In 2006 I had my garden landscaped by Pacific Landscaping in Seattle. What a painful process. This company was so non-responsive that I would highly recommend not using them. Gordon of Pacific Landscaping and I started talking in December. Everytime I wondered what was happening it was me who had to initiate the phone call. Finally the project started but again it stalled several times. One time Gordon went on vacation so left Mike in charge. He didn't give Mike a set of plans so I had to lend Mike my plans (which if I hadn't used their service would have cost me $250). These plans were never returned and when I requested another copy I did not get one.
Another insult was that they planted all the trees and some of the bushes on the hottest day in July. Needless to say they didn't make it. It took until October to finally get them replanted. Of course, that took more than one phone call. The trees mostly survived but when the trees were planted I wondered as it was October and the leaves had started to change color. By spring I knew one of the trees was half dead.
One of the reasons that the half dead tree was not replaced and the plans were not returned was the invoice. We had a quote of about $7,000. The invoice arrived and it was for $8600. The additional $1,600 was for wood chips under the play structure! A square about 15' by 10'.
From this horrible experience I have decided to do my own gardening. I have a side yard that is only hardscaped. There are large rocks arranged as steps down a steep path. My goal is to plant this side yard with NW plants that do well in shady, well drained, stony soil. Since I am just starting out I thought I would keep this blog with pictures of before and after; links of useful sites and comments of things that I have learned.
Another insult was that they planted all the trees and some of the bushes on the hottest day in July. Needless to say they didn't make it. It took until October to finally get them replanted. Of course, that took more than one phone call. The trees mostly survived but when the trees were planted I wondered as it was October and the leaves had started to change color. By spring I knew one of the trees was half dead.
One of the reasons that the half dead tree was not replaced and the plans were not returned was the invoice. We had a quote of about $7,000. The invoice arrived and it was for $8600. The additional $1,600 was for wood chips under the play structure! A square about 15' by 10'.
From this horrible experience I have decided to do my own gardening. I have a side yard that is only hardscaped. There are large rocks arranged as steps down a steep path. My goal is to plant this side yard with NW plants that do well in shady, well drained, stony soil. Since I am just starting out I thought I would keep this blog with pictures of before and after; links of useful sites and comments of things that I have learned.
