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I was looking into pest service for the house and I received a quote for service to cover the yard care. Yard care would include fertilizing, treating bugs, and fungus, etc. It would cost $84 every other month which sounds worth it to me since I don't have to diagnose what is wrong, go to the store and actually apply the chemical/fertilizer, etc.
Do you use a profession lawn care service? Is it worth it? I calculated out if I do it myself that it would cost about the same as the service.
titaniummd
first how big is your property
my service comes every 8 weeks and we pay $42
the thing to keep in mind in the "doing it yourself vs having it done" is do you want to spend the time to research what to put down and when.
when looking for a company to treat the lawn I tend to shy away form the really big companies. I have a problem with a "tech" that they pay $8 an hour that all they know is the company says " go out and put this down" I want someone who will look at the lawn and determine this is needed or this is not needed.
I find smaller owner operated companies will take the time to discuss with me what is needed.
But then again I am a master gardener so I have a strong opinion with regards to the lawn. I just don't have the time to do it myself.
Blanket pest control on the lawn is one of my biggest pet peeves, the good bugs are killed along with the bad. If there is a problem spot treat the area.
Maybe you can call your local extension office and see if they can recommend someone. The extension offices monitor the yearly pest control licensing tests.( you want to be sure who you chose is licensed.
Also get a few different estimates.
I wish my guy went out to OP
karla
titaniummd
while I was out walking lola I ran into the guy who does my lawn weed and feed
and he does go to orange park !!! he said he was there yesterday as a matter of fact.
I will send you his info through a dm
karla
Fungus is rarely a problem in our area. Even though we have all the humidity and moisture, fungus is not all that common, so you don't need to worry about that. You'd have to really overwater your lawn to invite the possibility of fungus.
Spittlebugs and some others will sometimes hit a large patch where they suck the juices out of the grass blades and people may mistake it for fungus because of how the grass appears, but it's just spittlebug damage and it will grow back out.
Karla is right about the service people. I entertained the idea of one of these companies when we first moved in to our current home. My lawn really struggled initially and I was having a hard time keeping on top of it, so I asked one of the companies to take a look and give me a quote.
I was really suprised that they treat for all kinds of things regardless of whether or not there are any indications that there is a problem. When I asked the rep what he was seeing in my lawn, what the current issues were , I actually stumped him..........he had no idea! He said something to the effect of 'well, I don't know, I just measure the lawn and the guy will come out and spray for it all'..............so basically NO ONE diagnoses the lawn - it's a one-size-fits-all-spray-it-for-everything-whether-it-needs-it-or-not. That just didn't sit right with me.
I went out and bought Tom MacCubbin's book "The Perfect Florida Lawn", picked it up for $6 at Sam's Club. It's an easy read (thin book) with great photos and charts and it makes lawncare a no-brainer. It gave me a good basis to start with and I've picked up more info along the way. 4 years ago I could not even start a mower, let alone any other type of garden work .
I like Karla's idea (as usual ) of hiring a smaller company where you can communicate directly and have some say in what is done to your lawn. I think that's a great way to go if you don't want to, or don't have the time to, care for it yourself. You can always take over later once the lawn is healthy and well-established if you want to .
I'm assuming (hopefully not falsely) that because you live in Florida you have Bermuda grass?? If so, I use Scott's. On the bags it tells you what time of year you're supposed to lay it down and how to water it. Some of the stuff has weed control in it if you have a weed problem. I wish I had a picture to show you the contrast in my yard this summer. When I moved in in May my entire grass was grey and brown with giant weeds everywhere. I layed the Scott's Turf Builder plus Weed Control down and watered about three times a week. I applied another treatment in August. Let me tell you something, I went from grey/brown to a lush thick green. It's unbelievable, and this is the first summer I've dealt with my brand new yard.
As far as bugs are concerned, a healthy lawn will do most of the fight against bugs to begin with. If you're still having problems, I recommend going to Lowe's and picking up the "Triazicide" concentrate and spraying about once every week to two weeks. For the flying critters, I suggest you put up a bat box and hope that bats move in. They can eat up to their own body weight in mosquitos per night. They're AWESOME.
But, the moral of the story is USE THE SCOTT'S! That stuff is AWESOME. Be careful to read the bag though, if you do not have Bermuda Scott's may or may not work for your yard. One other thing- just a tip. I can't remember what the bag says as far as application procedures, but I do know that it works best if you cut your grass, lightly water it, and then fertilize it. Don't water again for 24 hours or so and you'll start to see the weeds die.
Location: Georgia.I rather be in GODS country Tennessee.Everybody knows Gods a VOLS fan.
597 posts, read 2,080,746 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by titaniummd
I was looking into pest service for the house and I received a quote for service to cover the yard care. Yard care would include fertilizing, treating bugs, and fungus, etc. It would cost $84 every other month which sounds worth it to me since I don't have to diagnose what is wrong, go to the store and actually apply the chemical/fertilizer, etc.
Do you use a profession lawn care service? Is it worth it? I calculated out if I do it myself that it would cost about the same as the service.
It's worth it if you find the right company to go with.
I use florida green(Tampa/lutz) ...they come every 8-10 weeks or as needed. No contract so i pay him as we go, which is nice AND he said if the yard doesn't need it he won't treat it. ...cool cool cool we pay 48 each time. Have a big front yard and decent size back.
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) of hiring a smaller company where you can communicate directly and have some say in what is done to your lawn. I think that's a great way to go if you don't want to, or don't have the time to, care for it yourself. You can always take over later once the lawn is healthy and well-established if you want to 
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