Find landscaper or wait?

[mrrentman]

Closing on our new home Dec 1st.
We won't actually be down there until early Jan.

Do I need to sign up a landscaper Dec 2nd or is there so little growth in Dec that I can wait until the first week in Jan to find someone?

Once down there, I can ask my neighbors who they use, but if I have to sign someone up a month before my arrival, how would I find out which landscapers are already working in the neighborhood?

Thanks!

[graciegirl]

Closing on our new home Dec 1st.
We won't actually be down there until early Jan.

Do I need to sign up a landscaper Dec 2nd or is there so little growth in Dec that I can wait until the first week in Jan to find someone?

Once down there, I can ask my neighbors who they use, but if I have to sign someone up a month before my arrival, how would I find out which landscapers are already working in the neighborhood?

Thanks!

We had the same quandary. This is the dormant season, BUT you need to have your sprinklers set to water frequently for your new sod IF you have a new home here.

You could ask your sales agent what to do. He/she might could set your sprinklers and check your lawn.

If you want to know the names of your neighbors, go to the county property appraisal site. (Lake, Marion or Sumter) Find a name of a closeby neighbor and call them. People are usually very helpful to new neighbors here.

[Henryk]

We had the same quandary. This is the dormant season, BUT you need to have your sprinklers set to water frequently for your new sod IF you have a new home here.

You could ask your sales agent what to do. He/she might could set your sprinklers and check your lawn.

If you want to know the names of your neighbors, go to the county property appraisal site. (Lake, Marion or Sumter) Find a name of a closeby neighbor and call them. People are usually very helpful to new neighbors here.

Gracie, dear. There you go again helping just everyone! Somebody ought to leave roses at your home.

[graciegirl]

Gracie, dear. There you go again helping just everyone! Somebody ought to leave roses at your home.

OH MY GOODNESS.

:mademyday:

[mrrentman]

The lawn is all grown in, so we are going to ask a friend to go there and dial back our sprinklers to water a little less than what the developer was doing.

I did find the names of my neighbors in the DistrictGov.org, but do you know of any way to find their phone number or email address?

[redwitch]

It should be fine until you arrive. It will be a little shaggy, but definitely shouldn’t be out of control. Do not let your friends adjust your sprinklers. You’ll void what little warranty there is on landscaping if this is a new home purchase. Instead, ask if they’d be willing to contact the contractor who installed the irrigation to come and check the system and adjust the timer as needed. This is something that must be done within thirty days of closing unless you get an extension from Home Warranty. If pre-owned, definitely have your friends adjust as needed.

As to getting info on your neighbors, the best would probably be to have your friends leave a note with occupied homes asking them to contact you. Doubt they’d be particularly appreciative of a stranger contacting, even if claiming to be a new neighbor. If typical villagers, they’ll be knocking in your door almost before you move in.

[asianthree]

Leave the sprinklers as they are. We closed April 27 and I arrived June 30. I had 8 shrubs that were dead. Called warranty sent out irrigation guy still set as was at closing. Warranty dept replaced all the shrubs.

[mrrentman]

This is a new home and somewhere in the "closing packet" they give you, it definitely implies to change the builder's sprinkler settings, making it sound like they over-water initially.
But I will heed your advice and not do so within the first 30 days until I've had my meeting with the builder and they go over all the systems.
Thanks for warning me about that.

And it sounds like I can probably let the lawn sit for the month of December as long as I hire a landscaper when I get down there on Jan 1st. If I misunderstood everyone's advice about that, please chime in. Thanks.

[redwitch]

The walk through with the builder is entirely different from the irrigation check. The irrigation must be checked by the installer (a subcontractor — the name should be on the box. Landscape and grass are only covered for thirty days, so the quicker you get them checked, the better. It normally takes less than thirty minutes to have this done. If you can’t get it done before your arrival, call Home Warranty to get an extension of the time.

[dnobles]

Wait Don’t be in a rush to do anything Take your time and look around. We used Village Palm and were very happy but took two years. Don’t use a fly by night.

[mrrentman]

Does anyone know of landscapers already working in Pine Hill that I can begin looking into?

[redwitch]

Wait til you get down and see who your neighbors use. They do their best work for snowbirds if a neighbor is a frog. Dean’s and Massey’s are both in that area if you’re looking for a full service company. Whatever you do, do NOT even consider Service Smart, no matter how many in your neighborhood are using them nor what promises they make.

BTW, landscapers are those who plant take your plants, design the landscape and the like. Lawn cutters can be full service and take care of cutting grass, adding fertilizer as needed, ground pest control, trimming. You can also hire different companies to take care of your outdoors, which was pretty much the way it used to be here. Now, full service is more common but not necessarily the best way to go in my opinion.