Business Description: About Us
John D’Urso has worked basically in every phase of Landscape Construction & started in the trenches so to speak. This experience coupled with a great sense of design & spatial relationships has turned him into one of the finer Landscape Designers in Los Angeles. Very few designers are intimately familiar with every aspect & nuance of what it takes to pull off a spectacular job both on a technical level and an aesthetic one as well. You'll also see by browsing through our web galleries, the diverse amount of styles & designs. This is because he listens to his clients' needs. His goal is to clarify that "foggy" image in their head of what they want and make it a reality.
He started at the age of nineteen designing, installing & maintaining tropical plant layouts for offices, homes & restaurants. Little by little the business grew (no pun intended). Clients started asking for outdoor work & things just went from there. First with maintenance crews. Then into planting & hardscape etc. While educating himself in all aspects of design by taking landscape design courses (at night & on weekends), he started working for a large spec builder, which was run by the grandson of Better Homes & Gardens magazine founder. The first job for them was a paltry $500.00 to design & install a small entryway planting. Recognizing his talents they quickly gave him very large estate homes (mostly built on spec) to do on small budgets. His work for them was received with literally glowing reviews. The builder subsequently spent well over a million dollars with him as he became their chief Landscape/Hardscape Contractor.
Given his very busy schedule & many hats (designer, sales coordinator, chief technical supervisor etc.), he has developed the ability to walk through a project & see everything that's wrong (and right) immediately.
Are you licensed? Yes. Lic# 749557
Do you have your own crews?
Yes. We have a base crew of 10 men. We do most of our work in house including; grading, drainage, lighting, irrigation, soil preparation, planting, ponds/waterfalls, flagstone, brick work, retaining walls, block walls, fencing, fire pits etc.
What type of Hardscape work do you do?
We do the complete gamut - Fireplaces, BBQ's & Outdoor Kitchens, Patio Covers, Pools/Spas, Ponds/waterfalls, Flagstone, Brick & Stamped Concrete, Block Walls/Retaining Walls, Sports Courts...pretty much everything outdoors.
Do you build pools/spas?
We design & oversee construction of pools/spas & related. We draw up plans for city submittal & get the engineering completed. We use only Experienced & Licensed pool contractors who give us substantial discounts so that we can be very competitive.
Install Lighting?
We take lighting seriously around here. There's lots of technical & aesthetic aspects to installing a lighting system & we would be more than glad to let you in on all the secrets. Nothing can create a mood like night lighting, when done right, it's magic.
Are you expensive?
“If you think it's expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur”
How many times have you bought the less expensive version of something only to have it disappoint you enough to go back & buy the higher quality one you should have gotten in the first place? We've all done this and in reality it costs you more in the long run because you ended up buying two of them!
If you ask most Professional Architects, Engineers, Project Managers etc., they'll usually tell you the mid-level bids are the ones to go for. In fact it's quite common to take the highest & lowest bid & throw them away and then compare what's left. A low bid, while looking like it will save you money can sometimes be the most frustrating position to be in. If one Contractor is substantially lower than the rest you have to ask yourself why. We have personally lost bids to lowball contractors and later got a call from the client & were asked if we could salvage the project. It has happened more than a few times! The old adage “if it seems too good to be true, it probably is” generally applies here.
We use only THE highest quality craftsman & a small select group of the best sub-contractors. We personally oversee every detail of construction, from both a technical level as well as an artistic one. We like when clients want to see our work. When they actually do compare our quality, they quickly realize that you get what you pay for. When you add it all up we think we're actually a bargain!
Also remember that besides being licensed, we carry Workman's Compensation (legally required) & have a one million dollar liability insurance policy (optional).
What areas do you cover?
We typically go from Thousand Oaks to Glendale & from West L.A. to Santa Clarita/Valencia. We have however been to known to go farther if the conditions are right.
Just call some of our client references & we're sure you'll be impressed!