What we actually guarantee — and what we don’t

What we can actually stand behind

A lot of landscape companies guarantee everything. Plants, grass, the whole yard. It sounds good in a sales meeting. But when something dies six months later, the fine print usually doesn’t hold up — or the contractor has moved on.

We took a different approach. We only guarantee the things we can genuinely be accountable for.

Metal edging: one year

We guarantee our metal edging for a full year after installation. The main thing that happens to edging in upstate New York is heaving — the ground freezes, expands, and shifts things. If our edging moves or fails because of that first winter, we come back and fix it. That’s on us.

“We guarantee our metal edging for a year after install — for any heaving and whatnot after the first winter.”

Metal edging is something we control completely. We source it, we install it, we set the depth. If it fails, that’s a workmanship issue and we own it.

Sprinkler heads: one year

If we install a sprinkler head, we guarantee it for a year. Same logic: we chose the part, we installed it, we’re accountable if it fails.

Plants and grass: we don’t guarantee them

Here’s where we’re going to be straight with you.

We don’t guarantee plants or grass. Not because we don’t care how they turn out — we do, a lot — but because the outcome depends on factors we can’t control: watering, drainage, disease, weather, deer. A homeowner who doesn’t water a new planting for two weeks in July, a drought that shows up in August, a late frost — these things happen, and no landscaper on earth can guarantee against them.

The companies that do guarantee plants are usually rolling the replacement cost into the initial price, or they’re banking on the fact that most homeowners won’t follow up when something dies. Neither one of those is a real guarantee.

“A lot of companies have all these guarantees, but they don’t seem realistic to hold up to. We’d rather guarantee things we can genuinely hold ourselves accountable to — things that don’t depend on factors like watering or nature.”

The broader idea

We’d rather guarantee what we can stand behind than make promises that sound good and fall apart. If you ask us about a plant’s chances in a specific spot — full shade, clay soil, low spots that hold water — we’ll tell you honestly. Sometimes the right answer is “that plant won’t make it there.” We’d rather have that conversation up front.

If something we installed fails because of our work, we’ll make it right. That’s the commitment. Everything else, we’ll do our best — and we’ll be honest with you about the odds.

Have questions? Text Mitchell at (518) 419-9012 — he answers every one himself.