Full-Service Landscaper

Q. Describe the most common types of jobs you do for your clients.

A. Since we offer so many different services, we have a few. We commonly have irrigation repairs, install new retaining walls, repair sinkholes, grade and put in drain boxes for erosion and drainage problems, and we install hardscapes. Outdoor fireplaces, firepits, and stone patios are the main hardscapes. Sod is pretty common and of course installation of plants. Retaining walls and sinkholes have been the main jobs this year, while hardscapes were the most common ob last year. It really varies season to season, year to year. We do not cut graas as we are not a maintenance company though like most landscapers.

Q. What advice do you have for a customer looking to hire a provider like you?

A. Check the company out. Look at their website and really pay attention to their completed work. Reviews, testimonies, and references are good to have as well. Remember, even if a company has a bad review, pay close attention to all the reviews because no business can make everyone happy, even if the work they did is perfect. Call and speak to the company and see how much they really know about the project you are wanting to do. Check to see if their websites has any of that information as well. The best way to determine a good contractor is ask for a reference where something on the job didn't go as planned, and see how that company handled the situation. Things usually don't go perfect every time in landscaping because you are digging and reshaping the earth, but how a company handles situation speaks volumes on their customer service, integrity, and how they truly run their business. Get 2 or 3 bids to compare rates. Remember too, lowest bid isn't always the best. Really compare appples to apples. Check to see if contractors are estimating the same things. One company might quote you for bricks, and another comany might tell you to use wood and give you numbers for that. It's smart to go back and get the original company to give you numbers for wood, just to make sure you are getting a good price. Companies sometimes will use that tactic to throw another company off and win the bid. Low bids aren't always bad, but it really is about quality versus quatity in this business because if you cut too many corners, your project might fall through and have to be rebuilt. Build it right the first time.

Q. What questions should a consumer ask to hire the right service professional?

A. There are several questions a consumer should ask. The first is do you have a business license and not just working out of a truck, and do you have insurance so that you, the consumer are covered. Next, you should ask to see completed jobs. Most companies have a gallery on their website or you can always ask them to send you pictures via email. See if they have any before and after pictures. These can show just what really went into the transformation you see. It never hurts to see during photos so that you can see that yes, they built this project and didn't find the picture off the internet. Finally, you should ask if they have any testimonials or references. Most companies can send this to you via email as well or you can find it on their website or read reviews from various online sites such as Google places. Make sure that the company you talk to has done your job before too.

Q. What important information should buyers have thought through before seeking you out?

A. You need to have an idea of what you would like to have done. Even if you know nothing about it, form an idea of what you want visually. Next, you need to figure out a budget! Most people have no idea what landscaping cost, but no matter how much it cost, you need to determine a realistic budget that you can spend so that when you call about a project, you might be able to rule something out right then or have a better round about idea of how much you might need. Finally, it's a good idea to pick out various materials that you would like to use for your project. Your budget will determine this most of the time, so choose 4-5 materials just to be safe because an estimate cannot be done without knowing what materials you would like to use. Finally, have a time frame in mind of when you want to start the project and complete it. This will sometimes determine material cost or with landscaping, planting seasons.

Q. What do you like most about your job?

A. Helping people and making over yards. It's great! You get to help people turn their dreams into reality, while designing spaces and projects that you love as well. We get to create our dream yards over and over again through our customers. It's a great feeling when you can help someone save their home as well rather it's falling off the foundation, or their home is being flooded due to poor drainge or erosion problems. You get in to this business becaus eyou like people and helping and you have the opportunity to do that every day, and helping your community is just a bonus. You meet so many different people and you do meet those that become friends for years to come.

Q. What questions do customers most commonly ask you? What's your answer?

A. Customers want to know why we will not use railroad ties or why they are so expensive to remove after they are rotten. Anser is that railroad ties contain a chemical called creosote and that chemical turns to a tar like substance and runs into your yard with the heat we have in Georgia. this tar runs into the ground and contaminate groundwater and is hazardous to your health it comes into contact with your skin. They are really expensive to dispose of because of the hazard they carry. You cannot just dump them or bury them. the penalties if you get caught are enormous. Railroad ties made today aren't made with that chemical anymore, but tyou run the risk of if they are treated all the way. We use pressure treated lumber that has been treated inside and out to insure durability.
We get the question how do you fix a sinkhole. You cannot just fill it in. Any company that tells you that has no idea what they are doing and it will come back! You must excavate the hole and get to the root cause. Then, you can start to fill it in and compact it in.

