L&G Landscaping

A Negative Experience We contracted with L&G Landscaping to do some work for us in our front yard this spring, specifically, to replace the two-car asphalt driveway with interlock, and to build a walled front garden with a built-in waterfall. Unfortunately, from my perspective, the work was not done to a level befitting the $40,000 price tag, both in terms of design and workmanship. With respect to design, I believe there to be two fundamental flaws that undermine the curb appeal of the work: 1. Having worked with other landscapers in the past, including for my rear yard in the current home, and my front and rear yard in my previous home (which included a rock waterfall), I believe that the foundation for the garden wall was not excavated to sufficient depth. The consequence of this is that the first row of cinderblock-type foundation bricks for the wall is clearly exposed to the street, which severely detracts from curb appeal. See the first photo. 2. The design of the driveway was to be linear. In my view, for a linear design to be successful, the lines, at a most basic level, must line up. Unfortunately, in our case, L&G used an accent colour brick that is not as wide as the main brick. As one can imagine, if compensating actions are not taken (such as trimming one of the rows of main brick), the effect, not surprisingly, is that in a linear design, the lines will not line up. Again, this detracts from curb appeal. See the second photo. In terms of workmanship, there are quite a few issues from my perspective, and I will not list them all. In fact, the very crooked juniper tree in the front garden is obvious to all who pass by (except, apparently, to L&G). Following are some of what I believe to be the key issues: 1. The driveway brick appears to me to be uniformly un-level. I see many areas of dips, and bricks raised in height above others, either in their entirety or on certain sides or corners. See the third photo. 2. The capping on the garden wall does not appear to me to have been installed with any degree of precision. The overhang appears inconsistent at places, and 45-degree cuts appear to me to be sloppy. See the fourth photo. 3. Border brick was installed on one side of the driveway, around a tree, and also near the waterfall. I would have thought that this border would be glued together (as was done in our backyard by a different contractor) so as to keep it straight, plum and level. I also would have expected each of the border bricks to abut the other, so that there are no gaps. Unfortunately, none of this appears to have been done. See the fifth photo. Overall, from my perspective, the most frustrating thing in working with L&G Landscaping is that, as the job progressed, I routinely brought issues such as these to the attention of L&G's owner, George. I heard him routinely assure me that I should not worry because all would come out well in the end. Even when the job was done and I again brought issues to George's attention, I observed a dismissive attitude from him and, what I perceive, as an unwillingness to acknowledge (and just as important, remedy), even the most obvious (to me) of deficiencies. At the end of the day, I would not hire L&G Landscaping again.