Lawn treatment service - worth it?
- Thread starter Sojourner
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Do it myself. my neighbor actually had 3" of topsoil put over his clay lawn and pays to get it done. It looks amazing and when I miss the really nice grass, I take my shoes and socks off and walk across the street to his lawn lol
We don't have a lawn, per se, but a patch of grass that is green when it rains, and brown when it doesn't. Since I live in SoCal - it's mostly brown. We don't add chemicals because it's adjacent to our raised veggie beds and planter beds of things that like different chemicals (camelia bushes, palm trees, etc.)
I have teenagers - so I don't pay a mowing service, either.
We weed and rake, and cleanup the yard as a family. Everyone suffers through the designated weeding days.
I have teenagers - so I don't pay a mowing service, either.
We weed and rake, and cleanup the yard as a family. Everyone suffers through the designated weeding days.
We have 1/3 of an acre in South Jersey. We take care of mowing and I've actually "grown" to enjoy moderate gardening. We just paid our yearly fertilizer service and for us it's $704 for the upcoming year. Seems like everything's more expensive in Jersey! This includes 6 services which includes the grub and lime service. Have to admit though the lawn looks beautiful. We did at one time on another property try to do the fertilization ourselves, but we weren't happy with the results. So we have Lawn Doctor take care of that for us. Since we do everything else, I justified the cost of fertilization, as it's part of my hobbies now.
If you do all the other maintenance yourself, I say have a pro do the fertilization, and enjoy the green!
If you do all the other maintenance yourself, I say have a pro do the fertilization, and enjoy the green!
OP
OP
Sojourner
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Unfortunately, I live in an HOA neighborhood and they seem to pay particular attention to lawns that get too "weedy" or not manicured enough during the spring/summer. But yeah, it's mind-blowing to think of all the billions that have been spent over the years keeping grass looking nice across America.
Moneygrubber
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Used Tru green chem lawn for 2 years, about 600$ a year if you buy year in advance, about 6 applications plus grub control. Had a new house and new lawn so 2 years with them really thickened up the lawn. Used to do it myself at previous residence for 25 years. Cutting them loose this year 2016 as i am retiring and have the time, can do it at half cost. They give you less than 24 hrs notice on application, never liked that as it would interfere with the landscaper cutting the lawn ( i have hay fever, freshly cut grass drives me nuts), i also have a poop guy for the dog, doody calls.....
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Moneygrubber
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18000 sq ft lawn
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RetireAge50
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No. Let it die in summer. Comes back in fall. Green all winter. Easy and maintenance free except a few mowings.
Do yourself a big favor, keep the lawn service! I tried the DIY system. Killed almost all of the grass in my yard. For $46 per treatment, you can't buy and DIY for $46. Good lawn service companies know what chemicals to use and more importantly when to use them.
I pay $200 per year for four treatments, early spring, late spring, early fall and late fall. All I do is mow the grass. My yard is now the envy of the neighborhood.
Watertree
I pay $200 per year for four treatments, early spring, late spring, early fall and late fall. All I do is mow the grass. My yard is now the envy of the neighborhood.
Watertree
How did you kill your grass? I haven't had any trouble with DIYing this. I read the bags and put down the right amount. I put down the pre-emerge herbicide/fertilizer when the forsythia blooms drop (a good indicator that soil temps will soon be right for crabgrass germination in my area).
My faith in the lawn service pros is not increased by what folks have written here about their experiences (or what I've seen).
Al in Ohio
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I paid for a lawn service decades ago when I bought my first home. Then I got some good advice from a DIYer. Buy a Scotts easy throw spreader and get the four step program and do it yourself. I get my clue when it's time for each step now by watching when the little lawn application flags start popping up.
A throw spreader is fast and puts down a 5,000 sf bag in 5 minutes. Four step bags cost me about $60 which averages $15 per application. Some years I add a fifth application of Grubex which is a $20 bag. A program would charge me $55 per visit. So I save about $160-$200 per year and I prefer to do it when the weather is prime for that particular application under my control (i.e. I would not apply weed killer just before it rains like I see my neighbors lawn service do routinely if that's when they are scheduled to be in my neighborhood). That's a real waste of your money IMO.
So yeah, I can spread it in 5 mins and hose off the spreader in about another 2 minutes. It's far easier than cutting the lawn. I have and would pay someone to cut my lawn way before paying someone to fertilize it. Cutting it is much more labor intensive and less rewarding to me. Fertilizing is so much easier as long as you are 't using a drop spreader.
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A throw spreader is fast and puts down a 5,000 sf bag in 5 minutes. Four step bags cost me about $60 which averages $15 per application. Some years I add a fifth application of Grubex which is a $20 bag. A program would charge me $55 per visit. So I save about $160-$200 per year and I prefer to do it when the weather is prime for that particular application under my control (i.e. I would not apply weed killer just before it rains like I see my neighbors lawn service do routinely if that's when they are scheduled to be in my neighborhood). That's a real waste of your money IMO.
So yeah, I can spread it in 5 mins and hose off the spreader in about another 2 minutes. It's far easier than cutting the lawn. I have and would pay someone to cut my lawn way before paying someone to fertilize it. Cutting it is much more labor intensive and less rewarding to me. Fertilizing is so much easier as long as you are 't using a drop spreader.
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DayDreaming
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I've never fertilized my lawn, never watered it, never used weed killers. I just mow it regularly and it looks good to me.
GravitySucks
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Had a service do the front lawn one year but it didn't look as good as the DYI years so I never had them back again.
DYI only includes a fertilizer every year, broad leaf weed killer every other year, and spray for the creeping Charlie constantly. That stuff is impossible.
Grass grows well here and I'd rather be hiking or biking than spending time getting a perfect lawn.
The backyard is for me and my dog. We don't want to be rolling around in chemicals. I just pop the bigger dandelions if they annoy me.
DYI only includes a fertilizer every year, broad leaf weed killer every other year, and spray for the creeping Charlie constantly. That stuff is impossible.
Grass grows well here and I'd rather be hiking or biking than spending time getting a perfect lawn.
The backyard is for me and my dog. We don't want to be rolling around in chemicals. I just pop the bigger dandelions if they annoy me.
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