OT: residential landscaping

[LegendRider]

About six months ago I had a well-regarded landscape firm do some work at my house. Part of the project included mowing two banks covered in English Ivy. The ivy was under pine trees that have since been cut down and it was full of debris (weeds, branches, pine straw). The mowing was supposed to allow the ivy to come back cleaner and crisper looking.

Well, the ivy has partially regrown, but it is being choked out by more weeds, vines and other unwanted vegetation than you can imagine. In short, it looks worse than before.

So, here's the question: Does the landscape firm have any obligation to help me fix this problem? On one hand, they never promised a weed-free yard - just the plantings. On the other hand, I'm dissatisfied with this particular part of the project. Should I attempt to negotiate a reduced rate for additional work? Other thoughts?

[slowandsteady]

Talk to them openly and honestly and ask what they can do given the situation. Tell them what your concerns are and be open about your feelings and thoughts on the issue, financial and otherwise. I would guess they would give you a preferential price to help you alleviate the problem and keep a customer happy with their work - happy customers mean referrals and referrals are EVERYTHING in a largley word of mouth business like Landscaping.

We will see more and more of this now that the economy is sour. For the last 10 years or so plumbers, electricians, landscapers etc. could give a rats ass about your true happiness as they had so much work they could leave jobs unfinished or poorly completed and it meant nothing to their bottom line as they had tons of work lined up and people willing to pay top dolloar just to get someone to their home to do work in a reasonable amount of time...now you can negotiate price and scope of work and only the good contractors will survive this economy as all the a-holes with attitude from the last several years will not have the referral base of old and thus new customers to draw from and survive.

I am in property management so i have dealt with this extensively.

[konstantkarma]

ATMO, in short, No. I don't think they have an obligation to help you, since all they did was mow and clear. BTW, I tried the same thing with an ivy bed on my property with the same results. I mowed it down to about 4" and after a year the bed has more weeds than ivy. I think mowing the ivy just opens up the sunlight for the weeds, and they take over.

[BumbleBeeDave]

. . . recommend this course of action when you first consulted him? If you simply asked him to mow the two banks and that's what he did, then it seems like he did exactly as you requested and paid for. If he recommended additional action, like some sort of weed-killer spray or weeding the area by hand and you didn't go for that for whatever reason, then it wouldn't be his fault.

Seems like a question of due care and diligence on his part. I'm no pro landscaper, but I think if I had a friend tell me he had the same sort of problem and ask for advice the same sort of problem I'd suggest weeding the area by hand. Lots of work, but it seems to me if you just mow the whole thing and don't pull out the weeds, then of course everything--including the weeds--is going to grow back.

BBD

[vqdriver]

we've done this same thing with the ive embankment at our building.
the ivy was getting really thick and mattresslike so we had it cut down and let it regrow.

it actually went pretty well for us. but the landscaper who cut down the ivy told us from the get go that weeds could be a problem. their portion of the work was to remove the existing ivy. the day to day maintenance of the property however was beyond their scope of work, and was left to our mow and blow crew. as with all other type of landscaping, planting and forgetting isn't going to cut it. you have to give it chance to get established and survive. and in order to do so, you have to systematically remove competing plants. oddly enough, ivy seems to spread like weeds themselves. even if i wanted to cut it down and lay grass instead, i get the feeling it would have reappeared on its own.

in short, no, i don't think they had an obligation to deal with the weeds. they're landscapers, not gardeners. but yeah, it doesn't hurt to ask for help.

[OldDog]

I have a portion of yard that is bank, covered in Mytrle. I use Round-up weed killer (NOT the vegetation killer) each spring, two sprayings about two weeks apart. Best to spray when you have a stretch of dry weather ahead of you. Should do the trick.

For my yard, what cannot be mowed with the tractor, gets plantings requiring little to no maintence. I don't weed whack or pull by hand. It gets mowed or it grows.

[dirtdigger88]

someone emailed me this asking my opinion -

the ivy didnt have the weed problem before because of the shade of the pines and due to the pines raising the acidity of the soil to help supress the weeds -

pine straw is great for that -

now in full sun the weeds are free to grow -

this is not the landscapers responsibility - it can be treated and corrected but only on your dime - not his

buck up or pull them yourself -

first post in 8 months - I'm going back to my hole now

[Peter P.]

I know a lot less than any of the other respondents here heck; I don't even have a lawn to mow, except my mom's! But from mowing her lawn and tending to the hedges etcetera, it's my observation that cutting ANYTHING just makes it grow more as the cuttings decay and provide food for the soil. If you want long lasting results you've got to pull the weeds up by the roots.

In the end, the lawn owns YOU, not the other way around.

[vqdriver]

In the end, the lawn owns YOU, not the other way around.

+1

but it smells so good in the morning :D