Bluemel's Garden & Landscape Center

They were very prompt and did the work quickly. We had existing landscaping removed and new plants and hardscaping (edger pavers) put in. Overall, plants were healthy. We did end up having them replace one plant and one bush. We'll see if the bush survives the winter since it was replaced in late October. Oddly, we were not contacted when the replacement plants were installed. I suspected that the plants had been replaced, but a neighbor was the one who confirmed that she had seen someone replace the plants. I planted bulbs for next spring and found the planting beds to be dense and I encountered leftover roots. I was a little disappointed that the beds had not been rototilled and soil amendments had not been added before the new plants were installed. To be fair, we did not specify that during the consultation. I would have thought rototilling was a given to ensure that old roots would not be an issue. Soil amendments should have been suggested during the consultation. Our fault for not raising that issue, though. Overall, I was happy with the results and our contact person was easy to reach and was responsive. I'm looking forward to next season when I can see the shrubs and other plants grow and fill in! We have had many compliments!

All work was done in a timely manner. The staff was great and answered all my questions and concerns. They did a great job and cleaned up everything. Would highly recommend them.

The fee is $1300 for grass cutting and fall cleanup. Their quality, their employees and their responsiveness are great. They really bend over backwards to complete a good project.

The finished lot looked good, but there were still a few low spots where the old dirt had been worn down, so rain still collected in those spots. When I called about it, they came back the very next day and fixed the problem very well. They were eager to make the job right. My only problem was that when I First had the company estimate the job, I said I would be paying by credit card. When I got the final bill and said I would pay with my card, they added an extra $26 onto the original dollar estimate amount. In other words, they quoted a price, I said go ahead, and after everything was done, they added $26 more onto the invoice. I do still recommend this company, but be sure up front how much it will cost.

They listened to what I wanted & needed and then delivered it. The crew was super - very professional and courteous.

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Ashley Blumel was the project manager on our project. We had communication problems from the start as she wrote very little down when she visited so it took multiple emails and phone calls to get the plans nailed down in July of 2014. In Sept of 2014 they were finally able to get some of the work done and we agreed to finish next spring when more plants were available. Within a few weeks I could see the black landscape tarp in many places in my yard because they did such a poor job and put too thin a layer of mulch so they needed to come back. They had also damaged one of my downspout and did not report it to me. The owner visited after I insisted to review the damage and the poor quality. A plan for next spring was agreed upon along with the downspout being fixed by a third party that they arranged and paid for. So I was feeling things could be good. Spring of 2015 I was chasing them to come finish the job, which they finally "did", but did not make it easy and quality was lacking again. I paid them just to be done with them. Spring of 2016 I paid another company $1400 to come out and fix the poor workmanship including ripping out the weed barrier in one garden all together because it was such a mess. Six plants did not come back this year so I emailed Ashley to see if there is something they would do(I expected a no but thought I would ask). Part of the email response follows and in my opinion is snotty, but when you are related to the owner you have job security I guess.... Quote: "If you were asking for them to replaced as part of the previous job, feel free to review our warranty policies at [*** Link removed ***] " No "I'm sorry but per our policy we don't do that, please see [link]" thanks Matt

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We've had them for 13 years. They are excellent. They are the best. They may be a little expensive but they do the job. You get what you pay for.

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They are excellent! They all have uniforms and their trucks are marked so you know who is exactly on your property. They are very polite and professional and do a wonderful job! I've never had any complaints about them!

They were overall professional and did good work.

I would give them an F for price.

It looks very nice and I liked it. They did a good job with what they did.

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Workers said it was the worst driveway repair they have ever had to do.  Three feet on both sides of the driveway had to be leveled off and old fill, old sod, stones and chunks of cement hauled away. Topsoil and sod had to be installed.   Workers did most of  this by hand because they didn't want to create more damage with machinery.  I wish the driveway company had been so concerned about damage.  They really worked for their pay that day!  Lawn looks great.  Looks like it did before the devastation.  Employees from Ashley who did the estimate to the two men that did all the physical work were excellent.
I also buy many of my flowers from them.  I like dealing with local companies.  At Bluemel's they are friendly and appreciate your business.

