Desert Designer Landscape and Development

I hired Desert Designers to convert the concrete slab that was my backyard into an inviting space to entertain and relax. After removing many square feet of concrete, Rob Plowright and his team converted my backyard into a desert oasis.
I met Rob Plowright with Desert Designer at the home show in February 2016. Rob was one of five landscape designers who I interviewed. I ultimately decided to go with Desert Designer because Rob understood how I wanted to use my yard and the problems that I had with the space in its original state. Rob came up with a great plan that was functional and esthetically pleasing. In fact, he took an off-​hand comment that I had made about eventually wanting a container garden on the side yard, and came up with a unique container garden that will withstand prolonged sun exposure without deteriorating. Rob is also extremely organized and detail-​oriented. He was the only one of the five designers who I interviewed who scheduled a follow-​up appointment at the time of our first meeting. Within a week of our first meeting, I had received multiple emails with alternative price lists and pictures of the proposed plants. At our second meeting, Rob presented his plans with line-​item pricelists, walked me through two proposals, and explained to me why he made the choices that he did. Although other designers may have had fancier presentations with 3D computer models, Rob’s plan was spot-​on to my vision and under budget! In fact, because the estimate was so reasonable, I ultimately expanded the project to include additional landscaping in the backyard and replacement of the irrigation system in the front yard. Rob was also patient and responsive to the numerous questions that I emailed him sent before, during, and after the project was complete.
On the day my project was scheduled to begin, the Desert Designer team was on time (maybe even earlier), and worked quickly without sacrificing attention to detail. Not only did the team work efficiently, finishing the project in just four days, but it was done perfectly, and my yard and the street were immaculate. Even my neighbors commented on how great a job Desert Designers had done on cleaning up. And because the workers are employees, and not merely contracted for the day or project, I didn’t worry while I was at work about whether they would show up or complete the day. The following day, I met Rob at my house where he gave me an orientation on plant care, the new irrigation system, and the warranty on the pavers and labor. Like any home improvement project, there were a few hiccups along the way, but I had complete confidence that Desert Designer would make sure the job was completed to the highest standards.
I am beyond pleased with the way my backyard turned out. If you are looking to transform your yard, I highly recommend that you contact Desert Designer.

Desert Designer installed a very cost effective and stunningly beautiful patio in my back yard. The work was top notch, they took care of my existing landscaping (citrus trees), relocated some irrigation and left nothing but craftsmanship behind. Extremely professional, they are worth your call.

Although I didn’t use Desert Designer for my current project, i woild recommend talking to them if shppping aroind for a larger scale landsxape renovation. Sarah was very responsive and honest. My project was too small, and Sarah communicated that plainly and simply and didn’t try to turn the project into an artificially inflated budget to make it worth her time to complete. I always respect when a contractor is honest and open about the scale of a project.

It’s been right around 4 months since Cory Sell and Desert Designer finished our major backyard and patio renovation, and every time we walk outside, my wife and I are just as excited as the first day we came home from work to the finished project.
I waited a few months to post this, as I wanted to see how the quality of their craftsmanship and the quality of the Marbella pavers they used would hold up to our 3 dogs running around on it every day. I am extremely happy and proud to say that there is nothing different (no chips in the pavers, no worn down tiles, no cracks, and not even scratches) regarding the structure of the newly created backyard area.
Cory was extremely easy to talk with, and both my wife and I agree that he did just an absolutely phenomenal job in taking our idea of what we were looking for with our very basic, rocky backyard, and turned it into a beautiful, livable area with an amazing firepit as the centerpiece. He was extremely thorough in explaining every aspect of what we were looking for, and was always on time. He took care of all the hassles of having to go through the multiple HOA’s, and always kept us updated on what was happening in regards to timelines, and was sincere in everything he said. There was no pressure felt at with in feeling like we «had to do this», or «you should do that» and I truly appreciated that.
He even drew up different phases for our entire project, and I cannot wait until we are able to proceed with phase 2, as I know I’ll definitely be calling Desert Designer to take care of it when we can. It was great to be able to see what everything could potentially look like when all aspects of the project are completed, and I really have to say that this was all done at an extremely fair price.

Originally discovered this company through Angie’s List and they did not disappoint. We worked with Rob Plowright who helped us every step of the way. We are thrilled to finally have a yard that we WANT to hang out in (our pups love it too). They also installed a drip system that runs off of a programmable timer which is just awesome! I would highly recommend this company to anyone in the Phoenix area!

