Mill Creek Landscaping

Yes, I would use them again.

Good communication and the finished results were great. Their price beat the other estimate by about 40 percent for same work and stone.

I called Mill Creek about resetting some old, uneven brick sidewalks and rebuilding the fence around my HVAC equipment. There was a misunderstanding about the time of my estimate appointment but that was worked out very promptly to my satisfaction. I received thorough, written estimates from Doug within a reasonable time. Work started within about a week after I paid my deposit, though I was not notified that work would start until that very morning. The workers were all nice hardworking folks.  They worked all day everyday, cleaned up at the end of each day, and left me with walks and a fence I am very pleased with. The communication hiccups were very minor in the context of their high-quality, on-time and on-budget work and the quality of the people I interacted with. I will very happily go back to Mill Creek for additional projects. 

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On time, on budget, excellent work and Doug was very pleasant to deal with.

We are very cost conscious and designer and project manager Doug Eskridge has worked with us creatively and patiently to make this all work.  Doug is well educated in landscape design and clearly cares about providing a result to be proud of.  We've been here 30 years are beginning work now with Doug to update our small front yard.  They know what to plant where and stand by their work. 

Proposed plans were delivered as scheduled - modifications and adjustments to plan and cost were made quickly.  Job started on schedule and pretty much stayed on schedule.  This was important since we had extensive travel plans for the summer and also had to coordinate with another contractor scheduled to repave and modify the driveway.  Doug Estridge, the designer and project manager had the crews scheduled very efficiently to take care of each planned phase to get the job done right and on time.  The stone mason who did the concrete walkway overlaid with flagstone was fantastic - an artist with concrete and a stone saw.  While Doug was clearly a professional as was the stone mason and crew chiefs- some of the crew were less so - such that the placement and setting of some plants could have been better.

Excellent service and communication, but only speak with Doug.

Doug provided the estimate for our job. He took his time to understand our goals and was extremely knowledgable about the plants/trees in our yard. 
The crew arrived to complete the job in a timely manner. They were extremely professional and hardworking. They even pushed working through rain just to get the job complete. They left no trace of ivy or concrete - which was our goal! 
We were extremely pleased with the job!

We were pleased with the design and installation. However, we lost approximately 10-15 plants in the first 6 months after planting for unknown reasons. This seemed like a lot of plants to lose in such a short period of time. We were advised by Doug that this was pretty normal. However, working with other providers in the past, we had never had any loss let alone such a high number. In any case, a year later we are still trying to get the replacement plants that were due under the warranty. However, after three discussions in the course of the six weeks, we have been unable to get clarity on when we can expect to have the other plants replaced. The warranty also provides that the customer must pay for labor and materials on replacements. Perhaps the business model is to use substandard materials and get paid twice? Not sure, but sure won't be recommending or using this company again. Caveat Emptor.

Did not use. See above.

The estimator, Doug, is great -- personable and helpful.   It took us a while to select a contractor for this job and once we put our deposit in, I ended up calling to find out when we would be scheduled.  That is really the only weak point for these folks -- communication about when they're coming.  I work from home so it's okay if contractors show up unannounced, but that might not work for everyone.  On the bright side, the crews and their supervisor were also good and you can barely tell where they did the digging now.  The drainage worked perfectly, even during the ridiculous rain we had in August. 

I hired J Byron the beginning of May for yard cleanup -- I sent in my deposit and was put on their schedule.  They did not show up when they said they would -- and did not call.  I waited a couple of days and finally called to find out when they would show.  The person I spoke w/ on the phone advised they would call me back.  No call back - so I finally called back angry with the service and ready to get a refund.  The person that answered the phone didn't remember me -- even though I had just called an hour earlier -- that really angered me.  They put on a supervisor who was very responsive.  She got in touch w/ the person that did the quote.  I received a call back and they were loading up a truck and coming out the same day -- they apologized for the mix up.   I do appreciate the fact that they showed up and did the work the same day that I complained -- I figured they would put me off for another few weeks.  The crew worked fast.  However -- they really need to improve the communication -- from the person answering the phone to somebody staying in touch if your job is delayed.   All in all -- their price was very good and the work they did is acceptable.   I would hire them again.  However - the next time I hire them - I'll make sure to stay on top of them to ensure the work is done when expected.  

We haven?t used them as yet, but we will pretty once the weather stabilizes. Our interaction with them was good. They arrived on time, were well priced and it was a very pleasant person that came out. We decided to use them because of their price.

We used them this past summer and the summer before. The work went very well and we were pleased with them. They are good people and they provide good value. They are easy to work with and it is easy to work changes throughout the process. We would use them again in the future.

