RYAN MILLER

A badly built retaining wall was leaning over one yard until Ryan Miller pulled it out, designed a two-tier replacement and backfilled it with stone and drainpipes; the May 2016 review says it went from an eyesore and a danger to the centerpiece of their landscape. Walls, patios, walks and pool surrounds are what Mulligan's Landscape and Design, based in Haverhill, gets called for. Ryan Miller runs the company and is named in more than half of the eleven reviews on its Houzz page. A 2013 customer wrote that he spent over an hour on layouts, design options and materials before his team built the patio off their porch; a July 2016 reviewer went through several iterations of drawings for a brick patio extension, a retaining wall and a crabgrass lawn swapped out for plants and planting beds. In a 2014 review, a homeowner brought him a patio and front walk another contractor had started and never finished — he reviewed the area, listened and presented ideas, and the finished patio and walkway exceeded expectations. Base prep comes through in the detail. A 2014 reviewer described grass and soil excavated and a paver sidewalk and patio laid over a deep crushed stone and sand base, compacted multiple times, with last-minute changes taken without complaint. Small jobs get the same treatment: in March 2016 a customer called about loose bricks on the front steps, and the write-up credits him with taking his time and making the steps safe. The written reviews run 2013 to 2016 and all carry 5 stars, behind a 5.0 Houzz rating across 15 ratings and 20 project photos. The profile lists ICPI certification and a service range from paver installation and retaining walls to fire pits, outdoor kitchens and pool landscaping. If your project is hardscape with a structural side — a wall that has to handle water, a patio that has to sit flat and drain — this is the outfit to have out for a design conversation. Ask what he has built in the last couple of seasons, and get base depth, drainage and materials written into the proposal before work starts.