He showed up early in the morning, with his lead, they walked the property, inspected and then started the work.  in no time they had the old fence down, then installed the evergreens to border out my property.  after all was said and done they left no mess, total clean up, wonderful crew.

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The crew could not speak english.  Only the head guy could speak english.  Foreman showed up once a day to check on crew.  The retaining wall looks great. Thats about all that I was happy with.  the gravel pad wasn't graded properly(pooling water).  The Garden bed they created was not done done well and the half of the 30 perrennials they installed started dying immediately after installation.  I paid for gallon size plants and they said they couldn't obtain them and gave me quart size plants and offered no reimbursement.  Accused me of watering too little then to much.. They basically just wanted to blame the plant health on me and in my opinion the plants were not installed properly. no decent size hole and no backfill with decent soil.  it appears they just made a tiny hole and dropped the plant in and pushed the existing clayey dirt against the plant along with mulch.  in the spring many of the plant root balls are above the garden bed.  they did come back and replace half the plants that died but they installed some of the wrong plants and in the wrong locations from the existing plan and now it looks odd....
The foreman promised to make it right in the spring.  by springtime he no longer worked there and a new guy did a poor job of fixing the issues.  tried leaving more voicemails to discuss further and no returned calls.
avoid this company.

Update 8/18/2013:  Many of the flowers in the front garden that were installed by Blumel's started tipping and ripping out under the weigh of some blooms.  I finally pulled the mulch away from over 30 perennials in the front garden and discovered they were installed with holes no larger than the original root balls, the top 20-30% of the root ball was exposed above the soil level, and in most cases they just pushed mulch and clay around the plants.  I had to basically replant all of them properly by digging holes and amending with good garden soil.  Do not hire this company if you want a proper plant installation.  I had to spend a lot of time fixing what should have been done right to begin with.

We chose a higher grade stone, but ended up with many piles of 'stone dust' as if we got the bottom of the heap of crushed stones. (Which after time, started to grow weeds). Stones were scattered throughout the yard - spent countless hours going through picking up the rocks from them transporting across the yard. All of our window well coverings were shattered from the rocks being thrown on top of them.
Weed Barrier was NOT installed in the berms and they were not even cleaned as stated in our contract. Even the weed barrier was poorly installed around the home, large staples could be seen sticking out and large gaps were apparent.
The only bright spot (and it's not without complications) is the garden wall was installed properly and level. The issue was some areas were lacking a few bricks. After visiting Bluemel's, they said it was the end of the season and they "RAN OUT" of that style/color. We had to come back next year to pick up some replacements that did not even match the materials used (and we had to PAY for those, even with the admission that they ran out)
Top soil for grading was an improvement, but not perfect. Mulch was fine, but it's just mulch.
Did a poor job of trimming bush, did not replace/split hosta's. 
Did not add flagstone on patio.
The slab was not installed, I contacted Ken and they dropped a big slab of stone on the lawn. I still had to do the installation myself.
It was an awful experience for the amount of money we paid. We had a contract of the items that were to be completed and half of those were met. It was a pretty big disappointment. I feel it was a rushed job because it was so late in the season. I called countless times, leaving messages for anyone and everyone at Bluemel's. Not once was a call returned to address my complaints. I figure, they received my money so no need to do any sort of customer satisfaction. Even when I were to stop by, no manager was ever there to help.  I do not recommend large landscape jobs with them and never plan to shop there again.

I make a pilgrimage to Milaeger's in Racine every year, and I was looking for a similar experience without the driving.  No one has inventory like Milaeger's, but Bluemel's had a great selection of annuals, perennials, herbs and vegetables.  I was also impressed with the quality of their inventory.  The staff was accessible, knowledgeable and friendly.  I had an excellent experience.

Wonderful.  I pointed out to the gentlemen where to place the birdbaths they stayed until I was happy with the placement of them.

Except for one miscue the workers have been here and done an excellent job both removing snow and salting to prevent ice.

the work went bad- they didnt resod they put down seed , the pavers turned white with evervesence and they came back 3 times to fix the situation, which still needs to be resolved this spring!