Is The Guarantee Worth It?
~Ed Jensen

The "one-year plant guarantee". It is an industry standard practice to guarantee a plant will survive one year from the date of installation, thereby protecting the owner from the expense of costly plant replacement. It has become a "value added" item and a relationship builder to provide this guarantee to the client.

The reality is that contractors assume about a 5% plant loss when they price installation work. If they stay below that percentage, it has been a successful job.

From the Owner's perspective, it eliminates a hassle and an argument.

OLM suggests you look at the value of the installation contract and calculate 5 to 10% for possible plant replacements, then competitively bid the maintenance contract with 3 to 4 reputable landscape maintenance contractors using specifications that cover the typical reasons why plants might die. Once you get an understanding of what your true contract value is, you can consider how much value that 5 to 10% replacement cost represents.

If the installation contractor's maintenance bid is competitive, use them. If your specifications are good, your maintenance contract will also warrant your plants. For example, if your irrigation system breaks down and your contractor does not proactively diagnose it, the contractor is obligated to replace the plants.

Be mindful that the guarantee is more fluff than substance; in more cases than not the contractor will escape through that loophole, requiring you to buy new plants anyway. With OLM involved, your plants are guaranteed with or without an installation guarantee. Let OLM guide you through making that decision with a final punch list of installation that documents plant health issues, and with comprehensive monthly site inspections that guarantee long-term plant performance.

FIVE EASY PERENNIALS
~Mark Dunaway

PINCUSHION FLOWER

Seems like in a mild climate some flowers should bloom almost all year and tolerate both summer's heat and winter's cold. "Seems like," but that's a tall order in most of the United States, even in mild areas.

The closest plant to that description is Pincushion Flower, or Scabiosa 'Butterfly Blue.' This low-growing perennial keeps its leaves all winter (though they sometimes look worn out over the cold months) and, in the Atlanta area, it blooms from March to November.

Butterfly Blue's blossoms are not a true blue but a purple or periwinkle blue. This color goes very well with other pastels. The blooms are held a few inches above the finely cut basal leaves, which display them nicely. Flowers are light and airy, and resemble pincushions, the pins being represented by the stamens.

Though Scabiosa looks delicate, it is not. Give it full sun for good bloom production, and to ward off the fungus that will attack it if grown in the shade. It is now available in lavender pink and a yellow version, but for best results stick with Butterfly Blue.

This is the third of five plants featured in the "series" of Five Easy Perennials. In the next issue of the Grapevine we'll talk about Black-Eyed Susans.

1. "Apples to apples" bid results tell everyone that you've successfully put together good standards and specifications that all bidders understood.

2. "Apples to apples" bid results help justify why you should keep your current landscape contractor.

3. "Apples to apples" bid results help justify why you should change from your current landscape contractor.

4. "Apples to apples" bid results help set up realistic long-term budgets.

5. "Apples to apples" bid results convey to your boss (and that asset manager in an ivory tower in a faraway city) that you can put a feather in your cap.

6. "Apples to apples" bid results can help negotiate with the landscape contractor more effectively.

7. "Apples to apples" bid results justify why you should be spending more for your landscape management needs…or less.

8. "Apples to apples" bid results can mean that you may not have to rebid every year, thereby making you a more effective Property Manager.

9. "Apples to apples" bid results give contractors a sense of relief. If they know that they were selected because of a fair price at market value, they will be a more successful working business partner.

10. "Apples to apples" bid results obtained through OLM's Performance Payment™ management system means that the above items 1 through 9 were successfully accomplished and that long weekend you had planned at Aunt Esther's actually happened!