Liaison Landscapes

We recently completed a HUGE landscaping project with Liaison Landscapes. The work encompassed building 2 fences (including a solar powered, wi-fi controlled entry gate for our property), bocce ball court, putting green, mini orchard enclosure & pergola, 3 pedestrian gates, paver placement & driveway expansion, leveling, sprinkler upgrades, multiple stepper stone pathways and extensive drought-tolerant landscaping. The result is nothing short of perfection. We are so happy with the way it all turned out. People have literally pulled their cars over in front of our home to inquire who did our landscaping and we have received countless compliments from those passing by. Our son spends hours outside playing on the putting green and he enjoys our new landscaping as much as we do.

Markus and his team were fantastic. Markus was super nice, inventive, humble, responsive, extremely reasonable, easy to work with, accommodating and it is clear he takes pride in the final product. He went out of his way on more than one occasion to make us happy and to ensure perfection. His team is highly professional and hard-working. We felt comfortable having them at the house while the work was completed.

Markus gave us the initial quote very quickly and he was competitively priced. We had reached out to several other landscape companies and they were either too busy, unresponsive or unreasonably priced. If something went over budget, Markus would give us a less costly alternative. We made several changes and additions along the way and they were totally understanding. Since the work has been completed there has been no issue getting them to come back for a few minor touch-ups.

We HIGHLY RECOMMEND Liaison Landscapes. They do a fantastic job with high-end properties and they prioritize customer service. You won't be disappointed!!

The Worst Business Owner I've Ever Worked With

First, I want to mention that I am also a business owner with 15 years of experience, so I understand the challenges of running a business. That said, Markus at Liaison is the worst business owner I've ever had the misfortune of working with.

I first contacted Liaison in September 2021 and received a top-end quote of $99,646. I signed the contract expecting work to begin within a month. However, seemingly because Markus took on every project he could get, my project was delayed until February 2022. Then, when work was supposed to start, they said they forgot to get the permit, pushing the project back again to March 2022 - a full 6 months after I signed the contract. The project finally ended, unfinished, in October 2022 - an astonishing 7 months after it began. During this entire time, my yard was torn up with a portable toilet in the front. There was no sense of urgency or efficient project management.

I wish the delayed start was the end of my issues with Markus and Liaison, but it was just the beginning of the worst contracting experience of my life. Once the project finally started, I was informed that Sean, the project manager I originally met with, had quit. I was left without a project manager for weeks while the subcontractors tried to figure things out on their own. I had only met Markus in person for 10-15 minutes when he came to tell me Sean left.

The project began with demolition and trenching. The trenching bill came in at exactly the high end of the original quote, even though it was supposed to be based on hours worked. It became clear that hours weren't being tracked in detail and Markus planned to simply bill the maximum for each line item. The original quote only included a line for "Retrofit existing - Time and material at $85 pr. hr." Yet I was billed $7,200 for trenching alone, not even the irrigation retrofit. No change order was ever made for this major scope increase.

Next was the hot tub pad and decking, which ended up costing nearly $50,000. Issues included:
- The deck was finished before the gas line was hooked up, requiring boards to be pulled up
- The deck finish needed to be redone by a third party
- The removable stairs to access the hot tub panel were misaligned and wobbly

Furthermore, despite repeatedly communicating our desire for a clover lawn, Markus' crew showed up one day and added gravel, compacting it down because they thought we wanted grass turf. This not only added cost but required completely tearing up the yard later because they didn't fully remove the gravel, leaving the soil too compact for growth.

When it came time for planting, the crew brought about 20% of the wrong plants. After I rearranged many of them into the correct layout, we later discovered that some still weren't the ones we originally selected.

Many aspects of the project were changed without any negotiation. When I brought this up, I was told that I had made the changes myself, without any evidence or even an in-person conversation. This is the result of a detached business owner who has taken on too many contracts, a lack of project management, poor business organization, and/or blatant dishonesty.

After more than a year, $125,000 paid, going through two project managers who did next to nothing, a budget overrun of nearly 30%, much of the original plan scrapped, and having to redo a lot of the work ourselves, I was done with this disorganized company. The only positive was working with Ernie, the electrical/gas subcontractor, who demonstrated integrity, communication, respect, and quality work.

I strongly encourage anyone considering a project larger than simple decking or fencing to find a different contractor. Even for those, I'd advise finding someone more organized and honest to work with than Liaison.

The experience was so bad, I am likely considering a lawsuit against Markus and Liaison.

From start to finish, Liaison Landscapes exceeded my expectations. I had a vague concept of what I wanted in a backyard, but I needed profession help! I had a list of must haves, wants, and aspirational items. Elliott was able to help design a project that we could work on in stages. I gave them a budget and we were able to get the majority of the things I wanted within the budget!

