Landscaping reviews in Tempe, Arizona

This company is a pain. You have to call them several times before they come to correct their defects. More than that, after they send someone to check the problem, they send another one, and another one. So instead of correcting their defects, they keep checking on them again and again. Besides, they show up at their convenience without making an appointment with a house owner. They take months to do the job that could be done within a week. Too much headache with Creative Environments. I could recommend this company only to my enemies.

Was super excited to get both front and backyard done. I’ve paid almost 300k to be jacked around. Made little to no progress and have no schedule or idea of when the guys will be back to finish the project. I’ve had a pile of material in front of my neighbors house for over 2 weeks. Have not seen workers at my place in over 5 days

Jeremy was our rep and he really went above and beyond to ensure the project was exactly what we wanted. He was great and was very helpful with which plants to pick and the whole design process. I would highly recommend working with Jeremy if you have the chance.

I am extremely impressed with the support we've received from this company. Kiley and the rest of team have played a crucial role in helping our business thrive. Their expertise and commitment to our success have made a real difference. I highly recommend them to any business looking for a trusted partner!

We were told this company had a partnership with our home builder (Toll Brothers) and because of that, they could have our backyard done prior to closing. They were definitely on the expensive side but we thought it was worth it so we could get our yard done before we moved in to avoid any disruptions due to the fact that I work from home.

We closed on our house 10/7 and they are still not complete (1/5/22 today). We did not get a pool, we did not get any fancy water features. We got a gas fire pit and and outdoor kitchen. They repeatedly made mistakes when it came to getting permits and failed multiple inspections which caused delays. They have been unable to manage any expectations and they take no ownership of their process. Everything is somebody else's fault.

I would not recommend this company to anyone, you can get any and all of these services elsewhere for much less with the same quality. If our backyard was immaculate and absolutely stunning I could forgive the tardiness because they are working towards perfection, but that just isn't the case. The backyard looks fine, but it is not worth what we paid. Do yourself a favor and shop around.

Because most reviews are connected with an emotional experience, I thought it was important to write this review strictly based on a chronological list of facts/occurrences.

Contract/Billing Details
Initial conversations, July 2023. Continued through mid-October to define project scope and cost. Project scope expanded (ramada construction) and finalized costs. Project work began November 2024. Both parties aware of late Feb/early March 2024 deadline.
Creative refused to share plans with us based on a mistrust that we would subcontract out work.
3D department was “too busy,” to complete final renderings. We were encouraged to move forward.

Communication and Project Management
Promised weekly check-ins. Reduced to occasional phone calls. Told this would not affect overall project time frame.
Designer moved on to other projects, communication came to a halt. Meeting with Regional Supervisor to resume updates.
Permit delays with the city of Mesa due to incorrect welding specs; delayed our project by weeks.
Designer suddenly leaves the company and stops responding. No communication from company.
No dedicated project manager assigned to our account.
Construction Manager suddenly leaves company. No communication. Another 1 week delay.
Crews show up unscheduled. Disruptions to our work schedules.

Construction Issues/Professionalism
Damage to cinder block wall due to construction vehicle moving through the area.
Shot Crete crew shouting profanity in our backyard. Family in town and two small kids listening.
Delay in appliance installation.
Incorrect gas line installation for grill counter. Received appliance selections months in advance. 3 week delay.
Missing lights. Included in plan, but missed during construction. 1 week delay. Required additional demo, construction, and wasted material. No communication.
Decking around pool pathways too narrow based on the original design. Charged a $7,500 change order. Demanded payment for the change order before the project could continue. We paid within two days. Project sat for 3 weeks.
50% of decking required replacement.
Sharp stone edges on bar counter. Not sanded or joined properly.
Appliance installation incomplete. Parts left in boxes.
Entire job site was caked with dirt, mud, trash, boxes, and construction debris.
Additional decking left on driveway. Damage to vehicle.

Delays/Scheduling
No work would be done during the Christmas holiday. Crew shows up unannounced and work at 6am.
Pool tile complete in a few days. Project sat again 3 weeks.
Late February: Meeting set with Regional Supervisor to walk property, review the project delays, incomplete work, shoddy construction and attention to detail.
Supervisor agreed that the construction quality of work was not up to standards. Promised a reasonable schedule.
Revised schedule immediately off, delayed more than a month.
Completion date changed four times.
Project did not complete until June 2024.
Crews walked off job for poor communication. Construction Manager pleaded for them to stay.

Finances
No delays when it was time to collect a payment. Designer would drive to our house to collect a physical check.
Two installment payments made based on progress dates.
Months of delays, countless interruptions, overall poor project management, and substandard construction.
Settlement for discounted project fees. Financial strong-arming.
Creative claimed that all electronic records of project details destroyed based on system compromise.
Forced to sign promissory note to pay balance despite no delinquencies in payments.
CEO refused to return calls after project was finished to discuss final outcome.
Over $215,000 paid

Do not use this company.

We hired Creative back in 2021 to completely redo our backyard and pool and to replace the front drip lines and add a few plants to the front. If I were to grade them, the design is a solid A, hardscape installation a B+ (some tile cuts were sloppy), and landscaping installation a C. We are almost two years in and will say that the Customer Service gets an A+. They answer the phone and address all issues promptly. The largest being we recently noticed several plants had the old emitters, meaning the original crew did not replace all of the front drip lines. Creative replaced them to honor the original contract. I highly recommend Creative Environments - the design is great and customer service is fantastic.

