioning as one, it does not, and the grass in the parking strip died over the summer due to the lack of water. It's not worth it to have them come back and reattach it, and even if I wanted to, I know they don't want to do it and I'd be their last priority.  2) They didn't make sure the sprinklers worked after they fixed the line.  When it didn't, I knew that it would just be easier to call a sprinkler company to come look at it instead of making the complaint to Aposhian and getting wait listed.  When I did call another sprinkler company, the new company found the easy fix (a wiring issue) and repaired it that day.  Had Aposhian made sure the line worked before they left, I'm sure we would have noticed it at the time and not later.  It just wasn't worth it to call them back and ask them to look at it.  

Second, I had them create a rock retaining wall for a basement stairway.  They did an excellent job with the rock retaining wall.  The clean up was not great, and when one of the beds they were supposed to fix was not finished, I did have to ask them to come back and finish it.  I think there was some miscommunication between management and crew over what was expected.  It took at least a week to get them to come back.  One of the trees planted was dead, it took them a month to come back and replace it.

Overall, the work was alright.  The experience was not great.  It could have been a lot worse, although I feel like they probably think I'm just too picky a customer and sort of an annoyance.  I would not use them again although I wouldn't say don't use them under any circumstances.  They clearly are a good company, just not a GREAT one.

First I'd like to explain my punctuality rating of this company.  I gave them a D NOT because they were late to do the work when they said they would come. In general, they came when they said they would come. The D resulted in months of waiting for the actual work to begin.  We met with them in May, got a bid from them in July, waited two months and finally got the work completed in late September.  In addition, during the months we were waiting for the work to begin, they were very hard to contact. Phone messages would go unanswered. Emails would be ignored. When we did make contact, I was given several start dates that had to be pushed back by weeks.  I understand that in this business things come up and start dates get delayed, but would have appreciated a more accurate estimate of when the work might actually begin.

HOWEVER, if you are willing to stick with them through this (we were willing because we liked the sod they have developed and liked their reviews on Angies List, AND understood that they were very busy this past summer), they do fantastic work.  The team, overseen by Blake and Jorge, were prompt, courteous, friendly. At the end of every day they cleaned up, not just at the end of the project.  IT took them 3 days to complete the whole project (as described above).  I provided homemade lemonade to the team as they worked with plastic cups and they did not leave one plastic cup lying around when they were finished.  I really appreciated that attention to detail and the amount of pride they showed in their work.  Blake has been very responsive even after the project was finished to come back and correct little details and answer my questions about caring for new sod.  I would definitely hire them again, but with the understanding that the work may not start for several months.

They did a superb job and we are very pleased with it. We also hired them to do the yard maintenance work as well and they have done okay so far but they are not hugely responsive and it is very obvious that they put their focus on the big contracts, which they do very well. We probably won't use them as for maintenance, including lawn fertilization, when this contract expires.

Overall my experience with Aposhian was good. There were a 2-3 things that prevented it from being excellent.

Things that weren't great:

1. Scheduling was frustrating.

When I first called in, probably early May or late April, I was told the earliest appointment was in early July. I was given a specific week and told that final details on days and times would come a few days beforehand. This by itself was frustrating but understandable, they were busy. I was not contacted before the week scheduled for me, however, and when I called on Tuesday was told they would be in touch with me shortly. When I called back on Friday I was told "we were probably 2-3 weeks out". This was the first that I had heard there would be a delay from the originally scheduled week.

I waited a couple of days, looked at options, and eventually called back and told them I would have to go with another company if we didn't schedule something soon. I was then given a new appointment the following week. The team arrived that Thursday as planned.

2. Installation had a couple of flaws.

The weekend after the installation, I started programming my timer and realized the drip system wasn't turning on. I played around with the system and did some troubleshooting and eventually figured out that the wrong wire had been plugged into zone 3 on the timing box.

The next day I realized two of the sprinkler heads were gushing water instead of spraying it. Either the heads had been damaged or they were installed correctly. I called Aposhian on Monday and the team arrived later that day without me having to be there and corrected the issue.

So, in their defense, there were a couple of issues but they were very fast in correcting them. If I hadn't fixed the wiring issue I'm sure they would have done the same, but I would have had to be home for them to do so.

3. Actual layout was done with little discussion.

Before I went down this path, I spent a lot of time thinking about where the lines would be drawn and where I would need sprinkler heads. As it turned out, that was not necessary. The team basically took where I wanted to water and built a plan out of it, which was probably much better than what I could have come up with. The only problem was where I had planed 2 sprinkler heads, there were 10 installed. They were all lower range, and covered the area appropriately, but it diminished my landscaping options. It would have been nice if there was a conversation about specifically what they were going to do.

Things that were great:

1. Everything else.

They are clearly professionals who got the job done on budget and on time. I plan on using them again when I need more sprinkler work done.

They were good and their gardener was excellent.  They took a long time to get back to us.  We called and asked them to get back to us.  They were super busy and they didn’t call us back for a couple of weeks.  But once we got everything together, they were excellent.  The price was pretty good and their quality was fantastic.  They kept their appointment once they got back to us.  They consulted with us and they knew what they were doing.

Blake and the crew were really good and very punctual and polite.  
They worked hard and were eager to please.

I have a contract with them.  Their price is reasonable.  They are pretty straightforward with me.  They seem to work really hard.  They don’t waste any time.  The workers are very nice.  I would continue to use them in the future.   

It was a good overall experience.

unknown

We could not have been more pleased with the planning, execution, and final results of this project. In the initial phases, Matt Aposhian and Blake Wilson met with us many times to help us figure out what we really wanted out of the project and to plan it out in detail. They were very responsive to our desires but at the same time gave excellent advice about what was and was not feasible/advisable on a lot of this kind. Matt produced a very detailed proposal and bid, with each item priced out separately, and worked with us to match the price to our budget and make sure that we were satisfied with the proposal. For the work that was done, the bid was very reasonable in comparison with what we know others have been charged. As the project was executed, communication was excellent, and our desires for some modifications as the project went along were accommodated without problems. The rock work was pure artistry, and Matt's brother, who did the rock work, took long hours to make sure that it came out looking amazingly good - frequently experimenting with one rock and another until he found exactly the right combination of rocks. The rebuilding of the rock walls at the front and the back of the property, incorporating the water feature and he steps, was simply masterful. At the appropriate time, Meeja Aposhian produced a proposal for the trees, shrubs, and plants and worked with us to make sure that we got exactly what we wanted - she even let us do some of the shopping and went shopping with us to make sure that things worked out the way we wanted. The lawn and the planters look fabulous. Great care was taken in the laying out of the sod and the trees and shrubs. The entire landscape now looks professionally designed and is very pleasing to the eye from every vantage point. Every part of the project was executed excellently with no short cuts and with full consultation. An enormous effort was made to avoid annoyance amd disruption to the neighbors, and, at the conclusion of the project, the entire neighborhood around the house was cleaned up, even to the extent of pressure washing the footpath and the road all round the property. Even with modifications, the project came out exactly on budget, and Matt made a very honest accounting to us. It is also evident that the company is with us for the long haul. They are carefully watching the drainage as the bad weather sets in to make sure that water does not accumulate at the front of the house and are prepared to make some modifications as needed. They are also going to adjust and add to the landscape lighting and are monitoring the lawn and the hillside wild grasses. It has been a real pleasure to work with such honest people who obviously take enormous pride in their work. This project has been an amazingly good experience for us.

They were responsive and their prices were competitive. Overall they did a good job.