Believe it or not, this is the same yard the weekend I installed the flag stone
This is my Front Yard.
As you can see, I have some beautiful St. Augustine grass. It has always grown well in the shaded areas in Texas.
As a result of my career and life as a single Dad with Children, 7 years ago I chose to trust TruGreen with the chemical maintenance of my yard. And until now, they have done an excellent job. Note the trees in the yard? All the shade they provide? Keep this in mind as this will be relevant as you read on.
Post Oak Trees
As you can see, the entire property, front and back is and has been covered in Post oak trees. They are an indigenous tree to Texas. As you can see in these photos, the St. Augustine grass has no trouble staying healthy even in the most shaded areas.
Bare spots
The bare spots that you see in the yard are a normal occurrence this time of year. Typically they fill in within a couple of months of good watering and fertilizer. Nothing to be alarmed about.
This is my back yard
A few details about the Back Yard
This is where it gets a little difficult
I am not a proud person, so I am not the kind of guy who takes pictures of my grass on a normal basis. So these pictures are all I have of the yard last year. Luckily I found them, they were taken from my living room on Fathers Day 2017.
Notice the yard in the background
While these were taken to celebrate Fathers Day, they show clearly that my yard was perfectly healthy this time in 2017. I was a happy customer. And regularly recommended TruGreen as my service.
Notice the trees....??
That's right. The whole property it beautiful and covered with trees.
TruGreen
The only conversation I have ever had with TruGreen about my trees was when they sold me a Tree Care package in 2012 or 2013. It was fairly expenssive and didnt really see to make much difference, so I cancelled it after the first year. The trees have remained healthy since then.
Note however, there are trees in my back yard and in my front yard. All of my grass is a tried and true shade grass called Palmetto St. Augustine.
The Backyard today :(
This is NOW
Somehow my entire backyard has completely died and is now void of ANY St. Augustine grass what so ever. Tru Green says this is due to the trees in the back yard. My argument is that there are trees in my front yard and we dont have this problem.
See the patches of grass???
The grass that remains in my back yard is actually Coastal Bermuda. Coastal Bermuda is a typical sun resistant grass that requires a considerable amount of sun to grow. But there are trees in the yard...How could Bermuda grass grow and not St. Augustine??
This on tells is it all.
Have you ever seen a yard this bare and free of growth that wasn't poisoned? I haven't. In fact, I have personall sprayed weed killer in parts of my other properties and this is typically what they look like after several mowings.
TruGreen Refuses to take responsibility
My dilemna
I feel that I have given TruGreen every opportunity to rectify this situation. I have made numerous calls to the TruGreen local office, spoken to the GM and the Service Manager, as well as the corporate office, customer service mostly. Their executives refuse to return calls or messages via Social Media or email. No one will take responsibility for my DEAD YARD.
MISTAKES HAPPEN
I believe that last fall the technician assigned to my yard accidentally applied a broad leaf killer to my back yard. I get it, things happen, but shouldn't somebody accept responsibility?
So I have two choices. Say nothing about this to anyone and pay for my back yard to be restored to it's original beauty, or share my experience with the world and all of social media.
I chose to share.
Maybe one day TruGreen will eventually see this and understand what happens when you REFUSE to stand behind your work.
TruGreen is SELF INSURED
I have even tried to ask for information on TruGreen's insurance carrier. Only to find out that they are SELF INSURED.
As a self insured company, a client cannot file a claim against their insurance without their authorization.. So I really have no other choice except to suffer through this process.
If you are considering TruGreen as your chemical service for your lawn I urge you to consider a local company that has insurance. Insurance that will actually cover gross negligence of their employees.