Personal Gardens Ltd

I hired Personal Gardens to build me a front and back deck. They did some good work for my neighbors, and their previous quotes were mid-range. So we opted to hire them due to good precedent.. At the time of quoting, we agreed to:
- construction drawings so my none-handy wife can understand
- construction style of similar to my neighbors' decks

We opted not to penny pinch this project and pay to our expectations (of a job well done with no shortcuts, and good clarity).. What we got was a haphazard bunch of The-Morning-Of project decisions, and random deviations that was not anywhere close to what we had discussed in the quote.. It was not fun being put on the spot with project decisions that had already been agreed to with the manager, yet the trades were oblivious to..

By the time the project was mostly done, we were less than satisfied, but didn't feel so dissatisfied we'd gut the project and get ugly fighting.. When we voiced our feedback; wanting more VISIBILITY and control of the final portions of the project (and exercised our final holdback), WE WERE THREATENED WITH LEGAL ACTION.. We got the manager to cool down by saying we intend to pay the majority but are dissatisfied to date, and will hold back the final portion until the final portion is done to our satisfaction..

All in all, I would say these guys do sound work, but are not great listeners or documenters.. What's promised in quoting is all verbal, very minimal detail in the quote, and you must have your vision IN WRITING and IN DRAWING before you make your first payment to them.. Once the job starts, the project becomes an exercise in artistry and how many ways the wheel can be reinvented..

SOUND WORK- BUT HOME OWNERS NEED _LOTS_ of DOCUMENTATION TO COVER YOUR BEHIND.. They will be as verbal and as vague as they want to be.. I wasn't expecting this kind of cheap trades behavior from someone who quoted on the upper-mid range and I didn't penny pinch them..

After my new puppy tore up my luscious but overgrown back yard, I hired Mike from Personal Gardens to help. Not only did I want an extra-ordinary design, but I needed one that might discourage my puppy from ruining the new garden too.

I would have been happy to just let Mike use his own aesthetic sense and create what he thought would be beautiful, but instead he continually asked questions about my preferences. In the end, he transformed my back yard into a truly personal garden. Now, when we go into the garden, it feels like we’ve taken a little vacation and are in a totally gorgeous and fascinating environment. We just love it.

The photos I’m including were taken when the plants were new and not yet in full glory, but they will give you an idea of how unique my personal garden is.

About Mike: He is a true artist. He can take a pile of rocks, or even just two large rocks, and in only a few minutes find a way to configure them so that they are like an intriguing sculpture. He took a piece of large pottery I already had and placed it perfectly turning it into a birdbath. He is also an excellent businessman — he promptly returns calls and emails, arrives on time, meets deadlines, makes jokes, and sticks to the budget.

And let’s not forget about the backyard neighbors! Mike made a point of contacting each of my neighbors letting them know what our plan was and getting permission to go ahead if it might affect them in any way. Neighbors on both sides were lovely and happily agreed to the changes including a new fence on one side and a repair to the fence on the other side. But, the neighbors behind me were a nightmare. Mike, however, remained patient throughout the ordeal politely dealing with them through multiple frustrating meetings, long emails filled with false and rude accusations, and unreasonable requests. Thankfully, despite them, in the end we were able to build the garden exactly as we had planned.

Over the past four years, I have renovated my entire house from the basement to the third floor. Like many renovations, much of it was a horror show including several instances of bad workmanship causing structural damage to my house, two examples of being ripped off for thousands of dollars, and at least two specialists who were a misery to deal with (one literally had tantrums and the other had an alcohol problem.) Although the work was eventually accomplished, when I look at it now, the bad memories often surface. Personal Gardens, however, has left me feeling thrilled every time I look at my gorgeous new deck, fences, and garden; not only do I appreciate it’s unique beauty, but I have wonderful memories of the whole process because Mike and his crew were all lovely people who knew exactly how to do their jobs, were a pleasure to have around, and all were happy to play with my crazy puppy. Personal Gardens is a class act and I highly recommend them.

I could not find a company to do the stone walkways we needed to accommodate my mom's wheel-chair... all contractors either said no or tried to up-sell me with interlock. Mike the owner of Personal Gdns. and his foreman Ovid (along with the rest of his crew) were patient with my elderly mom's requests and delivered the project within the time-frame and budget they promised. They showed care to ensure the job was well done and left the property looking beautiful.