ABIQUA LANDSCAPE MAINTENANCE

Jim saved the day by finishing up a pergola we had started and ran out of time to finish. It was great being able to just turn over a drawing and the supplies we had already done and have him build it almost exactly as we had planned without having to manage the project. In fact, being out of town, he used technology to help watch-over the process.

From hindsight, it went poorly. Much of the work done did not come out as I expected. Whether this was due to his team's incompetence, or my not understanding what the result would be, can be debated. The main problem was a fundamental lack of communication. I said "trim" and "prune" - what resulted was "top off" and "cut back." Chainsaws were applied to the rhododendrons and hydrangeas. The coastal redwood in the front was chopped in half - extremely unsightly - and now we have to replace it. "Clean up" was iffy - I was clearing away debris from around the bushes days after they left. He did well with whatever could be done with heavy machinery - moving rocks, rototilling - done with no problems. The installation of the gate was decent. Other than that, I saw no evidence of care or craft. The major problem was his response when I called to complain about the "trimming" of the redwood. He insisted that I asked him to "top it off." I don't know what that term means, so I wouldn't have used it. I have an email documenting my request: I had asked him to trim the tree. He became argumentative and used profanity with me. In his tirade he said he was going bankrupt - with what I experienced, I'm not surprised.