A planting Job not to be proud of...

[CrystalCreek]

I had one of my customers ask me for an estimate to plant a bunch of arbs last fall. He does his own clean up in the fall and the spring so today was the first time back to his house. I do not know who did this, but I would not be happy. Must have been the lowest bidder:laugh: Most of the bush balls were not even sunk in half way. What a shame. The bushes are showing bad signs of damage and dryness. Oh well....Enjoy, I guess.:confused:

[nnj18]

hey why are you taking pictures of my work?!

[DillonsLawnCare]

hey why are you taking pictures of my work?!

hahahahaha

[2brothersyardcare]

it looks like crap 2 b honest

[OSU 09]

it looks like crap 2 b honest

Crap is a nice way of putting it.

[CrystalCreek]

I quoted the customer $4200 for the complete job. The bushes alone were $2700. I would have set the bushes correctly, carted away the excess dirt, and laid a nice new mulch bed. It would have been a day and a half of work. I found out that the customer paid only $1800 for the whole job. I cant even imiagin where these bushes came from. It is pics and jobs like this that make my trade make saying so true. "Cheap is never good, And good is never Cheap":laugh::laugh:

[riverwalklandscaping]

i like how the tape is still on them... wonder if you could save some of them

[Looking Good Lawn Service]

I had the same problem with some of my bids, you give a good bid, and someone comes in at half!! how is that even possible if they are a professional landscaping company I always ask the customer, they usually dont say much!lol...but hey its cheap, and at that price he can have it done almost 3 times like ass to your 1 good job. Its sucks I know, but some people dont care about quality! All he sees is there are a bunch of bushes to put in and now they are in,lol

[CrystalCreek]

I knw the customer is very unhappy and also admits that he should have went with my work. On a side note, my mower sunk the other day in this backyard. That has never happened. I asked if he had been watering, and he said the backyard sprinklers are on FOUR times a day:dizzy::dizzy::dizzy: I am surprised the bushes dont float away. He asked me if I would be willing to correct the problem. The only option I see would be to rip them all out and start over. I will be working on that estimate this weekend.:weightlifter:

[nnj18]

The only option I see would be to rip them all out and start over. I will be working on that estimate this weekend.:weightlifter:

this reminds me of the failed wall in my thread but not nearly as big of a loss. the customer will have a heart attack now that you're price is going to be over $5k because you have to remove the trees.....

[CrystalCreek]

this reminds me of the failed wall in my thread but not nearly as big of a loss. the customer will have a heart attack now that you're price is going to be over $5k because you have to remove the trees.....

Before I even offer a new estimate, I am going to dig a few test pits accross the yard. I am starting to think that maybe there is a sheet of rock under the yard. I know that the house has no basement, and the soaking wet soil would suggest bad drainage, even thou he is overwatering. I will have to see how this pans out. I dont want to get myself in a bind for his sake.

[Petr51488]

I'm no expert on plants.... but i can't tell you how many times i have dug out a tree or shrub that was dead only to find the burlap wrapped around it! I've also seen a few metal cages around the root ball in the ground too!

[DLAWNS]

It's amazing the shi**y work that guys will do and charge such a small amount. I've been seeing quite a bit of this lately. Hopefully you'll be able to land the job to redo this for the customer and they will not go with a low bidder next time. Let us know what happens.

[MJS]

Arborvitae are pretty ugly to begin with. . .but planting them like that. . . ugh.

Best of luck fixing the problems in that yard.

Hey, you never know - you might end up making more money because the last guy screwed up what you bid on first.

[jiggz]

I knw the customer is very unhappy and also admits that he should have went with my work. On a side note, my mower sunk the other day in this backyard. That has never happened. I asked if he had been watering, and he said the backyard sprinklers are on FOUR times a day:dizzy::dizzy::dizzy: I am surprised the bushes dont float away. He asked me if I would be willing to correct the problem. The only option I see would be to rip them all out and start over. I will be working on that estimate this weekend.:weightlifter:


if the saying "people never learn is true"
you should hand over there address.. i can come in at 1/2 too haha

[pitrack]

I'm no expert on plants.... but i can't tell you how many times i have dug out a tree or shrub that was dead only to find the burlap wrapped around it! I've also seen a few metal cages around the root ball in the ground too!

I have alwasy been taught that burlap will be fine if you open it up around the base of the tree. After approx six months it starts to disintegrate into the soil. I was never told you need to take the entire burlap off the ball:confused:

[Petr51488]

I have alwasy been taught that burlap will be fine if you open it up around the base of the tree. After approx six months it starts to disintegrate into the soil. I was never told you need to take the entire burlap off the ball:confused:

Well how long does it take to disintegrate? Not 6 months unless you have some magical burlap lol. 3 years down the road and i still see it in teh ground. Why is it so hard to take it off? The metal cages around the ball will also rust and decompose but i would never leave it on lol

[pitrack]

Well how long does it take to disintegrate? Not 6 months unless you have some magical burlap lol. 3 years down the road and i still see it in teh ground. Why is it so hard to take it off? The metal cages around the ball will also rust and decompose but i would never leave it on lol

Didn't say that it was hard to take off, just saying what I was always taught. I haven't planted many trees in my day but agree it's not too hard to take them off.

[gunner19]

Most of the bush balls were not even sunk in half way. What a shame.


I hate it when my bush ball is not in deep enough!

[Tony Clifton]

Actually there are strong arguments that you should leave the basket on the root ball. For one, it helps hold all the roots together and you dont have to worry about the ball falling apart when you cut the basket off. You do need to get the nylon strapping off, remove the burlap from the top of the ball, and fold or cut the top of the basket back. Also important that any burlap left is below ground, if there is any exposed above ground it will wick moisture away from the rootball.

[pitrack]

Actually there are strong arguments that you should leave the basket on the root ball. For one, it helps hold all the roots together and you dont have to worry about the ball falling apart when you cut the basket off. You do need to get the nylon strapping off, remove the burlap from the top of the ball, and fold or cut the top of the basket back. Also important that any burlap left is below ground, if there is any exposed above ground it will wick moisture away from the rootball.

Makes sense, that is similar to the way I was taught, cut it away from the "trunk" of the tree but leave the rest of it on. Thanks, learn something new everyday.