Contractor won't replace spruce trees.

[sbye]

Hello,

I had some spruce trees planted last year and early this spring a couple of branches were orange in color. I called the contractor out to look at them and he said to get them fertilized and treated because they could be sick. I did not put bark around the bottom of the spruce trees before the winter came like the contactor advised me to do.
I didn't get the trees treated this spring when the conctractor told me to because I felt this is the contractors responsibility. Even though I didn't put bark underneath the trees I feel this has nothing to do with the problem. I waited this whole summer to see what would happen to the trees they all eventually ended up dying. I have pictures of what the trees looked like in the spring. Should he replace these trees for nothing. I didn't get a warranty from him. He told me he would replace the trees but I would have to pay labor and delivery fees for the plants. I feel I shouldn't pay nothing. He said I should have barked the trees before winter and treated them in the spring like he told me to do. Is there someone that I can get a non-biased opinion and use their opinion in case I have to take this to court. Thanks.

I can submit pics to you for an opinion. Any advice would be helpful.
sbye@wideopenwest.com

[gogetter]

First problem:

"I did not put bark around the bottom of the spruce trees before the winter came like the contactor advised me to do".

Second problem:

"I didn't get the trees treated this spring when the conctractor told me to"

Third problem:

"I waited this whole summer to see what would happen to the trees"

Come on, are you serious?

[Grassmechanic]

Evergreens do not go dormant like diciduous trees. Even after the ground freezes they are still producing food and growing roots, albiet at a slower pace than in the summer. To help insure their survival, mulch and fertilizer need to be applied, especially during their first year after planting. It sounds as if what happened to your trees is that they died of dessication during the Winter. If you failed to follow his instructions to mulch and fertilize and you had no warranty, I would say you are out of luck. If he made a good-faith offer to replace the trees but you had to pay for labor and transportation, then you should take him up on it. If he replants for you, get a warranty, follow his instructions, and use an anti-dessicant to help prevent them from drying out. I know this is probably not the answer you'd like to here, but I'm sure many of the professionals on this board will concur. Homeowners have to take some responsibility after we leave their property, warranty or not.

[Ground Master]

did you water them regularly

[Catcher]

I agree with GoGetter,

did you do anything the contractor advised you to do?

[dvmcmrhp52]

^ What GrassMechanic said.

[A1 Lawn@Landscapes]

Originally posted by sbye
Hello,

I had some spruce trees planted last year and early this spring a couple of branches were orange in color. I called the contractor out to look at them and he said to get them fertilized and treated because they could be sick. I did not put bark around the bottom of the spruce trees before the winter came like the contactor advised me to do.
I didn't get the trees treated this spring when the conctractor told me to because I felt this is the contractors responsibility. Even though I didn't put bark underneath the trees I feel this has nothing to do with the problem. I waited this whole summer to see what would happen to the trees they all eventually ended up dying. I have pictures of what the trees looked like in the spring. Should he replace these trees for nothing. I didn't get a warranty from him. He told me he would replace the trees but I would have to pay labor and delivery fees for the plants. I feel I shouldn't pay nothing. He said I should have barked the trees before winter and treated them in the spring like he told me to do. Is there someone that I can get a non-biased opinion and use their opinion in case I have to take this to court. Thanks.

I can submit pics to you for an opinion. Any advice would be helpful.
sbye@wideopenwest.com

You should have followed directions. The contractor could and should just walk away. Whatever you get you do not deserve.

[MOlawnman]

I agree with everyone else here. You need to follow directions. I would also tell you that you are out of luck!!

[Floridalandcare]

That is the only reason why I only guarentee our workmanship . If I put a plant in the ground for you, I guarentee you that it was installed the best possible way . From there its your responsibility alone to care for the plant. I will not guarentee the plant at all , but thats to an extent , I have as Im sure many other LCOs have installed a hedgerow where 1 out of 100 plants just die . I will replace that plant no questions asked .But dont call me and say 5 plants are dead , and i get there and they were not fertalized , properly watered or covered with fungus .
People just don realize that when a shrub gets yanked out of its pot and the root ball broken up thats its very stressfull to the plant , its not an issue of just planting it, it has to be cared for and nurtured ,once its established it will pretty much do its own thing then.
In my opinion you are truly at fault , he told you what to do and you ignored him . Your loss, not his.

