we are fed up with lawn care services
 

We are dumping our lawn service that did fertilizing and pest control. They have had a year to whip it into shape. It is actually worse than when they started. They always seemed to point the blame at everyone but themselves. I was going to check with other services, but found out that they really weren't any better and blamed others when things didn't look good.

With the help of a FL master gardener (his yard is gorgeous), and reading up on what and when to do things, we are going to do it ourselves. The Univ. of FL has wonderful info. Our yard is small compared to up north so it won't be a big deal. Three days ago, I put down a light application of Milorganite for the iron, and already it is greener.

At least now we won't have anyone else to blame and hopefully have a healthier yard.

Good to know about the info at U of Fla. Can your point us to a website or two? I'm gonna have to relearn all this stuff from scratch.

I do not know if it is true but some folks had claimed some of the lawn services were cutting back or diluting their chemicals...just saying

You are so right. I have never had any of them say they were at fault. It always freeze damage, not cinch bugs, always blight brought in by the other guy, never their fault. I have done the same thing and will do it myself.

web sites
 

These are some of the places to look:
UF IFAS Extension, "Zoysiagrass for Florida Lawns
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pp154 "homeowner's guide to fungicides for the lawn"
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/Ih034 "Insect management in your Florida Lawn"
""" LH025 "Watering Your Florida Lawn"
"""ENH962 "Figuring out Fertilizer for thr Home Lawn"
"""ENH979 "Homeowner Best Management Practices for the Home Lawn"
http://solutionsforyourlife.ufl.edu/map

The FL extension also offers plant clinics and lanscape talks in the villages which would be listed in the paper or call the extension office

Even if you don't become a do it yourselfer, you will at least have some knowledge so you won't be bamboozeled and will know what questions to ask these companies. good luck

Can you tell us the name of that lawn service so we don't hire them. We will be moving into our new home next week and have yet to hire lawn people. I'd like to avoid this company if possible....if I know who they are. If you don't want o post it on TOTV, will you at least PM it to me. thanks, Rose

If the company lawn company you dumped is "Once A Year" then that makes two of us. I will miss receiving the award next year for "Worst Lawn In The Neighborhood".
Skip 2

OH OH...I guess I better revisit my thoughts about cottage home with lawn service vs. CYV with easy maintenance landscaping. I really would like a yard with grass, but as a single woman with RA I was counting on having a good lawn service to take care of things for me. Sounds like this is hard to do these days....There is no way I could do even a small yard myself. Someone tell me there are good ones out there...please!
Suzanne

I keep our grass in decent shape although it has been hard the last couple of winters with the hard freezes. We have St Augustine grass and here is what I do:

Spring treatment - usually late April:
Granular weed & feed.
Weed killer with atrazine the kind you attach the bottle to the hose.
Bayer granular insect killer.

Summer treatment - June/July:
Milorganite

Fall treatment - mid October:
16-0-8 granular fertilizer

Winter treatment:
Milorganite if it is a mild winter and you think it needs greening up a bit.

Measure the area of your property and use ingredients as directed on the usage labels of the treatment. I tend to work on the generous side. I use a little hand cranked sprayer for the granular treatment and it doesn't take long.

If you want to know the best treatment then ask the neighbors who have the best lawn on your street! If you go to the Loews garden department ask for Ron - he's lived here all his life and is a walking encyclopedia when it comes to garden care.

Oops! Nearly forgot - don't cut the grass too short as it will stress the grass if you remove more than 1/3 of the blade. And in really dry periods like we have had this spring and early summer you are better off to cut once every two weeks and not every week.

Good Luck, Allan.

Thanks, springfield. I need to spend some time "studying."

I sent a pm
 

I did send a pm but I do think they all are in it for the buck and not your lawn

Twice on Tuesday classes are a wealth of information for Florida landscaping. We have learned a lot in the past year even though we were in the mid south for 15 years. It has taken a year but our lawn is finally starting to look like a lawn. Still fighting with the wild bermuda grass that keeps trying to invade. Good Luck and you can do it on your own probably better than all these so called landscapers.

lawn services
 

We had Once a year and had a terrible experience. They eventually had to resod our lawn. We of course let them go and decided to do the care ourselves. We also let our mower person go. We believe chinch bugs are being carried from yard to yard on the mowers. We finally did hire Massey. We keep in close contact with guy who sprays etc. We still do our own mowing. We have been very satisfied with Massey. Our yard has never looked better.

I agree with the last poster. Massey is the best around. They charge a little more than the others, but their service cannot be beat.

