Reviews of Greenway Tree and Landscaping Care (Gardener)

Joseph Hageman

COMPLETELY UNRELIABLE In May of this year I contacted Tom Fortier to begin an "organic" lawn care program for my lawn. I realized at that point that it was a little late in the season but he agreed to take on the job and to get back to me with a comprehensive plan. I explained to him at the time that I had neither the time nor inclination to babysit this process and that I was going to take a very hands off approach. Weeks went by and I had not heard from him so I sent him an email. He explained that he'd sustained a "head injury" and was unable to pull together the numbers for the full plan. He suggested we start with an application to the lawn costing $500 and he would put together a comprehensive plan. He also said the lawn wouldn't need to be touched again until August. Due to travel and life in general it took me some time to get back to him but I eventually did and he scheduled the first application for mid-June. The application went off without a hitch (although it smelled pretty bad) and Tom emailed me an invoice on June 21 with another promise to send me a full plan and budget in the next few days. He had also previously asked for the contact information for my irrigation company which I provided to him and he confirmed in that same email that he would contact them to coordinate the watering plan. (At some point during this whole fiasco he simply told me to water every night - I don't believe he actually ever contacted my irrigation company.) On August 1st Tom emailed to say that he spoke with my "lawn maintenance people" and was "pleased" with the approach he was taking. Although oddly at the end of the email has asked for the name and number of my "lawn maintenance people" so I'm not sure if he did actually talk with them. In this email he explained that it was going to need some treatment but he again has not had the time to put together a plan or budget. He suggested a treatment in early September (what happened to August?) and again promised to put together a plan and budget. I initially missed the fact that he had again asked for my landscaper's contact info so when I hadn't heard from him in two weeks I looked up the email and re-read it. I immediately emailed him back (on 8/15) and gave him the number. He promptly responded that he had a "sliding scale" program and that we should "come to a reasonable budget together". We ended up finally speaking on the phone and I simply told him that I wanted a lawn care plan and to get my lawn back to the point of where it needed to be - which is to say healthy. He AGAIN promised to put together a plan and a budget. On 9/11 I emailed him to again ask for a plan and budget and that I thought the lawn didn't look any better after the initial treatment. Frustrated at the lack of response I emailed him the next day to say I was disheartened by his lack of response and that I was disinclined to continue with his services and that I would like a refund for the initial treatment that did nothing to improve my lawn. Tom finally emailed me back the next day to explain that he had taken on way more than he could handle this season. He also explained that the initial treatment was only a small part of the "conversion process" and that it "required a cooperation from the mowing company, the irrigation company and whoever does the fertilization" and that this is "usually coordinated by the homeowner". (I'm pretty sure I told him in the beginning that he could not count on this from me.) In the end he suggested I go back to chemical treatments and that I could not, in fact, expect any kind of refund. Long story short: This man and his company are completely unreliable. He promises things and consistently fails to deliver. Do not hire him for anything.