I've spent the last two days pulling grass out of new landscaping.
We built this house in 2001, and skimped on landscaping to save money. Last year, we finally ponied up for a minimal amount, just to bring our yard into some kind of alignment with our neighbors. Not because we give a shizzle, but because we know they do, and we like to be good neighbors. We had a couple boulders moved to more aesthetically pleasing locations, had some crushed rock laid with vinyl edging, a couple dozen small shrubs, and had a natural boulder retaining wall that was never built right to begin with replaced with neater looking keystones.
Anyhoo, this was several thousand dollars worth of work, and it looked real nice when they first did it. But before the snow flew, we noticed grass growing along the house and along the inside of all the vinyl edging.
My understanding has always been that the mesh laid down under the crushed rock was supposed to prevent growth. For instance, when we first built, it was a few years before we ever noticed any growth inside what little edging we had, and it was just a little grass, and easy to get rid of.
But with this new work, we're talking just about every inch. The guy says "it's normal" because we already had grass when they tore it up and laid down the mesh. According to him, it's different when the landscaping is new on tilled ground with new sod as compared to landscaping on a lot that has an established lawn. He says that killing it with round-up and then pulling it should take care of it once and for all.
So we'll see. I'm a bit pissed because he never said, "Oh by the way, you'll have to pull grass out by the roots around the entire perimeter of what we've done."
Was this shoddy work, or is he shooting straight? As I said, my only other experience with new landscaping is when we first built.