Most landscape companies in the Valley plant a tree, hand you an invoice, and disappear. If that tree dies three weeks later, that's your problem. We don't do it that way, and honestly that's a big part of why word of mouth has been moving so fast for us out in Arizona.
Every plant and every tree we install comes with a 90 day warranty. We put it in the ground, we run the irrigation to it, and we make sure it's actually getting water before we leave. If something dies inside that window and it's not coming back, we get you back on the schedule, we go pick up a replacement, and we come out and swap it in. No fight, no fine print.
What the 90 Day Warranty Actually Covers
When we say warranty, we mean the plant itself. If a 15 gallon shrub or a tree we installed doesn't make it through the first 90 days, that's on us to replace. We're the ones who picked it from the nursery, we're the ones who set the depth, and we're the ones who tied it into the drip line. If any of that was wrong, the plant is going to tell us by struggling, and we'd rather fix it than argue about it.
A few things that are part of every install:
- Plant is set at the right depth, root flare visible, not buried
- Native soil amended where the desert caliche is fighting us
- Drip emitter run directly to the root zone, not just close to it
- Tree staked correctly if it needs support, removed before it girdles
- Walkthrough so you know exactly how often the system is running
That last one matters more than people think. A lot of dead plants in Phoenix aren't dead from heat, they're dead from a controller running the wrong schedule.
Why the Irrigation Step Is Non Negotiable
You can plant the healthiest tree in Arizona and it will still cook in July if water isn't hitting the roots. So before we leave any job, we test the zone the new plants are tied into. We watch the emitters run, we check the gallons per hour, and we make sure the controller is actually telling that zone to come on long enough for the root ball to soak.
If we're installing in summer, the schedule is different than if we're installing in February. We'll set it for the season you're in, then tell you when to back it down or bump it up. That's the difference between a warranty we have to honor and a plant that just establishes and takes off.
What Most Homeowners Get Wrong After We Leave
The 90 days are on us, but there are a couple of things that will kill a new plant faster than anything we can warranty against.
The first one is turning the controller off. We see it all the time. A monsoon rolls through, somebody flips the irrigation off for a week, and the new install never recovers. New plants need consistent water for the first season, even when it rains. A half inch of rain doesn't reach the root ball of a 15 gallon shrub.
The second one is mulching too deep or piling rock up against the trunk. Trunks need to breathe. If rock or mulch is mounded up around the base, the bark stays wet, rots, and the tree dies from the ground up. Keep it pulled back a couple inches from the trunk and you're fine.
The third one is over pruning right after install. Let the plant settle in. New growth is how it tells us the roots are working. Cut all that off and you're fighting it.
Questions People Ask Us About the Warranty
Does the 90 day warranty cover plants I bought somewhere else? No. We can only warranty what we picked, what we installed, and what we ran irrigation to. If you bring us a tree from a big box store and ask us to plant it, we'll do a great job putting it in, but we can't stand behind the plant itself because we don't know how long it sat on a pallet in the sun.
What if a storm takes down the tree, not the heat? Storm damage isn't covered under the plant warranty, but call us anyway. We deal with monsoon damage all the time in Surprise, Buckeye, Goodyear, and Peoria, and we'll come look at it and tell you straight whether it's salvageable or whether you're better off replanting.
Do you warranty turf and sod the same way? Sod is a different conversation because it lives or dies on watering in the first two weeks, and that part is on the homeowner. We'll walk you through the schedule and check in, but a 90 day plant warranty doesn't apply to sod the same way it does to a shrub or a tree.
What if the plant looks rough but isn't fully dead? Call us. We'd rather come look at it at day 60 and adjust the irrigation or move it than show up at day 95 and have to dig it out. Most of the time when somebody calls early, we can save it.
How do I report a dead plant inside the window? Text us a photo and the address. We'll get you on the schedule, source the replacement, and come back out. Usually it's one visit, in and out.
Do commercial properties get the same warranty? Yes. HOAs, rental properties, and small commercial sites we install for all get the same 90 days. The reason Arizona businesses keep calling us back is that warranty isn't a marketing line, it's how we actually operate.