Lessons from an Ottawa Landscaper

To select the right landscaping company it is best to talk to friends and neighbors in your area, i.e. the Ottawa area. If they would recommend the landscaping company to you, tell you the landscaping company did a good job, they were always on time and reasonably priced, this will be your best guarantee. In the future, if the landscaping company did a good job for you, tell your friends and neighbours about it. This will help keep a good landscaping company in business and keep the bad ones at bay.

If you don't know anyone who can refer a good landscaping company to you, complete an internet search. In Ottawa, search for "landscaping Ottawa", "Ottawa landscaping", "landscaping companies Ottawa", "landscaping contractors Ottawa". Check out a few companies that show up on the first two pages in the search results on Google.

You may get several recommendations for good landscaping companies. If this is too many, select two landscaping companies with the best recommendations. If they offer free estimates in the Ottawa area - that is a plus.

When talking to a landscape company, check to see if they arrive on time. When meeting with the landscaping company, note if they dress professionally, take notes while you are talking, listen attentively, have a business card, offer you free landscaping tips, and show flexibility on schedule and price. You  want to look for the landscaper who will return your calls, discuss the estimate in details, follows up with you to touch base if you needed a few days to think about the estimate.

If a landscaper does not show up to the estimate and never calls back to let you know there was a problem, go to a different company. Keep in mind a landscaper may have a small business and has to juggle family and children too, therefore, in some cases not showing up for the estimate may be acceptable. If they call you shortly to explain they had a family emergency or their child was sick, I would give them another chance.

Use a landscaping company that has a contract for the work that is being done, this will protect both parties from any misunderstandings on the landscaping work.