Outdoor Design & Living — Local services in Fairfield

We have been a customer with Outdoor Design & Living for over 20 years. They have done our yearly spring clean-up, cleared an overgrown area in the back of our property and designed and maintained our landscaping. I hope nobody has the same experience we have had this past year.

I contacted them in March, 2025 for an estimate on the spring clean-up and to let them know we would like to have the work done in early May. I followed up in late April and again in mid-May. After getting nothing but crickets, I emailed the owner on Friday, May 23rd, got no response, but a crew was in our driveway at 7am the next morning.

In early May I asked them to look at a tree they had planted and now appeared dead and to look at our boxwoods which were in bad shape. I heard back that they would. After several more emails I was told that Greg would be meeting with me on August 15th to discuss the tree, boxwoods and landscaping. The appointment was confirmed on August 13th. He never showed and when I called I was told he was on the schedule for the following week.

After all this, I emailed the owner asking to discuss our experience. That was 2 weeks ago. Crickets again.

Edit: I still haven't heard from anyone even after their post about looking into what happened and improving...

I deeply regret having outdoor design redo our front landscaping. First, they are wildly unreliable. The designer, Dave, missed 4 scheduled appointments with me, (but of course it was never his fault). Then I was told it would take two weeks to get a design made up, it took two months. Then when we had some of the plants installed I absolutely hated two of the trees. One was a holly and I told Dave in advance I didn’t like hollies, he assured me though this one was different, it was not. Because it was in November, I couldn’t have them immediately replaced because the ground was too cold, so I was told to wait until spring. I was able to have one of the trees replaced this spring. I didn’t like what they had in at the time for the other and was told to wait until further into the season because that’s when more options would be available. I called to follow up only to discover they changed their policy and there’s now a 50% restocking fee which they would not waive whatsoever. I explained that my issue began in November, still no fee waived. In the Spring when I had the one tree replaced, they did not give me a the courtesy of a heads up that they would be initiating a new policy. Outdoor design is a horribly ran company and I regret working with...

If I could give ZERO stars I would. My mother took a piece of a bush and went to this business to buy a shrub. The person who waited on her was very nice and pleasant. A shrub, that was supposed to match the sample leaves, was purchased for $132.00 When my mom got home, she realized they sold her the wrong shrub. The shrub was watered and she returned 1 day later to exchange it for the right shrub. She spoke to a woman who told her all sales were final and that she couldn’t take it back in the event she didn’t water it. My mother explained that it was watered, was the wrong shrub and she was NOT looking for a credit, but simply wanted the right shrub. They refused to exchange it. We will never be back and found the most helpful people at Oliver’s. Shameful...