Stevenson’s Landscaping

It is so difficult to find a landscape service that works independently, tending to all the needs of a garden. I live in the Santa Cruz mountains, so we have a rather large area, but most of is covered by tan bark, rock and natural grass which just gets mowed and nothing else. There are a few cultivated areas, which comprise a smaller space than a normal city lot.
I hired Stevensons Landscaping about 9 months ago. His team did some plantings for me in one small area, plus lighting and irrigation. I told him that I was looking for a service that would come regularly to do more than just mow and blow. I needed someone who would fertilize, prune, spray, tend the irrigation and look at each area of the garden to make sure the plants were healthy. David claimed that would happen. We agreed upon $ 100 per visit and two gardeners were going to come for at least 90 minutes.
Through the summer we were gone a lot so I never saw what the workers were doing. One day however I noticed they were packing up after 60 minutes and asked why they weren’t staying 90. «because David said we shouldn’t work here more than 60». I phoned David who said he had to charge for travel time, so that was where the 30 minutes went. I said that was unacceptable and he agreed not to include travel time. Fast forward a few months after not monitoring the work and they left after 50 minutes. I also had a few frustrating discussions with Francisco, who acted vague and didn’t answer any of my questions about the irrigation. I asked him to check the settings, but he never made any effort to do so.
So I was paying more than $ 50 per hour each to two mow and blow guys who had to be asked several times to do anything else than that. Yes, they were neat and good at the mow and blow, but I had to let them go. Too expensive and not thorough enough, due to inadequate time spent.

Stevenson’s Landscaping has been doing maintenance on my yard for over 7 years now every other week. I get compliments on my yard often and I refer people who ask who my provider is, it now seems they’re caring for most of my block! I’ve never had a billing issue, I’ve found the service to be reliable, on-​schedule & thorough. Give them a call & kick back and relax next weekend!

These guys have done multiple jobs for me. They have done maintenance, too. They’re OK if it’s just maintenance. You could hire a school kid for less though.
Here’s the problem:
His work on contracting jobs was always B-​, but he was cheap. You could have him do the pieces that only needed B– quality and then make the rest perfect. He’s great at lavender, geraniums, and crape myrtle.
If you just need a few plants replaced or a «spruce up,» then maybe he’s OK
No on to the problem: Makes mistakes and then wants to charge to fix them. Uses lower grade materials than promised (and then leaves you to deal with redoing the job). Workmanship on the irrigation and lighting is just bad. (Had to be re done)
Wait that’s «problems»; nice guy, but beware: those good feelings you have, they’re short-​lived.