[Rebel7695]

I agree with everyone here.. the contractor is being generous enough by planting it at cost more or less. Its like having a new motor installed, the mechanic will tell you not to go over 55 for like 500 miles or so, if the engine blows and the mechanic takes it apart and can prove that you had been driving it at 70 mph, you are at fault not the mechanic.. my point is that people will listen to other "professionals" but not lawn care professionals. The truth is that we probably know more about our profession than any mechanic knows about his. We live and breathe this stuff, day in day out.

[Relly]

I have to agree as well. You did not do anything that was recommended. Follow-up care is always necessary. You were given recommendations, but chose to ignore them. Is this why they died? Couldn't tell you.

Did you ever get a diagnosis on the 'disease', or cause of death? It sounds like you paid the contractor to plant the trees. This means you paid them to install the plant correctly. If they were in fact planted correctly, then the job was done as contracted. The survival is another issue. An issue that has to be addressed with after-planting care and warranties.

I'd like to think the contractor gave you a heads up of the need for post-planting care. I'd like to think they offered you a warranty. I'd like to think they visited the site to inspect the trees after you called them back. Hopefully the answers are all 'yes'. This would lead me to believe they are professional and respectable. Either way, I have to respect them for their offer to replace the trees and only charge you for labor and delivery. Sounds like they are trying to show good will.

[Groundcover Solutions]

I would also agree with everyone hear. i am just accross the road from plymouth too!!! The contractor gave you advise on how to help the trees and you did not follow it. He dose not even need to plant new ones for you at a good price like he is offering too. You should take him up on this offer before you lose it!

[Kelly's Landscaping]

Boy does this sound familiar I did a planting job for a beachfront house the whole property is sitting on sand so the drainage is absolute. I knew I should of walked away from the guy right after I met him but I had just signed up his neighbor for the lawn contract and slowly got sucked in to it.

It started as could you replace a few plants the property boasted some 200 plus plants in a lot that was 35x 60 if that then he also had plants in some special planting bed he had in the middle of the beach some 100 feet out from his lawn.

Any ways like a fool I paid for the stuff with my money it was only a few so I didn’t ask for a deposit and it was so small I never bothered going any further then an oral contract as we did the work he added to the list and was in our face the entire time. Unbearable man one example of his excess was he had some silly green rocks around like 25 or so plants we went to mulch the place all in red dyed cedar and he said we had to remove the rocks first. No problem I thought so I order my guys pull them out only there’s not the 30 or so rocks per plant as thought there are some 200 per plant. Then he tells me they had lacquered them 3 years ago well ill be dammed if I could tell the difference after that much time but he was crying up a storm and we painstakingly put them back. The mulch was a nightmare as well I had to get it in bags instead of bulk I typically can expect to put 1-2 yards down and hour per guy but with him in our face demanding we pull it out of the bag by hand it slowed to 1 or 2 bags per hour it would take 9 to be a yard.

Then I had extra and he demand I deduct that off his bill. He had asked for arborvitaes to replace some in a row on the side of his house. There is no way they will ever live there more then 3 years he has 2 houses side by side so very little light and he has the whole place on sand. I judged 6-7 footers and bought 8 and had them planted when he arrived and cried they weren’t tall enough I and he had agreed on the height now he wanted me to eat the plants so I showed him the rest of the row on the higher end was really thin and got the go ahead to move them and take out some other weak plants. And I was now gona need 8 7-8 footers and he wanted them all 8 feet.

No biggy I figured well I finished up that day and had done all I was suppose to do I go to get paid and he ducks me and said his check book is at work so now I am out 1500 and I gota swallow another 1000 just to buy the new list of plants I need. I'm livid at this point but I do as I had to as I was young in the business and didn’t have much choice I couldn’t walk away from my money. So i bought the plants snuck in there on a day I guessed he wouldn’t be home and was able to do the job with ease since he wasn’t in my face and I was able to make enough of a profit to erase the last times lose. It then took some 3 or 4 talks and over a week to get paid.

Now it should have stopped there but since I had 10 houses on this street I agree to take him on as lawn customer and he also wants his bushes checked and trimmed weekly. Well we begin and he was constantly a pain in the ass asking for such and such and after 3 months we had done 2 more small replacement plantings. And we realized we never had been paid he had a very small lawn it was a mere 10 dollar cut and was the size of my trailer. So we continued after all we did 9 other houses next door and didn’t want to risk that. 4 months then 5 months go by we try to talk to this guy but he avoids us. After 3 months I put a halt to the trimming and around month 5 I had enough and stopped all services one day. As I’m on another lawn he realized I was serious and he owned me 800 dollars he comes out and hands me a check for 400. And then has the balls to ask me to replace a bunch of the arborvitaes I had planted. I began to question him and he admits to me that after less then 2 weeks he never watered them again he’s on the BEACH!