Charlie was awesome to work with! Did a great job on landscaping and a few years later I ran into an issue with my timer and he was more then willing to help out and get it fixed! I highly recommend this company… great customer service!

I can’t say enough good things about this company. We had our backyard done in 2 stages over the past year and just had it completed about a month ago. We love the yard now! I was worth the cost as the crew both times did good quality work. Any issues or questions we had were so quickly addressed with the company. We now have a gorgeous tile patio, built in grill, and fire pit all three were done so well. We just love the design too and Charlie is the best to work with!

Our house needed curb appeal. Badly! When we found Sarah at Desert Designer we were so happy. Sarah helped us transform the front of our house with new landscaping, some beautiful custom metal work and amazingly high-​impact lighting. She was so easy to work with, so knowledgeable and had amazing ideas for how to make the project really sing.
I mean seriously, before we had Desert Designer come out the front of our house looked like a dump. Now, my neighbors say its the best landscaping in the whole development. We are just thrilled. Its been almost a year and everything is thriving and growing into place beautifully. This was some of the best money we have ever spent. We recommend Sarah and Desert Designer without reservation!

I’m not going to write some big sob story about my experience with this company. Bottom line is their customer service is horrible and they do not return your calls. They cancelled appointments and did not have the bid in on time. The job they did is sub par and if you complain they turn the other way and could care less. Not happy with the product nor the service. BUYER BEWARE!

I am sad to see the negative reviews posted below:(We chose to work with Cory Sells after a wonderful in home consult. This is for my parents backyard. During the consult we expressed many concerns about low maintenance landscaping because my parents are getting up there in age and because my father has many environmental allergies. So we wanted to make sure it was perfect. After a few days Cory came back with plans drawn we were beyond impressed by what he came up with and decided proceed. We chose a very linear design so all measurements had to be completely precise. A few days before construction Cory came by to go over the plans once again and fully explained that we were allowed to any changes. Which we did. Every step of this entire process was explained fully.
About the job: Cory got all permits and HOA approval. He was there on the job site everyday! Which was great because we were able to bring any concerns/​questions up next day in person. You just don’t get that kind of service these days. The crew was PHENOMENAL, these guys were very hard workers very respectful, and clean.
My parents have an award winning back yard. It is beyond anything we could have expected. I could sit and stare at it all day. The best thing is everything is covered by warranty. If something comes up.
As far as the other negative reviews below. Come on people… It’s YOUR own responsibility to check on which kind of plants you want and appropriate placing of them (I did). It’s YOUR responsibility to research and ask questions (I did). It’s YOUR responsibility to be out there everyday over seeing what is going on with YOUR yard (I did).
Overall this company and Cory Sells gets an A+. I will refer them to anyone I can and use them for any job I need in the future.

Our experience with Charlie and his team was awesome! Charlie had some great ideas for our patio space — his knowledge of dogs really helped us settle on the right concept for us and our puppy — and he responded quickly with a drawing and estimate. He was also very accommodating with our schedules for appointments we had.
When it came time to do the work, he showed up with the team that morning and made sure we were okay with everything. His team worked quickly and cleaned up well. Charlie was in contact with us through the two days it took to do the work, making sure we were happy with everything. Our patio turned out even better than we had imagined! We love it!

We have used Desert Designer for 3 different projects over the past 2 years. Initially we needed to submit a landscaping plan to the HOA within 30 days of move in, for a newly built home. My husband contacted Charlie at Desert Designer, who was able to capture our vision of what we were looking for and drew up a plan for the front yard, courtyard area, and backyard.
Due to financial constraints we started with only the front and courtyard. 6 months later we did most of the backyard. One thing I wanted was an outdoor fireplace, but we didn’t have the finances for that at the time, so they did the rest of the backyard, and included a patio area where the fireplace would later be situated.
We completed the fireplace this weekend.
Charlie has been easy to work with and accommodated all our requests and changes quickly. A minor problem with an outdoor fountain was quickly fixed. All the men on the crews were great too, and cleaned up well. They even went out of their way and raked back gravel that someone else had moved to dig a trench for a gas line (not part of Desert Designer’s crew that dug the trench and then left it).
After almost 2 years the irrigation system and lighting is still working fine and we love our yard.

In mid 2011 we had our whole property re-​landscaped by Rob Plowright (our designer who is also part owner of this company) which cost over $ 22,000 in hard and soft scape. I wish I could show photos of our property today, $ 4000 of DD’s bill were for plants/​grass, 60% of which have since died or I tried moving due to an inappropriate location (additionally, many of the plants we agreed upon were unavailable upon delivery and were changed to less desirable ones). This does not include the 35 out of 90 plants/​trees DD initially replaced during our (bargained extension) 3-​month warranty. During the process I learned DD is not very educated on horticulture/​plants i.e. location, species, spacing, design (style, color, size, pattern) among other things.
Overall I think DD lacks understanding and execution of long-​term business practices/​relationships, in addition to offering or taking on more than the owners or crews are qualified to perform. They have installers who aren’t instructed appropriately nor carefully supervised, lack follow-​up with customers for satisfaction (could have been given maintenance instructions for the softscape areas to avoid major plant loss). Since DD’s installation, I’ve had to move/​modify two major grass areas (1000 sq feet each) sprinklers at an additional cost due to ineffective placement (i.e. sun vs shade) by DD. Even with weekly landscaping maintenance over the last 2 years, both of the new summer sod areas DD created are severely failing. As for their crews, I had to be at home supervising every minute of every day, otherwise, they repeatedly erred i.e. installation locations, quality control, etc. I can list dozens upon dozens of mistakes on installation alone, one example was on their first day (we were traveling and were specific as to when we would return, irrespective they started early without notice) they installed a firepit incorrectly and in a considerably wrong location, all of which had to be torn down and redone. Another example — after their crew incorrectly installed 15 slabs of 2’x3’ flagstone, twice, in 115 °F temperature I personally picked them up and strategically placed each one because they could not understand (language barrier included) design and utility placement i.e. spacing required between stepping stones along a pathway.
The final and most important complaint I still need to take up with the Registrar of Contractors and BBB. I trusted that DD would not offer products or services they weren’t skilled or approved to do, however, after the project was done I found out they do not have a license nor permit for creating Water Features. They not only installed water but also ran electricity without permits. The hardscape looks nice but it doesn’t function as originally intended and was completed with engineering errors. To correct it would be to compromise the entire water feature and firepit area. So I chose to live with the problem. I also had to repair a different hard & softscape area after 1 year (remove and re-​install 30’x3’ pool planter with dirt/​drippers/​electric/​plants) to fix a major leakage problem which DD minimized and gave bad advise. I did not trust DD even if it were under warranty so I paid handsomely for another contractor to correct.
Miscellaneous –low site respect (cigarette butts, urinated behind our shed, left a ton of debris & cement remnants), plans/​blueprints not matching locations for what was installed (off by 2 – 10 feet), excessive emails and poor communication, 3-​foot sinkhole, many rock areas now showing unsightly black landscape fabric, over 20 feet of electrical wiring showing after being superficially buried, water feature malfunctions and clogs (no way to fix without tearing it down), 2 pillars visibly unlevel (more than 1 – 2 inches off)… etc etc etc
The only redeeming quality is that one portion of hardscape looks great. But it is by far not worth the cost, aggravation and stress, and excessive time wasted with this company. More than once I attempt to bring my issues to the attention of the majority owner but I was referred back to the designer for resolution. So it surprises and dismays me that on their website they are listed as «Super Service Award 2011» on Angies List. Which was the year I contracted with them. I might have to join just to post my experience…

