Utopia Landscape Design

We are so incredibly happy with our garden, and garden design, and say it almost every day! It was one of the best decisions we made to have Aaron create the design for our backyard. You are paying for the expertise and quality - we feel it was worth every dollar. Literally everyone who visits just wants to be sitting somewhere in our garden area - we feel so lucky! And if it ever gets too hot...we have our outdoor shower (with cold and hot water) to refresh ourselves with. Thanks so much Aaron for facilitating this winning design and giving us our paradise backyard!

It was fabulous to work with Aaron getting the design of our new front landscape. We are totally over the moon with the completed project. Aaron, you opened our eyes to different concepts, which has made the final outcome a huge enhancement to the presence of our house in the neighbourhood. Love the black mulch :-). Amazing!!!! We can thank you enough Aaron.

Aaron from Utopia Landscape Design has helped us define a concept and turn it into a reality. What I particularly found helpful was the design process whereby Aaron asked us to complete a questionnaire that walked us through all of the elements he needs to consider in a landscape design. The questions are logical and help to define what we wanted to achieve. Our understanding of plants is limited, however, we understood what we were wanting to achieve with a look and feel. A tropical lush garden with colour and scents that also included utility areas for trailer storage, wheelie bins etc. From that overview of what we wanted to end up with, Aaron was able to craft those elements into a design that both worked with the house design and the features of the land and any constraints. Of particular concern to us was drainage and overall management of surface stormwater run-off. Aaron cleverly incorporated elements into the design that addressed those needs without there being obvious water-courses. Overall we are very pleased with the outcome and highly recommend Aaron and Utopia Landscape Design.

From the start of the design process through to completion, Aaron from Utopia Landscape Design performed his duties in a professional and creative manner. Both Rowena and myself are now the happy owners of a very beautiful garden that has a real wow factor. Thanks Aaron!

We engaged Aaron to design the landscaping as part of our renovation. After a few discussions and meetings with Aaron where we talked about what we liked and didn't and ran through some different concepts Aaron developed the plan which we loved. Aaron then checked in with the landscapers regularly as it came to life and showed a genuine interest in getting a great result for us. I would highly recommend Aaron, he is very good at what he does, we trusted him to do the right thing by us and he was a great to deal with.

Utopia Landscape design was fantastic. Aaron was extremely professional and provided timely and comprehensive advice for our garden. All works were overseen and co-ordinated by Aaron who ensured the job was completed to our satisfaction.

We have really enjoyed working with Aaron to design a beautiful tropical garden for our new home. We had lots and lots of ideas for our dream garden, which of course could not all be included! Aaron very gently guided us along a path towards distilling our needs and wants into a cohesive design with which we are very happy.

We have a steep sloping front yard and for several years had been working through various designs to completely remodel the area to finish off our property with a tropical design, fence, gate Arbor and automatic gates. Whilst we had many ideas, the sloping block made it very difficult to put everything together and have the various trades appropriately quote the work to our satisfaction or budget. By chance we came across some pictures of a project that Aaron and his team at Utopia Landscape Design had completed for a property in an adjoining suburb that was very similar to our taste and requirements. So, we decided to contact Aaron, who from the first meeting was very professional and took the time to fully explain how he worked with his clients and the process that he follows through to formal handover. Once we looked over his recent projects Aaron spent a significant amount of time with us to fully understand our requirements and ideas so he could ensure that he integrated these into the design. As part of the process we worked through several draft drawings, during which Aaron was comfortable taking on our feedback to ensure that the final design met our requirements and agreed budget. Once we settled on the final plans, Aaron worked with various contractors to provide fixed price quotes for the works and then during the project continued to be involved in any technical decisions over the build. Nothing was too difficult, with Aaron willing to alter the original plans on site to accommodate any of our requirements, particularly considering the sloping block which made the project more challenging. Aaron & his team have done an amazing job in fully transforming our front yard! He came up with a great design which he improved upon once the job started that suits the sloping block perfectly. The team were extremely hard working, reliable, efficient and tidy with nothing being too much trouble! The project has now been completed for several months and not only are we extremely happy with the end product, we have also been amazed by how many neighbours and people that we don’t know that have stopped to admire the work and provide such positive feedback on the transformation. We cannot recommend Aaron and Utopia Landscape Design enough. Michael & Susan Underhill