Overall our experience with J. Byron was great. Our sales consultant Doug came out to the house and had an indepth conversation with us regarding our landscape plans, in particular our first step of installing sod. We had recently moved into the house where the lot had been left to grow naturally for many years with trees impedeing on the foundation and deck and others diseased and dying. We had already had many trees and underbrush removed in anticipation of installing a lawn but we wanted to save and highlight some of the remaining trees, shrubs, and flowers. Doug spent time with us pointing out where on the lot sod would grow and have difficulty due to lighting and other vegitation. He also spent a long time (over an hour) discussing the plants and trees we had inherited and provided a lot of great pointers and tips on caring for them. We also discussed our ideas on replacing retaining walls and building a patio and additional parking. We appreciated his willingness to provide an experienced opinion on the subjects even though we weren't planning on having any of the additional work done at that time. Those conversations helped us to think forward in our landscape plan to make sure we weren't doing anything unnecessary or detrimental with the sod job. We had several other companies provide quotes as well and had made up our mind based on Doug's visit and the referrences provided that we would use J. Byron even if their quote wasn't the lowest we received. Needless to say, we were delighted when J. Byron's quote came in substantially below the other competitors (by several thousand dollars). After we signed the contract and scheduled work to begin, J. Byron helped us find a lawn irrigation company and worked as a general contractor to coordinate their work as well as their own. They also helped to grade out an additional parking space and patio area at no charge while they were grading the yard. Their team showed up on the day they were scheduled and completed the work in the forecast period of time...I guess it's kind of sad that I get excited when a contractor shows up when they say they will. They've come back several times since the sod install and replaced any sections having difficulty. Given that we had the work done in July in DC we new some of the sod would die but we appreciate that they proactively replaced the sections without us having to haggle over it. Doug has also stopped by the house periodically to walk the yard and provide suggestions on care based on conditions. He also still talks with my wife about the flowers, trees, shrubs, and even how to clean and prepare the black walnuts falling from our tree. All in all, we were extremely happy with the work J. Byron performed and will undoubtedly use them for future landscaping jobs. As an aside, they also run a nursery and we've switched allegiances from Merrifield Garden Center to J. Byron for our plant/shrub needs based on the work they've done for us.

Designer was very personable, took time to understand my desires and measure size and grade of yard. Offered creative design and competitive quote with immediate discounts. Provided professional drawings meeting requirements of home owner's association design review board and offered assistance with approval if needed. Design was approved immediately. Work was done within 2 days, earlier than estimate. When removal of existing material caused patio door to become not level, designer offered structurally sound solution that is also aesthetically appealling and ties into patio stone. Came back out 7 months later to address some settling of stones. Grading seems perfect since no water settles on patio. Weed barrier is very effective.

That was the first time I?ve used them. I didn?t feel like they were as prompt as they could have been but that may be because it is a busy time of year or because I had a small job. They did a fine job but I probably won?t use them again. They would miss something on the list of things to do and I?d have to call them back and ask when they were going to come and do it. They were supposed to come put some more dirt in because it washed away but they never came back for that. I think they are just too busy and overscheduled but I know a lot of people use them and like them. I thought the price was pretty reasonable.

Great jo, wouldn't hestitate to use them again.

Overall it went well with one disappointment. They came on time, cleared out the weeds in the back, and put everything where they said they would. They cleaned up nicely and everyone what very nice and professional. My one gripe was that in the back when they reshaped the garden there was a large section that had been garden(and was weeds when they did the work.) Other sections of the lawn were largely given over to weeds as well and I wanted to replace all the weeds with grass. I guess because the weeds were established, they all grew back and so I am having to redo the lawn on my own this year to irradicate the weeds (starting with killing the weeds) and then reseeding. Grass seed is not guaranteed in the one year guarantee that comes with the work. I imagine that they would know that established weeds would come back ,being in the lawn business. If they had explained it to me, I would have been willing to pay to get the weeds out and then do the lawn, but it was late in the season so maybe they just wanted to get the job done. I love the spacial changes, it looks great--but there is a lot for me to do myself this year.

I was very happy with the design and workmanship of the landscaping job. It actually was larger than what I though it would be and Doug, the landscape architect, was very responsive and great to work with. A couple small issues I had with the job were the grass around the edges of the patio, and the boulders for my drainage pit. Between the edge of the patio and the lawn was a large dirt area that was spread with topsoil and grass seed. The seed did not take well in several places and I ended up having sod installed for an extra charge. Also, I was a little disappointed with the boulder they picked for my drainage pit and when I tried to swap it out for a larger one, there was not enough room between my patio and my trees to bring in the forklift needed for the larger boulder. So I settled for the smaller boulder that could be carted in. I kind of wish I had picked the boulder myself before the job started so they could have brought in a larger one. But these are small issues and overall I am very happy with the job and would use them again.

The job went very well. I'm always a bit nervous about hiring someone I haven't worked with before, but I was very pleased with the outcome. I worked with Doug Eskridge, who spent a lot of time discussing various options and giving advice. Doug provided a very detailed quote, which came back very quickly, and seemed very reasonable so I didn't bother getting additional quotes. The only minor glitch was that the crew showed up without coordinating a time -- apparently someone at their office forgot to call us ahead of time. No big deal. The crew was very professional and did a great job. I had requested a 2" caliper cherry tree, but I ended up getting a bigger 3" tree for the same price, because Doug said the 2" trees they had left in their nursery were not the best quality. They seem to take pride in their work, and seem very concerned about customer satisfaction. Doug called a couple days after the work was completed to make sure everything was OK. I will most likely be calling J Bryon again in the spring, once I figure out my next project. I would not hesitate to recommend them to others.

Doug Eskridge is a the person I worked with at J Byron. They were very prompt, and had excellent pricing. I had several estimates from other companies and they were by far the lowest and also the quickest to identify the problem. It turned out to more of a minor problem and we were able to only spend $600 when some contractors wanted to charges as much as $3,000. They did a great job on the work and the entire experience was outstanding!!!! I would definitely recommend to others.

They were very professional and they weren't pushy. They were very precise with their architectural plans, they clean up well and they were very pleasant to deal with.