McCabe’s Nursery and Landscape Construction

John McCabe is truly a man of vision. The reformation of your yard is a process that starts with an initial visit to your home where he measures, photographs, and listens to your wants, needs, and budget constraints. Second, he immediately sets out to design your yard transformation. Next, comes the super fun, personalized, excursion in a golf cart through his nursery where he shows you his passion by pointing out the plants and trees that he thinks will work in your area. I mean he knows the exact height, width, and number of flowers of each specimen. At the same time he is noting what colors, flowers, plants and trees that YOU, the customer, prefers. You get the feeling that he has all the time in the world for you. Thirdly, he calls you in to his office for the video presentation of his final plan for your yard. I was literally blown away when I saw the detailed illustration on the big screen tv. I did NOT recognize my own yard. Completion was in three weeks thanks to the supervision of Ingrid and the four man crew who works very HARD. Tomas, Luis, and the others were so kind and solicitous and answered all my questions courteously. It has now been many rains and 5 months later and I am ectastic with the profusion of flowers and growth of the plants. I never realized how boring a plain expanse of green grass was. Now my friends beg to come over and enjoy my beautiful new yard while we sip adult beverages by the firepit, hang out by the babbling fountain water feature he added, and just enjoy my beautiful new back yard. I ready the negative reviews here and I can’t even believe they are talking about the same man/​company. Thanks again, John and company for the enhancement and transformation of my yard.

I had a great experience with McCabe’s Nursery and Landscape. I had a large project that I needed done, including hardscape, a rock wall, outdoor stairs and landscaping. Their team of experts, listened to what I wanted and did very quality work. Every day the team showed up in the morning and went right to work. The staff was friendly and answered any of our questions about the work being performed. If the lead Miguel did not have an answer to one of my questions, he would have Ingrid, the project manager contact me right away. I always knew what was going on during the entire process. I am more than thrilled with the outcome of my project and I would highly recommend McCabe’s Nursery and Landscape for any of your outdoor projects!

We love, love, love the front and back yards that McCabe’s designed and installed at our home. They were all friendly and great to work with, and they took our suggestions and added their own to come up with the unique and beautiful design we were hoping for. There were a couple of issues which came up (largely due to miscommunication or disagreement between me and my husband!), and they were nothing but patient and understanding. Since our yard was finished my husband had one issue, and McCabe’s came right out and fixed it promptly. I highly recommend this company and would use them again in a heartbeat.

To say that McCabe’s transformed our yard to a garden wonderland is no overstatement. People are quick to complain, and slower to compliment. We hired McCabe’s in April of 2015. I was immediately impressed with John’s knowledge of plants and suggestions when he initially came to our house. We then toured their nursery to point out plants, trees and shrubs that we liked or didn’t care for while John took notes for use in the design process. A week or so later we met with John’s daughter, Melissa, the landscape designer at the design center where we saw our plans projected on a big screen, like you see on a home improvement program. Her design blew us away, as it was beyond anything my wife and I could have imagined. Her knowledge of plants exceeds that of her dad (sorry John). Melissa spent time with us as we tweaked the plans and we ended up adding our slope to be converted to drip irrigation. When the work began in May, it was again like you see on a home improvement show, with a full in-​house crew tearing out our old landscaping and hardscape. All work was completed in a few weeks, even with a couple of rain delays. Miguel, the crew leader, paid close attention to detail and all the workers were energetic and also eager to learn from each other. The yard makeover left us in awe. We had avoided our backyard for years, but now it is an extension of our living area. I used to think windows were only for letting the light in, but now we look out at our backyard garden, and our dog loves it, too. She loves trotting around the DG path when she’s not ‘fertilizing’ the gardens. The front yard makeover was equally impressive and I had no idea what a bore (and water waster) grass is. Now, we marvel at our front yard garden areas as the plants bloom and flower at different times. With any life-​changing project, there are bound to be some bumps in the road. What earns McCabe’s 5 stars is that they responded and remedied our concerns, Over all, they are a great family business to work with because they care about quality through all steps of the process — from operating a nursery to know what grows or doesn’t in this region, to being on the cutting edge of yard design, to proper installation and maintenance. I purposely waited to write this review to speak to the longevity of their work and working relationship. We’ve seen landscaping jobs done by other companies in our neighborhood, but our yard stands out. People actually stop and take photos, but another telltale sign of quality is that our bark stays in place while it washes away in yards done by lesser landscape companies. As a final point, John was up front stating that their prices are higher than what other companies bid and I admit to initial sticker shock. That shock went away immediately when I saw the quality of the plants and the work performed. Our bark doesn’t wash away like we see in other yards, because McCabe’s applies a blanket of bark rather than a sprinkling of bark for appearances. It is that kind of detail that makes the difference.

