The good: I, like many, started a COVID garden. I went to MGC and bought my first vegetable seedlings and soil, and never looked anywhere else. The store was well laid out, well stocked and clearly they took very good care of their plants. I felt like an adult, and like a legit gardener (even though I wasn't one, really), coming here. I bought a snake plant that was $189 which seemed outrageously priced but was big enough to separate into 3 smaller plants, and justified it since the rest of my expenses had gone down during quarantine.

The bad: Then one day I went to Lowe's in Chantilly and even Home Depot across the street and saw that they also had more varieties of seedlings (many more varieties for MUCH, much cheaper) and even much more mature plants. We were able to get a 3.5' tomato plant for $10 (granted, it was on sale). I generally see many more options at Home Depot, the same soils/fertilizers/seeds for a few to 5 bucks less. And Walmart? Forget about - way cheaper!

Now the ugly. I had done some research online but saw conflicting information on the interweb, as usually happens. So I decided to ask their plant expert. I watched as they sat in front of me and Googled the answer to the same question I had Googled from home, then had to wait for them to find me an answer while the kids I had in tow were losing it, quick. They took the first link they found, BTW. I was so disappointed and thought that it couldn't be right - everyone always touts MCG's knowledge right? I went back another time with a different question, to get the same experience with a different staff person. They've always been able to charge a premium because their expertise commands it. No longer seems to be the case.

Come on, MGC, get your act together. I can't justify going back there.

We were looking to install a patio in our backyard, and filled out the online form for a consultation. First of all, unlike most quotes, MGC charges you $75 for someone to come out. But we heard good things about them, so we moved forward. Phil Holland came as scheduled, and looked at our backyard. We told him what we were thinking ; he offered no ideas of his own (despite supposedly being an expert); and then he took a few measurements. He was there for approximately 15 minutes. A few days later, he emailed back with a quote ($20,000 to $23,000) with no details -- nothing regarding type of material, how much of this was going to labor versus materials, how it would be installed (pavers, on concrete slab, etc.), how long it would take to complete the project, etc. He also said he wasn't sure if we needed a step on the patio and could send an engineer to take more measurements for grading purposes. I wasn't expecting a drawing or anything, but for $75, thought there would be more details. I also didn't understand why he wouldn't have taken the correct measurements (i.e., the change in grade, which even I could measure by looking at the foundation of our house) when he was there.

I responded and asked for a cost breakdown and if there were ways to lower the cost. His only response was that using concrete pavers would lower the cost by a couple thousand dollars, and that the original quote was for flagstone dry set. I emailed again, asking for more concrete numbers than "a few thousand less," more details on what it means to dry-set, and for photos of what the flagstone option vs concrete pavers would look like.

Two weeks passed and no response. I followed up again, and still no response.

This was a total waste of time, and frankly appalled by the lack of MGC customer service (especially when I paid $75 for a consult, when most landscapers do free quotes).

We were looking to install a patio in our backyard, and filled out the online form for a consultation. First of all, unlike most quotes, MGC charges you $75 for someone to come out. But we heard good things about them, so we moved forward. Phil Holland came as scheduled, and looked at our backyard. We told him what we were thinking ; he offered no ideas of his own (despite supposedly being an expert); and then he took a few measurements. He was there for approximately 15 minutes. A few days later, he emailed back with a quote ($20,000 to $23,000) with no details -- nothing regarding type of material, how much of this was going to labor versus materials, how it would be installed (pavers, on concrete slab, etc.), how long it would take to complete the project, etc. He also said he wasn't sure if we needed a step on the patio and could send an engineer to take more measurements for grading purposes. I wasn't expecting a drawing or anything, but for $75, thought there would be more details. I also didn't understand why he wouldn't have taken the correct measurements (i.e., the change in grade, which even I could measure by looking at the foundation of our house) when he was there.

I responded and asked for a cost breakdown and if there were ways to lower the cost. His only response was that using concrete pavers would lower the cost by a couple thousand dollars, and that the original quote was for flagstone dry set. I emailed again, asking for more concrete numbers than "a few thousand less," more details on what it means to dry-set, and for photos of what the flagstone option vs concrete pavers would look like.

Two weeks passed and no response. I followed up again, and still no response.

This was a total waste of time, and frankly appalled by the lack of MGC customer service (especially when I paid $75 for a consult, when most landscapers do free quotes).

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