Ten months ago, Premium Outdoor did a major overhaul of the landscaping in the beds at the front and one side of my house. They took out all the mature plants (a number of which had been damaged by the drought) and put in new plants. I chose Premium Outdoor because, unlike other landscaping contractors I had contacted for estimates over a couple of years, they were able to come to the house promptly and provide an estimate within two weeks (with the other contractors, the waiting time for an estimate was often months, if one was ever produced). I was initially enthusiastic about working with Michelle Spain ? she seemed professional and was able to do the work before a business trip that would keep me out of town for two weeks. After initially positive interactions, the project became increasingly problematic, however. I did not have much idea in advance of her landscape design, and did not care for it once I understood it (unfortunately after a 50% deposit had been paid). I had doubts about the quality of some of the plants when I saw them ? the brown leaves suggested they had overwintered. The preparation of the beds through the addition of organic material and rototilling or thorough mixing to improve the awful quality of the soil was not done. I received no instructions on how to care for the landscaping, nor much follow-up to see if the plants were doing OK. Some of the anchor plants in the beds (Italian cypress, lorapetalum) have died, and a number of the rest have failed to thrive. Oleanders didn?t even flower! I have now spent ten months looking at a number of dead or dying plants in a landscape design I dislike. Michelle Spain ? who is great when things are going well ? became aggressively defensive and unpleasant when contacted about problems. This past week, I finally took out all the plants in order to improve the soil in the beds, get rid of the dead plants, relocate struggling plants to more suitable locations, and develop a landscape design that I enjoy looking at. I consider a significant portion of the $3700 I paid Premium Outdoor to have been wasted money. Redoing the work and replacing plants has cost me an additional $2000, and the work is not yet done. Some details. Because I couldn?t understand why the 30-gal Italian cypress were failing within two months of planting, I asked the nursery that does my lawn service whether a nurseryman (certified horticulturist, with a degree from A&M) was available for a consultation. He came out, and I told him up front that this was for information purposes and would not result in business for the nursery, so I have confidence that his assessment was unbiased. Some digging at the base of the cypresses revealed that the root ball was buried six inches beneath the surface under a layer of pure clay (documented with photos). The surrounding soil was also either heavy clay or builder's sand that had been dumped when the house was built. He said that the top of the root ball should be 2" above grade and the soil around it needed major amendment to promote root growth. His assessment was that the roots were sitting waterlogged in clay. This would account for the sudden collapse of the one cypress after a period of heavy rains. Since I paid Premium Outdoor for soil amendments, and had explicitly discussed with Michelle the need to improve the beds with organic matter (she assured me that they would bring the amendments and rototill) I wondered where all these good soils were, if not in the planting holes for the Italian Cypress, which accounted for over 10% of my total bill. The nurseryman further told me that Italian Cypress branches, once dead, will not be replaced by new growth from the trunk. Once those branches are gone, they're gone. He thought that poor, waterlogged soil was also a problem for the dying lorapetalum. MIchelle responded promptly to my request to discuss how to address these problems. She reminded me that there was no warranty on the plants because they were healthy when she planted them. If healthy plants are planted improperly, however, without necessary soil amendments or in locations where they will not thrive, this is a labor warranty problem, not a plant warranty problem, it seems to me. I showed her the evidence the nurseryman had shown me, and she denied any problem with the planting, insisting that all appropriate soil amendments had been made, despite the visible evidence to the contrary. I wanted the dying cypress replaced, but she flatly refused. Instead, she proposed to raise the cypress by 6-8", amend the soil, fertilize, and wait for it to bounce back. I related what the nurseryman said about dead cypress branches but she pooh-poohed it. She said she had taken worse looking plants back to her nursery and had them come back good enough for her to sell. So I proposed that she do just that - swap out my cypress for a healthy one, and nurse it back to health at her nursery and then sell it. She refused. All she would finally agree to do is raise both cypress to grade or above, amend the soil extensively and fertilize. I did get her to agree to replace the cypress if it failed to recover after this treatment. With stunning swiftness ? within a week of her crew?s efforts ? both cypress were dead. What struck me most was Michelle?s efforts to deflect any responsibility for the problems with the cypress and the lorapetalum (also now dead); she had a variety of possible reasons for the problems from watering deficiencies (I had never received any suggestions from her about post-installation watering, but she agreed that the irrigation schedule I proposed was appropriate), to failure to fertilize (only three months after planting? I wish she had told me?), and high salt levels in the irrigation water. Because of Michelle?s aggressive demeanor and also my lack of confidence in her ability to install new plants properly, I did not ask her to honor her agreement to replace the cypress. I just want to return my property to a state where I enjoy seeing it when I come home. That hasn?t been possible for many months.