Liability or Opportunity: A New Perspective of Warranties on Landscape Projects

The common 1-year warranties on newly planted trees can be a liability for landscapers. For smaller-sized plants, it may be enough for them to establish. But medium- and large-sized trees may take 2-5 or even 10+ years to establish. That is because most farm-grown trees lose 80+% of their root system during transplanting. It has to grow back to be considered as established. Container-grown trees may retain 100% roots, but there are other issues. In addition, the harsh urban/built environment (heat island, impervious surfaces, compacted soil, depleted soil microbiome, pollution, etc) puts extra stresses on these trees. That is why instant-shade projects never worked. 1-year warranty on these larger-sized trees is not just insufficient. It is misleading by suggesting to the customers 1-year is enough. Dead trees doesn’t help with landscapers’ reputation regardless who covers the cost of replacements.

Since the 1-year warranty doesn’t cover the establishment of larger plants, should the customers be informed and offered longer warranties? It may sound scary to some contractors because of the potential loss of profits. This presentation shows you how to make warranty offerings profitable (at least NOT losing money), build great reputations, and become more responsible contractor, all in one action.

We will offer this as a live webinar periodically. But you can view previous recordings on cvent after registration:

https://cvent.me/BAWZN1