When the landscaper worker dug the holes to plant the trees along the fence, he planted the two trees in the middle a couple of feet away from the fence. I asked why, and he told me there was some kind of drain pipe in the way.
Well guess what? He'd planted the trees directly infront of the pipe which turns out to be the runoff for the sump pump and downspouts! The sump pump filled, but couldn't pump out.
I called and told them to get somebody out here IMMEDIATELY to dig up the trees. Nobody showed up and nobody showed up and nobody showed up. I went out and dug up the damn trees myself. As soon as I started scraping mud out of the way, water just started shooting out! First I was pissed because I got my new garden shoes MUDDY, but then I hurt my back trying to drag water-laden 6-foot tall trees out of the ground so I was even MORE PISSED.
AND THEN... When I stomped back inside the Nursery had called to find out if it was a "one-man or two-man job." I called back and asked them what kind of JOKE that was. When somebody calls and says "I have water in my basement because the trees you planted have blocked the sump pump run-off drains, you're not supposed to call back an hour later and ask home many people to send out!" I was assured someone would be coming out immediately to finish digging the trees out and to take them away.
They laid on their sides in the mud for three days until I stopped by the nursery and told the guy to COME GET THE FRIGGING TREES. My buddy the Landscaper Dude told me he didn't know anything about it. What an ass.
Funny how a life can change in a millisecond. And how the pain of that millisecond replays in slow motion. My millisecond resulted in a cross-country move, a house with mice in the attic, gutters to be replaced, a rotted subfloor, 2 acres to mow (I'm out of room to keep listing stuff!)... And so I present my efforts at fixing the things to fix and making my house and yard my new life.
Showing posts with label landscaping. Show all posts
Showing posts with label landscaping. Show all posts
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Monday, April 4, 2011
The Landscaper's Response:
Here are the landscaper's excuses:
1. I didn't tell him what I wanted.
2. I'd misunderstood what he told me: what I wanted wasn't possible unless he planted 20-year-old mature trees.
Excuse #1 pissed me off the most. HONESTLY??? I asked him if he was SERIOUSLY telling me I gave him permission to plant whatever the hell HE wanted in my yard?
That's when he gave me excuse #2--which indicates he DID understand what I told him wanted.
Next, he told me the trees would grow together and make the solid block I wanted. He'd calculated a 3-foot planting distance between each tree, but now that the extra trees are added they would grow together much quicker--within the next two months. He asked if I could wait until the beginning of June.
When I got home, I realized the idiot was lying AGAIN! My fence is only 68-feet long (which accounts for the nineteen 3.5-foot wide dwarf trees that were supposed to be planted). Just the EMPTY PLANTING SPACE between 19 trees takes up FIFTY-SEVEN FEET! That only leaves NINE FEET of space have planted nineteen trees?????
I got the bill on Thursday. I'll pay for the front landscaping, but I'm NOT paying for the trees until June--and only then IF they've grown together as he says they're going to. If they don't, he's gonna be digging them up and hauling them away.
1. I didn't tell him what I wanted.
2. I'd misunderstood what he told me: what I wanted wasn't possible unless he planted 20-year-old mature trees.
Excuse #1 pissed me off the most. HONESTLY??? I asked him if he was SERIOUSLY telling me I gave him permission to plant whatever the hell HE wanted in my yard?
That's when he gave me excuse #2--which indicates he DID understand what I told him wanted.
Next, he told me the trees would grow together and make the solid block I wanted. He'd calculated a 3-foot planting distance between each tree, but now that the extra trees are added they would grow together much quicker--within the next two months. He asked if I could wait until the beginning of June.
When I got home, I realized the idiot was lying AGAIN! My fence is only 68-feet long (which accounts for the nineteen 3.5-foot wide dwarf trees that were supposed to be planted). Just the EMPTY PLANTING SPACE between 19 trees takes up FIFTY-SEVEN FEET! That only leaves NINE FEET of space have planted nineteen trees?????
I got the bill on Thursday. I'll pay for the front landscaping, but I'm NOT paying for the trees until June--and only then IF they've grown together as he says they're going to. If they don't, he's gonna be digging them up and hauling them away.
Thursday, March 24, 2011
I'm Disappointed with the Landscaping
Hmmm... I HATE confrontation, but I'm gonna have to tell the landscaper how disappointed I am with the arborvitae that are planted along the fence.
These were (ARE) my requirements: I need an immediate SOLID screen to block my dogs from seeing and barking at the neighbors.
We discussed a couple of options. Burning bushes would have been great except they drop their leaves. He suggested the arborvitae--it was a short chubby one that would get 5-6' tall and was about 3-1/2' wide. They were expensive at $100/tree, and he stepped off how many I'd need (19). More than I wanted to spend, but making sure the neighbors don't hate me is that important to me.
Well... When the guys spaced out the 19 pyramid arborvitae, they only spanned HALF THE DISTANCE of the fence! So, I called Mr. Landscaper Dude and told him how far the trees went along the fence. One of the workers stepped out how many more I'd need: SIXTEEN. WTF? Lucky me... he had that many, and he'd send them right out.
Then I checked the tag out on one of the trees, and it said this particular arborvitae would reach 20-30' tall and 5-8' wide. That is definitely NOT what he told me. I was pissed so I asked one of the workers to call him and find out if these were the right trees. The response: somebody printed the wrong info on the tag.
