Grass Roots Gardens Reviews (%countItem)
Grass Roots Gardens Rating
Address: 661 E 31 Ave, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, V5V 2W7
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We hired Grass Roots to restore our yard from a sod-covered yard with a poorly placed patio and cracked sidewalk into a a viable vegetable and flower garden with an attractive layout. The attractive layout was achieved to our satisfaction. However, the garden has shown very poor results. Ms. made 2 extra visits to the yard. The first time, after many months of trying to grow never-fail plants like zinnias and cosmos, and watching them die, she visited and discovered that part of the yard had thin topsoil over sand. She dug up a small area and supposedly replenished the soil. At the same time, I noticed that she had charged me for three echinacea plants which were nowhere to be seen. She planted 3 new ones, 2 of which died over winter. At the same time, she planted a Spirea, which clings to life. One of the 2 rhubarb plants she planted survived - it shot up and went straight to seed this year, never producing any edible rhubarb. The other died completely - it was replaced but didn't produce any edible rhubarb either. I pointed out that the soil was packed hard, indicating it hadn't actually been dug up at all. She dug a new hole to put in the replacement rhubarb. Three blueberry bushes were planted and survived but produced only a handful of berries. It was a stellar year for blueberries - many of my neighbours had bushes that were laden. Nothing grew in my planter boxes which she told me would need no extra soil to support the growth of vegetables. After testing the soil, I determined they were completely devoid of basic nutrients like nitrogen and potassium. Monarda died over winter. The hydrangea branches were lying all over the ground. The sedum failed to thrive, spindly little stalks. All of my complaints to Ms *** went unheeded. Desperate to remedy the situation, I hired a horticulturist who said there is 2" of soil over hard pack clay over the back garden, only 1" around the hydrangea
Dear ***,
Thank you for forwarding *** complaint about my business to me. I have prepared my response in a Word document, which I attach here for your attention.
It details the history of the project, which was installed in March 2018 and amended in September 2018 to *** satisfaction.
It also details the communication between myself & *** in 2019 and my response to her desired settlement.
If any further discussion or resolution is needed, do not hesitate to contact me to discuss as I'll be happy to discuss further.
All the best,
***
Grass Roots Gardens
Dear ***,
Thank you for forwarding on *** response.
The reason I sent a 6-page response was to provide a background for *** complaint, as I was under the impression that the Revdex.com would look at both parties` responses in order to help resolve the situation.
The issues that *** has brought forward over the course of our correspondence re. her unhappiness with her installed garden in 2019 (a year + after installation) were:
o Plants that died over the winter
o Sandy soil around the manhole cover
o Clay in other areas of the garden
o Accessible soil issues
o Soil deficiency in her veggie boxes
*** claims that all these issues are basically caused by our failure to work the soil.
We were hired by *** to remove the sod, amend the soil and install the plantings as per the design agreed upon with *** and then topdress the garden bed areas with composted bark mulch. We delivered this work in March 2018 as per the outline on the final invoice. We used the same suppliers for soil and plants and addressed all the steps in the installation project the same way we have for all our other clients in all our years in business.
· We explained that plants can die for a variety of reasons (over- or under-watering, over- or under-fertilizing, cold temperatures, etc.) and that we only provide a warranty for 1 calendar year. During this year, we did replace some plants that went into transplant shock/were not thriving, as is our policy.
· The sandy soil around the manhole cover is not an issue we are denying. However, we did work the soil in that area, removing sand on 2 occasions (install and Sept 2018) and amending the remaining sand to *** satisfaction at the time. The horticulturist report *** commissioned re. the soil in her back garden does not raise this issue anymore, which leads me to conclude this issue was indeed resolved prior to the complaint.
· Clay in other areas of the garden: when we worked the soil in her garden in March 2018, the soil was thoroughly wet and did not present as dry, hardpacked clay. It was root-bound, however. We dug the soil over after removal of the sod & removed many roots to loosen the soil & prep for planting, while digging in the garden mix we brought in as outlined in my earlier response. If the soil had been hardpacked clay, this issue would have been noted in our site notes and raised with the client.
· Accessible soil issues: working the soil once does not set up a garden forever with a mass of ‘accessible soil’. As also pointed out in the horticulturist report, *** has a Cornus tree, a Styrax tree and a cedar hedge in her back garden. These trees will regrow the fibrous roots & support roots we removed while working the soil, especially into any area with new composted material. Thereby filling the accessible soil with roots and contributing to soil compaction and absorption of composted materials. If the garden does not get ample watering, the tree roots will also help compact the soil more by extracting all available water. This is especially true for cedar hedging, which require a lot of water to maintain their health.
· Soil deficiency in her veggie garden: I have used this supplier`s garden mix in client`s garden beds & veggie boxes for several years now (since 2016) and many clients have grown shrubs, plants & vegetables quite successfully in this mix and I have not had a single complaint re. this supplier`s garden mix in all this time. Therefore I had and still have no reason to believe the soil mix was deficient. The soil test was also conducted a year after installation.
I believe that we fulfilled our work duties in good faith to *** as per the estimate, both during the installation and the year following the installation. A garden is a living, changing thing and its success depends on many variables. Working & amending the soil on installation is just one of these variables. We have done the work, but *** is adamant we did not and keeps returning to issues we have already addressed/explained.
Therefore, this issue is still at a stalemate, like it has been for several months now. I had hoped the Revdex.com would bring some insight into resolving this issue. However, I feel that the process to date is very disappointing in this regard and now another month has passed with simply passing the same arguments back & forth.
In order to settle this and allow both *** and myself to move on, I am willing to pay half of the requested cost of $320, i.e. $160, on receipt of a copy of the invoice for the installation + materials.
If *** wants to keep the horticulturist/landscapers` name out of this situation like before, that is fine. However, then I`m only willing to pay for the soil amender ($110) on receipt of a copy of the invoice for the amender, as I know *** at *** will provide the landscaper with a receipt for the soil amender + delivery that will not disclose that name. Alternatively, I can pay for and arrange for the soil amender to be delivered from *** to *** residence at the date of her choosing.
If this is acceptable, *** can email the copy of the invoice/receipt to me (either direct or via the Revdex.com) and I can provide an etransfer or cheque for the amount by return, as per *** choice. Or she can inform me of the date and I will ensure the soil amender gets delivered.
I hope that this will help settle the matter and help *** move forward with her garden.
Sincerely,
***
Founder & Owner
Grass Roots Gardens
Complaint: ***
I am rejecting this response because:
I have tried my best to focus on rectifying the condition of my garden in a fair and reasonable manner. To this end, I have maintained the anonymity of this business to ensure that I received an unbiased assessment of the situation along with recommendations for moving forward. I have received nothing from the business to indicate that they recognize the problem, acknowledge that they breached the contract they entered into and a willingness to do the right thing. Instead, they have *** about their failures, insulted my intelligence and now added insult to injury with their attempt to manage the soil remediation and their refusal to rectify the situation fully by covering labour costs. I hired *** to dig up my yard and replenish the soil. I paid her in full for this work. Since she has taken my money and not completed the assignment, she owes me the amount I claimed. If I have not received a certified cheque within ten days of this writing, *** That claim will include the cost of all plants that I have had to replace plus new ones to fill in the bare areas of my garden. I will also seek full court costs. I have professional witnesses, the results of the soil testing and full records of all expenses I have incurred. *** courts ***s. I am deeply disappointed that *** has chosen to spend hours writing fiction instead of attempting to make the situation right. ***.
Sincerely