If there is one concern we speak with our clients about most often, it is trust. Many homeowners and businesses find searching for professional landscaping companies a minefield.
They may have doubts about the authenticity of review ratings, be unsure how to verify whether a contractor is legitimate or feel worried about sharing contact details or paying deposits to a company they’ve never dealt with before.
This is understandable, and we appreciate that new clients or those who’ve never hired a landscaping team before should always have the time to conduct research and due diligence and have complete confidence that they’re liaising with a reputable, experienced, and reliable team whose advice and guidance can be trusted.
While there are numerous online business directories you can use, we’d always recommend you go with your instinct, refer to genuine feedback from real clients in your area, and ask as many questions as you need to before you feel comfortable that your professional landscapers are everything you’re looking for.
Challenges With Reliance on Price Comparison Sites When Looking for Landscaping Professionals
Of course, many highly experienced contractors advertise through directories or share their details with price comparison sites. In most cases, these sites charge a commission or fee in return for local businesses promoting their information to local audiences.
Although a proportion deliver excellent services, the issue we’ve heard about many times is that there is rarely a great deal of background checks. That means anybody could potentially pay to advertise a business that isn’t legitimate, doesn’t hold any qualifications or accreditations, and isn’t equipped to provide the services advertised.
Cotswold Paving and Landscaping is fortunate to have years of expertise and a significant gallery of projects and testimonials from our valued clients. Therefore, we aren’t dependent on high-competition sites that aren’t industry-specific or where there are risks that consumers aren’t able to take all the information shown as 100% accurate.
This is partly due to our commitment to exceptional quality services and long-standing reputation, but also because we appreciate that many companies that invest significant amounts in advertising find themselves passing on the costs to the customer or offering ever-lower rates that aren’t realistic and won’t deliver on the standards you as a client expect.
Our main advice is to take information advertised through directories, price comparison sites, or social media with a pinch of salt. Ensure you’re never pressured into accepting a quote or feel obliged to pay a deposit if you have any reservations.
Understanding the Right Ways to Choose a Trusted, High-Quality Landscaping Provider
All properly experienced landscaping companies will be well-versed in liaising with new clients about their bespoke garden design projects and will never have a problem discussing your requirements. We might, for instance:
- Start with an obligation-free visit to have a look at the current garden layout, soil quality, features and planting, and chat about what you’d love your dream garden or outdoor space to look like.
- Share examples of hard landscaping projects such as wall or fence construction to illustrate our ideas, or help you visualise what two different options might look like and how these have worked for clients with similarly shaped gardens or in the local area.
- Point towards referrals if you have neighbours who have recently used our landscaping services or share further information about our insurance coverage, ten-year product guarantees, five-year installation guarantees and endorsements from material suppliers and leading brands.
Checking credentials such as insurance is always time well spent, and it’s worth looking into aspects such as awards won and accreditations achieved since you can verify these independently.
Landscapers should also be able to offer quotations that itemise the services, materials or work included, which you can take away, compare, or work through in your own time, without any time-sensitivities or encouragement to make a payment before you’re satisfied the costs are within your budget.
Picking Between Landscape Gardeners for Your Property
We’re incredibly proud of the high standards we adhere to and welcome questions about our experience, landscaping approaches, and areas of specialism. Landscaping covers a broad range of services, so if you have a specific project in mind, you can discuss it with us or with your chosen landscape gardeners to confirm that they have ample expertise in completing similar projects.
This can make a big difference, depending on whether you’re looking for:
- A complete garden makeover with hard and soft landscaping.
- Help maximising a smaller space, such as block paving a driveway or transforming an unloved side return.
- Installations of decorative aspects like water features, patios, decking or BBQ areas.
- Garden maintenance to keep trees, shrubs, trellises, borders and flowerbeds in great condition.
- Seasonal landscaping, ensuring lawns and paving are well maintained, and reducing the time spent on garden upkeep during the colder winter months.
You’ll often be able to review portfolios to see what types of work landscapers most often undertake. You can use these to compare quality, attention to detail, finishes, and the scope of the work, giving you confidence that your professional landscapers are well-equipped to deliver the services you require.
How Quality Landscapers Add Value When Designing and Planning Your Ideal Outdoor Space
Finally, a great landscaping professional isn’t there to dictate the right options or tell you how best your garden will work for you. Instead, we discuss your vision, inspiration, and ideas, ensuring that your garden is the right blend of functional, beautiful, and manageable.
Every household is different, which means one client might want a luscious, thick lawn, sun-drenched patios, scented climbing plants, and a vegetable patch, whereas another may need a practical, low-maintenance artificial lawn, designated areas for pets and children, and a hard-wearing and durable play space.
Your ideal landscaper will endeavour to ensure you feel comfortable sharing your ideas, listen to your priorities, offer their input to show you the possibilities, and be ready to move forward only when you’re confident they’re the contractor for you. Get in touch to start your landscaping journey.