Lawn Fertilization and Pest Control recommendations
 

We are in the market for a comprehensive lawn fertilization and pest control company. For the last 9 1/2 years we have been using LeeCo for our lawn service and Florida Pest Control for bugs. Florida Pest Control was sold a couple years ago and went straight downhill after the ownership change and their service has been terminated. We have been loyal to LeeCo over the years despite consistently having one of the poorer looking lawns in our neighborhood. Our irrigation system is working perfectly and I have been planting sod every year to try to get a decent looking lawn. Despite that, our lawn is constantly filled with dead spots and weeds. We aren’t looking to have the best lawn in our neighborhood, just an average lawn without having to constantly be filling in areas with sod. I would greatly appreciate hearing from fellow Villagers about the service companies they use who have had positive results. Thanks : )

We have been very happy with Massey for pest control

Fertigator

I have been using Florida Pest Control for a few years and have been satisfied. I had a huge problem with Palmetto bugs and thanks to Kari, they are gone. I have some bare spots in my lawn, but overall it is pretty good. I have gone through several companies and I am mostly satisfied with them. They come out any time I call them.

We went with Fertigator for fertilizing and lawn pesticide/fungicide. The estimator said my lawn was 8000 sq. ft. (which was above the limit of 7000 in their pricing flyer) and he had to call his supervisor for a price. I'm not convinced my lawn is that big, and one of these days I will try to measure it myself and have them adjust their pricing if the square footage is below 7000.

Look at the County website.................the footage is on the site.

Arrow is the best but the most expensive. Never had a problem all the time we have used them. They are very responsive when you reach out to them.

Used Massey for 10 years Fired then when attitude and service went in the crapper. Use Deans now and very happy

We have been with Deans since 2013 for these services, and we currently use Chads for lawn mowing.

You could say I'm a thief; I use to be with Massey and then with True Green, even though I had full service with both I found myself disappointed. Now what I do is I ask my neighbors and see what they like and dislike about the companies they are signed with. In this way I only sign up for the services that they are happy with from each company. Right now, I use Massey for termite control, I use Fertigator for aeration and fertilizing, I have a small outfit for trimming and as far as irrigation I take care of it myself. This might not be for you, but it has been just the right fit for me.

Ditto for Deans. They offer senior discount and discount for automatic payment via credit card. They always give me a report about what they did and provide suggestions.

Massey Services. They do lawn, pest and irrigation.

When we purchased out home last year, the lawn looked like yours, and so did most of the other neighbors yards. They all used Massey.. So I fired Massey and brought in True Green.

Our lawn started looking better and the other neighbors complained to Massey and then their lawns started looking better..

Chinch bugs was the main issue, and lack of insecticide to keep them under control.

I do my own home critter control.

PCS Pest Control

I have been using Superior for seven years now and I’m happy. The real issue is with the tech that is doing the work. All companies have good and bad or, let’s say, inexperienced technicians that actually do the work.
Example: I had a tech who was not doing too well, imo, but I called Superior and they sent a more experienced person with original tech for a training session. To me that was the best thing to do.

Do it yourself, it’s really easy and you’ll get the best results.

Fired Massey
 

I had Massey, Fired them. I had True Green, I fired them. Both times I turned the lawns over to them in good shape and both times I came back to weeds, brown spots, and a lot of dead grass. The front of the lawn and about 2/3 back looked good. It was in the back where most people couldn't see that it looked like hell. Massey sprayed roundup around my house and killed the grass a foot out from the walls, I assume so the lazy one of the two guys didn't have to do weed whacking.
I'm moving onto Deans Next.

Do they subtract the size of the house? Most of our lots aren't that large minus a 2,000 sq.ft. home.

I have been using GreenSmiths for over two years and I am very happy with their service and pricing.

You can use Google Earth to measure true square footage.

Sq ft of your lot to treat
 

Go to your county auditor site. Pull up your property info. It will list the sqft of your lot. Then deduct the sq ft of your home, gar, and driveway. That will give you a reliable amount of yard you need to pay to have treated.

Highly recommend Fertigator. For irrigation, I recommend American Irrigation.

We've been with Dean's for eight years. Our lawn gets mowed weekly and hasn't been missed so far as I know. The edger shows up and does the trim work, the mower zooms over the lawn and blows the clippings onto the yard. 10 minutes or less and it's a professional-looking job. Every other month we get fertilizer/weeks/bugs/disease treatment, and if we call in between for something they come and do the extra service at no extra charge. Their termite bond also includes prevention against infestation of the subterranean termites now coming into the area. Andy Allen came to our home and explained all the options to make sure we got what we wanted. Very satisfied.

We switched to Fertigator for lawn, shrubs, and pest control as soon as our one year with Superior was up. We’re very happy with them. They had our brown lawn looking perfect within a month, and some neighbors were so impressed they ended up switching to them too.

We had Fertigator, and have had some serious issues in our front lawn (uncontrolled weeds - we are snowbirds) and some type of fungus. We heard about BATES, and have switched to them, and have been extremely happy! Johnny and Kevin are the two guys we work with, and they are really on top of everything.

I became fed up with my lawn service and the 2 companies I used to fertilize my lawn, First, they were cutting my grass and spreading weeds from other lawns. Second, whatever plan they were using for my lawn was not working as it was always brown and weeds al over the lawn. I am now cutting my own lawn and went to Ace Hardware on 301 to get a comprehensive plan to fertilize my lawn.

We use Fertigator

I've tried all the big guys and fired them all. I've fired Massey twice. I'm looking for a small, independent company from which I can get a more personalized service.

We had a bad experience with Massey just after purchasing our 2 year old home. They were willing to let is walk away from an all inclusive package over $95 they wanted to charge us. Then we started hearing a lot of negative reviews. We are with Deans and they do it all! We have been happy with their service and response. We also found many places do not offer a complete package. We prefer it all be done by one company who knows what all is being done.

We use Heron, proof is in the pudding

Stop With the Insecticides!
 

Thanks for all the responses to my questions. If we were full time, this would definitely be a job I would do myself, but that isn’t a viable option for us snowflakes. I’m getting evaluations/estimates from both Dean’s and Fertigator and plan to hire the one that leaves me with the best impression.

There's more to choosing a fertilizer service. My next door neighbor has thick green grass ... while other neighbors have flat, yellow grass even though they've using the same fertilizer service and yard care for 3-years.