[johnkeegan]

Getting burned on plant guarantees is probably what forces many landscapers to give up on residential planting. There's quite a (constant) learning curve. What plants go where (soil, wind, sun...) and, like Voodoo says, how to spot a high maintenance customer that is a low maintenance gardener.
P.S.- also keep the hardscaping employees away from planting...and vice versa.
...But that's our job. We need to take the time to test the soil, research the plants, randomly check the quality of the planting, check up on and call customers during dry spells and fine tune the "lazy arse customer" radar. This all takes time and effort that many are not willing to invest
...And I'm glad so many are unwilling to do this. It significantly "thins the herd." Therefore, there's less competition... and we know what that means.