How to tell if bad contractor landscaping work needs to be redone
Exposed concrete edging, messy mortar stains, and patchy or skipped aeration leave homeowners unsure whether to demand a fix. This makes it difficult to know when to hold a contractor accountable for poor quality versus accepting minor imperfections.
What the numbers show
Counted from the threads quoted below. How we count
- The most recent one is from October 2026.
- This comes up 31.4× more often in r/Landscaping than across the site as a whole.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
How to tell if bad contractor landscaping work needs to be redone
- 1Covering the exposed concrete with dirt and letting grass or weeds grow over itDid this help you?
- 2Breaking up and redoing the concrete edgeDid this help you?
- 3Calling the contractor back to see if they will fix or redo the workDid this help you?
- 4Calling the contractor back to request additional aeration and seedDid this help you?
- 5Throwing down extra seed on bare spots yourselfDid this help you?
- 6Covering bare spots with peat moss or compostDid this help you?
- 7Doing your own seeding after weather eventsDid this help you?
- 8monitoring jobs step by stepDid this help you?
- 9attempting to communicate dissatisfaction during the installation processDid this help you?
- 10seeking opinions on forumsDid this help you?
- 11reseeding grass independentlyDid this help you?
- 12removing landscape fabric and rock mulchDid this help you?
- 13Testing the landscaper's knowledge by asking about the plant's specific growth habits and tendencies.Did this help you?
- 14Looking for professionals who know the Latin names of the plants in the yard to ensure they have proper training.Did this help you?
- 15Posting photos online to get a second opinion from other gardeners.Did this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“I paid a company to do aeration an over seed and I’m not too sure if they put down enough seed? Also seems like they pick and chose where to aerate or not.”source ↗
“Personally, if I paid someone to come out and to do all of that and I wasn’t satisfied, I’d call them back and have them aerate more and throw more seed.”source ↗
“I think learned the whole “paying for quality” lesson the hard way because these guys were the cheapest estimate.”source ↗
“I asked for a horizontal slatted fence and I got this. I tried to tell them I wasn’t happy when they started applying the batons but they said something about garden sloping up and it not being straight.”source ↗
“He wants to charge me to dismantle if he can salvage it and charge me to put it back the way I want.”source ↗
“I hate conflict and I hate this fence. Help, what do I do?”source ↗
“Is this acceptable or no?”source ↗
“Is it reasonable to ask them back and remove and redo?”source ↗
“The landscapers pruned this without me asking…my last one snapped because it was uneven…what do you think about this?”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 4Am I doing my lawn renovation steps in the wrong order?
- 4How to landscape around outdoor HVAC units and electrical wiring
- 12How to start planning a large sloped yard landscaping project
- 2How to make new landscaping rocks and mulch look natural
- 17Why is my heavily maintained lawn still getting brown patches and disease?
- 15How to landscape a small and busy front yard