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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ's)

 These are questions our clients occasionally ask.

 

General Questions:

Are you insured?
What do you charge?
Who do I contact?
Do you take credit cards?
Do you guarantee your work?
Do you offer a discount on maintenance contracts?

Landscaping Questions:

Do you charge a design fee?
How long does a design take?
Does professional landscaping increase property value?
Where do you get your plants?
What is the best time of year to plant?

 Maintenance Questions: 

Do you bag your grass clippings?
Do you offer organic fertilizers?
Is there a difference between pruning & shearing?
Do you have a pesticide license?

Snow Questions:

What types of contracts do you offer?
Do you do residential snow plowing?
Will rock salt kill my grass?
What happens if you damage my lawn?

 

Are you insured?

Yes. We carry far more insurance than most landscape companies to provide complete protection for our clients and to meet most municipal & federal bidding requirements. Our insurance minimums are listed below:

General Liability: $1,000,000.00 Per incident

Workmans Compensation:

Umbrella Policy: $1,000,000.00

Auto Policy: $500,000.00 Per Incident

What do you charge?

Our prices vary greatly depending upon the service you select. Overall, we are a mid-range priced company, but less expensive than most companies our size. Check our Pricing Examples page for some ideas of what different services and installations cost.

Who do I contact?

Suburban Landscaping is divided into two main divisions, landscape and maintenance, and each has a Division Manager. Our Contact Us page has a list of all the managers and who you can ask for depending upon your question or request. Or, feel free to request a quote on-line or email us at any time, we will make sure it gets to the right person for you.

Do you take credit cards?

Yes we take credit cards. We accept Visa and Mastercard. Deena Colson in the business office can handle all of your credit card transactions for you. To see other payment options, Click Here.

Do you guarantee your work?

Everything we do is guaranteed. All of our landscape planting is guaranteed for one year from the date of installation, and all hardscape work is guaranteed for 2 years. We also guarantee all of our maintenance and snow work. If you are not satisfied with any of our services, we will gladly return to correct the situation. To see more about our guarantees, Click Here.  

Do you offer a discount on maintenance contracts?

Yes we do. We offer a 5% discount for pre-paying your annual maintenance in advance. To receive the discount, payment must be made before May 15th. Call Deena Colson in the Business Department with any questions regarding a discount.

Do you charge a design fee?

No. We design our landscape projects for our customers with the belief that they will recogize our creativity, skills, and fair pricing.

How long does a design take?

Usually about 10 days to 2 weeks, depending upon the time of year and the size and complexity of the design. A good design must take into account several factors: clients desires, use of the property, views, drainage, wind, and topography. As well as being creative, artistic, and functional, our designs need to be practical and affordable. When you take into consideration all of these elements, it takes some time to create a unique, quality design.

Does professional landscaping increase property value?

Yes, very much so. Some research has shown by as much as 20%, depending upon the installation. popular items such as outdoor living spaces significantly add value, but other items tailored to your individual tastes (like a zen garden) might add less value.

Where do you get your plants?

Suburban Landscaping services two different markets, Illinois and Indiana. They are different because of the soil types that they each have. We buy most of our plants from local nurseries that grow plants in our native soils. Being professional plantsmen since 1984, we have learned the quality nurserymen from the rest. Our advise is to always ask where your plants came from, it will matter to you.

What is the best time of year to plant?

Spring and fall, depending upon what you are planting. Some plants can be planted all season long, but others do best at certain times. More importantly than when you plant is when the plant was dug out of the ground, this can make a great deal of difference to the success of the plant.

Do you bag your grass clippings?

When needed we bag our grass clippings. For aesthetic reasons as well as for the health of the grass. If grass clippings are left on the lawn for long periods of time, the grass can start to wilt and even die. However, we encourage our clients to understand the reasons for mulching their clippings back into their lawns; clippings contain about 25% of the fertilizer that you have applied and, being herbaceous, they are full of water, which will be given back to the lawn.

Do you offer organic fertilizers?

Upon request we do. Organic fertilizers are wonderful for some applications but not very practical for the average size residential lawn.

Is there a difference between pruning and shearing?

Yes there is. Shearing is generally reserved for formal designed plantings and hedges, where prunning gives a more natural look and is a more natural way to reduce the size of shrubs and trees. There are several benefits to both, ask our maintenance department for more details.

Do you have a pesticides license?

Yes, we have both Applicators and Operators licenses from the Department Of Agriculture. They inspect our offices every year.

What type of contracts do you offer?

Lawn service offers both ala-carte services and full service monthly contracts.

Do you do residential snow plowing?

No, we only offer commercial snow plowing. Suburban Landscaping strives to offer the best service in everything we do, and trying to quality control snowplowing for 500+ homes would be beyond our managerial limits.

Will rock salt kill my grass?

Rock salt will change the Ph of your soil and burn your turf. If exposed often and in heavy enough quantities, rock salt can burn out your turf. There are strains of turf grass that we offer that are resistant to salt burn.

What happens if you damage my lawn?

If our snow plow trucks damage your lawn during plowing operations, we will repair our damage in the spring. Our managers inspect every property in the spring and damage is automatically scheduled for repair.

 

Testimonials

Pat Henaghan
2015-09-04, 15:28
Planting of river birch trees has solved my flooding problem in my backyard! Thank you so much for the suggestion. Prior to planting the river … read more
Mr. L. Brown
2014-08-02, 15:05
Al & Team,
A big thank you for you diligent work on our property, we are very happy with how our lawn and plants look. All of the residents here … read more
Mic
2015-12-01, 14:07
I just had to say that your photos are amianzg! Of all the photogs I frequently stalk, yours is usually the first I check into because your work is … read more