I have years of experience doing my own gardening and have worked with landscapers and landscape architects on community projects in Los Angeles. I like to think I’m a decent gardener. Over a period of years my husband and I spent thousands of dollars on plants, soil and soil amendments, and hundreds of man hours trying to create a few nice gardens. In spite of my vast experience and all of our hard work, our gardens ended up aesthetically mediocre, high maintenance and not as healthy as they should be. I plant a garden one year and tear it out the next because it just didn’t work out. I paid a landscape designer for advice and spent more money implementing his ideas with the same result.
The last expert I consulted said “You need Willie.”
Willie Eschenfelder’s web site shows high end large scale landscaping for businesses and expensive homes. I live in a small modest condominium with a handful of very small garden spaces. Nonetheless, Willie knew exactly what it would take to fix my gardens, and understanding my budget constraints, he provided a bid for each phase of his plan so I could decide how much I was willing to pay for and how much of it I thought I could do myself. His bottom line seemed beyond my budget at the time, but he was the only landscaper I talked to who won’t compromise with the quality of soil or watering systems or plants or any other part of a healthy garden. All the “affordable landscaping” that has been done in some of our condominium common areas and neighboring homes is less than mediocre and requires replanting each year.
Once I took the plunge, within a few days the clay soil had been removed, sprinkling system upgraded, rich top soil brought in. I sent a list of plants and shrubs and ground covers I like to Willie and they all showed up a few days later and were placed for planting. Then this really nice dark mulch showed up.
That was last fall. This summer my garden looks like its been established for years due to the healthy soil, and it’s the talk of the town. I pull a weed here or there but fewer and fewer as the ground cover fills in, so my very lush garden is nearly maintenance free. As for the money I spent, had I hired Willie when I moved in years ago, I would have saved thousands of dollars and hundreds of man hours and enjoyed maintaining healthy gardens all these years.
I have since had Willie replace the “top soil” in the entry way gardens that our condominium association bought from another landscaper three years ago and he helped me with a design. Our entry way gardens are beautiful for the first time ever.
If you think you can do as good a job yourself, think again. If you think you can save money by cutting corners or going with a lower bid, think again. Do it right the first time. Call Willie Eschenfelder.
Lee Nakamura
