From Jenise E.
Oak Leaf Landscape
2 stars for his crew and price. On a positive note Kyle was initially friendly, he gave the lowest quote, very good price for sod in both the front and back lawns. His crew was professional and pleasant the entire time.
Kyle on the other hand was very short, and at times extremely rude. To start, his crew stripped out the existing lawn, first in the front yard then in back. Then laid the sod in back yard only. The back lawn was very nice and done extremely fast! I was amazed, and all was going well.
However, the front lawn sat for about 3 weeks thru rain storms and heat waves. Just gross soppy mud everywhere, all over the drive way. All sorts of flies, mosquitos and critters were making themselves at home and feasting on us as we ran by, it was a daily obstacle course with two kids to get in and out of our cars and to the house for 3 weeks, which was not a big deal for me - As long as the end result would be a nice lawn.
Meanwhile the sod was laying on our cement driveway through all of this from day 1, at this point completely yellowish brown.
Via email, he explained he would return to lay the sod before it went bad, which he did. The state and look of the lawn concerned me. There was very little top soil used in the front, the land was very bumpy with lots of grooves an indents which we discussed flattening during our initial meeting. He explained they ran out of topsoil, and assured me they would return to add more under the sod , they just needed to get the sod laid before it rotted, but would have to wait until after the rain- he did about 2 weeks later over a couple applications.
By this time the grass looked as if it been thru hell and back!! Sitting in the driveway in the sun for weeks, laid down then ripped back up, nothing like the back yard which was beautiful, with the exception of 2 strips of half rolled out sod. I guess he expected me to cut it?
I emailed him pictures of rolls left behind mid roll, which made me think they were still returning -so I asked. His reply- questioning what I wanted him to do, the meaning of the picture, and advised that I can simply cut it, which I did and left it at that.
Now, he did leave me with instructions via email to water everyday which we did, sprinklers were going in both yards everyday, with even the grandparents coming by to water, back yard was good but the front yard NEVER looked alive. It honestly looked like dead grass while it was sitting in the driveway before it was ever laid! I was hoping he would show up for a scheduled meeting we made, so I could at least show him how awful it looked, but he never made it. He reassured me with enough watering it would take, and I trusted his knowledge. In the end, the front yard died. This was the summer of 2019, 2020 I’m looking to replace his work. I have multiple patches of no grass whatsoever, and what looks to be clay mixed soil with rocks laid down as top soil they used, and weeds.
I did try to address this issue with him via email, he advised I continue to water extensively. I reassured him I never stopped, and questioned why the back looked entirely different from the start, with equal waterings? Just really wanting any advice he could give to help save the lawn. I’m not sure what his problem was or if that questioned offended his livelihood, but he decided to respond with “I’m not going to repeat myself.”
All communication was via email, I don’t believe he ever saw the final product and if he did he never let me know he did. His solution, of course in not so many words was water, water, water, and he will not repeat himself if the final product is dead grass.
According to another landscaper we are now consulting with, they took much too long to lay the sod , used inappropriate sod type for the amount of shade/lack of sun in the front, and most importantly inadequate amount and quality of top soil used. His dismissive attitude and rude emails didn’t help resolve this matter.
