In May 2002 we moved into our new home in Valley Ridge and began planning our landscaping project with a contractor ready to start work early 2003. Little did we know that we were about to embark upon a lengthy frustrating journey. We have survived with our health intact but our bank account somewhat lighter than expected.
The first contractor came highly recommended and finished the front yard in October 2002 but the experience of a salesperson who continually over promised and under provided left us jaded. Also their plan was to access the back yard on the low side of the house where the gap between the houses in narrow. This would require the bobcat to drive over the neighbour’s concrete pad with risk of damage. As soon as we realized this we decided it was time to switch contractors.
Our second choice also came with a recommendation and was a smaller family sized company. They did a good job in the end, though they had to access the back of the house by driving over the already landscaped front portion of the house requiring it to be redone at the end of the project. We did however fall victim to what is a common practice of a contractor starting a job, to ensure the job is theirs, but then being unable to complete all the work that they have contracted to do. As a result the contractor showed up when he realized our patience was wearing thin, do just enough to pacify us and then disappear again. A job that started in spring 2003 took all summer to get completed. The primary contractor sub-contracted the waterfall part of the project and everything worked fine for the first year but then it developed some leaks during the summer of 2004. The sub-contractor tried some superficial repairs and went onto explain that he had been pressured by the primary contractor to keep to a very low budget. Whether this was true or not we never found out but it certainly did not endear us to the waterfall contractor who had obviously compromised his own standards.
We were now again on our own to sort out the waterfall problem. One of our neighbours spoke highly of a company called Ananda Landscaping. Ananda had done their landscaping and what impressed us was that the landscaper had followed up periodically after the job to ensure everything was as expected. We contacted Ron at Ananda and gave him the go ahead to pull out the existing waterfall and pond and completely redo it properly. Ron gave us a quotation which was certainly more than expected but we also had the confidence that he would deliver on his promises. I have to say that Ananda exceeded our expectations. Quality work was performed and within the 2 week time frame that was laid out. The after sales service has been exemplary. A new type of transformer was placed on the waterfall lighting system and this failed twice. Both times Ananda promptly showed up and replaced the transformer and it is now working perfectly.
The waterfall/pond system has spectacular lighting, aquatic plants and a number of fish and it is our pride and joy. The annual Stampede Block Party in July always ends up in our backyard and we socialise well into the small hours of the morning enjoying the ambiance created by the sound of running water and the subtle lighting.
I have no hesitation at all in recommending Ron and Ananda for any water feature project. We are so proud of our water feature that we would be happy to show it off to anyone who is thinking of doing a similar project.
All’s well that ends well….thanks to Ananda.
Edgar Hulatt
