A signed estimate is the only binding price we give, and a shrub that dies inside twelve months gets replaced once, free.

This site is a catalogue, not a storefront

Lark Spruce Grounds Co. publishes service descriptions, technique notes and a price basis for each line of work — per visit, per bed, per hour, per linear foot, per cubic yard, depending on the service. None of that is a quote. A price basis tells you how the job will be measured. It does not tell you what your property will cost, because a 40-foot bed on flat ground and a 40-foot bed on a 12% slope are not the same job, and we are not going to pretend otherwise by putting a number on a page that has never seen your yard.

An inquiry submitted through this site, by phone, or through the chat widget starts a conversation. It is not an order, and it does not obligate either side to anything. The only document that binds Lark Spruce Grounds Co. to a price is a written estimate, itemized by service and area, signed by the property owner or an authorized representative and countersigned by our office. Verbal numbers given during a walk-through are working estimates and can move once we open the ground or get a tape measure on the actual run.

How an estimate turns into a job

A crew lead walks the property, measures beds and drain runs, and writes the estimate on site or emails it within two business days for larger scopes — drainage correction, multi-bed plantings, anything that needs a materials list. The estimate states a firm price or a not-to-exceed range, the materials by brand and grade where it matters (French drain pipe schedule, mulch type, plant container sizes), and a start window. Signing it is what authorizes the work; nothing gets scheduled off a phone call alone.

Jobs under roughly $600 are invoiced on completion, due within fourteen days. Larger jobs — drainage runs, full bed installs — carry a deposit against materials, with the balance due at completion. We do not ask for full payment before the crew has broken ground. A late invoice carries a 1.5% monthly charge after thirty days, same as most trades run it.

Seasonal mowing contracts are billed monthly for the April-through-October cycle regardless of how many of the fourteen-day visits fall in a given calendar month, since some months carry two visits and some carry three. That is disclosed on the contract before the first invoice, not buried in it.

Weather moves the date, not the price

Two four-person crews and four trucks run a fixed route sheet each morning. A signed estimate gets a start window, typically within ten business days, not a guaranteed calendar date, because ground work on clay soil after rain is a bad idea and we will say so rather than dig a trench that collapses by Thursday. If we push a job for weather, we call before the crew is due, not after.

Access matters more than most people expect. If a gate is locked, a dog is loose, or a delivery of mulch or gravel bags has nowhere to sit, the crew will document it and reschedule rather than force the issue, and a second trip charge may apply if the access problem was known and not flagged ahead of time.

Twelve months, one replacement, in writing on every planting invoice

Every shrub, perennial, or ornamental tree Lark Spruce Grounds Co. installs is covered by our own replacement warranty, separate from and in addition to whatever the grower or nursery offers. If a plant we installed dies within twelve months of its installation date for any reason other than drought stress or deer browse, we replace it once at no charge — the plant, the labor to remove the dead one, and the labor to install the replacement. We do not charge a second time to fix a job we planted wrong the first time. This is also the fix for our own worst failure mode: root-bound stock planted whole, wire basket and all, that looks fine in October and is dead by June. We score the root ball and cut the wire basket on every plant before it goes in the ground, which is the entire reason the warranty can be this direct.

What we will not cover, and why

Drought is excluded because we cannot control a Pittsburgh dry spell or an owner who skips watering for three weeks in August. We hand every planting client a written watering schedule for the first sixty days; if it was not followed, the warranty does not apply. Deer browse is excluded because there is no planting technique that stops a deer from eating a hosta, and pretending otherwise on a warranty card would be dishonest.

We also do not warranty plant material we did not select or install — if a client insists on a specific shrub against our written recommendation for the site's drainage or sun exposure, that plant is installed at the client's direction and carries no replacement guarantee. We will say so on the estimate before the work starts, not after the plant is dead.

Mowing and cleanup visits carry no warranty in the plant-replacement sense; if a mowing pass is missed or done poorly, the remedy is a return visit at no charge within five business days of being told, not a refund of the season contract.

What we carry, and where our responsibility ends

Lark Spruce Grounds Co. carries general liability and workers' compensation coverage on every crew member on site. If a crew damages a fence, a sprinkler line, or a section of lawn while performing the contracted work, we repair or pay to repair it — that is a normal cost of doing business and we do not argue about it.

Our liability does not extend to pre-existing conditions we were not hired to address: a failing retaining wall we were not asked to inspect, buried utility lines that were not marked when we called it in before digging, or drainage problems on a neighboring property that our work did not create. Underground utility locates are requested before every trench job; if a property owner declines to allow the locate call, liability for hitting an unmarked private line shifts to the owner. To the extent Pennsylvania law allows, our liability for a single job is capped at the amount invoiced for that job — we are a grounds crew, not an insurer of the whole property.

Ending or pausing a contract

A one-time job can be cancelled any time before the crew is dispatched with no charge. Once materials have been ordered against a signed estimate — pipe, mulch, plant stock — cancellation is billed for the cost of materials already committed, at invoice cost, no markup.

Seasonal mowing contracts can be cancelled with fourteen days' written notice by email to office@larksprucelean.com. We do not lock a property into a full-season contract with no exit; we do ask for notice long enough to pull the property off the route sheet before the next cycle starts.

Pennsylvania law, and how these terms can change

These terms are governed by the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, without regard to conflict-of-law rules. Any dispute that cannot be resolved directly is subject to the jurisdiction of the courts of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania.

We may update these terms as the business changes — a new service line, a revised payment schedule — and the version posted on this page at the time an estimate is signed is the one that governs that job. Material changes to the warranty terms do not apply retroactively to plants already installed under an earlier version. Questions about a specific clause, or a specific job, go to the office directly rather than to a contact form built for general inquiries.

Read alongside this page: the privacy policy covers how inquiry data is stored and how advertising identifiers are handled, and the cookie notice lists every storage key this site sets. The services page has the full technique and price-basis detail behind each line item referenced above. To start an estimate, use the contact page.