$150 for weeding?
 

After buying our new home in tv January of this year, we contracted with a well known lawn service company for both mowing and pest control. We have been away from the house since March. I received a call from one of the mowers a couple weeks ago informing me that our beds are now full of weeds and asked if I wanted him to pull them. I said yes and he said he would text me photos. I received the photo below (which does look like a lot of unruly grass in this one narrow bed) plus another photo of the large bed in the front of the house, which only had a few odd weeds growing here and there and didn't look bad at all. Along with this photo he said: "our normal price to maintain your beds would be $245 year. But since the back is so bad I would have to charge you an extra $150 time cleanup fee". I texted him back and said: "$150 seems very steep for one weeding. I would be willing to start your yearly weed service & pay the $245 if you start the service now. Not to mention you have only half the yard to mow now with our new pool added."

We did contract with T&D pools before leaving in March and now a large portion of our yard is full with a pool, concrete pad and bird cage. This saves our lawn mowing guys a lot of extra steps and therefore less time time with our yard now.

There was a final resolve to this story, but at this point I'm curious to hear opinions of what others in tv would say, or do, if they got this message from their lawn care provider.

Believe it or not your pool barely makes a dent in the amount of work they now do. These guys fly through the yards so fast on the mowers eliminating part of the yard really isn't a bleep on the radar screen. I agree $150 is ridiculous. Weeds, especially grass are a big problem in beds here.

Weeds grow bigger, quicker and healthier here in Florida than anything you can imagine. I have a weeder (monthly retainer) and in the winter I bite my nails because there is nothing to weed, but once the heat and humidity set in those weeds have a life of their own. I was gone for 10 days and when I got back just the regular garden bushes had grown over the front path!

The house next door to me sold in April in a pristine condition, everything neatly trimmed and no weeds. Right now it is a jungle.

Try to find someone to weed by the month.

Not that bad. Generally it's $25 per hour per man.

I have become someone who always asks up front "what will it cost?." If they tell me they don't know until they do the job, I move on. At least look for an estimate so you have something to work from. If they are over significantly when the bill comes, you can call the out. I have had one too many unexpected surprises.

I guess the lesson is to get prices for all services before you buy (need the service) , especially if you will not be here full-time.

Yikes, that seems too expensive! Consider using Preen for Southern Lawns (a preemergent that kills the seed as it germinates) and ROundup (be careful that you don't spray plants that you want to keep). These two things in combination will go a long way in keeping the weeds down and the cost will be about $50 for the giant size of both.

We pay a neighbor (who lives about a mile and a half away) $10/Wk to check the house during the summer when we are evading the humidity by going to Norcal. She includes weeding.

She also does my cousin's house up the street 4 doors. (and watches our cats when we are away on short trips)

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The issue here is NOT the annual fee to take care of weeds in someones flower beds but the initial work involved to clean out the heavy growth of weeds and grass that now exist.

One should not expect to pay minimal prices for the inital clean out. Even if you use Roundup or some grass and weed killer, you have 2 problems 1) if you spray too close to the plants (or soak the soil) you will kill the plant also and since grass is all over and under the plants, it is very likely to happpen, and 2) roundup will kill the grass but you still have the unsightly mess of dead grass and weeds that need to be pulled.

There is no easy answer except to stay on top of this problem and YES it is a problem here even if if you landscaper initially put down black mesh weed block . Pay now or pay later or the other option is if you think the price is too high do it yourself..but be forewarned, it is a back breaker. The longer you wait the more serious the problem gets especially with all the rain we are getting.

The $150 sounds like a one-time-fee then normal maintenance....most reputable companies will be in that range.

If the weeds are getting taller...they most likely are spreading and the roots getting deeper...especially if its grass. The worse it looks the more likely someone will charge you more for there are easier jobs around the corner.