Shen Mi Yuan Garden Design - Beware!

The proprietor JC of this garden landscaping service makes some bold claims about making your garden the envy of the neighbourhood, and the substantial marketing collateral available from surrounding gardening depots seems to support that claim. But... the reality is a whole lot different. Our experience has been less than satisfactory, a far cry from exultation and downright disappointing. Initial impressions after installation are good but after a few moths the truth is revealed. Specifics: - no follow-up and a reluctance to engage regarding problems after the initial installation. A case of "take the money and run" - supposedly knowledgeable and trained installation staff have no more than a basic understanding especially of irrigation and setting up an irrigation system properly. They did not test the installation, there were dry areas and generally the system they installed was inappropriate for the prevailing conditions ie. do not install a fine misting system in heavily wind-affected areas! Not the type of basic mistake a professional landscaper would make. - the supposedly drought-resistant Fiddlers Green grass has been a disaster! Despite extensive and expensive watering (from tanks using purchased water) the grass has failed to thrive! Huge expense gone to waste! JC has failed to return to site to advise despite being asked and in turn promising to do so. - Peach pips as a mulch work better that bark chips because they dont blow away in windy conditions, however they have a major drawback - fungus forms on the pips under the mulch layer and ****s off even hardy plants like Cape Honeysuckle. You would expect an experienced and professional garden specialist to know this! But no - our garden was covered in peach pips by Shen Mi Yuan and the plants are struggling! We have had to apply liberal antifungus to counteract the problem! - JC did not follow the instruction - the outcome was not entirely as we had wanted. Granted this could be a communication issue but nevertheless led to a whole lot of work required from us to do what they should have done.

JC is enthusiastic and appears knowledgeable but her enthusiasm is not matched by execution ability nor by after sales support! Appearing superficially to be professional and caring, in reality her business is a sham and she is clearly only interested in chasing the money. Bottom line - our experience is that this has been a hugely expensive exercise with far less than satisfactory results. A waste of money! Beware!