EXTERIOR DESIGN STUDIO

EDS, Mark & his Crew are highly recommended. more

Thank you Mark for the extraordinary vision. After seeing several landscape designers, we chose Exterior Design Studio and are very happy . Mark you blew them away with your creativity and professionalism. We would highly recommend you and your company any time. We look forward to working with you on future work. more

Three years ago, we chose EDS for our backyard landscape. They transformed our barren suburban yard into a north woods style oasis, with unique and colorful plantings and year-round interest. We now have enough privacy to comfortably enjoy our outdoor living space. We love the bluestone patio and the serenity of our small water feature. Best of all, the wide variety of hardy evergreens and the natural boulder outcroppings give us structure and color for the 5 or so months when Minnesota can be pretty bleak. We thoroughly enjoyed working with Mark and his crew. His creativity shined through in his hands-on layout of our project, including a beautiful solution to our drainage problems. We would highly recommend this company! more

Mark thinks he is gods gift to landscaping. He claims other landscapers use a cookie cutter. When I looked at all his plants he uses I noticed he uses all the same ones in his designs. I was told he was coming out to the property to look at it to determine design. Someone else showed up with a camera clicking away at taking pictures. Decided to have only the front yard completed along with the area along side the garage. He seemed upset about this. The other side of our house was next to an empty lot that was being built on - didn't want them damaging out landscaping so decided to wait. They installed plants in wrong areas - those needing full sun where planted in full shade. Left over soil was just thrown in a heap along the house. Nothing was planted there as originally agreed upon. After several phone calls they came out and put 4 bushes in the mound of dirt (they all died) and did nothing to make the soil and plants manicured. Installer left with project half done and left shovel in dirt and their sign in our yard. They never came back for these. He called the next spring to see if we wanted them to do the remaining 70K landscaping in the back yard. After I told him we really hadn't started discussing spring projects he hung up on me. He really didn't listened to what we wanted done with our backyard anyway. more

We decided to go with EDS 5+ years ago after we put in a pool. We interviewed and got designs from 3 other landscape companies. Every other design besides EDS was boring and very expected. Mark Ritter came up with a beautiful and unique design for around our pool. The firepit that he put in has been one of the best decisions...extends our time outdoors all the way into those crisp Autumn nights. THEN 3 years ago we decided that we wanted EDS to complete the look and do the front yard and the sides of the house. We love it and the upkeep is easy. We have continued to use EDS for our Spring cleanup each year. Mark and his crew are the best! I have referred atleast 5 other familes and everyone of them have had positive expereinces as well. more

EDS is top notch in every aspect of our experience with them. Their design was creative, very competitively priced and very well executed, After a winter that saw unprecedented damage to our plants from deer, voles and harsh weather, they stepped up and replaced every stressed our damaged tree , over twenty in all. Our garden is back to its spectacular initial look and we are very pleased. EDS work is outstanding and their commitment to us as a customer is over the top. Pros: Excellent design and execution; great followup Cons: Not a one more

Good sub contractors and nice people to deal with, however the work does not hold year after year. Next time I would just use them in design, but not implementation of the design as many of our trees we purchased from them did not make it through the first year. Pros: Looked great year one, nice process Cons: Not sustainable, many trees/features are gone more

Mark and his staff have done all of our landscaping over the years and we consistently receive compliments from our neighbors and friends, and not just in summer--we still get them in the dead of winter! We're excited for our annual spring meeting to see what he has in store for us this year! Thanks again for all the great work, look forward to seeing you soon Mark! more

Mark, Thanks for all the years of excellent service. From day one to present, you have provided us with many creative and awe inspiring designs and landscapes. We certainly appreciate your talents and over all passion you have for the landscape industry you are involved in. From your office staff, to the incredible sub-contractors you utilize, it sure makes us look forward to spring 2010 to see what the additional areas to be completed bring. See you soon!! more

Before we met Exterior Design Studio we had been through 3 different landscapers and spent $$$$$$$ and did not like anything we got. We met with Mark and in a week he came back with a design that was far superior than anything else. He reused the plant material from the other 3 landscapers, brought in a few new items and created a landscape using 80% of existing plants and totally changed the look while being sensative to the money we had already spent. OUR LANDSCAPE NOW IS THE TALK OF THE TOWN. We receive compliments daily. Pros: Very Talented Cons: You pay for the best, but best value overall more

I just wanted to give Exterior Design Studios some well deserved kudos for an outstanding job. Our house went from having some of the worst landscaping on the block to a master piece that far exceeded our expectations. The stone fire place is a focal point of the back yard and is absolutely beautiful! - glad we added that in. Thanks again for meeting our deadline, your landscape design was the talk of the party. Minneapolis Magazine was right?you truly are ?the best of the best?! Pros: Beautiful designs, very professional more

I found this company to be exceptional on all fronts. I had great service from the time they answered my first phone call. Thanks Mark, and your guys for making the outside of my house, look EXACTLY how I wanted it! FOR LESS than other places wants BY FAR. A+++ Pros: RELIABLE!! Cons: ummm, weather? more

Hi Mark, Pros: Professional & Knowledgeable more

All I can say is that EDS has created and masterfully delivered what can only be described as a life changing event for me and my family. Pros: Very thorough & professional more

We have worked with Mark from EDS many times on several projects over 15 years. His attention to detail and quality is outstanding. He only uses the best plants and products on all of his projects. We appreciate his services and has become a friend to our family, do to his commitment to our home. Pros: details, design and quality more

We had a great experience with EDS. Our project was a back yard patio garden with a Japanese feel. We absolutely love it and enjoy it every day. We appreciate very much Mark's extrordinary effort to not only design a truly unique space but to follow through and make sure we got the best plants and materials possible. The crews were also awesome, and the end result is more than we ever imagined- a great value and a priceless garden. We highly recommend this company and will be using EDS again next year for the front yard. more

I just had to comment on how wonderful our landscape looks even in the dead of winter! It is now mid february and while our nieghbors yards are nothing but vast seas of snow, ours is full of life with flush evergreens and rugged boulder outcroppings popping through the frozen ground. Thank you mark for giving us a landscape we truly enjoy year round!! Pros: Unique, eye catching landscape more

Met with the designer and was impressed with his ideas. He was a complete professional throughout the project and really knew his product. I was shown a complete, colorized landscape design, drawn to scale for my specific house. He worked within my budget and I was very pleased with the end result. I get many comments from neighbors, friends and even strangers on my unique and beautiful landscape. I will continue to refer people to this company. Pros: Professional, very creative with design & installation more

I loved how the design accentuated all the areas of my yard, I am very pleased with the different plant varieties, Evergreens, deciduous, and perennials. The boulder outcropping was an added touch to my landscape, I am very pleased with the outcome. Exterior Design Studio is very professional, from their sales people, office staff, and there landscape crew. I will definitely use EDS again! Pros: Unique Landscape more

We are over joyed with the final landscape look we have at our home. We hired EDS/Mark with a few ideas in mind and with his few soft changes, the project turned out absolutely beautiful. EDS came highly recommended to us and they leave highly recommended. The project was very well coordinated and was finished within the projected time frame. Pros: Artistic landscape design ability more