Does anyone know how to cut grass around here??
 

After a few months I just fired Bob's Lawn Service who now calls himself Premier Lawn Care - hah. At first they were OK but then they started scalping the grass while trimming, uneven and missed trimming aroung the shrub beds and lanai edges, missed rows now and then, and damaged my down spout.

Bob would not return calls and after numerous attempts I finally reached him - he claimed his workers were doing a good job and he did not want to look at the pictures of proof. I tried working with him to give him a chance to improve but quality work and customer satisfaction was not important to him so we parted ways. As a matter of fact he just raised prices while lowering quality - just zip in and out to the next customer.

Maybe his other customers are happy with mediocre shoddy service but I'm not and I have many choices and options - competition is great! Needless to say I do not recommend Bob's (Premier) Lawn Service and will try other lawn cutting services recommended on this site.

What you describe is exactly why I went back to doing it myself. The equipment I bought paid for it self in less than a year and my lawn looks better than ever. The secret is to cut it high not scalp it and in my opinion sharpen the blade about every 4th or 5th cut. A dull blade just knocks off the grass where a sharp blade cuts it clean without ragged edges. I doubt a lawn crew ever sharpens their blades.

Yes...I will consider doing it myself but I really wanted to get away from it in retirement. If I get frustrated enough I may not have a choice.

By the way I made a mistake and Bob's Lawn Care is now Premium Lawn Care

According to Lawn and Fertilization expect, Jim Davis, he says cut your grass at 3 inches. Worked for me as I have a nice looking lawn :)

Does anyone know how to cut grass around here?? I haven't found one yet, Vladimir. Every time I think I have one there is a turnover of crews and I am back to shoddy work.

I had the first time experience of being in the pool and watching my 2 man yard crew (Service Smart) fly through my yard in less than 15 minutes, one with a mower and the other with a weedeater. I don't care how fast they do it as long as they do it right. After they left I was shocked to see that they left a one inch wide swatch of tall un-mowed grass in-between my property line and the golf course which borders my property. This single line of grass was over 15ft long at one point and another 10ft long on the other side of my yard. Talk about cutting corners and having no pride!! It wouldn't have taken the mower an additional 1 minute to mow down this one line of grass! I called Service Smart and asked for a supervisor to come out to see what kind of shoddy work I was getting for my money. He never came out but Service Smart sent the original guy back out the next day and he mowed it and rang my door bell and said with a disgusted look on his face "I mowed your line of grass back there" as he handed me the work receipt, with no apology. Unbelievable!

We use Custom Cut and are very happy, they are in Fruitland Park.

TerraScape has done good work for me.

I started off paying for grass cutting and got so tired of micro-managing the lawn company, ( calling to see when/ if they were showing up, only cutting the front yard, not trimming and on and on ) I finally decided to cut my own and it looks great. Also lawns here are generally so small that it takes almost no time to cut and trim. I use the extra $50 a month to play an extra round of golf with my wife so its a win win for both of us and life is too short to chase after the lawn guys to get what you paid for.

Tlc
 

We have used TLC since we came here 10 years ago and have always had one of the better looking yards. We have the St. Augustine and they do not cut it too short. They cut it once a week during the summer and every other week in the winter. Very good to work with!

I was surprised when we moved here to see how little the lawn care companies charged to mow your lawn. The fact that they mow, edge, trim, blow, and vacuum for $400-600 amazed me. I wanted to have my lawn mowed with the smaller "push mower" to avoid the deep ruts you get with the lawn tractors. To get that service I had to pay in the $700 range. You can't expect great service when competition causes prices to be so low. You could never get lawns mowed for that price back in New England. I finally gave up trying to get my lawn mowed on time (they were coming every two weeks or so) and at a correct height and went out and bought my own mower and edger, etc., and now my lawn. Now it gets mown at the correct height of 2 1/2 inch(for zoysia) every 4-5 days in the summer. When you mow often you get no seed heads and instead you get a nice, carpet like look with even grass that grows thicker due to the the more frequent cutting. If you want a lawn done correctly go out and do it yourself. I have a corner lot, but it isn't that much work. Most people have smaller interior lots that you can easily mow in 15 minutes.

