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Thanks for everyone's input so far. I'm trying to put together a guarantee that will make my clients happy yet cover my behind of course.
We have all of the "box" stores here as well as smaller hardware stores and they all offer the typical 1 year guarantee on practically everything. In addition our local (yet larger) nurseries also offer 1 year usually on trees and shrubs and 3 months or so on perennials/grasses.
My idea so far is to offer 1 year on trees/shrubs/hardy woody plants, 90 days on perennials/grasses for residential sites only.
The commercial sites would get 1 year on trees/shrubs/hardy woody plants and 60 days on perennials/grasses but only IF they have a properly working automatic irrigation system. If no irrigation, then no guarantee on any of the plants.
FYI, I do mostly residential sites however a comm. site gets worked in there now and then. Next spring/summer I have a comm. bid out for a grocery store/shopping center that includes 4-5 smaller beds with shrubs, roses, and grasses. They have absolutely no irrigation and don't plan to put any in. The plants will all be surrounded by asphalt and crazy people driving their cars and shopping carts. Not to mention that when it snows, the beds will probably be piled with 10ft. of parking lot snow. I've discussed these "problems" with the person I'm dealing with and have told her things would not carry any guarantee.
So far in my 10+ years in business, I've had very little plant material die on me but I do feel the "hesitation" when my clients ask about a guartantee and I tell them no. I try to explain that my wholesalers do not pass on any guarantee to me and therefore I do not offer one, but try to keep my plant pricing lower than the other real nurseries around town to stay competitive. So far it's been ok, but I think it's time for a change mainly to give my clients that peace of mind. I also tell them that if they would like to go to one of the nurseries and pick out and pay for the plants they want (so they get the guarantee) then we would be happy to pick them up at the nursery and install them. Most of my clients haven't bothered to do this as it's more of a hassle for them. Our local nurseries won't pass on any guarantee to any local landscaper buying plants...only their own retail customers.
Oh, I don't add in my labor costs to the plant cost as one unit (if my retail price to my clients for a tree is $250 and it takes us 2 hours to pick it up and plant it, then I bill for exactly how much time it took plus the cost of the tree). Should I add a flat rate in to my plant pricing in the future to cover my "potential" replanting cost???
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