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Kona Land And Water Escapes Kona Land & Water Escapes is a full-service residential and commercial landscaping company. We create unique, customized landscapes from small condo landscaping to the most discriminating estates. Not sure what you want? That's no problem. We meet with you to better understand your tastes and preferences to design a plan that will make your outdoor living space dream a reality. Our experienced installers bring Tropical Escapes, Sonoran Designs and Japanese Gardens to life for the greater Phoenix area residents.
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Kona Land and Water Escapes was founded by Lenny Clark in 1970 and Kona has been an industry leader for over 40 years. Look at just a few of the accolades that Kona has received: from "Best of Tempe" several years in a row to newspaper and magazine articles, television and radio appearances. From the Tropics to the Sonoran Desert, we create environments.
As Arizona's premiere bamboo supplier, we have known about the benefits of this alternative plant for years. We use a specific kind, Arizona Timber Bamboo, which is noninvasive clumping bamboo, grown in our bamboo nursery locally in Chandler. Our bamboo is acclimatized to our Arizona climate and provides a lush, evergreen environment.
Extend your living space: Who wouldn't like their home to be just a little bit bigger? Well now it can be! Use your new space for entertaining friends and family, plus enjoy a faster after party clean-up time. Did somebody spill a drink? No problem. Just hose down your deck or patio after the guests leave and it's like it never happened.
Our landscape garden design will transform your backyard into a peaceful retreat filled with restful trees, colorful plants, tropical flowers, waterfalls, ponds, streams and more. After a stressful day at work, imagine how wonderful it will be to relax in your own personal paradise. Every person's vision is different so our first step in the process is to learn more about you so we can customize a plan that is unique to you. When it comes to garden water features, your imagination is the limit. Not sure where to begin?
Reviews (23)
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G. Sparks
Jan 06, 2024
Lenny advised us our backyard watering system needed to go (it turned out not to be true). We trusted him. His son oversaw the project. They laid thin black hosing just under our granite and punctured the already in place pvc pipes they came across. In the end, we had to replace the entire system. Buyer beware.
Dan J.
Jun 28, 2022
I only leave a star rating because I have to. Worst communication I have ever had with a prospective contractor. Numerus calls and voicemails went unanswered after sitting for a consultation for my project. Finally, I give up. If this is the way that they treat me as a prospective client or customer, I have no faith that working with them will be a positive experience.
J. A. S.
Feb 09, 2022
Love Lenny! They're really busy, so yes, reaching them is kinda tough, but the finished product and the knowledge is incomparable. I can't wait to get them back here to do a complete yard and garden design overhaul.
Adriana F.
Nov 14, 2021
Lenny and Julie at Kona Landscape have done an amazing job on our backyard. They're so knowledgeable, experienced, reliable, quick and truly awesome people to work with. We did our entire backyard perimeter with them and are ecstatic at how beautiful it turned out! From the first consultation meeting to the finished product was less than a week. We highly recommend Kona! In fact, we'll be using them again for the front yard once our pavers are completed. Thank you Lenny & Julie!
Martin Priestley
Sep 22, 2021
Needed to replace 19m wooden fence across the top of the garden.well it was on all accounts over 60 years old. You know the drill, Google search, top 3 hits, get quotes. Kona Fencing - Steve Martin, very polite and professional, you can tell he knew his stuff and was passionate about what he does. One of the competitors arrived to quote with a 3m tape measure! Just so happened his quote was the cheapest too. Very pleased with our new fence as is the dog.
Steve S.
Aug 03, 2021
Lenny and Julie, the owners of Kona, are absolutely some of the best sales people I have ever encountered. But that's where the good news stops. Their communication and organizational skills are non-existent.
Randy V.
Jul 31, 2021
The Kona Land and Water Escapes were terrific to work with! They took the time to meet and listen to our goals and preferences and then provided expert advice and creative ideas in a friendly and easy to understand manner! Our tropical landscape is amazing and the bamboo planted are thriving and growing faster than I had imagined. I can't say enough how green and healthy their Arizona acclimated bamboo looks beyond our pool edge, deep green and broad leaves are quickly developing a privacy screen as well. We will be working with Kona for additional landscape projects after remodeling and transform our setting into East-East Maui (about 2,800m East of Hana). Maholo. Randy
Steve F.
Jul 10, 2021
Back to the original review. not even 2 years later and the 'paint' and whatever they wiped on it first are peeling off, looks like crap! The last people we used did a job that looked better 6 years later than Kona's job in 1.5 yrs. Had to call the ROC to get him to this crappy job. Lenny is a loser who pretends to know what he's doing however, look at the reviews and BEWARE
Kimberly S.
Apr 08, 2021
I have waited six months to write this review because I wanted to be sure that my experience really was as bad as I thought it was. I hired Kona to re-landscape the backyard of a home I own. I hired another company this past month to re-landscape the front yard of the same house. The difference between the companies was incredible & reinforced the fact that working with Kona was terrible.

