Landscaping reviews in Boulder Creek, California

They always go a great job and I will use them again

Armburst Landscape did a great job clearing my property that was extreamly overgrown after my house burned in the czu fire.

Excellent work! Our yard looks great. Nice people, too. Price within our budget, so we knew how much ahead of time.

Armbrust Landscape is my regular, go-to business for all of my landscaping, gardening and outdoor maintenance needs. They are highly knowledgeable, capable and do an excellent job each project. I highly recommend this business.

Liz and her partner have worked for me several times over the past few years. Hard working, efficient with time, reasonable rates and good equipment! I highly recommend them. Ill be using them for more work in the future.

Liz has been helping us with various yard projects for years. From basic spring clean-up and roof clearing, all the way to designing and building our backyard terrace, her team does it all. We don't have the simplest plot of land, but they make magic with it. To top it off, our dog loves it when they stop by :)

As always Lizzie, Bret & Katie did a phenomenal job emptying out my huge garage. Armbrust Landscape & Maintenance has come to my aid countless times & are here for me especially after my beloved passed away. I live in a magical redwood forest on a lot of acreage. I’m so blessed Lizzie grew up knowing my husband, Chris. Here’s some photos & it took an afternoon to clean it all out plus removing stuff on the deck too🌲🌈🦋I totally recommend Armbrust Landscape & Maintenance they are my forest fairy angels😇

Poor quality of work and very unprofessional.

Great landscaping company, modern and drought tolerant landscapes, premium product, reasonable prices, nice team of guys.

They are professional and hardworking! Core Landscaping always does a great job. I would highly recommend them to anyone in need of landscaping work!

I had an excellent experience with Core Landscaping
Good Communication, Professional and Fairly priced. I felt like I received good value for the cost! Thank you Marc and Chris!

The Core team did a great job for us with a multi-faceted backyard remodel. We needed planter boxes, planting, a lawn area, a fire pit, a fountain, seating, irrigation, and pavers! The Core team could do it all in addition to producing a visual design plan that summarized everything we wanted (and within our budget). We had a few designers draw up some plans for us that were nice but weren't very functional for us as a family wanting to spend time in our backyard. Because these designers had little connection with the installation process, their designs were well beyond our budget and feasibility. What I liked about Core Landscaping is that it is a small enough company that they all are involved and communicate about projects, but also large enough to get the job done well and in a timely manner.
I also liked how they take the environment into consideration. Chris installed netafim drip irrigation and very efficient sprinkler heads in the lawn; which lowered our water bill. Marc chose plants that are drought tolerant and low-maintenance. Speaking of maintenance, they do that for us, too! We love the space that they built for us and maintain for us! We highly recommend the Core team!!

It was a pleasure to work with Marc, Chris, and all the crew for our landscaping conversion and fence rejuvenation project. Marc is responsive, helpful, friendly. He and Chris were always transparent about any changes needed as the project progressed. I appreciate the professionalism and excellent work by Core Landscaping!

Core Landscaping completed a major drainage project on my home back in 2013 and they did an outstanding job. They installed sump pumps, rainwater collection systems, drainage from the house and garage to the street which involved ripping up and repaving part of the asphalt driveway, gutters on the garage, and also took care of all the wiring. They also helped me purchase and plant several fruit trees in the backyard.

The full long winded review is on yelp - this work was done almost ten years ago, and everything is still working great. Because Chris had the foresight to install gutter guards on my gutters and a leaf catch on the spout to the rainwater tanks, I’ve never had any issues with leaf or debris buildup. The sump pumps work great even after all these years. My fruit trees are really thriving and I am so glad I chose Core all those years ago. I am planning to use them for a full front and backyard overhaul and will update this review soon. :)

Marc, Chris, and their team did a beautiful job of building our backyard. They are knowledgeable about botany, have a good design sense, and are meticulous in their execution. I especially appreciated how flexible they were to work with. We've completed the backyard now and plan to have them start on the front yard as soon as we can figure out what we want. Core Landscaping is a joy to work with.

Marc and Chris are very pleasant and professional to work with. They completed our front yard in record time and had a timely follow up with a change order request. The design and implementation are top notch and we've had neighbors give compliments / take pictures on a regular basis for the first few weeks after it was completed. Price was reasonable, highly recommended!

We hired Core Landscaping for a variety of jobs--creating level pads on which to install sheds, installing a French drain, and leveling out and creating a new gravel approach to our property. They did an awesome job getting the work completed on time and in a professional manner. The communication from Mark was outstanding, and the prices were very good too. We will be using them in the future for our next landscaping project!

We hired Marc and his team to complete a landscaping job (improving the drainage on a concrete project a different company had completed poorly and installing drought-resistant landscaping in the rest of the backyard). The project went very smoothly: started and completed on schedule, and I love the plant suggestions they had. Everyone who comes over comments on how great the yard looks now.

I just wished we'd found them sooner. I've contracted them to maintain the yard, and will definitely go to them first for future landscaping projects.

The job that wouldn't end... Core Landscaping completed a landscape project for our front yard that included replacing our driveway with colored cement, adding a walkway path from our driveway and street into the courtyard of our front entryway and back gate with travertine pavers. We added several new planting areas and added new plants to an area under a large giant sequoia redwood tree. The bid was about $70K. We had completed a much larger project in our back yard that included over 2000 square feet of the travertine pavers around our pool which was completed in 7 weeks a few years back. After that project we had a sense of what to expect with this project. Too bad our previous contractor recently retired because we had no idea what we were in for with Core Landscaping.

