Natural Landscapes Inc.

We engaged Natural Landscapes to help us re-landscape our front and back yards after we renovated our house. Doug presented us with a plan drawn by Laura and we were blown away by the design which included a dry river bed with rundle boulders and a paver sidewalk in the front. The back yard design has a beautiful patio, a built-in bench, built-in planters and mature evergreen trees. Doug and Laura designed the plan to offer privacy between us and our neighbours and to have colour from the shrubs in every season. The crew accomplished our transformation in a much shorter period of time than we anticipated. All of the people who worked on the project worked hard and left the job site clean and tidy. Doug and his family and crew were wonderful to work with and we would highly recommend them.

We recently purchased a house that had just undergone a complete reno and our front and back yards were a mess: dead grass, lawn graded towards the house and construction debris everywhere. We had a bunch of landscapers come out, but none were available until near the end of the summer. Doug came by, asked what we wanted and our budget, looked around, and almost the next day returned with a beautiful hand drawn diagram of what he wanted to do. He was also available to take on the project in the next month! It was clear he was a visionary as his plan for us was not only stylish and modern but also showcased his intimate knowledge of plants and garden design. I ran it by my mother (who is an avid gardener) and she absolutely loved it.

What we had done was: a new front porch, leading into a paved stone front patio surrounded by perennials and a small see-through fence. New lawns (front and back) were also put in and graded correctly, both surrounded by flower gardens. The front paved stone walkway wraps around to the backyard where there is another large patio, arbor, and water feature, again surrounded by a bed of different perennials. We also put in about 7 or 8 trees. Every time we look at the front of our house, we love the plants that he chose: pink diamond and annabelle hydrangeas, lemony lace, PGM rhododendron, barberry etc. He chose plants that are different, right for our zone, and stagger their blooming season. Not only do we love it but our neighbors do too, and we still (months later) get positive feedback from people walking by.

I doubt if any project goes perfectly to plan but Doug was there to help us out when it didnt. An example being that the water feature he built wasnt what we were expecting, so we mentioned this to Doug and he refunded it entirely for us!

If we have to mention a criticism, the backyard probably didnt get the same attention the front yard did. Due to the massive rainstorms, Doug was likely behind schedule and needed to hustle to get to his next job. As a result, he was offsite for a portion of our backyard work. It still looks great, but we might need to enact his warranty in some areas. No worries there though since we know Doug is a stand-up dude.

Really happy we made the decision to go with Natural Landscapes and we have loved hanging out in our patio this summer!

More than 10 years ago Doug put in our flower beds and a dry river bed for drainage purposes in our front yard. The dry river bed worked great and looked great. We still get compliments. In 2020 we decided to convert our backyard vegetable garden to a flower garden and to add some more interest to our backyard since our children were now teenagers. We let Doug's creative mind go to work and he came up with a wonderful plan incorporating rocks (12 tons!), shrubs, perennials and a pergola. Both he and his crew were able to install and complete everything in a week last September. This Spring we eagerly awaited the snow to melt and the sun to shine on our new backyard. The plants and shrubs survived the winter and are flourishing. What didn't make it were replaced by Doug. With the various heights due to the rock and dry river bed he put in them, it is beautiful to enjoy while we're outside or from the warmth of our living room in inclement weather. We are extremely happy with Doug's work. His work included refreshing all our other existing beds with better soil, adding plants, etc.

Natural Landscapes completed a couple of projects for us this year (2019). The first one was a large scale, backyard rebuilding, that took place in the spring. We had previously done some extensive excavating for a home renovation project, and as a result, the backyard was completely destroyed. Doug and his team were tasked with site re-grading, building new cedar planter boxes, a retaining wall around the patio area, supply and installation of patio stones and steps connecting the upper portion of the yard to the patio, supply and installation of adequate drainage system, as well as sod and planting a variety of plants, bushes and a small tree.
The second project consisted in refinishing two concrete posts that were cracked and re-building the stairs on the front of the house in order to bring them up to code.
Both projects were completed efficiently, within budget and on schedule. Doug and his team are very dedicated, hardworking, professional and take pride in the final product. In addition, we had to rely on Doug’s expertise a few times to come up with some creative and cost-effective solutions and we were not disappointed.
We highly recommend Natural Landscapes for any landscaping needs.

We recently used Natural Landscapes to update our backyard after using them seventeen years ago to do a complete yard installation. Their initial vision for our yard matured beautifully, but over time our needs changed and we wanted to have some updates. The changes were done with the same care and attention that we initially received years ago. We were happy to recommend Natural Landscapes to our neighbour, who is now also refreshing and updating their landscape.