We had TLC for 4 years and they just cancelled us and all the neighbors that used them. I don't know why. We are not south of 466A but in Pennecamp.

I have been through a bunch of lawn mowing companies since I have been here. I have fired several but the one that I liked best just quit showing up. Not sure if he got sick or passed away or moved.

I liked the one before my newest one but they did not seem to care about running over the curb-it or hitting the house with the riding mowers.

I now have a push mower guy who is doing a great job and does the trimming as an extra charge. But it is reasonable. And he does raise the mowers to give a 3 inch cut in the summer. His only problem is trying to get help. But he is here ever week on the same day - except when we have a lot of rain.

If he goes by the wayside, I will find another.

As far as I am concerned, my mowing days are over.

Z

I've had someone for five years. I get a monthly invoice as a pdf and the lawn is mowed regularly. It's a two man crew, and it's a mow, blow, and go service. Reliable and the lawn and edging look great. I'll check to see if they are looking for more business.

In TV for 8 years and had 4 different lawn services. Of the 4, Stellar overall best. Quality depends, of course, on the crew you happen to get. I had one of the lawn companies that did a good job but went out of business.

The crews work hard, especially during the hot months, and in my opinion the workers are underpaid. Perhaps our expectations are too high......after all its just grass! I turned my personal mower into a check book and more tee times shortly after retirement.

[QUOTE=Cantwaittoarrive;913528 I use the extra $50 a month to play an extra round of golf with my wife so its a win win for both of us and life is too short to chase after the lawn guys to get what you paid for.[/QUOTE]

Also during the cold winter months you only need to mow about every 4 or 6 weeks but the lawn services want you to pay as if it was summer. If you try to mow more often you can't see where you are cutting since the grass is dormant and doesn't grow......So why pay a lawn crew to show up and pretend to cut your lawn? When I first retired and moved here I paid for lawn service but since I am able to do it myself I will and if it gets harder for me to do I'll buy a small riding mower. The summer months with the heat makes it harder and I've been looking at small riding mowers.

I am becoming convinced that a decent lawn mowing enterprise does not exist, especially in the category that are named to make you believe they are the best. As of today at noon I have been thru 4 businesses(?) in about 6 weeks. My generally splendid yard is so hacked up after today I'm not sure what it will look like in a week. I saw a little car with a vinyl advertising coverage that uses only push mowers. I wrote the name down and it'll be my next trial I guess. They likewise aren't so speedy in making refunds after they are fired........

Grass companies
 

NEVER, NEVER, NEVER pay a grass company up front for their services.....

Do you mean TCL? (Tri County Landscaping)?

If so they are going though some changes. I had them for the first 3 years but had to let them go last week after they failed to show for 3 weeks and it was the second time they did that this summer. The woman on the phone said that they had to let go 15 workers recently and have had trouble replacing them. Oh well, my business went to Land Sculpture.

Update on lawn care contractors adventure...
After getting rid of Bobs (Premium) Lawn Care I tried Matt Smith of Smitty Etc that was reccomended by someone on this site. What an attitide by this fella! He used a commercial push mower which I did not want, cut the grass at 1" inch height (all my neighbors wonderd what happened to my nice grass after this cut), damaged my downspouts, cut a big wavy line between property lines, and blew all the grass clippings into my lanai and unto the furniture. When I explained my expectations and wanted to give him another chance he threw a fit and thought he did a great job - he is out of here since he thought I worked for him instead of the other way around.
Just now hired a great individual who took the time to listen as to what I wanted, great attitude, answers his calls, came on short notice and above all did the job as its supposed to be done - 3" cut, straight edges, proper trimming without scalping, residential push mower, pays attention to detail - I'm happy now.

customer service has disappeared -sub par low wages - no insurance benefits- nobody cares -- placed on a micro managed route - yes I agree --to the old adage-


if you want something done right
nobody cares more than you etc etc

Vladimir: Good to hear that you are pleased with your new lawn guy.