Garden Lights Landscape & Pool Development

If you like to chase after a vendor who doesn’t return calls or emails and literally leaves your project half done, these are the guys for you.

2015 Update: WARNING– LIFE-​THREATENING DISREGARD FOR ELECTRICAL CODE:
Steve gave us a beautiful pond, complete with electric pump and electrical outlet. However, the electrical outlet was NOT GROUNDED! We could have been electrocuted any number of times over the last 15 years, because he didn’t obey the law and use the required type of outlet, namely a ground-​fault circuit interrupter (GFCI). We only found out because we had an electrician move the outlet which Steve had attached to our fence. When the fence had to be replaced, the electrician told us that any outlet within 6 feet of water (any sink, for instance) must be a GFCI. The whole point of having an electrician be licensed is so that they do their work according to Federal and State Code, but Steve completely failed to protect us from the well-​known danger of electricity mixing with water.
Our house caught on fire once because of how he installed the timer that was to control the lights.
DISREGARD FOR BUILDING CODE:
He had told us that he would apply for permits, but he never did and we were too naïve to realize this, the result being that he built us a patio that looked beautiful but wasn’t built to code and has permanently destroyed the value of our home and complicated our selling the house in future. We have spent $ 10,000 just trying to protect our house from water damage that would naturally result from the patio having been built 12 inches too high.
I have spent sleepless nights and many years regretting our hiring Steve.
But, if you are determined to proceed with him anyway, here are a few other things that might help you know what to watch for in areas less critical.
As a Landscaper —
The most serious mistake Steve made was to leave an entire section of our garden with no irrigation at all.
Some other things we found merely irksome:
1. We asked for riotous color and got yellow and pink flowers almost exclusively.
2. He gave us 10 Barberry bushes, which have nasty thorns, but are deer proof. He put them all in the part of our property that is fenced off from deer. He even planted several of them in front of our rose bushes; I couldn’t prune the roses without squeezing past these poky plants.
3. He planted a number of quick growing plants right in front of the irrigation control panel so I had to dig them out to maintain access.
As a General Contractor —
Steve chose the person to build the arbor. Here are some of the things the builder did wrong:
1. He used indoor-​only lumber for an outdoor structure.
2. He neglected to cap off the posts, and further compounded that serious oversight by positioning the posts with the grain up; the wood acted as a veritable sponge and developed dry rot.
3. He didn’t even prime the wood! From Day 1 we had paint chips falling on our patio like rain. The wood rotted very quickly.
4. He used nails rather than screws. Everyone has told us that screws are a must for an outside structure.
5. He used non-​galvanized nails so they all rusted, causing rotting inside the wood.
6. He charged us $ 8,000 eleven years ago. We have a current bid of $ 7,500 to take his structure down and rebuild it properly.

Steve and his crew did a great job on our back yard. It was a large and complex job but it came out looking amazing.

Unless you like unprofessional and yes, even unethical conduct, under no circumstances use Garden Lights. We were told on many occasions that our backyard pool plans had been engineered and submitted to the City for permitting approval. We attempted for several weeks to get a copy of these plans. We were told: «they were at the printers», «they were on their way», «they were in Steve’s truck,» «they would be coming directly from the Engineer in LA» and on and on it went. After a frustrated in person visit to their office, we were then given the wrong plans for someone else’s property! Finally, we called the printers, no plans. We called the City, no plans. Surely there must be a huge misunderstanding… Right? Wrong… when we finally reached the owner on the phone, he finally admitted he never submitted any plans to City Planning. The plans, well… they didn’t exist
That’s right… we were flat out lied to. Unless you like to be treated this way, bring your business elsewhere.

Wow, came out to house eventually but evidently resodding backyard, annuals and refreshing dead plants in frontyard and backyard were too small a job for them. They could have said that immediately. I gave them my landscape plan and asked for it back but they never returned my call. I wasted several weeks waiting on them. I would not recommend them for any job whatsoever.

I totally agree with other Unilocalers. The first meeting was very promising. When it finally came time to reveal the plans though, it was like we had never talked and I actually thought that he was showing me someone else’s plans. Nothing that we asked for was there and everything that we said we didn’t want was. And all without any explanation at all. Just here are the plans and silence. A very expensive lesson learned.

Warning. We had a bad experience. I understand they are capable and experienced but you may go five weeks without hearing from them in the middle of a job.

We had three reputable landscapers come over to discuss a bid for our project. The other two promptly came back with bids within a few days. Steve from Garden Lights has yet to provide a bid or display the courtesy to follow up on three phone calls and emails I have sent. He was the only contractor where we had to take time and fill out an online survey before we could get an appointment and provide site plans which cost time and money to get to him. We did our part. He failed to do his. We would never consider using this company.

We think Garden Lights is great. They did a beautiful job on our backyard in Orinda. Then after completing the job, have been very helpful in keeping our yard looking great. They just helped us put in a BBQ at the last minute. They were so helpful. This group has creative design ideas and executes them beautifully.

Steve and his crew were the consumate professionals! We’ve had several contractors over the years with varying experience, good, OK and UGLY. Garden Lights was TOP of the card! The workmen were polite, clean and hard working. Our deck and lighting was turned out better than we imagined. The job was completed in a timely fashion for a reasonable price. I highly recommend Garden Lights.