I’m shocked at all of the bad reviews for this business, as we’ve had an excellent experience with McCabe’s. We retired to Temecula 3 years ago and McCabe’s was recommended to us by the realtor in the sales office for our new neighborhood, as several homeowners had told her how happy they were with their work, so we contacted McCabe’s to do our backyard and front courtyard. We knew that we wanted stamped, colored concrete in the back for minimal maintenance, but we wanted it to look good, too. John McCabe is extremely personable and knowledgeable about his business, and made some great suggestions for our courtyard and for the backyard design and the color of the concrete, and they both turned out well beyond our expectations. So, when we decided to do something with our front yard earlier this year, we were quick to call McCabe’s. Al came to see us and, although I thought I knew exactly what I wanted, he had some additional ideas for us that took our yard from boring to beautiful. Melissa is a great designer and showed us exactly what our yard would look like, along with several options, dependent on our preferences and our budget. Both she and John were very open to our input and made sure that we got exactly what we wanted. Tino & the crew were extremely courteous and respectful and did a great job. Everyone at McCabe’s was extremely pleasant to work with and we are delighted with the results. We’ve also had McCabe’s doing our maintenance for the past three years and we’re very happy with Keith & Tom, who come every other Friday to «spruce up» our yard. Based on our personal experience, we would, without hesitation, very highly recommend McCabe’s.

We used McCabe Nursery to do our backyard. I’m surprised with the low ratings they’ve gotten as they have been super nice and easy to work with. From start to finish, they did an amazing job and our backyard looks great. Despite the bad reviews, we will still use McCabe Nursery for future landscape/​hardscape job.

Warning, worst company I have ever had to deal with in my life. So nice until they get paid. I had to ask that the front office secretary Tina not call me because when she did she was always so rude. Also once Melissa finishes your design, you will never here from her again. If you don’t like her choice of plants, you have to go through the secretaries and wait days for «her approval» to change it. I had to remind them it’s my yard, not theirs. They also over charge.
Horrible customer service. They say that the plants are guaranteed, but my tree died 2 months ago and they still have not replaced it. I also have several bushes that have died. The frustrating part is that they admit that the plant need to be replaced and every week they set up a time to come do it then they no-​show and when I call they reschedule. This has happened 5 times. I am in total disbelief that it happened again today.
They also over charge for maintenance and do a poor job. When I called I was told that the maintenance contract states they may not get yo the whole yard and that I’m paying by the hour. I had to beg them to pull weeds and they stated it would cost an additional 6 hours. Thank goodness my old landscaper was able to do it in 20 minutes for $ 25. Not the $ 300 they wanted to charge.
I wish I would have listened to the other Unilocal reviews. This really is a terrible company to try and work with.

What a disappointment. We used this company maybe 6 years ago. We are now tearing our ½ of what they did. They planted things so close to our fence that the roses just didn’t grow properly. Our dahlias died and we were told they were dormant and would come back — well they bloomed for one year and never did again. We lost 4 – 5 other plants almost immediately and were told they would replace them– never did. They planted too many plants that our yard was so overcrowded. Totally disappointed in the work that was done. I would not recommend this company at all.

