Juniper Landscape Company

We hired JCMS to do a complete landscaping job after having rebuilt a 1920 Craftsman bungalow in Hillcrest. We needed pavers, landscaping, irrigation, drainage, lighting, plants — almost everything after our landscape designer provided plans. Jesse, Gabe, Santos, James and Jose did impeccable work and were a pleasure to deal with. Professional, prompt, helpful, experts with a totally customer service orientation. They worked hard every day from start to finish, and they were completely responsive to questions or problems. We were delighted with the whole experience and it was a great conclusion to our project. We would highly recommend them.

JCMS Landscaping is the one company that works with you to create, develop, install, and maintain landscaping that enhances, provides aesthetic and market value for your residence. We have worked with the group on several projects, including difficult specialty incidents that were completely a surprise during install of the landscape, where other persons would have taken advantage the JCMS team worked with us to am end the fees and not rip us off as others would have done. The staff and field workers for JCMS Landscaping are honest and always helpful to supply the best service possible. Their employees advise when necessary and don’t cut corners on small quirks in a considerate professional manner. The ability to compromise and work with our specific issues sets them apart from the other hundreds of landscapers in San Diego, we value their ethics and trustable way of doing business.

What has happened to all the previously positive reviews of this business and only two negative reviews posted? Are positive reviews being intentionally removed?
We selected JCMS from amongst 3 competitive bids for a complete overhaul of our landscape in Winter/​Spring 2013 after a disastrous swimming pool leak. We decided to xeriscape the front, back and side yard, and move out a fence allowing more space and an open drought tolerant design (provided by Letz Design). The plan was well executed by JCMS and once excavation began, they found that there were significant problems underground with the water supply to the house and a crushed storm drain system. What is underground now is far better laid out and the main workers (Mike and Santos) had an extremely good eye for drainage slopes. They also did an excellent job in contouring and installing pavers as well as a fire pit and 12′ x 12′ pergola on raised pavers. The LED lighting looks spectacular (Unique Lighting Brass Knights) and was installed on multiple hubs for uniformity. The JCMS contractor also worked with us to allow interruption in the landscaping project while we contracted for the house exterior to be painted and matched to the wrought iron fence pilasters and fire pit, prior to the installation of the plants. They left their material and did another job until the painting was complete and then resumed. This was a complex job requiring gas line relocation and proper shut-​off valves, electrical power to a fountain and pergola, custom fire-​pit and bench, flagstone shaping and installation of pavers as well as the gardening aspects. Some incorrect pavers were delivered which did not match others and the contactors would not install them but waited for a new delivery of matching pavers. Some plants from our design were not available and they worked with us to find suitable replacements. They relocated some existing mature plantings of cyad and citrus and did a good job of new plantings although there was some attrition, which were replaced (one plant installed without drip irrigation for example) and the irrigation fixed. We had some minor problems with the drip irrigation but the contactors were there by 7am the next morning to fix the problem. They provided 30 days of follow-​up maintenance for the job, and it may have gone as long as 45 – 60 days of checkups. This was by far the biggest landscaping job we ever have to done (the entire yard was done) and we expected there would be hiccups but by and large this was high quality work by attentive workers. The workers were also extremely polite, and easy to work with. This rating would have been 5 stars but the plantings were done quickly and lighting and irrigation lines covered with mulch very quickly. It would have been better to allow us to see what was under the mulch before it was covered. Overall we highly recommend JCMS to anyone seeking to landscape their property and would use them again without hesitation. Special thanks to Mike and Santos who are especially committed to quality work.

Jesse does amazing work. If you are need of on new yard or just want to simply maintain the one you have jcms landscaping is the place to go! Great work for a great price no matter how big or small!

We hired JCMS to revamp our backyard. My husband and I saw their work at the San Diego Home and Garden show up in Del Mar 2 years ago and loved them. When we finally decided to invest in landscaping, they were the people we called. Our quote was very reasonable, and Jesse came out to take a look at our existing backyard. He had a design back to us very quickly that was exactly what we were looking for. Once we finalized the design, the crew was out and the work was started. It took 1 solid week to do the entire yard. Everyone was respectful and professional. Our end product is AMAZING! We couldn’t be happier and we would happily use JCMS again. Our job wasn’t a big one, but we never felt like we were anything but valued clients.

