the Price of Landscape Design

The service included a quick trim of 3 medium bushes, 1 fairly large tree, 1 climbing vine, and about 200 square feet of grass. The price was all-inclusive for a "sprucing up" of a small front yard. All the prices were negotiable and the company was available for simpler tasks or tougher and more complicated jobs including pruning of palm trees and regular maintenance of large gardens. Payment was up front, before the work started.

I was fairly happy with the results, though there was some small problem, and entirely my fault.

It took the crew of five practically no time at all to do my small yard and the crew cleaned up the trimmings and was on to their next job before I could say thanks or inspect the work. They neatly cleared back the ivy crawling up the garage wall by the main entrance, pruned the tree perfectly, cut and edged the grass expertly, but left the bushes weirdly precise pieces of modern art -- common for the area, but not what I'd expected.

When I called the foreman about my dissatisfaction with the bushes and my expectation that they would have been pruned rather than chainsawed, he noted that such service cost extra and was something we hadn't requested. He also said he'd be happy to send someone over to fix the bushes and that he would only charge us difference in price for the service, but noted that it would look weird if done now. We elected to wait until next time.

When pruning bushes, a hedge cutter that works like a chainsaw doesn't produce the best result. It leaves these weird, smooth-faced, sharp edged bundles of densely-packed dry . A proper pruning of dead and small branches that opens up the inside of the bush to light is far preferred as it looks more natural, but it takes more time and costs a bit extra. All the landscaping services we've used have been more than willing to do this for us, but we had to ask first because it's not what most people request.

One thing to note is that landscaping is a commercial area dominated by immigrant workers, at least in Phoenix, and according to local law if you hire "illegal" immigrants to do work, you're liable for the breach of law, so to help cover your butt you may want to avoid fly-by-night operations. Although many of them do excellent work, sadly they tend to disappear on short notice as their workers are deported, leaving you not only having to find a new landscaper, but also holding the bag while the cops arrive.