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Rockport Landscaping
I just completed landscaping in Rockport and thought I'd share my experience for the next person.
The first project consisted of large palms (madjool, sabal, date) plus a handful of mature sago palms. I priced them at a Houston wholesaler (Verdant Tree Farm) and a well known Rockport landscaping company (who will go unnamed). The bid specs were identical. The Rockport landscaper's bid was 40% HIGHER than the Houston bid! The Houston bid included costs for bringing the crew to Rockport for 3 days which made the Rockport bid that much worse.
The Houston bunch did a fantastic job. We hand picked every specimen. They take very good care of their trees and move a ton of dirt and prepare the holes with care. Verdant Tree Farm is NW Houston and worth the visit. We also had them do a smaller job in Houston for us and had the same great results.
The second project was to prepare the beds and make the place look finished (trim around beds, 20 tons of rock, weed cloth and a few bushes). We used the Rockport landscaper because it was a smaller job and like to keep business in town. The thought was that this small a job shouldn't have too much "stupid tax" in it for using the folks that had such a high price on the palms. My bad.
The estimator did a poor job, "missing" a couple things in the original bid that were discussed. They also missed the rock needs by 25%. WE also added a couple small things that changed the total price by a few percent. By the time it was all done (2 days late), the price had essentially doubled. WE did a poor job vetting the original bid (assuming what we asked for was in there...our fault). Some overages are expected. But double? Wow. Shame on us for getting in this spot.
I had a frank discussion with the owner. They did a great job on the beds. His crew was courteous. But the poor pricing, poor estimating, and poor timing will keep us away in the future. This is the case because the responses I got to my concerns ranged from blaming one of his own employees to lamenting about having to be up at his ranch taking care of cows. That didn't sit well with me.
If you don't care what you pay, this Rockport landscaping company is perfect.
Otherwise, I'd spend the time to get other bids, even from out of town.
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