So, I’m giving two stars (vs 1) because I liked the designer. He’s no longer with the company, so there you have it.
I wish I knew then what I know now about landscaping, irrigation, etc. I have sadly been forced to learn.
2 years ago, my husband and I purchased our first house out in Escondido. The yard was a mess, and we were told by the neighbors that the lawns had always been a problem (patchy, dying). My husband spent months replacing bad sprinklers and tooling with the irrigation system before deciding that the irrigation was just a disaster and really just needed replacing. Plus, the landscape design was outdated in the front and just weird in the back.
So we went to Angie’s list (why, dunno, seemed like the thing to do) and interviewed a few companies with good ratings.
We wanted someone who could design an interesting landscape that was relatively water wise (understanding that I did want a decent amount of lawn in the back yard for the dogs). I am NOT a fan of the «cactus garden» look, I hate palm trees and I’m marginal on succulents. I also like natural lines and don’t like a lot of artificial hardscaping.
We met with the designer from JCMS and he made a really good impression. Despite the fact that he didn’t write anything down, he came back with a design that was unique, especially in the front, and met almost all of the request that I rambled. My only major bummer was that he said they could not save the mature fruit trees in the back yard or either of the flourishing Japanese Maple. In hindsight, I think he could have designed around several of them…
We were both really excited to get started. Unfortunately — we would have to wait. Jesse took FOREVER to get an estimate together (something about the Del Mar garden show… and. and…). We finally got a solid estimate and then there was a lot of dragging to get deposits and finally get started (months after we started). Ultimately, the job stared in late summer when it was hot as hell — not a good time to plant plants or get a lawn started.
We had a sparse crew and the work took a bit of time. I don’t know for sure if it took excessively long for what they did, but I remember getting the feeling that they had bigger fish to fry than our $ 50K job. While it was a lot of money to us, I’ve seen JCMS guys contracted to some of the big shopping centers near work — so I guess we were small potatoes. Sadly, FELT like we were small potatoes throughout the job.
For the record, whoever was the main guy on the jobsite (I am terrible with names) was great. He was friendly, did his work, and was easy to talk to. Still, the OWNER of the business rarely contacted us except to tell us we owed him more money or to answer to my husband when something went wrong. He NEVER checked on the job site.
So, finally the job was finished. The front looked nice enough and the back yard was sparse but functional. The first thing that irritated me was that large trees they pulled from the original yard were with replaced with MUCH smaller, younger trees — I wish we would have been asked if we wanted to pay extra for more mature trees, especially the fruit trees. The very worst thing was that, once they final payment was made, they basically just packed up and left. While the contract stated that they would maintain the lawn for 3 months, Jesse told us that he «didn’t have any other jobs up in Escondido» so he would credit us the money so we could hire our own gardener. Okay Fine.
Here’s the rub though. We had a bunch of new plants and a new sprinkler system. We got a piece of paper telling us what controlled which part of the yard, but NO ONE explained to us any of the care of the plants. SO MANY of the plants have died or are dying. They planted aloe-​looking succulents that can’t handle the cold of Escondido winters — they died the last time it hit freezing. The avocado tree (also basically a twig when they planted it), I’m pretty sure is dead, the grapefruit tree looks like it has some horrible disease, and the other citrus tress look like they’re struggling. (Mind you, the OLD citrus were doing fine) We haven’t changed the sprinkler settings that they left and we have confirmed that they are working. Things are getting water, but I think that a bunch of the plants just can’t handle the full sun that most of the yard gets. I don’t know enough about plants, and just wish we would have been properly counseled before we paid the insane markup for all these new plants.
Now for the back lawn — These guys I think know nothing about irrigation or grating or whatever — one side is always SOPPING wet while the other parts are dry or normal. We even forced them to put another drain on that side when we noticed it was flooding.
I am writing this months after completion because we’re staring to notice how little counsel we were given and how little care was taken to ensure that our $ 50K investment didn’t die off.

I highly recommend Jesse and the JCMS team. They always go above and beyond. Their attention to detail and years of experience will make your property stand out. Great customer service and quality work… everything you could hope for in a contractor.

JCMS just completed an amazing transformation of our back yard. From start to finish the owner was available and in touch as well as the on site project manager. After discussing what our vision was, we were provided a stunning design and affordable bid. The work crew was prompt, efficient, friendly, and respectful of the fact that I was home with my toddler and newborn most of the times they were working. All concerns were immediately addressed with us and resolved with no issues. Options for upgrades, (types of sprinklers, irrigation), were presented and installed per our decisions with no delay of work. The job was completed in the anticipated time frame to our complete satisfaction! Jesse, Gabe, and Ben were all amazing to work with, they even helped us figure out a solution to keep our dogs from wrecking our new landscape. So thrilled to have scored a fantastic experience with a locally based, family owned company of integrity! Will definitely use again and recommend to friends and neighbors.