He said he read that plants should fend for them self’s apparently he has a book tuff love for plants. I had put a ton of tera sorb and Pete moss down but if he isn’t gona water them what can I do. I told him I had suspended the trimming for lack of pay and the clown try’s to turn that around and goes you let me plants die over money. I go no sir trimming them wouldn’t have kept them alive either way you let your plants die out of laziness. And if you want me to replace them I will happily do so and I will not charge you any labor, but I will require the rest of the 400 you owe me and I will require the 500 the plants will cost up front as to be totally honest with you sir your credit with us is up and I will not be spending any more of my money on your place. He tried to use there has to be some responsibility line and I said I agree I will take the responsibility to replant them and you will take the responsibility to pay me and to water them. At which point he asks about my warranty and I inform him that he has avoided signing any contract ever including a lawn contract and I was not going to warranty any of the plants.

I was then asked never to go on his property again I quickly finished up the street and cashed the 400 before he could cancel the check, as I did not trust the man. In the end I walked away from 400 dollars which meant after an entire season I if anything broke even and made zero on him. And why did I refuse to buy his plants if I did at best maybe he would of paid me the remainder of what he owed me which was like 385 dollars the plants would of cost me 500 and my labor I figure why not save the 115 and my time as I already knew he was gona stiff me.

Sorry to go on so long sbye but some of the comments you said about ignoring your landscaper and thinking you owe nothing reminded me of this prick I think your landscaper ought to be commended for offering you anything and I think you should be ashamed of your behavior.

[Critical Care]

This thread is a bit out of date, but as an additional comment, in this state you would be required to have a written contract with specifics that have to be included within, such as what is guaranteed and what isn't. Problems such as those mentioned, are investigated and handled by the landscape contractors board, if a mutual agreement can not be made between the parties. Most of the time all of this seems like a lot of red tape, but when problems like this arise it's probably nice having an authorized body with the force of law to oversee things.

[Coffeecraver]

The client was not all wrong, I feel this has nothing to do with the problem. I waited this whole summer to see what would happen to the trees they all eventually ended up dying.

She should have called an Arborist or an extention agent
instead of waiting. The landscaper gave her advice and she did not take it,if she had mulched the tree would have retained moisture. Drought is a contributing factor even though the damage was already present.

The landscaper is not liable but should get more education before giving advice.


I called the contractor out to look at them and he said to get them fertilized and treated because they could be sick. I did not put bark around the bottom of the spruce trees before the winter came like the contactor advised me to do.

It is a simple case of the landscaper did not know what the problem was,and made recomendations anyway. The fertilizing would not have helped this tree.But the pruning of affected branches would have given the tree a chance for survival.

It is better to call someone if you don't know what the problem is
than give faulty advice. An Arborist may have saved the tree.

Cytospora Canker of Spruce

Once established, the following may aid in suppressing disease development. Remember that affected branches cannot be saved.

Prune and remove or destroy affected branches. To lessen the spread of the fungus, prune only when the trees are dry. Pruning tools should be disinfested with 70% alcohol between cuts. It will generally be necessary to prune back to the main trunk. No effective chemical control measures are available.

:blob2:

[zedosix]

And last but not least, evergreens need a good supply of water before the ground freezes up.

[Critical Care]

What? Fertilizing wouldn’t have helped the trees anyway? I disagree. Fertilizers high in phosphorous are typically used for transplanting. Phosphates aid in root growth, and root growth is what your initial goal is following transplanting, and there are high phosphorus fertilizers that also incorporate rooting hormones. Generally the contractor will add these amendments during the transplant process. It sounds to me that the trees died from stress (perhaps lack of water) rather than from the initial transplant shock, or from Cytospora canker. Cytospora canker does not generally begin until trees are 10 to 15 years old, but for whatever it’s worth, below is an excerpt taken from U of MN extension regarding Cytospora canker.

“Chemical control of Cytospora canker is not available. Since trees under stress are more susceptible, the best way to prevent this disease is to maintain good tree growth and vigor. Water trees regularly during dry periods to alleviate drought stress. This is believed to be one of the most important stress factors predisposing spruce to Cytospora canker. Occasional fertilizing will also improve tree vigor on poor soils. Care should be taken in selecting a proper planting site. Avoid overcrowding or planting trees too close to buildings.”