This is the second time we have used Aaron and Utopia Landscape Design and both times his work has added significantly to the amenity and value of our house. Aaron shoots for excellence and is not satisfied with anything but the highest quality standards

EDIT: Aaron deflects in his response, that he continually advised us our budget was insufficient, and that I asked for a re-design. For one, it was made clear what our budget was from the start, regardless of his insistence he advised us repeatedly otherwise. I dislike having my words twisted. And secondly if he expected the contractors would come in over budget then why did he make a design to these specifications? Thirdly, I never asked for a complete redesign, this is a transparent exaggeration to anyone. I asked if it could be tweaked to bring it back down to our signed and submitted budget expectations emailed at the start of the job. Is this paper not worth anything? Lastly, we found an exceptional developer who could work to our budget with these plans, including pool resurfacing, water line tiles, the products and quality we were after, and more, with an itemized task by task quote rather than just a block of tasks and a single figure. ***** We had a disconnect with Aaron, in that we had identified in a questionnaire to him our budget of $50-$150k and the quote we were presented was around the $250k mark. This stalled our ability to proceed, and ultimately caused an uncomfortable dialogue asking for a revision to the plans to meet our budget, and resistance to do any more than had been done. Whether it was from a reluctance to compromise a vision, or a preference to use his preferred contractor we were left at a stalemate with a response of "I feel I have done the right thing by you and have delivered the design according to our discussions." Pushing further (which was uncomfortable but necessary when $10k has been spent for plans we could not execute), did get a response that he would draft one more set of drawings as a resolution, if another contractor made the budget design changes. In other words, our conversation was over in relation to finding a more economical design through him, and our understanding that he would be available during the construction (in the agreement it stated Site inspections and availability during construction if desired), seemed like no longer an option. Nevertheless, even though we were unhappy with the design vs budget, we found a contractor who could largely execute Aarons design with a very good review history and portfolio for around our original budget. As ultimately we are using the designs from Utopia, and the quality of the plans themself are neat, I could still give 3 stars. However the sticking point in communication, and what I could only perceive as ego, and a lack of "customer is always right" bedside manner, grated on me. I was left speculating what the relationship between him and his recommended crew may be, and felt honestly, abandoned before we had found the sweet spot to proceed. Yet we had always paid promptly, nearly same day for every invoice, been polite, and it was a shock that we were met with any hesitation to get the plans tweaked, to finish the design within a workable budget. I was also confused that site visits during construction are no longer coming up as an option in discussion. I am unsure if the site visits are somewhat conditional on the landscaper used, and as we have ultimately self sourced, perhaps this is a mitigating factor. I do not know. He has now offered "one phone conference with your chosen contractor up to one hour to discuss your project" though, so there's that. It's something. So this is not a 1 star review but an honest 3 star review. He does get mostly positive reviews, and awards, so I imagine this is somewhat isolated and my suggestion would be for anyone to make it very clear, with no ambiguity the budget up front and also be aware you can take the designs to other landscapers for additional quotes. It's subjective but how landscaping on a 600 square block could be quoted at quarter of a million, is kind of baffling to me anyway.

Aaron Worth principal Utopia Landscape Design cane to see us in April 2018 to look at specific areas where we wanted to place a spa/ pool and renew garden beds. Also in his plan were instructions to change French doors, turn the garage space into a separate family space or man cave and landscape the front area to produce a courtyard, new plantings and front gates. Aaron was asked to bring the whole plan together holistically so that the plan flowed from front to back seamlessly. Works began in November 2018 and concluded in in February 2019. Aaron’s plans had been proposed in two stages which we decided to complete all stages together. We are very pleased with the designs by Aaron Worth of Utopia Landscape Design and the builder, Whitehouse Builders,who brought the architectural side of Aaron’s designs to fruition.

We were delighted with Utopia Landscape Design's service. As first time renovators, we only really knew that there was a lot we didn't know about landscape design. Aaron was superb: he took a keen interest in the project, listened closely to us, advised us and was instrumental in communicating what needed to be said across the many contractors we had on site. The ideas/suggestions he had were spot on and he gave great attention and care with his plans and written instructions to other contractors. He maintained an interest in the project long after his role had officially finished and continues to be a source of information and guidance for our (now) beautiful garden, pool and outdoor areas. Highly recommended.