[Ozzello]

Landscape installation is not maintenance. The install company pays way higher workmans comp insurance.

Some installers have even gone to school for landscape architect, horticulture, etc.

When you have your lawn guy , or some ex lawn guy , or some salesman from south Fla, or even from up north, working for a company owner who moved here with no previous landscape experience ....they are here to make a buck, NOT to give you a good landscape that will stand the test of time.

The cheapest price, and the highest price, are almost always the wrong choice.

[asianthree]

Ok I will bite did something happen due to your posting

[Ozzello]

A lot of people got taken advantage of. More than 80%+ of the landscaping being done is sub-par and within 3-5 years, another landscaper is called in to redo a portion or all. There are a COUPLE of talented and educated owners in TV, but somehow dozens of small and even large landscape companies...from the door hanger/knockers to the ones spending 6 figures on advertising with names that make you think they are affiliated with The Villages...out here convincing most of you/us to spend thousands every day on crap landscaping.

[tophcfa]

I made a similar mistake. We hired a tree guy to remove a big magnolia that was making a mess in our yard. And yes, I got ARC approval, which required a replacement shade tree with a minimum 3" diameter trunk. The tree guy did a great job of both removing the magnolia and planting the replacement tree, so I asked him if he did landscaping. Of course he said yes, so we hired him to rip up our current garden (weeds included) and replace it with a florida friendly and relatively weed free option. He was supposed to remove all existing plants and weeds, put in a quality landscape cloth, plant new frost tolerant plants, and cover it with a thick layer of stone. He removed the plants, but not the weeds, covered the garden with a cheap landscape cloth, planted a bunch of beautiful plants that all died during last winters cold spell, and put a very thin layer of rocks on top. Our old garden looked much better and had way fewer weeds. Lesson learned, hire someone who specializes in the job at hand and who has excellent reviews on TOV. Live and learn : )

[Topspinmo]

Originally Posted by tophcfa

I made a similar mistake. We hired a tree guy to remove a big magnolia that was making a mess in our yard. And yes, I got ARC approval, which required a replacement shade tree with a minimum 3" diameter trunk. The tree guy did a great job of both removing the magnolia and planting the replacement tree, so I asked him if he did landscaping. Of course he said yes, so we hired him to rip up our current garden (weeds included) and replace it with a florida friendly and relatively weed free option. He was supposed to remove all existing plants and weeds, put in a quality landscape cloth, plant new frost tolerant plants, and cover it with a thick layer of stone. He removed the plants, but not the weeds, covered the garden with a cheap landscape cloth, planted a bunch of beautiful plants that all died during last winters cold spell, and put a very thin layer of rocks on top. Our old garden looked much better and had way fewer weeds. Lesson learned, hire someone who specializes in the job at hand and who has excellent reviews on TOV. Live and learn : )

A little weed killer goes along way. Nearly impossible after 4 or 5 years to have weed free yard IMO. You either got to pull them or kill them.agin IMO weed killer is 1000 time cheaper than pull-up and do over.

[Ozzello]

No such thing as weed free. There are installation/design steps to reduce the weeds that are appearing in your yard, but doing nothing to the few weeds over time will still result in the same weedy mess. Chemical or physical steps MUST happen on a regular basis. Good luck on finding anyone to actually be educated AND diligent controlling weeds in the maintenance sector.