Allan,

We may need to treat our own lawn if we're not able to find someone. The treatment plan that you have outlined looks easy to follow. Do you know if the same treatment can be used for Zoysia grass too?

Allan, I also want to know if this plan would work with Zoysia. Also, what cutting height do you have your mower set?

zoysia is the easiest to care for, but most of the fert companies over do it....then the problems begin.

Make that three of us! "Service Smart" is also owned by the same man. Stay clear of them both.

Xavier

The plan I have is for St Augustine. Don't use it for Zoysia as I think the Atrazine would not do it any good. The atrazine is supposed to keep the Bermuda grass under control. I don't cut my own grass.

Allan.

Until you have a problem. I fired Massey and would never hire them again. They did two of my lawns and shrubs and the neighbors on both sides. All 6 homes had cinch bug damage to the lawn which they are supposed to replace. They blamed everything but, claimed it was freeze damage. One neighbor took them to court and had pictures of the bugs from his lawn. They finally replaced his sod. So the rest of us asked them to replace ours. They asked if we had pictures and of course we did not. I fired them on the spot and now do it myself. Lawn and pest and with significantly better results. Wait until you have shrubs with mildew damage or a lawn with some type disease, or some type of bugs someplace, all of which they treat for and charge you for. They will deny any fault of theirs. I still have them for termite protection and want to find a way to change that, because I know they will find some excuse why its not their problem if there is damage.

Just in case you didn't know the extension service has an office with staff who are very helpful right over at the Administrative building at Morse Blvd. at 466. I have stopped by and received excellent assistance with all my lawn problems.

Follow the money and the economy and people trying to make a living...
 

When we moved here we were snowbirds and we we needed to have a lawn service and we just lucked into "Earl". I can't say his service name or talk host will yell at me.

Earl and his brother and his crew did a fine job on our Camellia's little yard and cut it and trimmed the bushes and degrassed the sprinkler heads and weeded (chemically) and edged all for $55 a month. We bought a hand held fertilizer depenser and fertilized ourselves.

We sold that home a couple weeks ago and Earls service had recently increased to $65 a month.

I think we will take care of the lawn at our new home because we will be year 'rounders and because it is much smaller than our Northern lawn and because we like to do stuff like that.

You need to know this about lawn services. They aren't all alike. They don't even service the same to all their clients. Many are enterprising young men who have come here because they need a job and they bring with them their skills, and work ethic...some great, some good, some not so good and...many people who hire them for year 'round quickly learn that the grass doesn't grow very fast during the winter here and will decide to hire them for only the fast growing time. That makes it difficult to earn a year 'round living.

So now you have villagers who don't sign up for year 'round service and villagers who aren't here in the summer and you have an opportunity to have service that isn't so great.

I suggest that you praise good work. They don't get much of that. I also suggest that you tweak your yard yourself if you are inclined. We did the fertilizing and would hand weed. We also told others about Earl which sent him new business and made him do even a better job for us. (But he always did a good job, so I am not sure of the last part...but it doens't hurt)

I enjoy going to the extension meetings about how and what grows in Florida and on Tuesdays about noon (I think) at Truman Rec center thay have extension agents to answer questions about wildlife and flora and fauna and lawns and palms etc.

(Please someone correct me if I am wrong about the last part.)

I have had poor luck with pest and fertilize companys I am trying to find someone who is an owner operator do to my lawn and one that doesn't do mowing because they do great untill the rain comes then they can't never seem to keep up with both and the weeds bugs and fungis get out of control. I am using bill right now for my grass cutting and he is trying to help me find a lawn spray guy because my health just wont let me do it. but he has helped alot with this same problem he told me the problem with the big pest companys is the guys on the truck just have to ride with a guy for a couple of weeks then he gets his own route well i have been trying to figure this stuff out for years and it isnt nothing like IL. I was a real green thumb there I think i am going to have to change my handle here lol.

My dad could grow ANYTHING in Ohio but when he moved to Florida, not so much. I have a dear friend, mother to one of the TOTV'rs here who is almost 100 and still planting and growing at her home in Amelia. She says that she was taught to plant by the light of the moon and other such things that work in Ohio.

I am anxious to try my hand at a few things, but KNOW that growing tomatoes will be disappointing.

It is still fun to putter in the dirt.

lawn care advice
 

I, too, am looking to get in touch with a master gardener. I know there is a Garden Club here in TV, but am having trouble getting in touch with them. I'm new to TV and would appreciate if you could point me in the right direction.. Thanks for any info you send. EllenM