Ross NW Watergardens

I’ve worked with dozens of contractors over the years and Ben is one of the very best in professionalism, ethics and craftsmanship. Their work is professional, thoughtful and thorough. Ben’s communication is excellent; he’s very thoughtful about the project and making sure the client’s needs are met. In our case, he surpassed our expectations. His pricing is fair; Ben offered several options so we could decide what fit our budget. Even though we chose some of the lower-​priced options, we ended up getting more than we asked for in all the thoughtful details. Ben and his crew delivered a superior finished product for the same price as other contractors who had bid for a more basic product. We’re so happy with his work — I wouldn’t hesitate to hire him again!

We moved to Portland from San Francisco to a beautiful new Portland Foursquare in July of 2014. The previous owners did not have a green thumb, and what little planting that was done by the contractor when the home was built, had been barely maintained and did not compliment the home very well. I knew I wanted a japanese garden and my husband wanted a water feature in our back yard, so I’m still not sure how, but I found Sada Uchiyama online, and I sought him out in June before we closed on our house. Sada will only work with Joe Bowen (Ross NW Watergardens), and so this is how we met Joe.
Joe came out to our home with Sada for an appointment, and it took us six months to get on Joe’s construction calendar! Even though the wait time was frustrating, it was SO WORTH THE WAIT. Our home was beautiful, but our front and back yard are now stunning. Our neighbors regularly stop by and thank us for re-​doing our yard. I thought our yard was only distasteful to us, but obviously not!
Joe was terrific to work with: responsive, accommodating, easy going, and just a really nice guy. Anytime I had a question, he was there. Any time I’ve had a concern, he reassured me. If there was a problem, he came down to fix it himself.
Efrain and his wife, as well as his brother are knowledgeable, hard working, and diligent. They started our project in the middle of November (COLD!) and worked through February. Joe’s team showed up every morning at 8am and left at 5pm, and worked all day, unless thy had an occasional appointment, or were out getting materials. I never had to check on them, and they were always making progress. They worked so hard sometimes, when they moved the boulders into our back yard, I wanted to go run and help them! I watched them work through pelting rain and freezing temperatures. I could not believe their dedication and skill.
In the meantime we had a basement build out of our home, and I can honestly say that the comparison of experiences were night and day. Joe knows how to run a business. He’s ethical, understands customer service, and is just a really great small business owner/​manager. I’ve never met his son Ben, but can only imagine he is terrific to work with as well. The two of them make a great team, and I couldn’t have been more pleased. I highly recommend this business and if given the chance to do it all over again, would hire them in a heartbeat. Joe and his team are absolutely the best contracting experience we’ve ever had and I am so grateful we hired them. They earned everything we paid them.

We had a depressing situation with the loss of 5 large trees and we were overwhelmed. Ben helped us with ideas that reflected our style of gardening, but also pushed us a little to try new things. He renegotiated about the project in a way that was respectful and comfortable. We really enjoyed working with him. He also gave lots of extra information about nurseries and maintenance. Highly recommend.

Ben is great. We called three different landscapers for quotes. Ben’s was the highest… but, he was the most thorough. We got the feeling the other companies were used to a specific set of plants and would just give you some cookie-​cutter landscaping. Ben took the time to talk us through the project, 3-​dozen emails, 20 different plant and tree combinations… etc. He was so great to work with and the crew he brought was respectful and professional.

Wow! Great company; great follow-​through. Ben came back when I was concerned about some of my plants… gave me some advice.

I just have to say how pleased I was with these guys! My husband and I were building a new home and the landscaper wasn’t quite getting what our vision was for the front yard dry creek bed. I was looking for examples of dry creek beds on line and came across Ross NW water designs and fell in love with their work. I phoned them and they were willing to come up with a design for us and even came all the way out to our build site and marked out the design… Thank you so much!

I called Ben when we moved into a house with an established Koi pond, and he walked me through its care step by step. Then when it was overflowing, he came out at no charge and fixed it. Later, when we needed it changed, he got his team out here and they did an awesome job. Professional, reliable, focused on quality, and skilled. I’m sure there are teams that are cheaper, but probably not better.

I made a firm appointment with Ben Bowen after a few emails about an irrigation project. He didn’t show up for the appointment and never followed up by email or phone.
Time has passed but even if he did follow up now, I would hesitate that they would follow through on the project. As a result, when recommending firms for this work I will only be able to say that the company doesn’t perform as promised.

Ben, Joe and Efron totally reimagined and revamped our front and side entryways. The new look really enhances our surroundings. The team worked with us when one solution didn’t end up being the right one. Work was done precisely and quickly. We are now getting lots of compliments on our paved walkways and patio.

The crew at Ross NW Watergardens is great! They are friendly and very helpful in teaching you to understand the equipment in your yard. The timer on my sprinkler system needed some tweaking and they were so nice to take the time to show me how it was done. I highly recommend them!

I am so happy I went with these guys! They really do an excellent job on my yard. Their attention to detail is incredible. Like a good haircut, my plants and trees grow in so nicely after they come.

In Portland there are two competent active Japanese garden designers, Kurisu Hoichi and Uchiyama Sadafumi. Kurisu is a past chief gardener at the Portland Japanese Gardens and Uchiyama is the current garden curator, a newly created position. Mizuno Masayuki is also a past chief gardener, a specialist in plant maintenance and restoration, but he rarely takes on new clients. I’m not sure if Tanaka Toru is still active. (Here is a full review of designers connected with Portland:
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There is one competent Japanese landscape construction company in the area, and this is it, Ross Northwest Water Gardens, headed by Joe Bowen. He has 36 years experience in landscaping, including 4 years managing Kurisu’s construction group, and then 13 years on his own. He is Uchiyama’s preferred landscape construction company, collaborating with him for many years.
There are innumerable landscape construction companies that claim to be able to do this work. They just don’t get it. Sure, there is a place for a guy with clippers, a leaf blower and a pickup. But of you need a crane and someone who knows how to chain up a one ton boulder to move it, and plant it right side up, making it look Japanese good, without killing someone, these are the guys (and they had a girl on the team too).
Landscape designs are done on paper, so there is a lot of experience needed to tastefully translate the two dimensional plan into a tasteful three dimensional garden. That requires selecting plant material from specialized nurseries, including to the trade only nurseries. With Japanese gardens, it means selecting, moving and orienting boulders too, because the shape of the boulders cannot be specified at the design stage. Water features are an art in themselves.
Joe and his team are the best in the region at it. They remain calm, are glad to work with you to select rocks and plants, and adjust the design as it is built. Nice people too.
If you ever have a chance to undertake an ambitious landscape project, I can’t recommend Joe and his crew more highly.