Creative did our landscaping in our home as they were the company that our builder used. They are HORRIBLE!!! They use the cheapest materials!! They are super expensive yet their quality is horrendous. It’s been 4 years now and we have had so many leaks and things we’ve had to fix and now we have to REPLACE our entire irrigation system!!! We have spent thousands initially then thousands fixing every leak and issue the past four years and now will spend a ton to re-do the entire thing because it’s so bad and has such poor workmanship! Do NOT use this company!! Get multiple quotes and ask for reviews from people that are a couple years out from the work being done. These guys also don’t stand behind their work. Their warranty is a joke! They also did our fountains at our community entrance, which our HOA had to just pay thousands to re-do because of the shoddy work and cheap materials they used initially. Extremely disappointed in this company and Toll Brothers builder for using them!!

I recommend Creative Environments because they truly know the process for each season and exactly which fertilizers to apply, ensuring your lawn stays healthy year-round.

Warranty Department
Kiley and Jason are exceptional. Their communication and follow through has exceeded my expectations. Whenever I've called, Kiley gets me on the books in a reasonable time and is very knowledgeable about Creative's processes. I've been fortunate to have Jason as the field warranty rep. He's quick to rectify any issues and extremely knowledgeable about landscape construction. I trust his expertise. They have both been wonderful to work with.

For anyone considering they have had some challenges during COVID. They have caught up on our project and we are excited that most everything will be completed by our close date.

Do not use this company i have them for both pool and landscaping. My pool always has issues because they hire and dont train well not 1 person in 4 years has had any customer server skills. They leave trash/broken parts in my yard. They use my water hose and NEVER roll it back up they leave near the pool pump and they leave the gate open due to the hose being there the gate wont shut so they just leave it every week. When i get time ill be getting a new company

Creative environments just continues to disappoint. They’ve outgrown their good reputation years ago. Now they prioritize rich commercial clients and won’t give any attention to residential clients. Our two plants have died a month after planting and they seem to be okay with not replacing it.

Not only that but their field staff are probably the worst people I had met. One morning, I’m driving out of my garage and the guys pictured in the photo thought it was funny I was asian. The guy in the photo with his hands together, looked straight into my camera and said konichiwa and something else in Chinese.

For a person of color, I thought you would have some self-decency and not play into racism. But here you are being disappointing to humanity. To add insult to injury, their manager is doing NOTHING to stop them.

I’ve contacted creative about this and all the director says is “ill talk to my staff.” No follow up afterwards.

Oh but your PR managers are more than willing to flag my previous review to censor the injustice I evidenced in the previous review. Not only that, but they have their staff writing 5 star reviews. Just look up Mr. “Compositor,” who posted a recent 5 star review. Good grief.

I’ve now witnessed three of this company’s pickup trucks speeding straight through a 4-way stop sign in the Storyrock neighborhood in North Scottsdale, early in the morning on my way to work. On multiple occasions, they’ve nearly caused serious accidents with both pedestrians and drivers who had the right of way.

Fantastic design! Incredible workmanship! Beautiful water feature. Amazing. This is the exclamation point to our church campus. And Jason’s crew — artists!! They worked hard. Did everything with craftsmanship — leaving us with a beautiful landscaped water feature that our congregation will enjoy for years and years!!

After a bit of a rocky start, Dan, Jim, and Erik got directly involved and took over the project to make things right. The difference has been amazing and I can’t thank them enough for the great work and making things right.

$750 for five shrubs that were planted terribly. The team came for 15 min and left a mess with dirt all over our artificial grass. Wouldn’t recommend them.

We had a failed pool heater that was installed over 3 years ago and we just found out it was not installed according to manufacturers specs.

As soon as Creative realized the mistake, they had it replaced, at no cost, within 3 days.,

Thanks Creative Environments for the 5 star customer service!

The design for our landscaping was ok, we went with them because the first visit or two there were two guys that helped us envision what we wanted and give us an idea of what would look good and do well in an area depending on sun exposure, etc. One guy seemed to take the lead and was very knowledgeable, the other seemed more along for the ride. The knowledgeable one stopped coming after we signed and that’s when the frustration began. Each time the plans were revised, they were wrong, including lighting that was discussed from the very beginning. I even confirmed at the last appointment the lights would be added to the plan prior to the installation date and was assured they would be. They were not. At no time did they say sorry for messing the plans up (which happened several times). This led to the wrong number of plants being ordered (extra plants, which of course we had to pay for because they would not take them back). Again, they just acted like I forgot what I wanted and that it wasn’t their fault.

Fast forward to many of the plants dying within the warranty period (summer so not unexpected) and they have me sit at home half of the day waiting for them, and when they show up they only replaced 5 of the roughly 15 plants that were supposed to be replaced. Some of them because they weren’t in season, some because they sent the wrong plants, and some there was no explanation for, they just left without telling me why the hibiscus were not replaced as planned. They also looked terrible, and nothing like the beautiful plants that were planted the first time.
Now I’ve called and emailed 3 times over the last two weeks and no one will get back to me.
Pictures are of the plants AFTER the replacement date.

Creative environments is worth less than zero stars. Don’t trust these people with your project… I have never met a “professional” outfit that is so much more significantly expensive compared to its competitors and delivers such a little value.

You will spend $1 million on a landscape project that will take 1.5 years to complete (yes really), and deal with nothing but missed deadlines/milestones, horrific communication, broken promises and average quality work. Their leadership team over there is a complete joke

I’ve had the privilege of viewing several of Lavendar Landscape’s projects from breaking ground to the finished product. Their thoughtful design concepts & unique, modern edge are so impressive. They truly put the highest level of care & delivery into every detail. Their staff is down to earth, responsive & friendly. They will stop at nothing to bring you the best outdoor oasis possible.