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Old 07-03-2016, 08:43 AM
autumnspring autumnspring is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Buffalo Jim View Post
Is there a service provider who will regularly actually analyze your soil and identify the correct mix of chemicals it requires to keep it disease free and healthy [ including pest control ] ?

It appears that most service providers claim that they treat your lawn based on specific analysis however it has been my experience that in reality they are all about getting in and out asap

When I purchased the new build 1 year ago I was fortunate to have beautiful , thick healthy Zoysia Grass . However after 1 year of a so called " Full Maintenance Service Contract " from one of the largest service providers my lawn has become an eyesore .

I have a separate mowing service and the owner himself does the work . He is working very diligently to do his best however all signs of failure point back to the Lawn Service Company .

Sorry for the long Post and if anyone could help point me in the right direction I would be most appreciative .

Just please don`t point me back to Upstate NY !!
RE:UPSTATE NY
I've attended several of the lectures put on by the cooperative extension. You might want to attend some of them as well. I recall at one lecture the speaker asked who is from the north and HE SUGGESTED YOU FORGET EVERYTHING YOU THINK YOU KNOW ABOUT GARDENING.

I lived in Syracuse for a while. The soil is highly organic, rocky and acidic. The growing season is like 6 months.
Here your soil is LIME FILLED clay sand mix. The soil PH is 7-8-akaline. The growing season is 8-9 months.

Re: your initial great lawn
They install SOD but do nothing to improve the soil the roll it out on. So if you look you will find you have sod with about 1/2 an inch of root-they cut off the roots to create that neat carpet like stuff. So they have planted nice looking grass WITH NO SUPPORT SYSTEM to take up WATER and nutrients
FIRST FIND OUT WHAT TYPE OF GRASS YOU HAVE
I would expect since it is new, you have EMPIRE ZOYSIA.
Kike anything else you will see people writing i hate zoyzia and you will find people writing they hate st Augustine.
EITHER WILL GIVE YOU A GOOD LAWN-YOU JUST NEED TO KNOW OR LEARN HOW TO CARE FOR IT.
I would start with the cooperative extension. REASON-the other sources you may ask usually are SELLING SOMETHING SO THEY WILL FIND SOMETHING TO SELL YOU.