Landscapers for Maintenance

lucky said:
I don't want to use the landscaper who originally did our work because he turned out to be less kind than he initially let on and he charges way too much for far too little.
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I wonder if you used the same landscaper as us. Our guy was really friendly as well - he and his crew dug out an existing planter, put in some trees and some gardenias. A year later and most of the gardenias have died even though I have watered the plants as he had instructed. I had him come back to the house about 3 months ago to look at the state of our planter and, though he seemed surprised at the state of the gardenias, he didn't seem that concerned that 2/3 to 3/4 of their gardenias had not survived 7 months.
 
aquabliss said:
Hey Lucky are you trying to fill in your whole wall with vines or are you trying to achieve the diamond look:
vines-x.jpg


Just curious.  I've thought about going for the diamond look but never seen or heard anyone I know actually do it (just in a few pics).
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Our intent is to actually cover the entire wall eventually, but thought we'd maintain the diamond formation until it matures to that point. The diamond look is nice, but we really want to hide the ugly wall as much as possible.

It's clear now that because the vines/stems of the roses and star jasmine are so thick and heavy, it's not as practical as we thought to keep them growing in the diamond formation. I'm pretty sure the plants in your photo are much lighter-weight and flexible while still growing fuller with leaves.

(Our real concern now is that we just realized yesterday that you can see the back wall from the street, and I know the HOA drives through looking for violations, and they might bust us. :-o)
 
RibEye said:
lucky said:
I don't want to use the landscaper who originally did our work because he turned out to be less kind than he initially let on and he charges way too much for far too little.
Click to expand...

I wonder if you used the same landscaper as us. Our guy was really friendly as well - he and his crew dug out an existing planter, put in some trees and some gardenias. A year later and most of the gardenias have died even though I have watered the plants as he had instructed. I had him come back to the house about 3 months ago to look at the state of our planter and, though he seemed surprised at the state of the gardenias, he didn't seem that concerned that 2/3 to 3/4 of their gardenias had not survived 7 months.
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Could be, but it doesn't sound too much like our guy because 1) he instructed you how to water the plants (he told us he would give us detailed instructions on caring for everything but never did), and 2) he actually came back to look at your stuff. Is your guy's name John?
 
aquabliss said:
Hey Lucky are you trying to fill in your whole wall with vines or are you trying to achieve the diamond look:
vines-x.jpg


Just curious.  I've thought about going for the diamond look but never seen or heard anyone I know actually do it (just in a few pics).
Click to expand...

One of my neighbors has a diamond pattern, it looks really nice.
 
lucky said:
Could be, but it doesn't sound too much like our guy because 1) he instructed you how to water the plants (he told us he would give us detailed instructions on caring for everything but never did), and 2) he actually came back to look at your stuff. Is your guy's name John?
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No - we have different people. You're right though; at least our guy communicated with us 7 months after the job, even though we're still left with a bunch of dead and dying gardenias.
 
More pictures from the back.

I still need to take some from the front/courtyard.
 

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Couple more photos (because TI limits to 4 per post).
 

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Just to update on Sean from Savanna Scapes, we're a few weeks past when they completed the work and right now he's at my house with a guy making some adjustments.

This is probably the kind of thing you *should* expect from your contractor, but this very nice, friendly return visit to make some changes without additional charge is new to and very much appreciated by me.
 
Thanks Chairman!

Here's my last set of photos (finally), from the courtyard. Very happy with it and it looks great at night, except we need to figure out some kind of lights to put into the pots because they look odd all dark up top.
 

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What size are those planters? Does water stain it? Where are some good places to look for planters? Restoration Hardware is too expensive. Thanks!
 
Chairman said:
What size are those planters? Does water stain it? Where are some good places to look for planters? Restoration Hardware is too expensive. Thanks!
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We had trouble finding planters because real (non-plastic) ones are too heavy for online sales and local options are scarce, particularly for tall pots like the ones we wanted/bought.

We thought our best chance would be at the place off Harbor and the 22 freeway. And they had two really awesome pots we loved, but just two, and they said they wouldn't be getting any new ones for a couple months at least.

After calling around and visiting random places, we finally discovered a place that sells only pottery in Laguna Beach, just down the street from Las Brisas. They have a good selection and great prices. Each of our pots was like $30-$40 less than all other similar options, at about $190 each IIRC. (I didn't look at Restoration Hardware, but everything there is too expensive in my opinion.)

Ours are concrete (I think) with a heavy glaze/paint exterior that seems to do fine against water. They're about 33" tall I believe.
 
Thank you for choosing water saving plants.

For the taller pots, google "Donkey Tail Succulent".
 
We were thinking of going with Sean (he was recommended to us by friends) - he seemed really nice. I am finding it difficult to decide between Sean and GoPavers..

@lucky Was Savannascapes quick once they started?
 
whome said:
We were thinking of going with Sean (he was recommended to us by friends) - he seemed really nice. I am finding it difficult to decide between Sean and GoPavers..

@lucky Was Savannascapes quick once they started?
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Yes, they were quick. They took a few days, but to me that was quick because of how much they had to do (e.g., build a retaining wall). I highly recommend Sean as well. He's a real pro, super friendly, and easy to talk to. He just came by last week to replace 20 succulents that shriveled up and turned to ash because he provides a 1 year guarantee on any plants you buy from him.

My only experience with GoPavers was what I recall as seeming like outrageous prices when we were first shopping around.

Good luck!
 
whome said:
We were thinking of going with Sean (he was recommended to us by friends) - he seemed really nice. I am finding it difficult to decide between Sean and GoPavers..

@lucky Was Savannascapes quick once they started?
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I can also vouch for Sean, his work is good quality and his team works very hard 6 says a week.
 
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