[jwholden]

Umm...follow up maintainance is going to (1) make my bids look overpriced by the time we add that time to the estimate and (2) I don't have time to go back to every install, especially for free, and spend an hour or two with the guys again for free. I always do follow up drive by's, even years later, and am more than happy to respond to any questions my clients have. I'm installing a unique landscape that is definitely not what the other 80 to 90% of the guys out there are installing.

Planning for maintainance. Well, in my opinion, duh!!!

I worked on the maintenance side for my first 10 years and have incorporated alot of lessons I learned into my designs. Especially relating to plants that I vow to not use again because they just spread or grow too fast (Pachysandra, careful with Miscanthis, I hate large shrub junipers that need to be hacked yearly to be kept at the right size).

One thing ALL of my landscapes have is edges that the lawnmower can move around without any weedwacking needing to be done. There are no 90 degree corners of 3' wide tongues of grass that pissed me off when I mowed.

Another line I use when discussing maintaining gardens, which clients are too quick to ignore, is that it's like changing the oil in your car. You can maintain your gardens on a regular basis at a reasonable price or wait until they are way out of hand and pay an arm and a leg and live with overgrown ugly gardens until that day.

Fact - No garden that is ignored an entire year, no matter how well designed, is going to look good at the end of that year. (Disregarding a japanese garden with all dwarf conifers in stone mulch, and I don't think that looks good from day one.)