Monday, September 12, 2016

September 12, 2016...John needs money

We got a call from John (landscaping) this morning saying he wanted to come out to see what else needs to be done. He arrived (late of course) and we toured the backyard. He made a list of items that needed to be accomplished including:


  • Advise on how to deal with the growths from up from the root ball of the Canadian Cherry
  • Replacement boxwoods along the west fence
  • Replacement Junipers along the east fence
  • Straighten the Zelkova
  • More investigating into the fence and gates

I pointed out that I had already filled the cracks in the garage apron and sealed the aggregate. I also had installed a Watkins water valve in the skimmer of the pond.

John also brought with him a statement that he would make any necessary repairs should the pond cave in due to poor installation for the next 15 years. This was satisfactory.

We discussed the hornbeams along the east fence. I mentioned I would like to have these ultimately meld into a hedge. John suggested looking into a technique called pleaching. Turns out that hornbeams are often selected for this purpose. While the initial research I did mostly calls for building frames to train the tree, John said a common technique he has seen is to just use string to pull branches of adjacent trees together so that they weave into each other. We will try this.

John also brought along with him the most current invoice. It was actually a couple hundred dollars less than the previous one. He asked for some sort of payment. I jokingly accused him of only showing up when he needs money and I hesitated making any more payments until the job was finished. I reminded John that the landscaping work of his was started over one year ago. As many times before, John promised prompt action on the remaining items (by the end of THIS week). I told John that, other than the time it took, we have enjoyed working with him. He apologized (again) for the delays, and offered to knock $1,500 off the balance due in consideration of the delays and the work I had already done. I was hoping to have him knock of much less, so I quickly accepted his offer. I paid him the net balance due.

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