Doug came highly recommended. We had an extremely difficult , drastically sloped property on a hill. We needed someone good. Doug definitely was it!
Doug completed our budgeted designed project phase 1 (back yard) in 5 weeks of Aug 2017. Handled Slope stability issues, 50 tons of Rundlestone, 100 huge Boulders, waterfall, Flagstone Patio and fire pit area. 17ft Spruce trees, shrubs etc.. We made a few changes on the way, which Doug accommodated with no issues. Doug and crew are easy and positive to work with. The following summer we lost a couple of big trees which Doug agreed to replace immediately.
In May this year we start phase 2 ( Front yard) Much the same as Back yard, 27 huge boulders, curb work, pathways, Shrubs, large trees and Fencing.
People LOVE and always comment on our back yard . I would ABSOLUTELY recommend Doug and Natural Landscapes. Everyone we have recommended him to, are all really happy with the service they received.

Save yourself a lot of trouble and look elsewhere for your landscaping needs.
My neighbor and myself hired Doug to design and complete our landscaping work in 2014. We are still trying to get Doug to fix the defective work he did. Read on for the full Saga.
We gave Doug our landscaping budget, and paid him to do a complete design for our landscape. Doug came back with a design priced at 3 times our original budget (in case you think our original budget was unfeasible for the size of our lot, our neighbors budget was triple our original budget, and his design for theirs also came in 3 times their budget). After paying for design work completely out of line with our budget, Doug convinced us he could still work within our budget. He wouldn't be able to do the design he first presented, and wouldn't provide a new design, we would just have to trust him that he knew what he was doing (Doug would frequently respond with "trust me" when we would ask questions about the work, I've since learned that "trust me" means "I have no idea what I'm doing so I'm just going to wing it and hope it works").
For some reason we still hired Doug for the work. After waiting months past when he had initially committed to start the work, he finally showed up with his crew, too late in the year to complete the work, so our schedule ended up drawing out an additional year.
The work itself was shoddy. The cedar fence he installed blew over in the wind multiple times, the steps he installed were uneven, and one was even broken, the slopes he retained had large gaps where soil continues to spill out and looks ready to collapse at any time, and areas of sod are still missing.
We have learned to live with most of these defects, as the alternative of further dealings with Doug would be even more unpleasant. For some of the more major issues we have requested remediation, for the last year he has promised he will come by "next week" to take a look, but continues to make excuses for not showing up. When questioned about his promise to stand behind his work, he claims he does stand behind it, but apparently only as far as the 1 year warranty extends, and once he has put it off past that deadline, he's free and clear.

Thank you Doug and Team for our very own little paradise. Your expertise in designing our small front and backyard far exceeded our expectations as to what was possible . We so appreciated your quick response to the email sent and a design plan with in a week.What a terrific design you came up with!!! The dry riverbed in the front with the rocks, trees and plants was breathtaking. The comments from neighbours, friends and family were so positive . People driving by were slowing down to have a look. Coming from a Farm, you took in our concern for some privacy in the small backyard.

Thank you Doug and Team, for our own little piece of paradise. You exceeded our expectations as to what was possible for a small front and backyard. The phrase good things come in small packages is so true.Your response to my email was so fast. Within 5 days you came out ,had a look, & came up with a design plan.Some rain did play in my favour. We sure appreciated your expertise in design and knowledge of plants and trees. You asked for our input and then went to work. The dry river bed out front with rocks, trees and plants was awesome. Our neighbours comments were so positive and non stop.You created a backyard for us that included everything i desired with a patio, trees for privacy, plants and of course grass surrounded by a border for our special fur baby. She loves it. You completed the work in a timely fashion despite mother nature throwing rain , extreme heat and smoke your way. Thank you again, Highly recommend natural landscapes.

We had Doug draft up landscape plans for our front yard and backyard and he installed two garden beds in our backyard and made & installed 3 veggie boxes. I have never worked with a landscaper before however, any expectations I had were exceeded! Doug took my likes and dislikes and turned it into a better plan that I could have described myself. He as extremely considerate of our family's budget and needs. His staff who worked at our house were clean, polite, and went out of their way to check that we liked what they were doing. Many of the spaces were designed with my children in mind and they even asked my daughter's input on her favourite flower colours! I could not be more impressed with the process, and the final project and we've had nothing but compliments on everything. I would highly recommend Doug for any project and hope to have him back at our house at some point to finish our front yard!