The first step in selecting your contractor would be to know your scope of work. Make sure your entire scope of work is within the contractor’s realm of expertise. If most or not all of your project needs are not regularly and successfully performed by your candidate, keep looking.
Once you start calling contractors consider their responsiveness. Regardless of time of year or how busy the market place is, there is no excuse for not returning phone calls quickly. One of the tell tale signs a company is not going to perform well for you is their inability to call you back when you are looking to do business with them. They should value your time and be responsible enough to get back to you immediately.
Chemistry is important. Chances are you’ll be spending a lot of time with your contractor so make sure you get along well and are on the same page about the goals that you want to accomplish. Of course credentials are also important but at the end of the day, you need to trust and enjoy working with who you’ve chosen to complete your project.
If your project requires a comprehensive design, make sure the companies you are looking at offer a landscape architect. This is extremely important to the overall success of your project. You would not build a house without an architect designing the home and you should not build your back yard paradise without a landscape architect. In the long run, this saves time and unnecessary heart ache. If a contractor is trying to rush you along without a design on a larger scale project (high five figures to multiple six or seven figures) that should be a red flag. A well thought out design including elevations, plan views and grading/drainage details will be essential to make sure the entire project works in harmony and will last for decades. Make sure your contractor offers a landscape architect.
Check on warranties and references. A healthy warranty should be simple for a quality contractor to offer because they will have no worries about the integrity of their finished product. Consider that it is simple to make something look good for a few months but an art to make it last for decades. Standard warranties can be between 6 months and 2 years but 5 and 10 year warranties should be expected. References should be checked and visited when possible. Don’t only look at the finished product but ask the homeowners how the process went from the first phone call to after completion. Also, ask them how warranty issues (if any) have been handled so that you can get a good sense of how the company you’re considering will perform even after the project has been completed.