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  David Cox April 11, 2011 at 10:15pm

  For planting I give clear instructions on watering and care etc - that way if the plant shrivels and dies I can safely point out the customer did not care for the product.

  If their Maintenance customers - I take full responsibility for plants.

  For landscaping - Id go with 5 years workmanship with cover such as dont park a car or put a skip on a patio etc...
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  Daniel Gillings @ DC inc April 11, 2011 at 10:20pm

  So for maintenance you cover ALL plants, regardless of weather? Does that mean that you cover the replacement cost of existing plants in the case of frost damage etc.? Where do you draw the line? We lost a few unexpected plants this winter in some of our gardens...

   

  For landscaping, how do you prove that certain things weren't mistreated when it comes to a 'claim'?
  
  David Cox said:

  For planting I give clear instructions on watering and care etc - that way if the plant shrivels and dies I can safely point out the customer did not care for the product.

  If their Maintenance customers - I take full responsibility for plants.

  For landscaping - Id go with 5 years workmanship with cover such as dont park a car or put a skip on a patio etc...
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  Claire Brown April 11, 2011 at 10:44pm

  I offer a 2 year guarantee on all the hardy plants that I source and plant. Because i've now got 19 yrs of experience of choosing Nursery stock, and lots of gardening experience, and I don't plant unless the soil is prepared properly, this means that I normally have to replace an average of .5% - that's one plant for every 200 that I plant.  I make sure I cost in going back to clients gardens to check on them after 3-6 months, and bring them back replacements. - The goodwill and the extra business this brings me is worth soo much to me.
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  Dan Frazer Gardening April 12, 2011 at 6:40am

  You can't be expected to guarantee plants against weather; the guarantee we offer should cover poor plant health from the nursery or bad planting methods.

   

  One client had a guy do some paving at the back and he offered a 5 year guarantee against any weeds appearing! Needless to say the season after it was done and I'm busy spraying!
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  Daniel Gillings @ DC inc April 12, 2011 at 6:49am

  That is one of the things I'm worried about. You can offer a guarantee in the best of interests, but then once you come around to them possibly making a 'claim' having to dispute it if it isn't covered by the terms of the guarantee. A lot of clients don't fully understand what can go wrong and how hard it can be to try to cover that off (if that makes sense)

   

  scenario - frost damage to plants. An unknowing customer may not understand the differences between frost damage and badly planted plants. I don't want to get in an argument over the guarantee as that would probably end up doing my company more damage than good. 

   

  scenario - cracks in paving due to ground movement (ie. clay swell) A customer could argue that the foundation/base of the patio should have been sufficient to cover this as they asked for a patio in that area - I should have picked up on the clay swell issue. Again an argument.. 

   

  I do offer a guarantee, as I stated above, I've just never had to put one into writing before and REALLY want to cover myself!
  
  Dan Frazer Gardening said:

  You can't be expected to guarantee plants against weather; the guarantee we offer should cover poor plant health from the nursery or bad planting methods.

   

  One client had a guy do some paving at the back and he offered a 5 year guarantee against any weeds appearing! Needless to say the season after it was done and I'm busy spraying!
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  Rose Lennard April 12, 2011 at 9:10am

  Cover on plants is a tricky one. After 2 hard winters I am really changing my views on what it is safe to plant if the customer wants only plants which are guaranteed to make it through. But do they really want a garden without Phormiums, Hebes, Ceanothus, Cistus, Rosemary, Bay, Choisya - so many plants we rely on for particular effects. In the Cotswolds even tough-as-boots plants like Viburnum tinus and Lonicera pileata suffered. I am now making a special point of explaining the risks to clients and finding out what they are happy with - some are quite prepared to risk a wider palette even if in some years they have to replace (at their own cost). And of course with winter protection some plants will make it through which would fail if unprotected, so that comes down to the level of tlc the client (or gardener) can devote.
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  Daniel Gillings @ DC inc April 12, 2011 at 4:13pm

  Well exactly my concern, one of our clients lost all their bays (and they had some stunning clipped examples that had been in for a couple of years) all of their hebe's and some, but not all Choisya. The Ceanothis that was trained to climb in 4 different areas of the garden were also lost. We've replaced all of these now, but it does beg the question of how much I can cover.

   

  
  
  Rose Lennard said:

  Cover on plants is a tricky one. After 2 hard winters I am really changing my views on what it is safe to plant if the customer wants only plants which are guaranteed to make it through. But do they really want a garden without Phormiums, Hebes, Ceanothus, Cistus, Rosemary, Bay, Choisya - so many plants we rely on for particular effects. In the Cotswolds even tough-as-boots plants like Viburnum tinus and Lonicera pileata suffered. I am now making a special point of explaining the risks to clients and finding out what they are happy with - some are quite prepared to risk a wider palette even if in some years they have to replace (at their own cost). And of course with winter protection some plants will make it through which would fail if unprotected, so that comes down to the level of tlc the client (or gardener) can devote.
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  Colin Hunt April 12, 2011 at 4:44pm

  We do not provide written guarantees. As has been stated above, there are too many outside influences that can affect soft landscaping.  A £10.00 shrub can soon become a £50.00 shrub and one bad winter could wipe you out!

  With hard landscaping, we are very much 'belt and braces' and would not expect problems other than general wear and tear. 

   

  I think we may have all become a little complacent and this winter has pulled us up to remind us who's boss!
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  Jen@A&J Owenwindows&gardens April 12, 2011 at 5:39pm

  When we've supplied and planted plants we've given guidance instructions but that is as far as it goes. There are so many variables.

  That being said, we did have one client where we planted some laurel and the lady over watered it and admitted as such so in the end we went 'halves' on the replacement because she is a good client and has referred us to others. I just felt that there was a possibility that the timing of our planting was at fault (even though it was at the clients insistence) so I couldn't let her pay the full price because I should have covered this before going ahead. She was delighted and it resulted in more work than the plants were worth.

  I wouldn't want to offer formal guarantees especially with the winters we have been having. I am also going to not recommend any plant to any customer which is not made it through this winter which include Ceonothus, Bay and hebes. Photinias have also been very badly hit.
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  Daniel Gillings @ DC inc April 12, 2011 at 7:20pm

  What does guaranteeing your design fee encompass? (if you'll excuse my ignorance)
  
  Gaynor Witchard said:
  

  I do not give any guarantees with regard to plants - too many variables involved as already mentioned. I guarantee my design fee for a period of one month from the date of quotation.