I was horribly (horribly) overcharged for the project. They had to re-do grading repeatedly. Their guys hung out on their phones for much of the time they were working. The water lines have leaked and leaked and leaked. They advised me to water the plants just twice a week for 30 minutes then REDUCE to 1x/week. The other company explained that that was why my plants were dying - he switched it to 4x/week and now they look so much better.

They said no one puts weed barrier down anymore and now I spent time every day, pulling weeds/grass from my desert area. Worst of all, they sold me on their hideously ugly (& expensive) bamboo as a privacy screen along the back wall. From day two, it's been this scraggly, yellowing, thin group of stalks that I'm having removed because they are an eyesore.

They don't answer their phones. They sent a man to my house after he had likely been exposed to COVID. The list goes on. They are the worst vendor I've worked with in years, honestly. Never again.
Tina H.
Feb 10, 2021
The initial project went well, we had to chase them a couple of times to finalize things and make sure they completed the projected as initially agreed upon. No follow up service. Once they've received that final check, there is zero follow up and when you attempt to call and get some follow up service, there is no response. We have left messages and texted with no response. We are still waiting for them to complete what they agreed upon. Due to this we have lost a number of the plants they used.
L. T.
Nov 29, 2020
Working with Kona was a waste of 3 months. Nothing got done. Lenny ignored my text, email and calls. DO NOT USE.
K. L.
Sep 19, 2020
We have used Kona many times: 1) to fix our 20 year old pond and waterfall, 2) to redo our backyard landscape, 3) to redo our entire front yard landscape and lighting, 4) for ongoing yard maintenance, 5) for ongoing pond service (filter change, etc. because we don't want to), 6) for diagnosing a hurt fish (and believe it or not our fish survived after doing exactly what Lenny recommended!). Lenny, Julie, and the crew have always been dedicated, friendly and professional.

They have expert design and have created things that we never would have thought of. Our landscape and water feature is beautiful and our front yard is a show stopper! We have had countless neighbors ask us who did our work. We love them and will continue using them for our landscape and pond needs.
Sheila F.
Jun 26, 2020
I had Kona design and install my backyard landscaping spring of 2019. They first did a 3D rendering. It was really great to see what my backyard could be. I had bamboo, a Hong Kong orchid, 2 queen palms, a lime tree, pavers, and over a dozen other tropical plants and flowers installed. Overall I had great experience. Install was completed in two days and the landscapers were efficient and professional.

One of my bamboo clumps died a few month after install and Kona stood by their warranty and replaced it at no cost. My calls were always returned and I was fully informed of how to care for my new plants after install. Everything is thriving a year and a half later. I see others have had challenges with this company but I just didn't have the same issues. Since it's been over a year and I'm now outside of warranty, I felt I could really provide a true review of my experience.
Azboat G.
Jan 16, 2020
What a SHYSTER! Lenny is the most unscrupulous business person I have encountered. A 1 star is too high for this pathetic scumbag. Services promises were not performed and when I tried to have my deposit reimbursed, he became a "ghost". I alerted BBB and they too, were unable to contact this individual. My advise? Save yourself from a major headache and DO NOT FALL FOR HIS PERSUASIVE MANNER! His wife is also an accomplice. Certainly, do not provide any monies up from as that will be the last time you see it. AVOID THIS BUSINESS! CONSUMER, BEWARE!
Rob J.
Sep 08, 2019
I found Kona Landscape online while googling "Bamboo" to have planted as a privacy border since we were putting in a new pool. They were the first thing that came up in the search, so I assumed I'd have to keep scrolling and review. After each thing I looked at, I would go back to Kona because of their "desert acclimated" strain of bamboo. I'll just say, the website doesn't do it justice, it just can't show you what you'll actually get!