The team was professional, courteous, and efficient! I can't believe how quickly they were able to finish the project, and they left the space neat and clean. I appreciate the flexibility when I wanted things moved or changed (even while the project was happening). I appreciate Markus' availability to review the work and his desire to make sure I was happy with the final results. If you are looking for a landscaping company to help you design your outdoor living space, and then bring it to life, Liaison Landscapes is your place!

I recently had to find a contractor to repair the sidewalk in front of my house due to inspection requirements from my home insurance company. I was given strict parameters and a timeline for the repair. Markus and Chrissy from Liaison Landscapes were extremely timely, thorough and super professional to work with from bidding to work completion. They even looked at the weather in advance and given rain forecasted, planned and completed the job in half the time originally allotted. Phone and email readiness and follow-up was good all along plus the work team itself was friendly and efficient. Nothing but 5 stars here. Highly recommend Liaison Landscapes!

This review is overdue. This is one of the companies I got the chance to work with to fix a drainage overflow in our front patio. After doing some research Liaison landscapes gave me the best solution and I am overly happy with the results. Working through the proposal with Chrissy and Markus was incredibly easy and the work is absolutely chef's kiss. I wish I had taken pictures of before and after for our patio but it truly looks amazing. They took out our current patio pavers and dug onto the dirt, placed 4 dry well barrels in place and put the same exact patio pavers on top. With the addition of having shaped/cut the pavers to fit the catch basin.

A lot of people walk by and have no clue that it no longer overflows. It has been a nightmare prior to the drainage system since we always had to take the sump pump during rainy days. Did I mention that the drainage system was finished within 3 days? Our continous nightmare that had been going for years and years was fixed in 3 days! Who would have thought?

Thank you Markus, Chrissy and the construction team for making our lives a little easier during this rainy season. Hope to work with you in the near future!

I am writing this review with a heavy heart, having harbored a high level of optimism when my husband and I first decided to entrust our mid-sized San Francisco project to Liaison Landscapes. Regrettably, our experience with them turned out to be far from satisfactory and left us feeling extremely frustrated and disappointed.

A successful project relies heavily on proficient project management. However, the team at Liaison Landscapes seems to lack this critical skill. The organization of our project was haphazard at best, which led to numerous delays and countless inefficiencies. For a company that prides itself on professional service, their handling of our project was simply unacceptable.
Communication, or rather the lack of it, was another major stumbling block in our interaction with Liaison Landscapes.

There seemed to be a pervasive disconnect between us and the team assigned to our project. Our concerns and queries often went unanswered, and when they were addressed, the responses were vague and unhelpful. This lack of clear and timely communication added an unnecessary layer of stress and confusion to the already chaotic situation.

It is with sincere regret that I find myself compelled to advise potential customers to think twice before engaging Liaison Landscapes. We put our trust in them for our landscaping project and unfortunately, we were met with a disastrous experience. It's imperative for any professional service to understand the importance of competent project management and effective communication, and it is clear that Liaison Landscapes has considerable room for improvement in these areas.

I have a house I need to sell that had no curb appeal. Liaison Landscape to the rescue. They redid my front & back yard installing all new irrigation, new plants & lawn at a competitive price with good communication

Markus and his team at Liaison did a stellar job transforming our SF jungle of a backyard into a beautiful and functional space. Markus was extremely professional and straightforward from the initial consult all the way to the closeout walk thru. We came to them with a general concept of our vision, and he helped us finalize and execute the plan within our budget, ahead of schedule, and with no surprises along the way. A contractor myself, I cannot speak highly enough of the quality, value, professionalism, and ease of execution we experienced with Liaison. I wish more contractors of this caliber existed to service Bay Area homeowners!

I'm very grateful that Markus and Chrissy took the time to hear me out on the particular needs of my project. They called at the agreed upon time, were friendly and personable, and wasted no time getting right to the heart of the discussion. I left our chat with a clear idea of their working model and the services they offer.

This is clearly one of the top tier landscaping companies in the Bay Area. If you have a landscaping need, I encourage you to put them on your short list of folks to call.

Markus and team did an awesome job on our backyard. We gave them a rough idea of what we wanted and they came up with a great design that fit our budget. They got the work done quickly and were very professional. Every guy on the team took a lot of pride in their work and made sure it was done correctly. They worked with our last minute adjustments and made sure the final result was something we were happy with. We used to avoid going in our backyard because of the mess that it was but now we love it!

These guys were fantastic! Spoke to the owner Markus who was very knowledgeable and easy to work with. We were not exactly sure what we wanted, but he took his time to give my wife and I plenty of ideas to think about. We went ahead and booked Liaison Landscapes and their team did an amazing job. Our backyard was a major source of stress but now it is a relaxing and tranquil place to spend time. We updated the walkway as well, and it gave our house a whole new look. Really happy with everything these guys did, and I would absolutely recommend them. Just overall a really great experience.