Out of the many subcontractors we had working on our new home, Lafleur Nursery was the only one that we experienced one issue after another.
1. Lance Lafleur set up a date/time for my wife and I to take a 45 minute drive to Sanford only to learn Lance Lafleur or his wife were not present. We were told that Lance was running late. Twenty minutes later, Lance arrived and did not apologize for his tardiness. We were then told his wife was not going to attend the meeting but she would design the plans later.
2. As we walked around the nursery, we immediately noted everything was in disarray and some of the plants and trees did not appear to be healthy. Lance assured us the plants and trees were fine just some wind damage.
3. We moved to FL from NH and we were very explicit to Lafleur we wanted a "tropical" design with palm trees, orange birds of paradise, hibiscus, and citrus trees. Lance Lafleur tried to convince us to plant Maple, Oak and Birch trees which we were very much against. We were very clear that we liked to have a Canary Island palm tree in front of the house.
4. We were suppose to meet the following week to review the plans as promised but Lafleur failed to meet that deadline.
5. Day before landscaping installation, we get a call to meet Lance Lafleur at the house to review the plans. Lance Lafleur just walked around the lot saying he was going to plant shrubs, trees and it would look good. No plans or clear identification of what he was going to plant. We had no idea what he was going to plant.
6 Day of installation, we noticed a Birch tree was installed in front of the house; we asked for a Valencia Orange tree and got a Red Navel Orange tree; shrubs installed around the AC Units and Pool Filter which has to be removed afterwards under the recommendations of the Building Inspector. Pool was lined with Hibiscus plants and two White Birds of Paradise and Ginger plants.Just about everything we had requested was not honored and we suspect Lafleur got rid of his junk plants etc.
7. Day of installation, Lance Lafleur asked what we wanted for the front of the house. I was surprised he didn't factor in the front of the house and we agreed he would install Mexican Petunias. Later in the afternoon, he demand another $200,00 for planting Mexican Petunia plants. When the builder inquired why we had pay an additional $200, Lance Lafleur lied and told the builder he never asked for $200.00. BOLD FACE LIAR!
8. After the winter, we noticed the Birch tree was in very bad condition and appeared to be dying. Lafleur requested photos of the tree, watering, pest control, fertilization schedules and then refused to respond back. We contacted Lance Lafleur and he openly accused us of purposely killing the tree. We had to seek the advice of another nursery in Oveido to assist us and were able to save the tree. Fact is the irrigation to the Birch tree and 2 other trees were never turned on from the date of installation. We also learned the birch tree Lafleur planted is a White River Birch tree which requires lots of water and strives better in colder climates.
9. We also noticed some of the plants such as the Ginger plants were all planted in full sun and had to be transplanted. As a matter of fact, we totaly removed all the plants along the pool and had to purchase and install new plants.
10. Never got the Orange Birds of Paradise as we requested but got two White Birds of Paradise which require more maintenance.
11. Irrigation heads were installed on each side of the pool pump had to be relocated.
12 We asked for green vegetation to climb the brick wall in our back yard. A year later the plantings are not climbing so we brought a sample to the another nursery only to find out Lafleur planted Asian Jasmine which will never climb. Once again, we asked Lafleur to make good on this and he requested photos and measurements. After two weeks he responded saying because we submitted a negative review on another site, he would not correct his mistake. Further he demanded he pay him $200 for the work done last year.
I informed Lance Lafleur that I would filing a complaint in Civil Court and with the Better Business Bureau regarding his services. Lance Lafleur boldly responded in an email message dated 11/23/12: "you can proceed as you wish, just keep in mind that we had no contract with you and the contract we had signed by the builder reflects exactlly what we had delivered." How is that for professional customer service?
In closing, Lafleur Nursery is NOT the place to purchase and/or install landscaping. Knowing what we know today, we were better off gong to Lowes or Home Depot for a better selection, professional advice and better pricing. Lance Lafleur is very unprofessional, dishonest and frankly I am of the opinion that he is not as qualified as he wants you to believe.