Q. What do you wish customers knew about you or your profession?

A. It truly takes skill to do this job. It's not just dirt and plants; hardscapes require skilled labor and trade knowledge. Anyone can dig in the dirt, but it takes someone that knows about the soils and how to properly grade or compact an area so that it doesn't wash away or kill your plants. Even laying sod is a skill. It can look really bad and just die within a week if you don't know what you are doing. Something as simple sounding as filling a sinkhole with dirt would require no knowledge. A closer look reveals that even if you fill a hole and don't excatvate or compact correctly, that hole will come back. Most people think retainng walls are just as simple as laying bricks ontop of one another but if you do that wrong, your yard will collapse and you then have the expense of rebuilding and are lucky if it's used as support to not lose your home driveway, or yard. There are actually several different components things that go into building a wall. We can't tellyou how many times customers have built their own wall to save money and 3 months later called back to tell us it's leaning or cracking or just fell over.

Q. How did you decide to get in your line of work?

A. I wanted to own my own business like everyone else, and I wanted to make good money. I also like working with people and helping others and this job would allow me to do both things. I thought, hey, I can just cut grass, easy enough and walla, money. I was to learn soon that this wasn't the case and that there is an enrmous amount of skill involved and that it wasn't going to be as simple as that. I needed more knowledge. I do get to help others which is great, and it's the best feeling to sit back and admire the quality work that I completed, knowing that I accomplished another great project, and that my customer couldn't be happier.

Q. Do you do any sort of continuing education to stay up on the latest developments in your field?

A. Yes. We work with all kinds of different companies and attend product seminars to stay up to date on them. New techniques always help improve the way you can do your trade. We carry brands such as Pavestone and Belgard, so knowing how to use their product as it changes is a must. We also do how to seminars at one of our nurseries so we can share our knowledge with the public! Rules and regulations are a must to keep up with because ignorance can cost the company and the consumer lots of money in fines if not followed properly. A company can be shut down if they break the rules for instance on drought regulations. Every city and county has various rules that we have to keep up with to so that we are not fined or shut down.

Q. Describe your most recent project, what it involved, how much it cost, and how long it took.

A. Our most recent project was a project that involved hardscapes, sod, and drains. We installed an outdoor stone fireplace with storage, a flagstone patio, with matching retaining wall and walkway, new sod, grading, and drains.
We have to grade the yard for the patio and walkway to be level. The patio and walkway was put in, then the retaining wall was placed behind the patio. We then poured concrete. We have to fill the back of the wall, compact it, and then put in all the drains to control water flow (drainage). We then built the fireplace with the firewood storage. The final step was final grading and laying sod and mulch.
The project cost about $40,000.00 because of the type of stone used. It took us 6 weeks, but that is only because we started the job just before Christmas, went through he holidays, and then had the rain hit in the beginning of January. We also had a few days of freezing temperatures that delayed the pouring of concrete. A job like that usually takes 3-4 weeks.

Q. If you have a complicated pricing system for your service, please give all the details here.

A. We don't, but it is important to know that because you cannot have set prices. Certain items can have a price like plants and soil, but every yard is different and you don't know what under the ground until you start digging, so you as the customer shouldn't pay the same price with a small yard as someoone wiht a yard that is twince your size, with giant boulders buried underground.

Q. If you were advising someone who wanted to get into your profession, what would you suggest?

A. I would suggest to learn, learn , learn. The best way to really learn is hands on. Get on a landscaping crew and work your way through the crew doing various jobs so that you get experience in every area possibly. Attend training workshops and do read what you can to keep up with rules, regulations, and how to things are built. Finally, if you advanced enough to accomplish all this and are great at what you do and want to move further to own your own landscaping business, own all your equipment! No bills makes less stress on you, cuts down your overhead, and keeps you debt free. Customers can tell a difference of I have to finish this job to get paid to pay my equipment versus, taking your time and those bills aren't really determining my timeframe to complete this job.