Good luck with that Bobbi. If your area is anything like DFW, all of the landscape people, are basically immigrant, and if anyone can even speak broken English, you are lucky, much less get someone who actually knows anything about plants.

I have watched a fair number of neighbors, fire their landscape people, just because they did something they shouldn't have done, to plants, in their absence.

Most of them, only know how to mow, edge, and blow off the sidewalks. When they get out the pruners, or the hedge shears, bad stuff happens, most of the time.

Precisely why I still do all of my own work, despite the fact I am 65.

When I had to have a new fence put in (builder fence only lasted 10 yrs.), it was all I could do, to communicate with the crew, to get it done to suit me, because the foreman was the only one who spoke even broken English. The guys worked great, as did my roofers (hail damage that same year), but communicating with them, about anything, was a real challenge.

I look forward to returning to Carolina, where there are still some service vendors, that speak English. How many, remains to be seen.

Wow, that's a big move and I do hope you find the right person to maintain your garden.

I did some searching on various options and didn't come up with many good possibilities. There are some firms that specialize in residential landscape maintenance, but they seem very generic in their approach. You really need a private gardener and those are hard to find.

Try checking the boards at a good nursery in your area. Craigslist didn't have much, but you could post there.

Based on our experiences, it's not realistic to expect a tenant to maintain the yard the way you would prefer. Even the best tenants did not keep up the yard as they originally promised. We tried various incentives and that didn't work either. Property management firms have such low standards that they won't notice a problem unless the HOA complains.

Good luck with your search and let us know what you find.

Have you checked with your extension agent or one of our good Nurseries for that information?

Find a lawn maintenance company that also provides there own internal weed control and fertilizer service and is licensed by the TDA as a commercial applicator. Commercial applicators are required to carry 100K/100K or 200K combined insurance as a condition to being licensed as a chemical applicator in the state of TX. Being a licensed applicator and not carrying the required insurance carries stiff administrative and/or civil penalties.

I find Rick's comments about the state of DFW services to be particularly humorous and short sighted.

"....all of the landscape people, are basically immigrant, and if anyone can even speak broken English, you are lucky, much less get someone who actually knows anything about plants."

It is this way and this way in many other communities because we don't want undocumented workers in out country unless or course, it is going to be a benefit to my bottom line. Then it is okay.

So you want a company like the company I run. Yes, my company is insured beyond the minimum state requirements. I spent over $500.00 dollars to become a licensed irrigator so my company is in compliance with the new 2010 TCEQ regulations when we repair your sprinkler system. I can repair it, modify it and install it. I know how to match precipitation rates in zones, I understand infiltration rates, slope, run times, cycle times and how to program/override the new ET controllers to ensure that your microclimate on the SW corner of your property remains green and lush in mid summer. I am a licensed chemical applicator. Not only can I take care of your turf and landscape at your home, I am also licensed to provide weed and pest control for your pasture and range land if you also own a hobby farm and I am also licensed to provide aquatic weed and pest control on any of your ponds you may have on that hobby farm. I need to attend a minimum of 16hrs of CEUs every year to maintain my professional certification which cost nearly $1000.00 to renew annually. On top of that, I am certified by the National Swimming Pool Foundation as a Certified Pool Operator. Add to that, if you would like me to landscape your area with native TX plants and or adapted plants with low evapotranspiration rates, I'll give you a landscape to die for. I collect and submit my sales tax to Austin on a monthly basis. My employees receive W-2s because they have legit SSNs. Because I collect and submit sales tax, my revenue/income is reported to the IRS. Over 38% of the time I'm working for the government. I offer credit card billing, no charge consults, my trucks are insured and my drivers have real TX driver's licenses. I also can use a computer and answer your emails.

Now lets see, you can have that all for $20.00 a week and a couple of burritos every once in a while. In your dreams.

The state of the lawn and landscape maintenance in the DFW area is the direct result of the customer and the customer's wallet. The customer has decided this is the standard of service they want. The customer directly supports the market they are complaining about. The customer can't have it both ways. If the customer wants better service; the customer needs to raise their level of expectations both in the service standards and what they are willing to pay for that service.

I will now step off of my soap box and stop preaching.

I would suggest you email Brent Moon:

He writes a blog for the chronicle. He is an awesome guy with degeee in horticulture. Maybe he is available for your job.

Here is a link that might be useful: Brent Moon/Tropical blog

Fairview,

Very easy to do without having to jump through hoops like that via Internet. You're right that there is a line between honest knowledgable people and dishonest unknowledgabe people but excessive regulation kills jobs and drives up costs in some places ESP in democratic cities/states. Sometimes it is to help out special interests in some places unfortunately. I've heard of pretty silly rules all over the countries.

Bobbi
If I didn't already have a full time job farming flowers I would have loved to have helped you out. Perth is my home town, it's gorgeous, you'll love it. Make sure you go visit Rottnest Island.
Why don't you try the local Master Gardener's group in your area. This link will help.
Cheers - Kim
BFFF

Here is a link that might be useful: Harris County Master Gardeners