Brodeur Landscapes

Nicole and her team really listened to me. They took out my jungle of a yard, saved the trees and the plants that mattered to me, helped me with low-water native plants that compliment the plants I have so with a couple of years' growth it will have the cottage garden-feel with manageable plants that won't be devastated by drought.

I hoped I could get a small deck in the yard, under a tree, where I could put a swing that wasn't usable in it's current location, so I could sit, read, and enjoy my garden—but the space it would go was small and awkward with the tree. They made it fit perfectly under the tree. It looks exactly the way I imagined it and better than I could have hoped in reality. It's perfect! The crew saw I walk with a cane and added a step to the deck, which I'm grateful for.

I'd asked them to help route some of the water from the drains, that come from the roof, down the side yard and add some drainage down to the street, because they were aimed at my neighbor's driveway. I mentioned in the course of the conversation that we have a sump pump because our basement floods in the winter (same as everyone in our neighborhood). This winter, not only was my neighbor able to get to her car without fording a river, but the water over-flow from all over the yard moved to a central area that then flowed out to the street. At some point last month I realized, our sump pump didn't run once this winter. I went down to take a look, and the basement was completely dry. When, in the middle of the last heavy storm, I took my husband down to the basement to show him it was dry, he said he would have paid what we paid for landscaping for the peace of mind of that alone (one time the pump died while we were out of town, flooded the basement, ruined the water heater, and fried the electronics on our heater).

There were a lot of little extra things they did, suggestions they made as they went along, all things that I didn't expect but good ideas that I agreed to—that showed that they cared about their job, They were also flexible about small changes I made along the way. All that and they still came in within their estimate. At first their price felt like it was on the high side, but it was worth every penny. I couldn't be happier with their work and my yard.

We worked with installer Brodeur for 2 years. We would recommend the following: find your own designer and develop your own planting plan possibly with the help of Native Plant Society. (We used Terran Design.) If you need maintenance after installation set this up on your own or you might be disappointed like we were. Be educated about when to plant or you will pay more when plants die etc. Carefully check installer references and look for similar setting as yours. (ours was an urban setting backyard of apt. building) When reviewing references ask for 20 minutes at consumer site to ask in detail about their experience. If you hire Brodeur to install get everything in writing in advance and be leery of Docusign type "signing" or you might be squeezed as far as more money rather than addressing your needs. Anything verbal, record it or you might be told "I don't remember." Hire your own hardscape person as the person Brodeur recommended was a huge problem. We wish we had done more research and not trusted possible bot reviews or friends reviews in general. Brodeur staked a tree improperly but billed us $170.00 monthly maintenance anyway. We complained and they cancelled the fee but never admitted they should have done better in the first place. This was like hiring a contractor for your house, paying them, and expecting them to communicate and "care" after they got paid. Same for an installer (like Brodeur) as once they are paid they have likely moved on. Be cautious and do homework, ask detailed questions.

Addendum: Now years later a tree they planted in our landscape has fallen over and we know it was not planted correctly. Would never hire Brodeur again. Very expensive for us to "fix" what they did wrong.

These people are high priced for what is offered. Not customer service oriented.