This landscaping serviced my property for a number of years. For part of that time our home was…read moreunoccupied. When I moved back into the home I began to discover damage caused by the lawn care crew, as well as some litter. I'll describe these issues below:
1) Sprinkler head damage: Our property has an underground sprinkler system with sprinkler heads located around the property. Near each sprinkler head on the lawn were iron stakes painted orange to 1) help us find lower lying heads in the event service was needed, and 2) alert landscapers to avoid the sprinkler heads. Not long after moving back home I discovered that some of the sprinkler heads had been shorn. The heads made of heavy ABS plastic and metal are not easy to cut, but no trouble for heavy duty professional mower blades to damage. In cases where heads had been damaged I the metal spikes which had been installed as alerts were missing. Rather than damage being the result of missing stakes I surmise the opposite was true, namely that after heads had been damaged the landscaper had removed the takes and tossed them, along with the sprinkler heads, as I found several incidences of each having been thrown into the woods around the yard perimeter. There was no one else on the property on a regular basis other than the landscapers, and there is no way the sprinkler heads could have been damaged as they were, nor the stakes removed from the lawn, and for each to have found their way into wooded areas without someone having thrown them there.
2) Masonry damage: Portions of our property are supported and bordered with long stone walls. In some areas the stones serve as retaining walls. In several areas where the lawn meets the top of retaining walls I found pieces of stone and concrete missing. Over time I discovered new damage and missing pieces, and on such new occasions I always discovered new damages within 24 hours of the landscaping service having mowed our lawn. Once I was sure the landscaping service must be responsible I notified the business owner, Nick, who told me he'd come by for a look, which I'll discuss further below. I also brought the matter to the attention of one of the landscaping crew on their next visit to my property. On our way to look at an area of damage discovered after the previous visit one week prior I came upon a brand new new area of damage which must have occurred within the hour. I pointed the area out to the man and was surprised he knew exactly where to find the missing pieces, which he'd tossed tossed down into some pachysandra near a stream. Not only was the crew damaging the walls through carelessness, instead of making an effort at repair they had simply tossed the evidence. Damage could not be well hidden because the surface of the wall was not only uneven as a consequence of missing masonry, the wall had also developed a patina of lichen growth and weathering, the absence of which was clear in the damaged areas. The landscaping crew was able to find several other missing pieces of wall they'd tossed into bushes and gullies in the preceding weeks, and I was able to find some additional pieces myself, having learned how and where dislodged pieces would be cast.
3) The third regular issue I experienced with the crew was litter, which consisted of small candy wrappers for an unusual brand of candy, as well as water and soda bottles tossed in the woods, which I'd always find within 24 hours of their having been on the property.
Nick, the owner of the business, visited the property on two occasions, once for an initial look some damaged areas of wall, and on a later date to discuss a possible patio project with me. On each occasion Nick promised me that when his crew was not as busy at the end of the season he would have someone come by to repair the damaged areas of wall as best as possible. Nick never made good on his promise.
After notifying the business owner, Nick that we wished to terminate their service at month's end the crew continued to appear beyond their contract. I had to remind the business owner of the problem more than once, and on each occasion he blamed the error on the woman doing his scheduling and told me the crew would not return. After several weeks of his crew returning I was forced to block entrance to our property by parking a vehicle in a way which would block passage of the large commercial mowers.
On one hand the business owner has continued to send emails, texts, and invoices for payment of services not contracted, while on the other ignoring communication and his promises to repair masonry work his crew damaged. I'm prompted to write this review because he's just reached out again for payment while continuing to ignore the matter of damages. These people are unprofessional and unreliable, and between our sprinkler system and masonry they've cost us thousands of dollars in repairs. This company and its owner have been a tremendous disappointment.