FRAUD ALERT!
Summary:
–inept receptionist
–schedule changes
–late arrivals
–no return phone calls
–fraudulent scheme with mulch co
–tiny plants sold in big pots
–plants full of weeds
–workers who do poor work
–rude nursery coordinator
–lying foreman/​project manager
–lost designs/​design managers who keep quitting
Whole Story (well, most of it):
Unfortunately I started my project with McCabe’s back in 2013 and tabled it for a while, not seeing these horrible Unilocal reviews. I only used them for landscaping, not for hardscaping which I found MUCH cheaper elsewhere. Landscaping seemed reasonable enough for the plants, though labor costs were high enough ($ 45/​hr for any yardwork; $ 60 to plant a 15g; $ 15 to plant a 5g; $ 5 to plant a 1g; $ 150 to remove a tiny stump) that I decided to install half the plants myself and do all my own drip irrigation. In the two years of occasionally getting to the design and updating it, my design manager quit twice. By the end, they didn’t even have a designer for me, just Ingrid, the nursery coordinator, who told me they had lost the design (which I had paid for) and she needed me to send her my plant locations for the final install drawn out on whatever my own last sketch was.
The receptionist on multiple occasions told me over the phone that she was scheduling me for either an install day or a visit from the project manager. Later I’d find out from someone else that I wasn’t on their calendar at all. Or, the project manager would show up 2 hours before our meeting time saying that’s what he had on his calendar.
One of my install days was rescheduled by Al, the project manager, who called just the evening before the scheduled day. For the new date I told them they’d have to be done by 3 since I had to leave. Al assured me they’d be done and that he was sending a «whole crew» to start at 7:30 or 8. At 10:30 I was calling Al to find out where they were (shouldn’t he have been calling me?). The crew arrived shortly after: THREE guys, including one who spent much of his time driving the truck back to pick up the mulch. They were not done by 3:00.
On each of the install days I had to send back plants, some that were wrong, some that looked like they’d been growing in a cave, and some that were obviously just transferred from smaller pots: when you started to pull them out all the loose soil came off around their smaller root ball. 3/​8″ trunks in a 5 gallon! ¾″ trunks in a 15 gallon! Every pot that hadn’t just been slapped around a tiny tree was filled with clover and weeds. Many dead leaves, especially in smaller plants like calla lilies and gerber daisies.
The crew was nice enough and gratefully accepted the drinks and brownies we made for them. But they rushed through the mulch laying: I asked them to leave little basins around each tree/​plant. They agreed, but didn’t do it. They also left the mulch in sloppy waves that I had to spend hours raking flat, as well as pulling out all the irrigation they covered up.
I had told Ingrid in the office that I didn’t think I needed 4 yards of mulch, as Al had indicated, before the final install day. Several times I stated that 2.5 would be plenty, but she kept saying, «let’s just see how it goes.» When the truck arrived back with the mulch it didn’t have nearly 4 yards in it (I took a picture). I asked Tino, the foreman, who Al said was «one of my best foremen,» and Tino assured me it was 4 and that the mulch company didn’t top up their scoops anymore like they used to (as if that made any sense). There was still extra mulch even after this small amount was distributed, though I was told to pay for 4.
It was days later that I had an idea: I called the mulch company, SoCal Mulch. I talked to Aaron who before getting angry with me and telling me that «I have a good relationship with McCabe’s Nursery and I don’t want to harm that… If my clients want to buy 8 yards of mulch and charge their customers for 20, that’s not my business,» informed me that they had in fact sold McCabe’s only 3 yards that morning. Fraud, pure and simple: charge for 4 yards and deliver 3, telling the customer it’s 4. (I’ll be reviewing SoCal Mulch next since they seem to be fully comfortable with McCabe’s maneuver.)
Several days after the final install I went to plant one of the 15g strawberry trees. When I pulled it out (I’ve done this many times and I know how to loosen a 15g pot first) the tree broke off 2″ below the dirt: a heap of rotting roots that had been sitting in loose soil. Maybe THAT is what is going on with the 15g granny smith that they planted in 2013 which has never grown a cm in any direction, nor flowered, and whose branches have all but one died off: trunk is ¾″ still! When I emailed a picture of the strawberry tree to Al he said he’d be happy to come replace it as long as I returned it in the same good condition that it had been delivered in! He added that he didn’t want to do business with me any more. Ha

John and the entire McCabe’s team did a first class job from start to finish of my 5,000 sq ft turf removal and front yard renovation. From initial meet and greet to nursery tour to design plans to contruction, we are thrilled with our new front yard and the professionalism the McCabe family showed to us. They finished the job one day early and did everything we needed them to do without fail. We would highly recommend McCabe’s for your landscape project. Feel free to drive by our house in Murrieta and have a look for yourself.
23 861 Noelle Ave

I am shocked by the bad reviews… We had an incredible experience with McCabe’s! John (the owner) is INCREDIBLY knowledgeable about plants for our area (especially low water needs). His daughter, Melissa, does an beautiful job on the design and presents it to you on a big screen so you feel like you are sitting in your new yard. They are an honest, family run business and I hope that people can look past these reviews (or at least take a look at the filtered ones… most of those are 5 star).

I’m sorry to read the bad reviews. My experience was the complete opposite of the others. I hired Mcabes to design and landscape my backyard. The design process was great. They have an amazing meeting room where they show you all sorts of samples and swatches, a great design program that will show you what the finished product will look like in your house. And you get to take a sweet ride in the golf cart through all the nursery to pick out plants. Communication was great and everyone was very personable and pleasant which is not always the case when dealing with landscapers. I am very pleased with my landscape and would recommend them to anyone.