This is sort of a mixed review. There are some positive things to say, and some negative. However, there are a LOT of contractors out there who would have fewer negatives, so I have to go with two stars.
We met Cory at a home show. He was very friendly, and his portfolio looked good. So we had him out to check out our yard. After some discussions he produced a quote (which we had to whittle down because he tried to encompass everything instead of just the bits we wanted him to do). After the whittling it was still a bit high, but not completely outrageous. So we signed the contract (I seldom go for the lowest bid… it’s usually lowest for a reason!). Here’s where it starts to go less-​than-​perfect.
Our project included both water and electricity. It required some permitting. The drawings provided by Cory were lovely, but were not what is required for permitting (or to tell the other contractors what they are working with). We ended up going to a separate draftsman to get proper submission-​worthy plans drawn up (extra $$$) because Desert Designer doesn’t do that. (really??!)
The hardscaping they did had a problem and the water it utilized leaked all over everywhere. They fixed it, but I’m expecting to have to utilize their two-​year warranty because I’ll bet they’re going to get more cracks. However, I can’t use that as a basis for rating since that hasn’t happened yet. Though I do have to ding for only two years on the warranty… my fault for not insisting on more (at least 5).
The electrical failed the first inspection. Most of it was deep enough, but there were a few places where it clearly wasn’t. But they called for inspection anyway. Yes, they fixed that too. But it should have been right first time. Even I could see the violation on the first pass.
The hardscape feature itself is very lovely. It does have drainage problems (and I’m calling them back to address them — should be easy enough to fix). The water works well. It’s really very attractive. So kudos there.
Then comes the finishing touches. The mortar used in part of the hardscaping wasn’t tinted. It was just gray. They had to fix that. The drainage they still need to fix (can’t have pools of water… promotes mosquitoes). And their site cleanup was deplorable. They left a pile of river rock (which they claimed wasn’t theirs) instead of putting them over into the hardscape area. They left chunks of rock, concrete, and other debris. Not just the usual little bit here and there, but LOTS of it. Including cigarette butts. The trenches they had to dig are filled, but aren’t compacted very well.
Cory was very friendly, and seemed genuinely interested in doing a good job and addressing our concerns. He also seems to be very creative. He has some unseen boss that he has to run everything by for approval. And the nitty-​gritty stuff (plans/​permits, soil compaction, site cleanup… all the boring stuff) is lacking.

They did our irrigation, a bit or hardscaping and planting.
1) Irrigation is ok, it’s been 1.5 year since the job was completed, and we’ve had no issues with it.
2) Hardscaping is so-​so: there are some cracks between the bricks, but I guess this is unavoidable. During the warranty period, they’ve been fixing the cracks regularly, but they reappeared when the warranty expired.
They also added gravel, but in many places the layer was so thin that the original clay shines through the gravel.
3) The plants they suggested and planted are HORRIBLE.
Initially, I was upset that they look more pitiful than the ones we could get at a nursery for the same price. But, 1.5 year after the planting, I have more major complaints. The main one is that the shrubs were planted without any regard to whether or not the sun/​shade conditions will be favorable.
As an example, roses, yellowbells and katie ruellias — which need a lot of sun to grow — were planted in FULL shade, where they get no sun at all. Trusting their plant knowledge, it did not occur to me to educate myself on these basics — which I regretted ex post. These plants did not take off, and still look exactly as they looked at the time of planting, with very little new growth showing.
Lantanas, wich spread very wide, were planted in a very tight space, and eventually we had to take them out because they had to be trimmed perpetually.
Even if all the plants grew to their best shape, the design would have been «chaotic» anyway: they appear to be randomly positioned, without any regard to style, color, or size pattern.
So we are taking down most of the plants and hire a better designer to help us redesign the look of our backyard.
4) They also did a small veggie garden for me, which should be completely redone.
Again, very badly positioned: a part of it is in perpetual shade, and it is directly under the roof water drainage pipe, so it overflows with water every time it rains. They advised me AGAINST a raised garden bed, which, as I learned ex post, was very unprofessional: not only I had to dig through hard AZ rocky clay to replace the original soil with good gardeing medium, but without the raised walls, the garden soil spreads all around, which makes a huge mess since our garden happens to be next to the pool deck — another negative side of its location. One would expect that «designers» would think of these basic issues.
We paid for the irrigation system in this garden (done by Desert Designers), so I am a kind of stuck with it now. If I consider moving it to a new place, we need to do a separate irrigation again — what a mess.

After getting several estimates, I utilized Desert Design contractors to design/​layout approximate 700 square feet of pavers, for both a sitting area and a hot tub. I also was adding about 70 feet of flagstone capping to an existing pony wall. First — Cory at desert designs was very helpful in the planning and design process and was always available and VERY responsive for the life of the project and process. His measurements of the area were accurate, and coincided with what I had painstakingly measured. This may seem like a small point, but there were several contractors that «walked the measurements off» — and surprisingly came up with numbers as much as 20% higher than mine. This issue goes to the integrity of this company
The process was painless and easy — thanks to Cory and the owners of Desert Design. Their crew showed up on time, cleaned up after themselves each day, were very professional, and. most importantly — have done a wonderful job. The area looks GREAT!
I had one small issue with the slope of some of the completed pavers, Cory and Desert Design came out within a week, removed that area, and corrected the issue without any hassles or questions. Excellent example of their commitment to their work and their warranty process.
I plan on using this company again, and would HIGHLY recommend them.