I wanted a lot done and I wanted it done my way. I'm semi-anal by nature, so when Kevin couldn't begin work when I originally wanted I shopped around. Admittedly I only had one other landscaper come out and give me an estimate of what I wanted (a fairly big job, so I felt I had every right to be picky), but I just didn't feel like he cared enough about the work and I was just another job, a completely different vibe than I got from Kevin, so I called him back and we were able to arrange another day for him to come out and for us to figure things out.
I mentioned I wanted a big job and was hoping he would be up to it, but also not bs me on what could and couldn't be done and then make a compromise in the 11th hour and upset me and the wife. We talked again about what I wanted and what I was hoping to keep my budget at. After drawing up some plans and an estimate I was eager to see if he could walk the walk as well as he talked the talk. We're talking a complete renovation of my yard and this living space here so I was a bit skeptical, just by nature.
He asked that when we were done to write an honest review for him on the site, because word of mouth is where a lot of his business comes from. He didn't ask me to fluff it for him, nor would I have. I rely on yelp and citysearch for a lot of my choices now (it's how I found Nature's Realm), so being fair was all I was interested in.
You've seen the 5 stars and I've given enough of the situation now, so let me start gushing about the work. The first we fell in love with was the fantastic patio cover for having a comfortable family area. This summer has been unbearable, so this was an absolute must for us. To have this patio cover is a game changer for our backyard, despite how minor it might seem. We also had outdoor lighting and a fountain installed as a centerpiece of our yard, just as the early design plans that he showed us indicated. Lights and a patio cover hardly seem like something to swoon over, but when you add them to your yard, you'll understand.
The entire design was just absolutely incredible. It met our needs for a large patio to entertain and a spa with easy to care for our beds and plants. I'm not young, but I'm hardly old, though I still wanted some guidance on how to work everything after it was installed, before I even began to ask Kevin was ready to show me how to work everything and made it simple to understand for me and my wife, so either of us can work it now. It was clear that Kevin had the technical knowledge for all the plants and planting to all types of construction throughout all phases of our project. I never felt like he was learning things on the fly, I really felt at ease once I started seeing everything start to come together, and that's such a rare thing for me to experience. He even came back out for a follow up, after completion, to make sure everything was as it should be and that we didn't have any further questions.
Should we decide to add more to our yard (I'm thinking outdoor firepit!) then Kevin is definitely the landscaper I'm going to call. He's truly transformed our yard for us, which we liked spending time in before, but now we just adore it. I recommend him to anyone who even mentions redoing their yard now and was actually eager to write this review.
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