Michael's Landscaping-A Better Pruning

The work has been done as promised

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Very well!

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Michael responded promptly to my phone call, we discussed what I needed done for winter clean-up in my yard. He quoted me a $100/hr rate, that seemed high but good communication was very important to me to get the job done like I needed. [This rate was $60/hr for him and $40/hr for his helper.] The loquacious Michael and a helper showed up on time and spent 6 hours working in the yard. For $60 and hour I would have liked to see less talk and more action. I was not impressed with his expertise, he had no idea how to prune raspberries, and his fruit tree pruning was marginally acceptable. Several bushes did not get pruned and the job was only about 80% done. He butchered one of my deciduous azaleas [no blooms this year for sure :(] When I pointed this out to him he deducted $10 from my bill. Hector, Michael's helper was a hard and conscious worker, with out him they wouldn't have accomplished much at all. I'm sure Michael will take issue with this assessment, but I just have to call it like I see it.

We were very impressed! He started when he said he would and did most of the work despite extremely high temperatures in order to make sure that our yard was ready for our party. He was neat, organized and thorough, and I feel that we got very good value for our money. He was very knowledgeable and generous about sharing what he knows. We will definitely use his services in the future.

This was my third time asking Michael to do some sort of yard or landscaping work for us. We asked him to do some extensive weeding and put down bark all over our yard, and he was finished within two days. His price was reasonable and he sometimes even comes by to pull more weeds when he sees them popping up! He has a great work ethic.

Michael showed up prompty to estimate the work needed in my back yard. He removed approximately 200 sq ft of bamboo and a large Camilia bush that had been growing for the past 30 years . Everything went very well. He was extremely friendly, knowledgeable, and efficient. The hornets nest the size of a vollybally didn't even stop him from getting the job done. Noteable distinctions: 1. Very helpful with yard/garden planning 2. Efficient for being a one man show 3. Had other great references for varoius work I needed around my property 4. Very conscientious of his surroundings and the integrity of the property 5. Honest and hard working

Called and left a message for Mike. He was out to look at the job the same afternoon. Came the next morning and got the job done even though it was record breaking heat. Everything in the work area left clean and tidy. Plan on using again and would highly praise work, friendliness and abilty to get job done quckly at a reaonable cost.

Michael showed up on time to give me an estimate. He asked me what I wanted to accomplish with the pruning--height, depth, light and explained what he could do. The estimate included pruning, clean up and hauling away the trimmings. He started work within a couple of days and did a beautiful job! The hedge was tall, leggy and overgrown--it was a big undertaking and he obviously knew exactly what he was doing. The job took several days and my property was spotless when he finished. Michael was a pleasant guy to have around and he was very professional.

He got back to me quickly, came out to give an estimate, and could do the work the same day. He likes to talk a lot, but is efficient and cleans up.

Great to work with. I'm planning on having him back each year to continue to whip this old yard into shape! :-)

Called for estimate and he agreed to come on a Saturday (said he would call the day before to set up a time). No call, no show on Saturday (luckily I didn't put off any plans). He called the following week with a ho-hum apology and several excuses("I got up late..it snowed" ...blah blah....no reason to not have called, and it didn't actually snow till that night, not that that's relevant). All that should have been a deal-breaker, but I decided to give him another chance based on favorable reviews. He agreed to meet me at my house after I got off work in the evening, but instead showed up at my house in the early afternoon while I was at work, and left a written estimate based on what I'd told him over the phone. I would have liked to be there in person, which was the plan. When he called again, and I asked why he didn't wait till I was home, there were more lame excuses("my kid had ball practice" !!). In this economy, I'd think self-employed people would be more professional and strive to offer better service.

Michael did an excellent job mulching the beds. However, he spoke endlessly about his fervent religious views, which was inappropriate, unprofessional, and uncomfortable.

Michael called me promptly back when I emailed his service to help trim a laurel hedge. He gave me a quote over the phone and he literally was there the next day to do the work, in which he completed only halfway, because it started to snow, progressing into a snow storm which crippled the Seattle area for a week. He got half way through and I think if he could, he would have finished the job in the storm, had he been able to drive on the roads. Pretty amazing. He thought about how he would want the hedge if it was his own, sheltering my home from the driveway behind it and cleaned up everything that was taken off the hedge. He did an amazing job, was prompt even with a giant snowstorm in Seattle, and charged me a 1/4 of what the last person charged me to complete the same job.

Michael came over and gave me an estimate for the work, and then started immediately and finished the next day. He was very thorough in his work and friendly.

Because of less than friendly relations with our neighbor, I was very anxious that Michael not prune beyond our side. He would point our what were "good arbor" pruning techniques, but respected my wishes to stay within our property's air space. After pruning, he took the branches to the dump and cleaned the area with a leaf blower. Michael came out to give me an estimate, which I agreed to. He started the work in the late afternoon and came again the next morning to finish the work. I had no problem being flexible about his needing to divide up the work time.

It was a pleasure working with Michael. He works diligently and has a good eye for plants/bushes/trees. We really appreciated his wealth of knowledge about plants and landscaping.

This thing was a monster! Over the course of three days, Michael cut over twenty feet (see the pictures!)of the hedge down. He was very courteous to our neighbors and removed branches from their yard promptly. He even hacked back the blackberries that were taking over our garage, free of charge. He was VERY careful to protect both an established strawberry patch and vegetable garden from falling branches. Finally, when a financial snafu prevented us from paying the remaining balance until a week after he finished the project, Michael was very gracious. Hire Michael, you wont be disappointed!

Michael was very flexible to work into our schedule and very pleasant to deal with. We were prepping the house to put it on the market and did not want to spend a lot of money but have it looking good. He was able to come out at short notice and really help us when we got into a time crunch. The yard looks great the curb appeal has definitely gone up thanks to his work.

Michael worked very hard on our yard, spending two days. He is very knowledgeable about plants and horticulture. He took 4 truckloads of trimmings to the dump. Everything was trimmed with care, and an eye to its appearance. It looks like a different yard now, very neat, not like the jungle it was before. We want to have him come back in the Fall.

I called the company based on a door hanger and only called because a second company I had heard of was on the other side of this door knocker...thus giving them some kind of credibility. I had looked on Angie's List for someone who worked the Ballard area and really found no one I felt capable or would work the area. He said he'd come out and check out two of my rental duplexes. I met him at one of my places and gave me a solid bid on removing a tree and cleaning up the entire yard. The grass hadn't been mowed in many months and had grown nearly two feet in some areas. Michael gave me a broken down quote on a form, for mowing the yard, weed eating the edges and tall stuff, taking down a tree and taking everything to the dump. I used him for the weed eating, the mowing and yard cleanup. He arrived the next day and spent a solid amount of time weed eating the very tall grass and edges. He then left and waited until it dried out a bit and then came back and mowed. Excellent work!