Michael Graves

We’ve had a rough couple of years here in Houston, at least from the perspective of our yard. Unusual extended periods of hard freeze the past two winters basically killed off most of our grass and some of the garden. We were especially sad to lose the Tangerine that has given us bushels of fruit in recent years.

So it was that we decided it was time to undertake a major project in the yard. We’d hire a contractor to install a proper irrigation system, then put down new sod across the entire yard. We’d had this quoted several times over the years, but the cost was always prohibitive. The state of the yard now forced a hard reset, so the decision was basically made for us.

In February we had several contractors visit. We described exactly what we wanted and had them provide quotes.

Stated Requirements

We were very specific about what we wanted done.

• The old grass/weeds removed
• The existing flower beds cleaned out (except for specific marked plants)
• A multi-zone irrigation system installed, addressing both the grass and garden beds
• Three existing downspouts from the eves tied in to an existing drain in the back yard
• One flower bed along the rear, south side of the house removed
• Additional top soil added to all the flower beds
• Flower beds mulched
• Areas to be grass prepared as appropriate
• New Palmetto St Augustine sod would be installed
• The crushed granite path leading to the office doors would be renewed

We eventually settled upon Byron’s Landscaping. Quoting $9k for the project, they were not the cheapest, nor most expensive. We’d seen them working elsewhere in the neighborhood. They seemed credible and the salesman appeared to listen to our stated requirements. He was quite enthusiastic, and seemed to understand what we wanted.

We now regret our selection. What follows details our experience as the projected unfolded.