At first I thought "well at least I'm getting the right tree." But... I can understand over- or underestimating 1 or 2 trees, but NOT 16!
I got online and checked out the description of a pyramidial arborvitvae. Guess what: they're supposed to mature to 20-30' and 5-8' wide. Was the idiot LYING to me or does he really not know about these trees?
So... to kind of fix the problem, the workers started spacing the trees further apart. Now I have trees that are spaced very close together to the middle of the fence, and then trees that are spaced wider from the middle to the end.
#1. if I end up keeping these trees, they're spaced entirely too close to mature at 5-8' wide.
#2. yet, the trees are spaced too wide apart for me to remove the ugly landscaping fabric we have stapled to the fence as a temporary block
#3. the trees need full sun, but now they are on the north side of the fence with the sun blocked because of the landscaping fabric
#4. I still have to keep the ugly landscaping fabric in place SO THERE'S NO FRIGGIN' POINT IN HAVING ANY TREES PLANTED THERE!
Ultimately, I KNOW we were on the same page when he left here becuase there is NO WAY I would have let him leave here with me agreeing to pay almost $2000 for trees that didn't do what I wanted them to do!
I'm gonna go visit the guy this morning.
These were (ARE) my requirements: I need an immediate SOLID screen to block my dogs from seeing and barking at the neighbors.
We discussed a couple of options. Burning bushes would have been great except they drop their leaves. He suggested the arborvitae--it was a short chubby one that would get 5-6' tall and was about 3-1/2' wide. They were expensive at $100/tree, and he stepped off how many I'd need (19). More than I wanted to spend, but making sure the neighbors don't hate me is that important to me.
Well... When the guys spaced out the 19 pyramid arborvitae, they only spanned HALF THE DISTANCE of the fence! So, I called Mr. Landscaper Dude and told him how far the trees went along the fence. One of the workers stepped out how many more I'd need: SIXTEEN. WTF? Lucky me... he had that many, and he'd send them right out.
Then I checked the tag out on one of the trees, and it said this particular arborvitae would reach 20-30' tall and 5-8' wide. That is definitely NOT what he told me. I was pissed so I asked one of the workers to call him and find out if these were the right trees. The response: somebody printed the wrong info on the tag.
At first I thought "well at least I'm getting the right tree." But... I can understand over- or underestimating 1 or 2 trees, but NOT 16!
I got online and checked out the description of a pyramidial arborvitvae. Guess what: they're supposed to mature to 20-30' and 5-8' wide. Was the idiot LYING to me or does he really not know about these trees?
So... to kind of fix the problem, the workers started spacing the trees further apart. Now I have trees that are spaced very close together to the middle of the fence, and then trees that are spaced wider from the middle to the end.
#1. if I end up keeping these trees, they're spaced entirely too close to mature at 5-8' wide.
#2. yet, the trees are spaced too wide apart for me to remove the ugly landscaping fabric we have stapled to the fence as a temporary block
#3. the trees need full sun, but now they are on the north side of the fence with the sun blocked because of the landscaping fabric
#4. I still have to keep the ugly landscaping fabric in place SO THERE'S NO FRIGGIN' POINT IN HAVING ANY TREES PLANTED THERE!
Ultimately, I KNOW we were on the same page when he left here becuase there is NO WAY I would have let him leave here with me agreeing to pay almost $2000 for trees that didn't do what I wanted them to do!
I'm gonna go visit the guy this morning.
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Landscaping!!!
Wa-hoo! The nursery called late yesterday afternoon, and my landscaping will be delivered today! I only "ordered" it (is that what you do when you buy all new landscaping--order it???) a week and a half ago so I didn't expect to get it this fast!
The blueprint is designed with yellow- and deep purple-colored plants (the red kind of purple--not blue purple). The landscaper guy was really nice in how he worded his thought process in choosing the colors: "these colors will stand out against the "muted" colors of your house. (He's right, but I think pretty much ANY colors would stand out against the "muted" blond brick with putty trim). The only plants I'm not sure about are these funny little yellow shrubs that look like the McDonald's Fry Guys.
My little weather station says to expect rain in the next 12-24 hours. I'm gonna ask them to put the 19 arboretum (sp?) along the fence first. Making sure the nekkid-neighbors don't hate me because the idiot dogs bark like maniacs every time they (the nekkid-neighbors) step outside is more important than making the front of the house look pretty.
I took some before pics yesterday afternoon. I'll post them along with the afters.
YAY!
The blueprint is designed with yellow- and deep purple-colored plants (the red kind of purple--not blue purple). The landscaper guy was really nice in how he worded his thought process in choosing the colors: "these colors will stand out against the "muted" colors of your house. (He's right, but I think pretty much ANY colors would stand out against the "muted" blond brick with putty trim). The only plants I'm not sure about are these funny little yellow shrubs that look like the McDonald's Fry Guys.
My little weather station says to expect rain in the next 12-24 hours. I'm gonna ask them to put the 19 arboretum (sp?) along the fence first. Making sure the nekkid-neighbors don't hate me because the idiot dogs bark like maniacs every time they (the nekkid-neighbors) step outside is more important than making the front of the house look pretty.
I took some before pics yesterday afternoon. I'll post them along with the afters.
YAY!
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