Regular readers of my “Home” blogs know that my grandfather was a master gardener. When he died my grandmother was left to deal with his massive garden, which included pineapple plants, an entire rose garden, hundreds of orchids, and a small orchard of mountain apple trees. A daunting task for anyone; never mind that my grandmother was pushing 90 and really had no interest in maintaining it on her own.
Long story short, she hired a “professional” gardener and he hosed her. I suppose I could have titled this blog: “How My Grandmother Got Hosed By Her Gardener,” but I didn’t want to get into the ugly details of what transpired and furthermore, I don’t want her gardener to say I am slandering him. So to avoid that from happening I decided to compile a list of suggestions you may want to employ when dealing with a landscaper or gardener.
Tip #1—If you want to save money, go shopping with your landscaper. In most instances nurseries will have a special code for landscapers on price tags, which reflects a “professional price”—usually 30% off of retail. In most cases a landscaper will charge customers the retail price for the plants and pockets the savings. By shopping with your landscaper you know exactly what you are getting and how much it all costs.
Tip #2—Do a background check. I’m not talking a criminal background check, but definitely speak to other customers to see if they are/were happy with his/her services. Believe me, there are crooked landscapers out there. I once did a news story about a landscaper who was stealing plants from model homes and re-plating them in their client’s yards.
Tip #3—Go with your gut. If you think that your landscaper is hosing you, you are probably right. Less-than-reputable landscapers will do anything to get by. One trick dishonest landscapers employ: planting fast-growing bushes that are less expensive than slow-growing bushes, but will later require more care and labor from them.
Tip #4—Don’t be tricked by look-alike plants. If your landscaper has a good reputation you won’t need to worry about this. However, if you notice that a tree or shrub is riddled by fungus that should send up a red flag. Instead of planting trees engineered to resist disease, some shady landscapers will plant a cheaper version that is susceptible to insects and fungus.
Tip #5—Document, Document, Document. There have been a number of cases in which a landscaper planted new shrubs in a client’s yard. They looked wonderful for about a week. After that they looked like a wheat field. You blame the landscaper for buying cheap plants; he blames you for failing to water them and tells you that he doesn’t get a money-back guarantee from the nurseries. If you know it isn’t your fault, that you indeed properly cared for the plants, then demand some kind of payback. This is also when it is nice to have documentation of your plants. Take before and after pictures of the plant; highlight the areas around the dead plant and show them to the landscaper as proof that it was not your negligence that killed the plants.