Terra Rubina

Thank you so much Robin.... It was such a pleasure.... can't wait to see how the garden "grows."

Thank you so much Karen! I really appreciate you taking time to write the review.

Initially, I was pleased by Juliana and her team. The landscaping of our front and back is gorgeous, and she was responsive to my calls when a plant died or my dog pulled out a hose; however, the first storm after the project revealed that she did not address one of our primary concerns--the flooding and inadequate drainage out of our property.

At our initial consultation with her, my husband suggested a curb cut (she denies this) but Juliana assured us that the bubbler in the plan, which were designed by another landscaper and adapted by Juliana, was adequate.

TR COMMENT: There is no reason for me to turn down a curb cut if we had discussed that during the initial consultation. Her husband was not involved with any consultation or any other discussion until I received his first email recently.

I "I've done plenty of these, and they work" she assured us. So I went along with her plans for just a bubbler/sump pump at the front. When the project was near completion, and we were already over our budget limit, the neighbor next door lodged a complaint with public works.

TR COMMENT: We always stay in our budget, anytime where it is over budget, it is always the client’s choice when they make new decisions to improve other areas.

TR COMMENT: Last Spring, when I suggested to do the curb cut, tie in both the back sump pump and its existing expulsion line, unfortunately they turned it down because of the costs.

The city deemed her initial apparatus as a safety hazard. It was spitting debris and water onto the sidewalk. In fact, the city environmental inspector whom I spoke to recalls it as"sloppy and unprofessional".

TR COMMENT: The inspector was initially called by your neighbor before we completed the sump pump set up.

The city required a curb cut.

TR COMMENT: The city did not require a curb cut if the expulsion point was back onto your own property or was not drifting over the sidewalk and creating a slipping hazard.
The sump pump we installed was adjusted and approved to adhere to these guidelines.
My understanding was the neighbor thought the new sump was spitting out the water onto his property but it was your old existing line that was. The back pump was never rerouted and we never touched it.

I was understandably upset as this was not a part of our budget.

TR COMMENT: The neighbor at this point was creating a difficult situation. We resolved the expulsion point, we got it inspected and it was approved. The “debris” was the run off of some mulch that was resolved within 24 hours.
The neighbor was unwilling to accept that the city approved our sump pump solution with drain grate and rock swale etc. I personally hosted the inspector 3 times to make sure our solution was acceptable.
I again suggested the curb cut with extra costs, but ultimately it is my client’s call.


Juliana came up with another plan as an alternate to the curb cut, and per Juliana, she got city approval.Fast forward to the first big storm after our project.... Our backyard flooded as the back sump pump was just circulating water back onto our property. My husband turned off the pumps, and I contacted Juliana in a panic. The next day-to her credit-she came by to try to resolve the problem. She turned the pumps back on, and informed us that the back sump pump (not her design) drains into our neighbor's property--the SAME neighbor who complained about her front bubbler! Imagine gallons of water over-flowing into our neighbor's property! It obviously caused a huge conflict with our neighbor. Police were called... But that's another story.


TR COMMENT: It is my job to let my clients exactly what was going on, and exactly what needed to be done to correct the problem but they chose not to.
I did follow up immediately with them and that evening I was called to mediate between her husband, with whom I did not have any conversation. I said “I was not going to function as a mediator between the neighbor and my Client's husband.


Anyways, I consulted with a lawyer and contractor. They both stated that though Juliana did not design the back pump or drain, she had the responsibility to halt (come up with a temporary solution) the flooding to our neighbor's property.

TR COMMENT: I shared temporary solutions with you after I spoke with Public Works, provided you with the inspector's name and direct dial and mentioned that if you had further investigation to do to make you feel more comfortable, than please feel free to call him. He remembered the job quite clearly.

Juliana has taken no responsibility or accountability for the turn of events. She says the curb cut was not in the plans and that the back sump pump (the ultimate culprit for the issue) was not her doing.I agree. But as the professional we hired and paid promptly, I expected more. Why did she not see the drainage issue with the back pump and recommend a remedy? It was never stated or recommended throughout the entire project. They must have seen how our property holds water when they were diggiing. When she saw that our neighbor's driveway was flooding as a result of our standing water, why did she not do something?

TR COMMENT: We have many photos analyzing the drainage patterns that we showed her to help her understand what needed to be addressed. There were no notes about drainage on the plan we got from their designer and as I mentioned to them in April of 2016 that we could not determine what needed to happen with the drainage until we started digging. The curb cut option was presented at that time.

At this point, we are working with another contractor to remedy the aftermath. I am disappointed at the turn of events.