[Barefoot]

We currently have someone under contract to mow the lawn weekly. We also have a different company under contract to spray for pests and weeds. Neither of those two companies will pull weeds in the shrubs and flower beds when we aren't there to do it. Here is my question: Does anyone out there know a company that offers "complete" lawn care and does it all? If so, I'd love to have their name and number.

[golfnut]

My lawn and pest guys the same way, I have found that since I switched to river rock from mulch I don't get very many weeds in the beds.

[SteveFromNY]

Hi, this is my first post to the forum!

We just went thru the same problem with our lawn care service. He had told me he'd take care of the weeds, but he didn't. We're under property management and I was just notified that the house needed weeding.

I jsut switched to Davis Landscaping Service at 352-303-2511. They say they weed too. I haven't had the chance to check on them yet but will know soon. They are a hsuband and wife team and seemed very nice on the phone.

[Donna]

Steve,
If you don't mind me asking...What does Davis charge to mow and weed???
I just hired Ryder...

[SteveFromNY]

$45 for mowing, $15 for weeding.

Are you a Staten Islander? I was born in Brooklyn, spent my youngest years in Baltimore and Bowie, MD, came back to Brooklyn in 1967 and have lived in Staten Island since 1977.

[villager99]

mike's maintenance does lots of the villages common areas as well as residences.. they do it all but often need nagging.
i use them for grass cutting, fertilizing, weeds, and shrub pruning. i think they've added some minimal lawn pest control but i still use massey's for that.

[Barefoot]

Thanks for the information .. Villager99 - I think Mike's Maintenance is out for us if they need nagging; hard to know what is going on when you're in Canada. Steve - I'm going to call Davis Landscaping - sounds like that might be what we need.

Golfnut .. when we get to TV in late October we're hoping to redo the yard so we have virtually a maintenance-free situation, at least in front and along the side. You said you use River Rock and not mulch .. I'm assuming there is some type of barrier under the Rock? Did you install it yourself or is there a company I can call who does that? Oh, and by the way, did you say you have friends in Belmont Villas?

[REDCART]

Barefoot, We were anxious to get rid of the mulch from around the foundation. Dean's who we use for pest control convinced us that the decaying mulch not only attracted bugs but might also attract termites because of the retained moisture. So we replaced the mulch with 3/4" Seminole stone which has a dark purple color. We have a Courtyard villa and we ordered 3 tons from Dirt Cheap, just outside TV. (352-245-7900. With delivery it came to $354. It covered the rectangle outside the front door, behind the bushes in front of the garage and the area between our patio and the next villa. We installed a weed barrier first which probably ran about $50. We still have a small patch of grass in the front and an area in back about 20'X40'. We didn't eliminate watering but significantly reduced it. We were able to borrow a wheelbarrow from a neighbor and it took about 4 hours. Labor is relatively cheap in TV, so I'm not sure why we did it ourselves but it's done until we're there full time and can get more creative.

[Barefoot]

GRYoung, thanks for the great :bigthumbsup: information and all the details on prices, methods and the time it took you to do it yourself. I think you have way more energy than we do. Just the thought of having to buy all that furniture plus a golf cart has me exhausted!!! But it'll all be worth it I'm positive.

Since you're not there full time, you understand our problems perfectly. Especially interesting that mulch can retain moisture and might attract termites, ugh > and no-one wants that! We will certainly check out the Seminole Stone from Dirt Cheap .. sounds like a great price .. I've made a note of their telephone number, thanks so much! I wonder if River Rock comes in different colours and is more expensive? I guess there are a lot of options, we would like to be as maintenance free as possible. We're thinking of tearing out all the shrubs in front, plunking in a couple of palm trees, and then doing a stone/rock covering. Of course we still want it to look nice, guess we'll drive around and see what everyone else has done.

Thanks again for the info.

[SteveFromNY]

Originally Posted by barefoot at last

guess we'll drive around and see what everyone else has done.

DEFINITELY drive around and look before you decide what to do. You can mix-and-match ideas from different places, talk to folks, make an informed decision. Every time I visit I see some other little thing that would look perfect on my house, but I'm waiting until next year when I am there to do it.
I'm thinking pavers, a small lanai extension, some palm trees, curb-it (maybe), and some kind of stone for the flower beds......can't wait.

[Barefoot]

Steve: Us too, we have so many ideas for improvements, can hardly wait to get started! I'm definitely getting rid of any mulch that is there!

Re weeds in the flower beds, our lawn cutting guy retired and gave me the name of his assistance who will be taking over .. he will not only cut our lawn but will pull weeds and trim shrubs .. me happy. ;D

[SteveFromNY]

I just heard from my caretaker that the weeds are pulled! So the new service is working! ;D

[golfnut]

Barefoot, we used a gentleman who's company name is have rock will roll, I think his name is Steve, I know he used to advertise in the Daily Sun. Yes he put a barrier down first then convered with the rock. He did an excellent job and I thought the price was very reasonable, I highly recommend him.

[Barefoot]

GF - With a name like "Have Rock Will Roll" - I gotta give this guy my business!! ;D
GRY used Seminole Stone (dark purple) and you used River Rock; I'd be interested in knowing the difference? Price?/Size?/Colour?