Ross NW Watergardens’ Reviews
Over the years Ross NW Watergardens has completed many landscape projects, from simple repairs to detailed Japanese gardens. On each one our team has worked really hard to make sure our clients love their landscapes. As a result, even though we are a small company, we have collected dozens of genuine reviews from your neighbors.
Below are most of the places you can find reviews for our landscape company. Check them out to see what other Portlanders think of us, or scroll down for highlights from some of our favorite customer reviews.
Featured Reviews:
Andrew in NE Portland
Ben and the team at Ross NW Watergardens were an absolute joy to work with. For our backyard renovation we were looking for Palm Springs function/design aesthetic with (mostly) Northwest native plants for low water and low maintenance needs. His company delivered what we wanted, flawlessly.
We had heard many contractor horror stories over the years (abandoning projects, etc) but felt like this would not be an issue with Ross NW due to Ben’s very thorough communication right from the start. He was upfront with what we should expect to pay, the expected timeline from design to completion, and about other projects that were currently in process that may affect ours.
Ben’s attention to detail and ease of explaining abstract concepts is right where it needs to be. We truly hit the jackpot choosing this company for our renovation. Ben was exceptional from the initial meeting and throughout the design process where he was never dogmatic about his design and welcomed any changes we had to the layout or plant selection. He gave many great recommendations but was never pushy about which direction we should go.
Once work began, his crew was respectful of our home and our adjacent neighbors. Ben checked in on-site throughout the project and was always in communication with us, via email, about what was coming up next, and any scheduling issues.
It has been surreal to see how well this project moved from design to completion and we have “is this really our backyard!?” moments every time we go outside. It’s incredible to have such a serene space to relax and entertain in, and a space that rivals the landscape architecture of many hotels we’ve stayed in.
Ross NW Watergardens made it happen and if they did it for us, they can do it for you. Don’t hesitate to contact these folks. -Google
Andrea in SW Portland: We moved to Portland from San Francisco to a beautiful new Portland Foursquare in July of 2014. The previous owners did not have a green thumb, and what little planting that was done by the contractor when the home was built, had been barely maintained and did not compliment the home very well. I knew I wanted a japanese garden and my husband wanted a water feature in our back yard, so I'm still not sure how, but I found Sada Uchiyama online, and I sought him out in June before we closed on our house. Sada will only work with Joe Bowen (Ross NW Watergardens), and so this is how we met Joe.
Joe came out to our home with Sada for an appointment, and it took us six months to get on Joe's construction calendar! Even though the wait time was frustrating, it was SO WORTH THE WAIT. Our home was beautiful, but our front and back yard are now stunning. Our neighbors regularly stop by and thank us for re-doing our yard. I thought our yard was only distasteful to us, but obviously not!
Joe was terrific to work with: responsive, accommodating, easy going, and just a really nice guy. Anytime I had a question, he was there. Any time I've had a concern, he reassured me. If there was a problem, he came down to fix it himself.
Efrain and his wife, as well as his brother are knowledgeable, hard working, and diligent. They started our project in the middle of November (COLD!) and worked through February. Joe's team showed up every morning at 8am and left at 5pm, and worked all day, unless thy had an occasional appointment, or were out getting materials. I never had to check on them, and they were always making progress. They worked so hard sometimes, when they moved the boulders into our back yard, I wanted to go run and help them! I watched them work through pelting rain and freezing temperatures. I could not believe their dedication and skill.
In the meantime we had a basement build out of our home, and I can honestly say that the comparison of experiences were night and day. Joe knows how to run a business. He's ethical, understands customer service, and is just a really great small business owner/ manager. I've never met his son Ben, but can only imagine he is terrific to work with as well. The two of them make a great team, and I couldn't have been more pleased. I highly recommend this business and if given the chance to do it all over again, would hire them in a heartbeat. Joe and his team are absolutely the best contracting experience we've ever had and I am so grateful we hired them. They earned everything we paid them. -Houzz
Reviews of Ross NW Watergardens:
Tim & Fran N. in Lake Oswego: If you want the very cheapest, cost cutting contractor as a partner to bring your project vision into reality, stop reading my review of Ross NW Watergardens’ performance on my project. You’re wasting your time.
