Earl May Nursery & Garden Center - Merle Hay

I am really ambivalent about the work. First off, a big plus for Earl May is that they actively sought my business. They made an appointment to go over what I wanted done within a few days of my email, sent the estimate when they said they would, and kept me informed when the projected work date had to slide because of several days of rain. It's unbelievable how many Des Moines landscapers do not bother to respond to inquiries, or send estimates after they've come out to see the lot. On the day they came, the crew called my work number instead of my cell, and I missed the call because I was in a meeting. By the time I got the voicemail and got home, they'd been working an hour or so and had about 8' of the concrete edging pounded into place, and about another 15' of the trench for the edging dug. The edging was aligned with the back edge of the walk to my front steps, while I'd told the salesperson that I wanted it aligned with the front edge, so the mail carrier could walk on the river rock in front of the plantings instead of killing the grass. I should have been a customer from h*** and made them rip it out and move it up that 2', but I didn't. Along with the estimate, Earl May also sent a plot diagram showing what plants were going to be used in front of the house, and their placement. They also included a Photoshopped photo of the house with what the planting would like when mature. So I didn't go over the planting placement with the crew, since they should have the same materials I had. Big mistake. I was having the work done because in late June, I'd had my sewer line replaced. To hold the dirt in place until the cooler weather when the landscaping and reseeding could be done, I'd seeded down the front of the bare area with an annual rye grass, and had a hose reel attached to the faucet at the front of the house to keep it watered. I left the house reel in place so the crew wouldn't have to drag their own hose to the site, and I'd be all set to start watering when the work was done. The crew disregarded the plan, left an 8' gap around the faucet and hose reel, and crowded the plants together to fit. If I'd wanted an 8' gap in the landscaping I would have had the excavators remove just the one evergreen that was over the sewer line. I contacted Earl May, and they promised to either come out and move the plantings, or add another plant to compensate. Several weeks later they did add another plant at no charge. So I give them credit for making it right, but it was a frustration that would have been avoided had the installers followed the plan. (And lesson learned: I didn't take the day off because I was saving them in case they would be needed for a health issue. Next time I'm staying home to supervise.) I had Earl May include aerating the front yard in the estimate. On the installation day, I told the crew that I'd like them to go ahead and aerate the back yard while they were at it. They said they'd add to the work order and do it when they did the front. They did, and the charge was quite reasonable. So a plus for Earl May. Overall, communication was lacking. The widow next door says the crew gave her lots of free advice on caring for her yard, but even though I was the guy paying for the service, I got zilch. When I came home from work on install day, the crew was gone. The plantings were in place, the river rock and edging was complete, a ton of topsoil had put over the excavated ground, smoothed, and a straw seed blanket put down. I was a little puzzled as to whether grass seed had been put down, as I didn't see any along the edges of the straw blanket. I couldn't imagine that it hadn't been seeded and watered anyway, and in about 10 days you could see the new grass coming up. When the crew came back to aerate they also overseeded the front yard, which helped along the edge of the straw blanket. It still seemed to be seeded pretty thinly in spots, so I used another pound of seed to be certain it was well covered. I had professionals handle my landscaping needs because I had surgery on my leg last winter and have a little trouble getting up and down. I also was having trouble with fatigue, which was probably from the cancer's then-undiagnosed metastasis. But all in all, I think I would have been better off getting the plants from Timber Pine, having a load of river rock and of topsoil delivered to the driveway, and done it all myself, 20-30 minutes at a time, over the course of two or three months.

They are real helpful on giving you advice on how to grow things. They are there to help you if you need plants and growing things and flowers. They will tell you what you need to get started if you're a first time gardener. It wasn't real expensive. They've got good stuff. I use them every year.

They're very knowledgeable on what they do and easy to deal with. They're really a great people. They've got a good set of products. Overall they provided a good service.