Taravellas hydro-turf

The owner essentially showed up originally in November, and informed my landscaper that it is ok to seed this time of year, and that it would germinate in the spring (something like 10 days above a certain temperature). I was not there, as I was deployed to Afghanistan at the time. When my wife inquired through the landscaper, if it mattered that there was still snow on the ground, Taravella stated something to the effect of "I do this all the time." Hindsight is 20/20, the landscaper felt that Taravella was saying anything to get the sale. Clearly, it worked. Taravella's disclaimer is that you MUST have a sprinkler system and you MUST keep the soil moist between the hours of 6am and 6pm, and you MUST do this for 30 days. All of this, well for a low water requirement grass--kind of oxymoronic. Well, that is certainly hard to do when the ground still freezes.... Once we were above freezing temperatures, we began watering the grass. March rolled around, and then April. Absolutely no grass came up. It was all weeds, not a single blade of grass. I had since re-deployed from Afghanistan, and I began the process of dealing with Taravella on this topic. He was adamant that he did a "100% A+ job." Never mind the fact that not a single blade of grass was produced from my $750 investment. It was not until I made it clear that I would pursue legal actions, and leave various feedback on the various sites about my experience(s) with Taravella. He finally came back out and re-sprayed the hydro seed. This was after I spent about 16 hours clearing all of weeds, paying for topsoil to be applied again ($300), all for a second time. I installed my sprinkler system (above ground system) and maintained it based on the guidelines provided by Taravella. 2 weeks into it, several areas began to grow (50-60% of the area). However, there are clear spots where it was bare. I had also received a call from the Colorado Utilities, regarding the excessive water usage (so it is pretty clear that I was invested in making the grass grow). At the 3 week mark, I called him and asked him to come back out and check out his work (again, he was reluctant). He eventually did, and then left a VM for me, stating that there must have been a heavy rain, based on how the soil looked. I am not sure how that logic explains the random bare spots, throughout the lawn, but he is the hydro seed expert. I disagree, just does not pass common sense. So again, after a 2nd attempt, he has no intentions of making it right, on a third attempt. Poor quality. You are better off buying seed at Lowes or Home Depot and over seeding your lawn, and spending the time to till it in. Avoid Taravella and go with ANYONE else. He may claim doing a 100% A+ job, as he says, "that I can promise you," however, his product is poor at best. Do not waste your money or time with this company. Absolutely the worst experience I've had with any landscaping person, ever.

The hydroseed was applied and now 6 weeks later the grass is really beginning to get thick. I have used this service in the past and would highly recommend at a third of the cost of sod.

We contacted Taravella's at the suggestion of a local contractor to re-seed and area of flood damaged pasture land. We asked for a preliminary quote based on an extra-heavy seeding to ensure good coverage. Taravella's was the first available contractor and estimated $0.10 per square foot, total cost. The total area of the work was substantial, approximately 50,000 square feet. They arrived within an hour of their appointment time. I did ask how much seed they had brought for the job and was told they had brought only 90 pounds. They assured me that 90 pounds was well above what was required. I expected that it would taket at least 2 days to do the job. They spent approximately 2.6 hours of actual spraying time, put down 90 pounds of seed and charged me $5,000. I later got on the Lowe's website and used their seed calculator and calculated that at least 300 pounds of seed would be needed for this location and elevation. I did point out prior to their departure thatI didn't think that they had done a thorough job and they said they thought it was fine. I would not use their service again and would highly recommend against them. For over $1,900/hour, it would be better to hire 190 laborers with rakes and shovels and do it by hand, raking in the seed. Terrible experience.