But if you want your job to be done exquisitely the first time, with unequalled real time communications with your contractor as your project unfolds, please continue reading.
Our 175 foot sloped, curved, aggregate cement driveway was disintegrating after 32 years of use, Portland weather and some salt applied over the years. After years of falling on our butts and shoveling the driveway during/after snow events, we finally decided to do something different. We’re both geezers over 70 years old. Broken hips can easily ruin your day. Same for your life.
After much research, I discovered electric snow melt mats from WarmUp. Wow, this makes so much sense, everyone in Portland must be using these I thought. No chance! Almost unheard of in Oregon. Undeterred, I pressed forward to bring this great technology to our driveway/part time bob sled run. Our neighbor across the street had installed driveway pavers several years ago and we really liked the look. So we decided to find a contractor to help us install WarmUp snow melt mats under pavers after tearing out our old driveway.
I should have been asking paver contractors to install pavers on the dark side of the moon! Several said they wouldn’t touch it. Others said they couldn’t guarantee that such a system would work. Ross NW and two other contractors said they’d take a look at the WarmUp website. Ben at Ross NW got back to me within 24 hours to schedule an appointment to meet with us. The other two got back to me after about two weeks. I met with all three.
From my notes, I discussed the vision of our project with the three representatives. One contractor was unable to ever present a proposal. The second contractor gave a proposal without covering most of the elements of our project, said it would take seven (7) days to demo the old driveway and install the snow melt mats and pavers and would charge what most likely would be a loss leader fee. This company installed my neighbor’s driveway pavers. It had to be redone three times after initial installation to prevent water infiltration into their garage.
During my interview with Ben, he took extensive notes, took numerous pictures of our site and gave me voluminous useful information about what to look for in paver selection, substrate requirements for the WarmUp mats and suggestions to smooth the steepest parts of our driveway gradient that always caused problems going up and down the slope. Shortly thereafter, we received in an email the most detailed, informative project proposal I’ve ever received from a contractor with a breakdown of costs including “wish list” items we’d discussed. We accepted online.
During the five weeks of demo and construction, Ben responded quickly to our input, updated the timeline when needed and was able to give a quote on a new French drain. Every member of the crew who worked on our project was courteous, cleaned up at the end of each day and treated our project as if it was their home.
The end product, our new driveway with the snow melt mats and new drains clearly exceeded our expectations. I give my highest recommendation to Ross NW Watergardens. If you want your project done right the first time, look no further. - Yelp
BJ in NE Portland: I've worked with dozens of contractors over the years and Ben is one of the very best in professionalism, ethics and craftsmanship. Their work is professional, thoughtful and thorough. Ben's communication is excellent; he's very thoughtful about the project and making sure the client's needs are met. In our case, he surpassed our expectations. His pricing is fair; Ben offered several options so we could decide what fit our budget. Even though we chose some of the lower-priced options, we ended up getting more than we asked for in all the thoughtful details. Ben and his crew delivered a superior finished product for the same price as other contractors who had bid for a more basic product. We're so happy with his work - I wouldn't hesitate to hire him again! -Yelp
Alecia in SW Portland: Ben was a great listener to our wants, wishes, and needs to transform our yard into a low maintenance, kid friendly space that looks amazing! He was very professional, kept to the projected time line and updated us with any changes or concerns if we chose to do so. Over the past two years we have used Ross NW Watergardens for our front and back yard. We constantly get compliments from neighbors. -Houzz
James in Oregon City: Ben is great. We called three different landscapers for quotes. Ben's was the highest...but, he was the most thorough. We got the feeling the other companies were used to a specific set of plants and would just give you some cookie-cutter landscaping. Ben took the time to talk us through the project, 3-dozen emails, 20 different plant and tree combinations....etc. He was so great to work with and the crew he brought was respectful and professional. -Yelp
Portlandian in Lents: Ross NW Watergardens did a great job getting landscaping plans for our Japanese style garden completed. Ben was professional and prompt with communication. He also made suggestions when asked and was flexible working with us and our wish list. We look forward to implementing the landscape plan piece by piece. Highly recommended! - Houzz