Wow, we had the opposite experience with Steve and his crew. In late Spring 2009, we moved into a house with a large backyard that had never been landscaped. In December 2009, we met with Steve and told him what we wanted for our yard. Steve and his crew worked through an incredibly wet winter. They were there in the sun and before it rained to cover our entire (just shy of an acre) yard with plastic tarp. The tarp was repeatedly laid down for rain, picked up for sun, laid back down, etc.
The crew was responsive and tidy. All the work was done as we asked. We have a magnificent showstopper of a yard. It is child-​friendly, yet gorgeous. We asked for Steve to incorporate fruiting plants and trees into his plans and he did. The fruiting plants and trees are interspersed in the yard and never give the backyard the feel of an orchard and/​or farm.
We are always complimented on what an amazing yard we have. One of my girlfriends said it was like coming to a magnificent resort. She said our backyard was such a gorgeous oasis, but one that was not only meant for adults, but also for children.
Speaking of children, my husband and I have three young ones and when we spoke to Steve, we asked him to create a yard which would entertain and captivate our boys and their friends. Wow. Did Steve ever! From adding onto our Rainbow Structure, to creating a sport court, to putting in a zip-​line, to creating a biking/​tricycling/​riding/​walking path around the perimeter of our yard, to creating an in-​ground sandbox, as well as finding a fire-​engine red hand-​pump (what I really wanted) for water-​play… the list goes on. Steve also made sure to leave us plenty of space for a beautiful lawn (I can still picture my urban-​reared eldest son running around the newly-​laid lawn, happily yelling, «Grass !Grass! Grass!»).
Thinking ahead, Steve also made sure to plan for a potential pool (at a point in time when we no longer have three drowners).
Due to the fact that our children are young and because one of them is a runner. I prefer to host play-​dates instead of going to the park. Our sons friends actually prefer coming to our house and refer to it as «(put in three boys names) Park.
Along with the beautiful landscaping, Steve designed a beautiful outdoor barbecuing area with an outdoor fireplace. In summers, it is divine! We live in our backyard.
Our front yard had been (sort of) landscaped to sell, but Steve had to put in better drainage. We also asked him to install more plantings, create some potted-​containers, as well as create a pondless fountain for us (Lost my pond in the move, but probably good due to our three boys and their lack of self-​preservation). All of it is a showstopper.
We’ve had neighbors stop on their walks to comment on our yard.
I should also add that Steve corrected an egregious mistake made by our general contractor, which resulted in flooding of our (less than 6 months old) newly finished playroom and guestroom.
As soon as we discovered the flooding, we called Steve. He was at our house and had his crew working on our issue. Steve and his team quickly figured out the problem and immediately began to work on resolving the issue.
All in all, we found Steve to be detail-​oriented and very fastidious about quality-​control. He was at our job site more than a few times a week.
Steve still continues to pop in (our yard was completed in June/​July 2010) to monitor our yard.
Would we use Steve in the future? Definitely. In a heartbeat.

I was referred to Garden Lights by the The Patio & Fireplace store in Alamo, as a contractor that might be able to help us with design & installation of a custom fire pit in our yard.
I left them a voicemail on a Friday, and got a call back on Tuesday from a woman in the office. We confirmed an appointment for the following Friday at 1pm. She told me the owner, Steve, would personally come out and give me a quote.
Friday rolled around, and Steve never showed up. I waited at home (on a beautiful Friday afternoon, when I was on vacation) for 2 hours and not only did he flake on our appointment, he never returned any of my 3 calls asking where he was or when he was coming. I was disappointed in the lack of follow through and will be looking for someone else to help me with my yard remodel.

How could such a good start go so bad? Steve Lambert is a terrific salesperson with a great crew and design team. BUT, he has the dreaded contractor disease of being constantly behind schedule (by months) and only intermittent availability after the project launches. In fact, his availability is directly related to when his next payment installment is due. He literally will not return phone calls for 3 or 4 days, and he did not finish our job in a timely or professional way. He abandoned our project when it was almost complete. Yes, literally abandoned! He did not respond to any phone calls and emails from me or my husband and he never showed up for final payment. The fountain he installed never worked properly (and still doesn’t), we have plants that died before the project was complete that were never replaced, we had a brand new deck (that we built) that he stained for us that looked horrible one month later, a front porch drip system that killed plants on our front porch before they had a chance to grow, and an irrigation system he never gave us a map to which made it more difficult for other vendors to fix the problems he created.
Perhaps you are thinking we must have been super high maintenance clients? On the contrary. We always remained calm and friendly with Steve even as he missed deadline after deadline. We paid on time and without incident (except he disappeared before the last payment), and we called him many more times than we wanted because he would just disappear for days at a time. We would have much rather had him touch base with us periodically and proactively just to check in and make sure things were running smoothly. We gave him this feedback several weeks into the project and he agreed to be more proactive, but his behavior only got worse.
The few times he showed up near the end of our project, Steve seemed disheveled, distracted and rushed. Way different from the smooth sales guy we signed up with. Buyer beware.