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If the home is not brand new and is just new to you and you want to fix it up to your liking or get rid of the previous owner's deferred maintenance....you might hire someone for the big fix up. If you would like something nice and are totally unfamiliar with a yard you could get a professional who would talk to you about what colors you like, what sizes would be good, how little you want to water, how often you'll have your gardener in, etc.
Then do a big push.
Then it's the usual regular weeding, watering, fertilizing. And cutting back, fixing damage over time. Which your gardener would know when to do.
You might ask your neighbors who have really nice yards who they use. Even if they're not nearby but on your way.
Youtube is the best diy tool. I just need to maintain my lawn.
Since I mulch mow I only fertilize in the fall. As for weeds I use a pre-emergent for crab grass in the spring. For other weeds Weed-B-Gon hose end as needed.
I will power-core every 3 or so years and then over seed lightly with the best fescue I can find. Early September so soil temp is up for quick germination. Pennington fescue from Lowes.
so i have 1 acre total lot, something like 23,000 square feet of grass. i pay $50/week for mowing. the range here is $30-60 from what ive seen people post. i pay another company for the fertilizer/chemicals, $800 for 5 visits ($150/visit). im not sure of the range, but you could probably find a company to do it for $100/visit.
its definitely very do-it-yourself friendly stuff. the chemicals are readily available and its pretty simple to do. i still need to do some weeding around the property myself, applying fungicide myself, i have a lawn tractor with a leaf sweeper and aerator attachment so i aerate and do my fall clean up, etc. i can mow my grass also but im busy in the summer and dont want the obligation. spraying weeds is simple but also not fun. the smaller the property though, the simpler it is. id recommend getting a good electric powered backpack sprayer if you are going to spray anything. dont cheap out with lesser equipment, you only end up screwing yourself and regretting it later.
If you haven't already, go to Nextdoor.com and sign up and see who your neighbors recommend for the various jobs. They'll generally also let you know which ones are reasonably priced etc.
Great Idea - I found my lawn guy on Nextdoor.com and he spends a lot of time cutting the grass, trimming, weed eating, blowing, etc. He doesn't do the fertilizing, tree trimming or weed killing however. He charges $35 a cut and being that I'm in Florida he comes weekly during our rainy season from June-September. I also had a company that I signed up with and my lawn has never looked worse. Canceled them and am looking for someone else now. This house & yard was severely neglected by the previous owner. I think it's going to be awhile before I actually have a nice lawn, especially in the back. Sandspurs are driving me nuts.
I'm a new home owner and do not have the time for lawn care. What is the avg. cost to hire someone to mow, blow, edge, weed elimination, and whatever else is necessary to keep it healthy?
My area is $40 up to a half acre, $60 an acre if reasonably flat with minimal edging.
I'm surprised at how low these prices are. I live in a small town outside In Western PA outside of Pittsburgh and I doubt that anyone would do a quick mow and weedwack for less than $60. There are numerous lawn companies that do mowing in my neighborhood. They usually have at least 3 guys and two mowers. I've watched them do some of the neighbors yards and they rarely take longer than 25 minutes. I've have never seen them do edging. One guy goes around with a weed wacker and trims any high grass, that is not the same as edging. They don't touch anything in flowerbeds or mulch. It doesn't matter if there weeds 3 feet high, they only do grass. I've seen them arrive at 7:30 am in the rain, they mow according to their schedule not yours.
Fertilizing and weed control is usually done by a company that specializes in doing that. Superior and TruGreen seem to be the biggest around my area. Some companies also do trees and shrubs. My neighbor used to have one company for her lawn and one for her shrubbery. You typically looking at 3-4 weedkiller and fertilizer applications per year. Soil testing and lime may or may not be included.
Flowerbeds are usually a more specialized job. They will plant flowers, bushes, add mulch, do retaining walls, etc. This is usually done on a per job estimate. I had a neighbor who would have a dump truck load of mulch placed around her house. They would use a machine to edge about 1400 feet of mulch beds. Some years the job took 2 men over a week.
Fall cleanup is usually a one time job done in late fall. Some of the lawn care companies will also do this, but it will be a separate estimate to rake and haul your leaves away.
I'm surprised at how low these prices are. I live in a small town outside In Western PA outside of Pittsburgh and I doubt that anyone would do a quick mow and weedwack for less than $60. There are numerous lawn companies that do mowing in my neighborhood. They usually have at least 3 guys and two mowers. I've watched them do some of the neighbors yards and they rarely take longer than 25 minutes. I've have never seen them do edging. One guy goes around with a weed wacker and trims any high grass, that is not the same as edging. They don't touch anything in flowerbeds or mulch. It doesn't matter if there weeds 3 feet high, they only do grass. I've seen them arrive at 7:30 am in the rain, they mow according to their schedule not yours.
Fertilizing and weed control is usually done by a company that specializes in doing that. Superior and TruGreen seem to be the biggest around my area. Some companies also do trees and shrubs. My neighbor used to have one company for her lawn and one for her shrubbery. You typically looking at 3-4 weedkiller and fertilizer applications per year. Soil testing and lime may or may not be included.
Flowerbeds are usually a more specialized job. They will plant flowers, bushes, add mulch, do retaining walls, etc. This is usually done on a per job estimate. I had a neighbor who would have a dump truck load of mulch placed around her house. They would use a machine to edge about 1400 feet of mulch beds. Some years the job took 2 men over a week.
Fall cleanup is usually a one time job done in late fall. Some of the lawn care companies will also do this, but it will be a separate estimate to rake and haul your leaves away.
I don't understand it either. Here in NC, the guys charging $40-60 a yard work in teams of two (usually) and the guys are driving brand new Superduty trucks with diesel motor, 4x4, Lariat or above. Easily $70k+.
I think this is a small part in what they "do" but there's an awful lot of blue collar money in my area for people who, on the surface, appear to just cobble together a few part time jobs into a 60-hour week.
I'm surprised at how low these prices are. I live in a small town outside In Western PA outside of Pittsburgh and I doubt that anyone would do a quick mow and weedwack for less than $60.
Its supply and demand right. Prices are normally lower in bigger cities because of the amount of supply for that service due its high demand.
Its supply and demand right. Prices are normally lower in bigger cities because of the amount of supply for that service due its high demand.
I don't think that's how it works
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