We DO NOT recommend JCMS.
We received a bid from JCMS to implement a landscape design created by a 3^rd design company. The bid looked fine & was reasonable. We were told our yard would take 2 – 3 weeks to complete & it turned into 2 months.
We own multiple properties & for years have used many contractors to do anything from small jobs, to major remodels. We’ve always had wonderful experiences with other contractors & have never seen a company as poorly managed as JCMS.
Plants were not ordered correctly, we were overcharged on the final invoice & there was little to no management. We really liked the work crew that worked for JCMS, & felt bad as they were given minimal direction.
When the project was near completion, Jesse (the owner of JCMS) came out to see the job. At this visit, Jesse blamed the designer for the issues; while the design didn’t meet our expectations, we had issues with JCMS’ work. Jesse had little to no accountability for the lack of management & poor execution of the job (nothing to do with the design).
Here are a few of the issues we had:
— Major communication problems. As the job progressed, we’d point out issues to the «project manager» who seemed to change weekly. We went around the yard multiple times pointing out issues & notes were never taken. Between the sales rep, the off sight manager & the on-​site manager, we had to keep revisiting the same issues over & over. No one thought to use a clip board & take notes. Throughout the job, there wasn’t a clear point of contact of who was managing the project and our issues were not properly relayed to the crew executing the work.
— As with any job, changes happen. Yes, we made a few changes to the # of plants. I’m sure we aren’t the first people to do this. Here’s where I have a problem… after the job was completed, we asked Jesse to come over to see the end result. When Jesse was here, I asked him to do a plant count & he assured me that he already had it. When the final bid came, the plant count was off by 17 plants. We were we over charged hundreds of dollars even after I specifically asked Jesse if he had an accurate plant count. When we pointed this out, Jesse didn’t acknowledge his error & sent a new final invoice with no apology.
— The final bid Jesse prepared stated we had 6 sprinkler zones (we only have 4). Even after his final visit, Jesse still charged us for 6 zones. At $ 300-​$ 500/​zone, this is a major oversight. We pointed this out to Jesse & he sent us a revised bid with no apology or acknowledgement. As a customer, I shouldn’t have to manage the invoices.
— We’ve had several landscapers come out to give us bids to redo the yard. These landscapers are saying the same thing… We’re learning that JCMS used cheap & incorrect sprinkler heads & we were overcharged for plants. We’ve had many issues with the sprinklers. Many of the plants are dying due to improper sprinkler heads & the lack of proper water coverage. Plants are expensive & this has caused a loss of hundreds of dollars. We’re also learning that JCMS didn’t put the sprinkler heads in the best locations causing plants to die.
— Once the job was over, we kept asking Jesse to revise the bill to correct his mistakes. Jesse never apologized for overcharging us about $ 1600. Even after we pointed out his errors & let him know we felt he was intentionally overcharging us (which in our minds is the same as stealing), he never apologized. He would just send us an email asking to «remit payment» multiple times a week with an attached invoice. You’d think after a customer catches «an error» on a bill overcharging $ 1600, you’d pick up the phone with an apology. As a business owner, the last think I’d want is for a client to think is that I was intentionally overcharging them. I’d apologize and provide an explanation to my customer.
— The original bid included relocating a fence on the side of our yard. Apparently there was an «oversight» & the crew realized we didn’t have a fence along the side of our house that needed relocating. We needed a new fence to be installed. The contractors at JCMS made up for it by bringing by a used fence, but JCMS had us pay $ 60/​post to install the fence. We had to come out of pocket an extra $ 420 (7 posts) for THEIR oversight. JCMS should have eaten this cost.
— JCMS had us pay for an $ 80 port-​o-​potty. From day 1, we offered the use of our restroom. I see a port-​o-​potty as a cost of doing business and shouldn’t be passed onto the customer. Other contractors we’ve used have paid for port-​o-​potties.
We’ll never use JCMS again. Had there been some accountability & follow up, I wouldn’t have written this review. But, here we are, job allegedly completed, invoices paid, plants dying & sprinklers wasting water. Jesse knew we weren’t happy & didn’t go out of his way to do a final follow up call to make sure he left our job on a positive note. We wasted thousands of dollars using JCMS.

I have known the Cryn’s family business since 1996 and know that they provide superior service with awesome designs. The company is large enough to complete projects in a very timely manner while still small enough to provide heartful caring attention to individual needs. Additionally, they give back to the community and have a keen interest in protecting the environment with zero– scape designs to reduce water consumption. I have personally seen numerious projects and am always impressed with the completion results. HIRE THEM!