Finding a good Cincinnati landscaping company can be challenging, especially when it seems like everyone and his brother are doing landscaping nowadays. How do you find a reputable company that won’t charge you an arm and a leg? This post will detail some of the things you can do to get help on your landscaping without getting scammed or paying too much.

Professional Organizations

A great place to start are professional organizations. The Better Business Bureau section on landscaping (here’s a link to the Cincinnati section) can give you some insight into what BBB accredited landscape contractors are available in your area. Not only will the BBB give you a solid list of potential contractors, it will also show you their BBB rating and you can see if there were any complaints filed against the company.

Another organization you can look into is the Association of Professional Landscape Designers. This is a professional organization, the mission of which, according to the website is “to advance the profession of landscape design and to promote the recognition of landscape designers as qualified and dedicated professionals.” The APLD has a search feature on their website that you can use to search for landscaping companies in your area.

Referrals

An even better route is to ask around and find someone you know that recently had landscaping work done. If they were happy with the service, get the company’s information and give them a call. There’s nothing like a good referral for finding a reputable company. You may not find the cheapest service around this way, but there is much less risk that you’ll get someone who doesn’t know what they’re doing. If they did a good job for someone you know, then it’s reasonable to think they’ll do a good job on your landscaping project.

Examples

Once you’ve got a list of potential landscaping companies you’re interested in hiring, ask to see their design portfolio or photos of projects they’ve worked on. It may even be helpful to get the location of a few projects so you can go have a look in person and see if the landscaping design and quality is along the lines of what you’re looking for.

Vet Everyone

Just like presidential candidates are vetted, you should vet any landscaping companies you’re considering hiring. Take a look at reviews online, check with the Better Business Bureau, and you can even check with your local chamber of commerce. Additionally, in extreme cases, the FTC may have information on the company’s you’re considering if they’ve done something really, really bad.

Some things you should know

One important thing to keep in mind is that if you pay for a landscape design, you own that design. You can put it in your closet if you want or hire another company to actually do the implementation. You don’t have to work through the company that designed the plan even if they say you do.

The Internet

Finally, if you need more landscaping companies to do some more comparison shopping, just use the internet. I can assure you you’ll find quite a few options there, although those guys really need to be researched because anyone can put a website online and say they’re a professional landscape contractor.

Good luck in your search for a landscaping company, and if you’re in the Cincinnati area and in need of Cincinnati lawn care, contact the guys over at American Landscapes; they should be able to handle any project you throw at them.