[DeanFL]

I'm the OP. As mentioned I bought Ryobi 40v lawn care equip at HD. Have mowed, edged, trimmed 3 times since firing Deans. As some have mentioned here - our lawn has never looked better. ALWAYS had issues with the superfast cut of their riding mower, and uneven trimming - either scalped or not even. Their goal always seemed to be 'git 'er done'. I do think that their mowing equip brought in weed seeds or such too.

Their pest/lawn fert service was OK - just OK. We have one 15 sq ft area in our front lawn that developed small weeds a couple months ago and choked out much of the grass. I complained to them, they came out again to treat and will be out again next week. After that - Deans will be fired for that duty too.

Our outlay -standard size Designer lot was $50/mo mowing $80 fert et al every 2 mos. So annual was just over $1K. My reasoning for DIY; a bit of exercise, satisfaction of DIY, better result, save some $$$ as well. The equip takes up very little room in the garage, mower stows folded/upright. And the stuff should last longer than I will....