Garden Jules

The crew and Julie arrived on time with trailers full of trees and plants, which unloaded onto our front lawn. We inspected them and I remarked that everything looked good, though the yews didn't appear tall enough. The yews, in particular, were of utmost importance in yielding a wall of privacy along our rear deck in the west garden. My expectation, set forth in a design meeting the three of us held, maintained that the yews closest to the deck must extend upward towards the awning to the height of a pair of French doors. The yews that were planted in this area are about three feet too short - not only out of proportion to their surroundings but more importantly not providing the privacy I expected. Julie said nothing despite my dissatisfaction. Given that Mr. B specified the yews I decided to appeal to his sensibilities in search of advice and options. He provided none and suggested that the other plant material, the magnolias in particular, should be considered by me a "good trade-off". I dismissed his unprofessional reply and spoke to Julie about it the next morning. She only hinted at an apology, weak at that, when it became obvious to her that I recalled our design meeting where I stipulated how tall I wanted the yews to reach. In the end, she offered no recompense. In retrospect I should have asked her to return all of them. I decided not to pursue it further, and this was the end of this phase of the project.
Around the middle of June I contacted Julie to inform her that one the White Oak tree's looked as though it were dying, and the other not far behind. She first suggested that the ten-minute sprinkler cycle was not sufficient, that the cycle should be set for twenty minutes. I texted a photo of the dying tree to her, and while she reviewed it I recalled that an irrigation specialist who had added soakers for the yews had increased the cycle to twenty minutes. When I relayed this to Julie she commented that the dead leaves that remained attached to the tree was a sign of over-watering. I didn't say so, but my thought was "Which is it - ten minutes or twenty minutes?" I suggested that a watering issue could be one of several contributing factors in the declining health of the oaks. I asked if the trees were under warranty; she said she would check with the nursery and get back with me. Further, she asked if she could come to the house to inspect the trees; I requested that she let me know when. A month later I hadn't heard back from her on either front. By this time the failing oak had died. Due to her unprofessional dismissal of my complaint I contracted a tree specialist who analyzed both the dead tree and the surviving one, the plant bed and the conditions of the soil. According to his observations the bed was not properly prepped and aerated and the trees were planted too deep. The combination of the dense clay soil and the depth of planting resulted in a suffocated root ball. Additionally, he questioned the efficacy of planting Mexican White Oaks in what he considered to be a compromised bed area - too small for the root systems of these two trees to flourish and reach towards the topsoil for oxygen and nutrients.
I wrote a formal letter to Julie, including the findings by the tree expert, and expressed my dissatisfaction with her outright dismissal of my complaint and lack of professionalism in providing feedback and solutions. Julie replied by phone, suggesting that the tree expert would say anything to get my business. She also admitted that she had questioned planting the white oaks in what she considered a bed too small, but didn't say anything because she "didn't want to step on anyone's toes". Do we not hire professionals for their expertise so that we don't make expensive mistakes in the long run? In my letter I requested that she remove the dead tree and replace it with a sustainable Mexican white oak. She agreed to assuage the complaint, but by the next day I received an email suggesting that we cannot work together. That was the last time I heard from her. I am considering legal action. In the meantime half the yews are dying for the same reason one oak died and the other is failing, despite an investment in additional irrigation to that area. Of the $9400 spent, not counting the $600 spent on turf for the front lawn, we are out about half.