[Rosie1950]

Originally Posted by retiredguy123

Wrong. I worked for the Federal Government in construction for 35 years and the Federal Government never paid any money in advance for construction work. Payments were made every 30 days based on work completed. Also, the contractors had to procure a payment and performance bond before their bid was even accepted. I did not say "all" contractors who ask for advance payments are unreliable. When I moved into my house in The Villages, I got 5 written proposals for landscaping work and none of the landscapers wanted any money until the entire project was completed and I was satisfied with their work. So, there are plenty of landscapers in The Villages who will do work without getting paid in advance. Also, why won't the contractors who want money in advance accept a credit card for the advance payment? Your post is just not accurate.

People should also be asking for references. Ask for address, ride around and look at the work they did, people are more the happy to talk to you about their landscapers, see if you like the work. Beware many times they over sell you and your yard will be over grown in no time and you end up pilling out bushes. We used McGowen they are reputable we have had them do work for us twice, they are neat, they bring plans, they are courteous, and you do not need to chase them down. Your landscaper should also be the one to submit the plans for review so there is no problem with your design. They guaranteed the plants but everything was healthy and happy and they sold us Florida friendly landscaping.

[suediff]

Same with paradigm palm. Very unreliable and does not show up without numerous phone calls. All that used them in our Villa fired them.

[Ozzello]

Originally Posted by retiredguy123

Wrong. I worked for the Federal Government in construction for 35 years and the Federal Government never paid any money in advance for construction work. Payments were made every 30 days based on work completed. Also, the contractors had to procure a payment and performance bond before their bid was even accepted. I did not say "all" contractors who ask for advance payments are unreliable. When I moved into my house in The Villages, I got 5 written proposals for landscaping work and none of the landscapers wanted any money until the entire project was completed and I was satisfied with their work. So, there are plenty of landscapers in The Villages who will do work without getting paid in advance. Also, why won't the contractors who want money in advance accept a credit card for the advance payment? Your post is just not accurate.

Not wrong. I have been a contractor, consultant AND inspection engineer on many state and Fed construction projects. Every single major project had a mobilization pay item. Money up front, PRIOR to any work being done.

Who said the contractors wanting money up front won't accept credit cards? I can name several who do, including the largest landscape company in this area. And unless your job was small, less than 10k, I doubt seriously there are 5 landscapers that wouldn't want a token payment prior to starting. In the thousands of contracts I have fulfilled , I can say the very few times I got screwed by a home owner, they did not want to pay even a small amount up front, and I know now in hindsight, they had every intention of screwing me before I ever started.

If you don't trust your contractor, why should the contractor trust you? If you don't trust them enough to pay an installment, for the acquisition of materials, the scheduling of equipment and laborers to set aside for your project, then by all means.. pay that extra 20% or more a couple of these guys charge that don't want money up front.

[retiredguy123]

Originally Posted by Ozzello

Not wrong. I have been a contractor, consultant AND inspection engineer on many state and Fed construction projects. Every single major project had a mobilization pay item. Money up front, PRIOR to any work being done.

Who said the contractors wanting money up front won't accept credit cards? I can name several who do, including the largest landscape company in this area. And unless your job was small, less than 10k, I doubt seriously there are 5 landscapers that wouldn't want a token payment prior to starting. In the thousands of contracts I have fulfilled , I can say the very few times I got screwed by a home owner, they did not want to pay even a small amount up front, and I know now in hindsight, they had every intention of screwing me before I ever started.

If you don't trust your contractor, why should the contractor trust you? If you don't trust them enough to pay an installment, for the acquisition of materials, the scheduling of equipment and laborers to set aside for your project, then by all means.. pay that extra 20% or more a couple of these guys charge that don't want money up front.

On the Federal contracts I worked on, mobilization was a scheduled line item, but no payment was made until the mobilization work was done. And the contractors were fully vetted and purchased a payment and performance bond which guaranteed the work would be completed. But, comparing Government contracting to a guy in The Villages with a pickup truck and a cell phone asking for money upfront is absurd.
The contractor being discussed on this thread did not accept credit cards for advance payments. That is why people are complaining about them. If you use a credit card for the advance payment, you can just dispute the charge with the bank and get your money back if the contractor disappears.
I have always refused to make advance payments, have gotten a lot of work done, and have never regretted it. Why are so many people complaining on this web site after making advance payments? If you do feel the need to pay in advance, use a credit card. If the contractor will not accept a credit card, don't hire him.

[John_W]

There are probably 50 landscape companies operating around TV. At least half are legitimate. I've lived here almost 6 years and have used two and both were good and I know of two more that many in the neighborhood have used. They give free estimates, they don't ask for any money up front, and they operate on a schedule and show up and do what was proposed. You can use any of these four and should end up happy. They all have websites, links provided, and the first three have nurseries that you can visit.

Before you hire a landscaper, check out the 'search' button of the top of this site, type in the name of the business and search. It's free, and you can do that with any business, painters, roofers, flooring, handyman, remodeling, granite, cabinets, concrete, etc. If you hire someone and pay up front and the job doesn't get done, it's your own fault. Someday a poster will search 'Artistascapes Landscaping' and one of the results will be this thread, and it will keep someone else from making the same mistake and hopefully this business will lose business and no longer be around.

Village Palms Village Palms

Terrascape TerraScape Creative Landscaping

Mansfield Landscaping Landscaping | Landscape Design | The Villages | Mansfield Landscaping

S. McGowan S.McGowan Landscape Design |

[Ozzello]

Village Palms requires 10% up front, and all of these charge 20 to 50% than the average.

[John_W]

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[Ozzello]

Comparing them to other good landscapers. Citrus and Palms, Escapes, Ron's.

I personally don't like 'copper' (walnut) rock, I think it looks dirty. I also think pink granite in the right landscape looks great. And a 2 week wait is pretty fast IMO.

It looks like the Sylvester palm is pushing the wall blocks out. The queen palm is also too close to your sidewalk and drive, it will push the concrete up soon.

I would give your Sylvester a little coffee to fix the yellowing, the average soil in this area is about a 7.2 pH and add a little concrete and rock dust to the limerock base under the stack wall.. probably higher. It causes the tree not to be able to uptake Magnesium, Manganese and iron. Just fertilizing won't fix it, you have to acidify the soil.

[Moderator]

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