any advice on hiring a landscape contractor?
Leigh Melton
It's got a slope to it and the ground is pretty uneven. The front
yard is about a half acre from the house to the road. While we like
the natural woody look for the vast majority of the yard, we need some
work done near the front of the house including leveling out that part
of the yard, a pathway put in (brick, concrete, flagstone, something
along those lines) and a retaining wall replaced which is currently
made up of rotten cross-ties. We don't have much of a "yard" per se
to deal with, it's never been cultivated or anything, so this is
pretty much a from-scratch project.
This is waaaay too big of a project for us to tackle ourselves, so
we're going to hire a contractor. Does anyone have tips on what to
look for in a landscape contractor? There are four in our (rural)
area who advertise in the phone book and offer free estimates. None
of our neighbors have used any landscapers, so asking for references
from them isn't an option.
I don't even know how one goes about leveling an area, so even books
or websites about the subject would be welcome. I'm off to do a
Google search now, but favorite sources are always nice to hear about.
Thanks! And happy new year to all.
Leigh
--
got root?
Gary Calvert
Does the landscaper carry liability insurance? Both for injury to
workers and for damage to property.
Have them list by item the work to be done and the price per project.
Ask them specifically what and how they do the work.
How much soil will they bring in...if any. How will the rock wall be
built? Mortared, dry stacked. How high. What about changes to drainage?
How will that be handled. Do they use landscapers cloth or plastic for
weed barrier. Do they use anything for weed barrier? Is the rock walk to
be set in mortar? What type of edging is used if you have invasive
grasses in your part of the country.
As for the leveling, don't change the grade level at the base of the
trees by more than about 3". The root system of an established tree is
acclamated to a specific depth and to change the depth significantly is
to risk weakening or even killing a tree. At least that is true of the
live oaks and others in our neck of the woods.
Write me off channel and I'll be glad to spend a little more time.
We are a quality landscaping company (and there are others out there)
but there are some real fly by nights too. Price is not the only
consideration. You can usually count on getting what you pay for.
Gary
Panache Landscape and Design
v
>Have them list by item the work to be done and the price per project.
>
>Ask them specifically what and how they do the work.
>
Won't help the homeowner much if the HO doesn't know how to evaluate
the proposal. Does OP know anyone else in town besides their
immediate neighbors? Do they know any local real estate agents,
insurance brokers, somewhat at the grocery or general store owner,
also ask who does the landscaping at their bank (that will likely be a
reliable, high quality but expensive contractor), the restaurants they
patronize, the shop that repairs their car, etc.
In a rural area the majority of the good small contractors often have
little or *no* presence in the yellow pages and are hired based on
their reputation having lived in the area their entire lives. I live
in a rural area and NONE of our service providers are from the yellow
pages. Sometimes the people with the biggest ads are the ones who
can't get business any other way, while the best have enough work
without advertising.
Also keep in mind in a rural area that if you treat honest people like
you think they are theives, you will piss them off and they will not
work for you, the only people who will put up with it are those who
actually ARE. The "big city" is more impersonal. Nobody knows
anybody except by their public front. In a small town it is
different.
I still think recommendations are your best bet.
-v.
Debbie the Underdogged
says...
> I still think recommendations are your best bet.
Agreed. I decided to hire a pro to do part of my small front yard, and
wanted to get someone good. I basically asked everyone I knew, and even
walked around neighborhoods and knocked on the doors of folks whose
yards I especially liked to ask if they'd had it done professionally.
The name of one landscaper came up several times, and that's who I
hired. They did both the design and the installation, and I was 100%
happy with both and plan to hire them again.
--
Debbie the Underdogged das at spamcop dot net
"I'm not crazy, I've just been in a very bad mood for 40 years."
_Steel Magnolias_