Linda Jensen heads Arrowwood Landscape Design in Northern Virginia. Here, she explains what her company guarantees and doesn’t guarantee after installation.
Exceptional service is an important element of Arrowwood Landscape Design. I value you as a client and realize that your satisfaction is the key to earning your future business and your referrals. An important part of establishing long-term relationships with my clients begins with good communication, so please allow me to explain some special circumstances of the living landscape.
Living plants require maintenance and care to varying degrees. After your landscape installation, you will have a responsibility for the continued health and vigor of your plants. Upon finishing your project, I will give you general plant care and watering instructions. Simply follow the tips, and if you have any questions, please contact me at Arrowwood Landscape Design.
Equally important is to call me immediately upon observing any symptoms of plant decline, including wilting, leaf or needle drop, discoloration of leaves or woody stems, or insect infestation. Arrowwood Landscape Design warrants the plant materials to be true to name and size according to accepted industry standards. I only recommend plants with hardiness tolerance suitable to a USDA Zone 7. If a requested plant has a hardiness zone rating which is less tolerant, a substitute will be recommended.
Occasionally plants do not survive the process of transplanting. I will gladly replace them at no charge. Plant materials that fail will be replaced as soon as they become available and as quickly as my schedule permits. I will do a one-time replacement any woody plants which perish and had been installed by Arrowwood Landscape Design.
We provide a one-year limited guarantee for all woody plants (trees and shrubs, not perennials). Reasonable growing conditions must be maintained as a provision of the guarantee, including proper irrigation, insect control, winter protection, and shelter from unreasonable damage from pets or pedestrians.
The following are not included in my guarantee:
- Replacement of any plant when the account is past due or has not been paid according to the established terms.
- Vandalism or natural weather issues, such as lightning, flooding, hail, ice storms, abnormal and/or extreme weather conditions such as prolonged sub-zero temperatures or drought, early- and late-season severe freezes, and damaging winds.
- Replacement of plants that are damaged or die as a result of insect infestation or disease. If insect infestation or disease is diagnosed, I can apply controls for a reasonable fee.
- Replacement of plants that are injured or die as a result of improper practices, such as over- or under-watering, over-fertilization, and damage from chemical applications.
- Replacement of plants that my company had planted by request, in areas that receive a reduced amount of natural rainfall or none at all. We will not replace them with plants that are not well-suited to our hardiness zone or soil conditions. If any of these plants are requested by the client, they will be excluded in writing from our guarantee.
- Due to shallow root systems and/or susceptibility to moisture and temperature extremes, certain plants are not guaranteed. This includes plants in pots, planter boxes or containers of any kind, client transplants, annuals, groundcovers, lawn seed, sod, bulbs, and perennials.