We were already so impressed with the pool itself, I couldn't imagine how the landscape company could impress me any more. I was wrong. Lenny and Julie met us the day after I spoke to them, and took us to the greenhouse where they grow the bamboo. Obviously it's a growing place, so not impressive other than the size of the bamboo, but that's to be expected (Some reviews have complained that it's not an "office").

Without me giving them any notice, they then followed us home to assess the pool and its surroundings. Lenny immediately started mentioning ideas of what he could do. We then made arrangements to have a follow up meeting and make some decisions, etc. Just a few days later, we met to discuss, and we were surprised that they had already made a video with what the yard "could" look like.

We were amazed! It was so far beyond what we had expected, we kept thinking "out of our ballpark!". After the video came 3 options. We went with the middle option plus a few add-ons, AND they threw in several extras! Starting day was just one week later! Not only did they show up everyday, they finished on schedule. There were several meetings with Lenny during the process, and he made time to meet with us when we requested several adjustments (some after initial planting had begun, I'm VERY picky!).

We were accommodated every step of the way! In the end, we have the Desert Oasis we wanted, and MORE! Be careful reading reviews (as always), and remember that these reviews come from the general public, and they are not always reasonable!
Timothy L.
Mar 05, 2019
Lenny is a lying thief. Took my 2600 dollar deposit and vanished. When I finally trapped him in a phone call he told me to take him to court and I'll get my money in a year. They do not answer phones and love to no call no show with a bunch of excuses. Save yourself the sickening and find a real company!
Mai S.
Feb 13, 2019
I think I would agree with one of the reviews of zero star. Don't be impressed by pictures they post as they truly do not represent the service and the quality work you will get from these so called experts in pond and landscaping. We spent over $30k for my dream koi pond that have been nothing but one contractor after another trying to figure out what the heck she or he (Lenny) did.

And after over 50 calls and emails for them to come out to service the warranty they promised, they have taken our money and disappeared. Most likely too ashame to show their face back to a disaster they've created. This Lenny will sell you with all of the experience and things he/she created and her Japanese training with the monk. All garbage because integrity can't be found anywhere in their Japanese monk training.

One post said they sell thin air which is exactly what you will get. They have killed half of the plants in our massive yard with all of their replanting. The waterfall they built barely spits out any water because they went cheap and put in plastic instead of the stainless metal we wanted. So now we will have to rip everything out that was built into the firepit to get it to working again.

And the water system that is supposed to be maintenance free is entire weekend worth of work EVERY weekend to make sure algae doesn't sufficate our koi's. I'm usually pretty good at recognizing untrustworthy people (radars did go up but I so wanted to give them the benefit of my critical judgements of never judge a book by it's cover) but I should have trusted my instinct and kicked these people out of my yard and spent the money on qualified licensed contractor.

All this is being generous since I really should take them to court for all the damage they have done with our yard and all the money we are still spending to fix their work.
Igor I.
Aug 15, 2018
Worst customer service of any company I. The valley. They don't answer the phone. Ever. Their licensing is not active. They have no employees. They literally sell thin air.
J. H.
Oct 23, 2017
If I could give them zero stars I would Called and spoke to Donna who in turn had me speak with Lenny.set up an appt and was told I'd get charged $130 for a quote. First off this is ridiculously high for an estimate but go figure no call no show! Traveled 40 miles to meet them down here and I had to call them so see where they were. Oops she says can we do 1:00? DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY! Time wasters!
Rodney S.
Oct 12, 2017
These are just great people to do business with they just did a rather large job for me it turned out wonderfully we had to make a few adjustments after the job was done but I believe any construction job of this size Will have adjustments after the job is done. They did it in the time they said they were going to take to do it and for the amount of money that they said there was going to charge.

I think it came out beautifully. I would highly recommend these people and I would use them again if I need something in the realm of expertise done at 1 of my other properties.
Howard S.
Mar 05, 2016
They did a great job designing a Japanese themed backyard for us.
Joseph B.
Nov 21, 2015
Went to their website and used their contact form to request service. No response. No kiss my butt. No nothing. Use this business at your own risk.
Martha C.
Apr 04, 2015
We are thrilled at the results of our new patio! Lenny saved our backyard from a disaster. After having our pavers installed and ripped up twice, we called Kona Land and Water Escapes to help. They specialize in large jobs but we experienced the same level of attention and care on our small job. Lenny brought his crew out and they meticulously measured and leveled out the area. This guy knows what he's doing! He is just not talk, he delivers. We now get to enjoy a lovely patio area in our backyard. Lenny to the rescue!