Commercial Lawn Fertilization (green lawn, mower, yard, weeds)

[Oildog]

I've used a company to treat the lawn at a house I bought in the last year. This year they have proposed a 7 treatment program. Three weed control doses and 4 fertilizations. Each treatment runs $65, and I have 6000 sqft of lawn. Im in N. Central Ok, is this excessive?

I was wondering if I just added a bag or two of weed & feed myself.

Thoughts?

[Tek_Freek]

When the economy goes south and you lose customers you have to increase your income somehow. Sounds like you're the cash cow.

[harry chickpea]

We had some bad weed issues in south Florida and I tried one of these services for a couple seasons to try to get it under control. There are no magic fixes, and if you have plants you have to be careful where they spray the weedkiller. OTOH, personally, I hate Atrazine, which is the primary component in the over the counter Weed-n-feed type of product. For it to work, it has to be applied at particular times, and it leaches into the groundwater and seems to last for an ungodly amount of time. 2-4-D and roundup are sweeties in comparison. Some of the chemicals that the lawn services use are horrendously expensive, and much better at targeting particular problems.

The cost of fertilizer has gone up a lot since the price of energy shot up, and the cost of running the trucks is higher, so I'm not surprised if the services are charging more. Otherwise, they would just dilute product to cut costs. If your lawn has problems, use the service and absolutely call them back for a free re-spray if the weeds don't disappear. If your lawn is fine, skip the service, get a soil test, and contact the county extension service for tips. Just my opinion.

[tamcim72]

seems about right $$. I had 10 visits for $48/visit but yard may be smaller. !st house worked wonders (S.Florida) New house had for a year (N. Florida) didn't see any difference and cancelled. The only thing I hated was each month they called to solicit additional services.

[Rtom45]

oildog:
You could ask some other companies in your area for quotes, then choose the level of service you want. Keep in mind that oftentimes the big names are more about advertising and less about service. You may be better off selecting a less well known company that you have confidence in. Of course this will cost a little more. You should also look for a company that will customize their program to meet your needs. Too many times the big guys will fill up a truck and run thru their customer lists providing the same treatments for everybody whether they need it or not. Also, it is very important to choose a company that has the proper certifications for your state. It is illegal for a company to apply any pesticide without a state certification.

[M3 Mitch]

If you have the time to DIY, it' not rocket science - You can probably just apply any decent weed-n-feed from your local big box or hardware store.

Judging from your location "soon to be Houston", if you are getting ready to sell, a really lush green lawn adds a lot of curb appeal. *I* wouldn't pay more for a house with a lush lawn, but most people will. Just a thought.

Rtom45 makes a good point about getting a treatment customized to your actual needs as opposed to a big truck that just gives everybody on the route a shot of "whatever" and goes on.

We live out in the country and I'm not trying to make the lawn look as good as Pebble Beach, OK, but what I do is just use a mulching lawnmower, dump wood ashes on the lawn during the winter, spreading them out good, and during the season I occasionally spray broadleaf weeds with 2-4-D. Occasionally I'll spread some fertilizer but not every year. The lawn would not win any awards but looks better than OK for peanuts.