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I am trying to find a company to take over lawn care for me. I have 8000 sf according to a lawn pro who measured our lawn. It is mostly lawn with 4 flower beds. I got a quote for 200 a month, for that they will aerate and seed, mow, trim hedges, rake leaves. Is this a reasonable deal or too high or too low? They also quoted 400 for aerate and seed only.
They will come out 3x a month.
I am in durham, if anyone has a fav. Lawn co. They use can you pm me? Thanks much.
I pay about $40 to mow my lawn and that may all end by next year. I am seriously thinking of buying my own mower because I will be damned if I am going to continue to pay that to cut my grass every week or even every two weeks for that matter. Why should I spend more to groom my lawn than I am willing to spend grooming myself . I cut my grass as need or when the pretty committee aka "the HOA" sends me a letter to cut it, which only make me take longer to do it anyway because if the grass grows an inch they want you to cut it; you would think my yard is a forest from the way they behave.
This lawn thing is not rocket science, so I decided that going forward I will ask questions and search the INTERNET on how to best care for my lawn because these expensive lawn services do not do a good job of it anyway. I paid $60 to have it aerated and told the guy that I would seed it myself. Bought a large bag of Southern Gold Fescue and spread that baby myself. I made sure to supply my lawn with all the little treats that it was being deprived of such as lime treatment, fungus treatment, Ortho insecticides and fertilizer all with the advice that I received from Lowes and some of my fellow City Data posters . My seeds are all popping up in the right areas and looks very thick because I laid it on real heavy .. splurged a little this year . Once I find out when to attack the weeds I will also load up on that too ... whatever it takes. That being said, if you have the money to pay to cut it then go for it, if not doing it yourself may turn out better than Scotts or True Green.
My seeds are all popping up in the right areas and looks very thick because I laid it on real heavy .. splurged a little this year
Sounds like you actually threw out to much seed so expect the new grass to die. FYI-each seed doesn't equate to a single blade of grass. Fescue is a bunch grass and needs room to "bunch out". If it doesn't have the room it will crowd itself to death. If you don't believe me do your:
Quote:
search the INTERNET
(LOL) to find out yourself. You have quite possibly already started wasting your money "doing it yourself" instead of paying the pro to do it for you.
Yep, throwing out too much seed= dead grass next summer. Good luck with that.
It looks great now and will look great in early spring ( you'll be patting yourself on the back for a job well done in March in April) but it won't survive past May. Those overcrowded areas have to compete for water during summer droughts and you've put 10x too much seed down. Then the whole area will die. It's imperative to get the right seed spread!
I find nature has a great way of "making things right". So what if he put it on too thick. It'll look great now and into the spring and over the summer some of it will die anyway (as fescue does). Only thing I would change is not buy the name brand and stick with the generic, but that's just me. I find the TTTF fescues need more seed anyway due to their thinner blades and less bunching grass, where as the K31 really does seem to bunch.
I put down bermuda this fall as I got sick of fescue not filling in, we'll see how it turns out. I spent under $100 in seed, fert, and water and to sod it would've cost >$1,000.
The two most common mistakes I see people make is put too much seed down and wait too long to mow. Putting too much seed makes for a "flash in the pan" crowded lawn that is not healthy or sustainable and dies off quickly creating a matt of dead grass (thatch).
Same thing goes for letting your grass get too tall before cutting it. It is very stressful to the lawn to get scalped after growing 5-6". This leads to thatch buildup and and stressed unhealthy lawn. During the gorwing season fescue really should be cut every week.
I beleive in do it yourself lawn care, but I also beleive there are some pro businesses out there that are worth what they charge. At the end of the day it doesn't matter if you are saving money if you aren't doing it right.
Sounds like you actually threw out to much seed so expect the new grass to die. FYI-each seed doesn't equate to a single blade of grass. Fescue is a bunch grass and needs room to "bunch out". If it doesn't have the room it will crowd itself to death. If you don't believe me do your:
(LOL) to find out yourself. You have quite possibly already started wasting your money "doing it yourself" instead of paying the pro to do it for you.
I do not think so my pesimistic friend, because my neighbor did the same thing along the side of his yard last year and it looks beautiful. I saw how the professionals keep coming next door to one of my other neighbor year after year to do the same thing and his grass is still jacked up . I will take my chances thank you ..... Professionals ... oye
I do not think so my pesimistic friend, because my neighbor did the same thing along the side of his yard last year and it looks beautiful. I saw how the professionals keep coming next door to one of my other neighbor year after year to do the same thing and his grass is still jacked up . I will take my chances thank you ..... Professionals ... oye
Uhhhhhh, did you not read the 3 posts below mine that agree with what I posted? lol
And your other neighbor needs to find different professionals.
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. I cut my grass as need or when the pretty committee aka "the HOA" sends me a letter to cut it, which only make me take longer to do it anyway because if the grass grows an inch they want you to cut it; you would think my yard is a forest from the way they behave.
. My seeds are all popping up in the right areas and looks very thick because I laid it on real heavy .. splurged a little this year 
. Once I find out when to attack the weeds I will also load up on that too ... whatever it takes. That being said, if you have the money to pay to cut it then go for it, if not doing it yourself may turn out better than Scotts or True Green.