The project was a disaster in so many ways:

* Time frame: we were quoted 5- 6 weeks to complete the job, it took 14 weeks! Started on Oct. 3rd and finished January 9th.There were days that they just didn't show up without any notice. After we paid them for a milestone, they would go work another job and not show up for several days in a row.

* Absent owner: We saw the owner, Mark Core, a total of 2 times; when we signed the contract and once because we insisted he come and discuss the schedule with us around Thanksgiving (when the job should have already been completed). This was very frustrating because the foreman, Chris Windmuehler, and the owner didn't seem to communicate much either. There were constant miscommunication about the schedule, the ordering of the plants and even what was being invoiced (many times we would be invoiced when the milestone was not 100% completed).

* Quality of work: We didn't expect that we'd have to be the quality control for the project but the foreman or the owner were not doing this. It seemed like they just covered stuff with mulch and hoped we wouldn't notice. The 2 main crew working at our house were nice but they didn't have the experience to manage themselves. For example:
- Planting: They couldn't read or follow the planting plans so many of the plants ended up in the wrong place. Several we later realized were in our neighbors property. We ended up replanting about 80% of the plants because they were in the wrong spot or they just didn't dig the holes deep/wide enough (see attached photos).
- Installing Travertine Pavers: We give them an "A" for cutting the stone (they brought in someone to do it) but then we'd give them a "D" for the installation. We remember how it was installed in the back yard. It's even on YouTube but they did the work backwards by installing the French pattern stones first and then adding the border stones. The result was unlevel/uneven pavers. They also cracked/damaged many of them with their installation method.
- Irrigation: The plans called for drip spray irrigation but they used drip tubing (netafim) with emitters every foot. We didn't realize it was not what the plans called for when we signed the contract so that's on us. It's ridiculously easy to install but it's not the most efficient for many types of planting areas and plant arrangements. What really annoyed us is that they could have done it right without much more work or cost. The problem with drip hose is that many of the emitters aren't near a plant so most of the water is wasted.
* Change Orders: We weren't happy with how they tried to gouge us with changes to the plans. For example, we originally had planned for the travertine pavers to also include a pathway to our backyard gate. In an effort to reduce costs we asked them to bid without that extra pathway but include 24x24 inch stepping stones to the gate. They reduced the bid by $1600 dollars, not much but we decided to do this. However, the pavers we selected didn't come in 24x24 so the contractor suggested using two 16x16 pavers in parallel. We agreed assuming the cost would be similar. They billed us over $2K for the change. So, it ended up costing us over $400 for our 3rd option. They didn't seem to understand why this upset us.

We had the pleasure of working with Chris and Marc on a full backyard transformation, including a custom patio deck and pergola. The results? Absolutely stunning.

Chris is a true artist—his attention to detail, pride in his work, and design sensibility elevated this project beyond expectations. Marc was also wonderful to work with: professional, communicative, and clearly invested in getting everything just right.

Throughout the entire process, their communication was excellent, their work was meticulous, and the experience was smooth from start to finish.

The finished space feels like an extension of our home—essentially an outdoor room that’s as comfortable and welcoming as any space inside. We’ve already received countless compliments from guests, and we’re planning additional backyard projects with them because we’re so thrilled with the outcome.

Highly recommended.

Chris and his crew completely redid our landscaping (front and back yard) a year ago. After 10 years of neglect since we moved in, it looked like a crime scene in our backyard: a mess of weeds & ivy, crab grass, unkempt trees & bushes, rusty overhangs, gaudy hardscaping… we were that backyard the neighbors talked about. We wanted to live in our backyard and decided for a 100% renovation, complete with new pergolas and sitting areas, hardscaping, and landscaping. We liked Chris the moment we interviewed him. He was transparent about pricing and we felt we could trust him implicitly. He and his crew did not disappoint: Over the 3 months they worked with us they exceeded our expectations. Chris and his crew embodied competency, professionalism and integrity from the get-go.

We were happy with the design they provided us based on what we wanted and gave options on how to make things cost effective while not compromising on design and functionality. As he started work, Chris met all our neighbors to make sure they knew the crew and to address any concerns they could have. He developed a friendly, respectful relationship with the folks on the court and always left the court cleaner than he started each day. We had 3 young kids (5, 3, 3) and they were always so kind to them and our family. We all enjoyed getting to know the workers and helpers. They worked diligently for us for 3 months, even through some torrential rains and the arrival of a new baby (!) We also appreciated their flexibility and adaptability; they were willing to add on scope and changes to the design such as putting in a new pergola even when it required some re-work on their end. I always trusted Chris and relied on him to give me his honest opinion on any decisions we made and that he had our best interest in mind; I never felt they were trying to push unnecessary services or improvements. In fact, when they accidentally broke something (as will happen in a major construction project, whether a hummingbird feeder or our lemon tree), they immediately replaced or fixed the issue without cost to us. They only work with well qualified people and I was impressed with the electrician and tree expert they brought in. In the end, costs were within the original budget and we were so happy with their work and professionalism that we gave them a bonus.

Their pride in their work is evident. I absolutely love our yard, the quality of the work done and we enjoy it from 7 am in the morning until it gets dark. I am so grateful for Chris and this new outdoor living he has given us; it’s truly improved our quality of life.