They were hired to remove existing grass area that had sprinklers and drains and to plant citrus trees, sprinklers and make proper adjusts to the drains. Everything went well until the next heavy rain… which was a year later. When it did rain, everything backed up into my pool and left standing water covering my patio. At which time I hired someone to find the problem. They discovered McCabe’s did such a horrible job using duck take to cap a drain. Nothing connected between old and new drain. It cost me an additional $ 600 to repair the damage they did. BEWARE when hiring this company.

McCabes was amazing for us! We know less than nothing about plants and John is an absolute expert at the types of plants that thrive in our microclimate. Melissa is fantastic at landscape design and is able to bring the entire concept to life so you can really envision what the finished product will be! The crew that executes the design is professional and easy to communicate with. And if I had any questions along the way, I was able to get in contact with somebody easily. I would highly recommend them to everybody… In fact 3 other neighbors will be using them in the next month!

McCabe’s…Well after receiving several bids to have my entire front yard re-done…I went with the higher priced McCabe because of the quality. They rescheduled my install without my approval… NOT A BIG DEAL… i worked around it. They were respectful and courteous on all the days they were at my house. They were there for approximately three weeks completely changing the entire front yard. As far as the craftsmanship of the work…5 stars. My front yard looks awesome. I am glad i went with this company. From start to finish they kept me in the loop. If they had to change or alter the initial sketch from what i approved, they asked my approval first. All the changes that were made i am glad i did them. The owner, John came out once or twice a week and he is very knowledgeable about the plants and area (Murrieta) where i live. I sprang for the added color concrete to my newly installed steps and concrete and paid the additional $ 500.00 just to add color. The problem is… The color is not what i paid for, and now it is splotchy and does not look good. Before i signed the final acceptance letter, i made sure the concrete was going to get fixed. Well… the job was finished almost 5 months ago and my concrete… well still not done. Still looks like crap… and i have called them between 10 – 15 times in regards to the concrete. So final thoughts… The workmanship i love, the customer service and willingness to fix the things i don’t love… very disappointing. I called them again this morning and am still waiting for a call. I doubt they will return my call, and even if they do, i am sure i will be let down for another 4 – 5 months and end up paying for the damn thing myself. Truly a disappointment. I was planing on using their services again to have pieces of my backyard done, but after this fiasco… i will not be using their services.
In closing… If they fix their follow up customer satisfaction, they will get much more business. If they continue to take their money and run… Word of mouth will get the better of them… i also spent close to 23,000 of my hard earned money on my front yard… and to disregard my $ 300 – 500 repair job… truly disappointing.

I would have to agree with most of what the other reviewer wrote. I have some of my own to add. This is a very unprofessional outfit. Every thing was done very quick and cheaply. The crew did their best and what they were told by company.
1. The day of planting, we had to reject nine plants. They were the wronge ones or sickly looking.
2. IT APPEARED THAT ALL THE PLANTS WE RECEIVED WERE TRANSPLANTED THAT DAY TO LARGER POTS, which cost more.
3. One of the fruit trees we order from their website was DOA. I mentioned this the day of planting and was told it was dorment. We waited four months for this tree to leaf, IT S DEAD. When they finally agreed it was dead, they couldn’t replace it. Then why have it on your website. We did eventually get a refund for tree.
I would not recommend Mc Cabes Nusery.

I hate to put one star on this review since it is not deserved. If you want to have a designer that cannot design and then the design you agree to gets changed when the owner comes out without you being home… call McCabe. If you want to make appointments with crew and management, and then take time from work and wait for no one to show up… call McCabe. If you want to then go about your business, run errands, only to be called to run home when they «decide» to show up… call McCabe. If you want the crew to not finish the job because they have been told to go to another site, then leave without turning on the irrigation… call McCabe. If you want to be charged for the entire project although you did not receive plants and mulch that you are billed for… call McCabe. If you want entire sections to plants left without working irrigation at all necessitating redoing… call McCabe. If you want existing plants that were to remain in your yard pulled out… call McCabe. If you want your existing landscape lights hacked through by the crew… call McCabe. Are you see a pattern here? Go hire someone else, like Armstrong, who knows what they are doing!

SUPPORT A VETERAN, DON’T USE MCCABE’S. They initially come across as professional and courteous, but the final product is poor. They become arrogant and dismissive quickly and try to blame YOU for their shortcomings. My backyard is a swamp and they are telling me that I agreed to not have the water drain. I am a veteran, foster parent, firefighter, and volunteer my time for charities. I have never asked for a free thing in my life and they accused me of trying to squeeze them into providing extra service. DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY