Our property is on a Southern slope of about 45 degrees with the soil consisting mainly of a mixture of sand, gravel and round stones, with areas of impermeable blue clay, which is both challenging to plan and work on. The property had been partially landscaped and then neglected for approximately 10 years before we bought it. A wide area beside the house and the space behind the house were wild and there was no access to the rear of the house except by narrow stairs.
My wife and I have landscaped our other 4 homes, including 2 much larger sites from scratch and gardening has been our prevailing pastime for over 50 years, so we have some knowledge of plants and materials and the skills of people that we have engaged to help us. Michael has easily been the most knowledgeable, capable and experienced, both in design and performance.
For more than 15 years he has helped us to design the garden, to make and maintain the plantings and constructed the hard landscaping of paths, walls, fences, pergolas and trellises, all entirely to the satisfaction of my wife and myself. His knowledge of soils, plant material of all kinds and use of the different materials used in hard landscaping is immense. We are more than satisfied with his work and our pleasure in the garden increases each year as his plantings mature.
In design, Michael has taken careful account of the ideas of my wife and myself, which are not always identical, and made additional and practical comments. He has been patient and tactful and more than willing to adopt the final decisions.
In addition to our garden, Michael has also made substantial repairs and improvements to our house, including a 3 level tower for a domestic elevator through a garage roof to the approval of a Professional Engineer and the elevator company, the replacement of a faultily constructed deck and the conversion of an indoor swimming pool room into a guest suite. Again, all this work has been done to our complete satisfaction.
Over the years we have come to know Michael well and we have complete trust in his honesty and integrity, giving him access to our home whilst we are away and use of accounts with lumber yards and the like.
With the benefit of his advice in choice of plant and hard landscaping materials, and with careful maintenance in pruning and feeding, our garden has become a great success and our house much improved.
