December 18, 2004

To Whom It May Concern:

I am writing to recommend Scott Ware’s services as a landscape designer.

I initially noticed Scott’s advertisement in the Beverly Review and was impressed by the quality of the work evident on his website photos at www.scottwaregardens.com. That was followed by a personal recommendation from my neighbors, who told me how much they enjoy working with Scott, describing him as extremely knowledgeable but easy-going at the same time.

My neighbors are less obsessed with gardening than I am, and I wondered how Scott would react to someone with strong and sometimes irrational opinions about plants. However, I found Scott to be very patient and accommodating to work with. He repeatedly revised the landscape plan to indulge my inclinations, offering tactful and helpful suggestions along the way.

I had read about plants as a hobby for years, but I had serious concerns about my ability to place them attractively in the landscape. Scott has a great sense of scale. His plan positions plants that I love in a way that will provide a natural screen, four-season interest, and a lovely view from our porch and deck. Thanks to Scott, I feel confident that the effort and expense I put into our backyard will result in a beautiful landscape.

This help was invaluable to me, and I would not hesitate to recommend Scott to anyone looking for landscape design.

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Dear Scott,

I love the design of the front yard.  It has a feel that seems organic to the house and connected to the rear landscaping.  Your design connected with the circular patterns in the drive, and you followed my lead when I referred to the houses nearby with front yards that I liked.  The design reduces the scale of the house, and it will do so even more effectively when the trees and bushes grow to full scale.  There is a lushness to it, but also a restraint, which gives a kind of cottage garden feel while standing up to the imposing scale of the house.   You listened and understood what we wanted, and you chose plants that have the right look-and-feel yet are easy to maintain can stand up to a dry, hot summer.

When we hired you, I knew that I wanted a design that would add value to the house.  Your design completely altered the look of the front of the house for the better, and enhanced the “street appeal” immeasurably.  In Beverly, this matters a lot. I have no doubt that we will reap the benefits if/when we sell.  My husband, Stephen, was less sure about the investment first, in part because of the monetary cost, but also because he grew up in this house.  A house is not just an investment, particularly when the family home has been passed from one generation to the next.  You were sensitive to this, and were able to negotiate between my own desire to rip put those awful giant shrubs and my husband’s initial reluctance.  In the end, you won him over.  Later this summer, when the city came and cut down the diseased maple in the front yard, the one my husband had been planted as a child, he lost the last of the yard he had known in his boyhood.  That was hard to take, but the loss was tempered by the sense that the overall change was for the better.

Finally, I appreciate that you saved and even highlighted one plant:  the rose bush that my husband and I had given his mother while she lived.  I feel as though you designed the whole front yard as a kind of homage to that rose bush, which seems to thrive more every year.  It’s a fitting tribute to my husband’s mother.  She would have been pleased.  (In fact, I think she is).

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Beverly Area Planning Association
10233 South Wood Street
Chicago, IL 60643

Re: Scott Ware Landscaping

Dear BAPA

    Late last summer (August 2003) my wife and I had the good fortune to call Scott Ware landscaping in response to an advertisement that had been placed in the Beverly Review. I initially spoke with Scott Ware by telephone and “liked how he sounded”. We then scheduled a consultation meeting for, I recall, a very modest initial fee ($50.00). I was impressed with Scott Ware at our meeting and asked him to do some initial pruning and trimming of existing plant material at our home at . . .

     We later asked Scott Ware to prepare a type of “Master Garden Plan” for both our front and back yards. Scott was very careful to interview us to determine a number of things, including our “likes and dislikes”, how much time we had to spend in the garden, the character and architecture of our home and complimentary companion plantings as well as how much/little we wanted Scott to be involved in the actual plant selection, planting and maintenance. At all times throughout the process, we felt that although Scott Ware was prepared to give his opinion when we asked, he would also “defer” to our preferences, needs and desires. He would not be hesitant to “advocate” a certain opinion that he had but he would never be pushy or overbearing. Frankly, with his considerable experience and passion for gardening, we quickly came to rely on Scott’s recommendations, insights and opinions.

     As a result of the pruning and trimming that Scott did for us last fall with our existing landscape material, our trees and bushes never looked more beautiful than they did this spring and early summer. We then moved forward with a rather ambitious planting program with Scott this past spring and summer in terms of adding a considerable number of shrubs and plantings in the front yard and trees, shrubs and companion plantings in the (large) rear yard. As we made changes to the landscaping plan, Scott would keep up-to-date on the plan and would communicate regularly with us.

    We have also Scott to be both very honest and efficient in his billing. He has also been very flexible in working with us financially.

     My wife  and I can recommend Scott Ware Landscaping very highly and without reservation. Scott Ware is willing to be as “active and involved” as the homeowner wishes and is totally flexible to allow the homeowner to do as much of the plant selection and work as the homeowner wishes.