Massey, Mike's Maintenance or somebody else?
 

We have Massey, now for fertilization and lawn weed control but we are not happy with the way our lawn looks. Someone recommended that we try Mike's maintenance. Does anyone have advice? Massey, Mike's Maintenance or somebody else? Thanks.

My advice is DITY. (do it yourself)

The nicest lawns in my neighborhood are DITY.

The web has great info on caring for whatever type of lawn you have.

We decided after significant research and references from those in our neighborhood to go with "Once A Year" for almost everything. Termite Treatments, Mowing, Lawn Treatments, Shrub Treatments, Pest Treatments, Shrub Trimming, Bed Weeding, Bed cleanout, the works. The Once a Year name is a little confusing, but what it really means is that for your first year of service you pay once. Kinda dumb, huh? The service is weekly, monthly and bi-monthly and quarterly throughout the year. We have been TOTALLY satisfied. We call in with a problem with anything and they are here the next morning before 9 AM. After the first year you pay monthly. They also have a Turf Replacement Guarantee. In the Sunday Paper you will see two full-page inserts (Orange and Blue ink).

We went with Superior. Their fee is the same for all lots up to 1/4 acre. We have a monster lot because it backs onto the Hemmingway pool, so they were a good deal for us. All others measured the yard and priced accordingly.

PS. for all you DIY folks, I still have my Scots spreaders for sale, a yard size spreader and a handheld. PM me if interested.

I agree Mikes Maintenance is the world's worse.....................

Lawn mowers are also a biggie at the Garage Sales in The Villages! This year it costs me $9.21 a week to get my lawn mowed, edged, weed wacked, and blown. I don't have to own or store all of the equipment. Why would I do it myself?

With all due respect to the Junior members posting above, I've used Miike's Maintenance for 1 1/2 yrs. and find they are excellent. I have a fine relationship with the team that comes and works on my lawn as well as my next door neighbor's. If I notice anything out of line I call and it is taken care of immediately. So, we can agree to disagree but I give Mike's Maintenance (parent company, Tropical Maintenance, Inc.) several thumbs up!

Once-a-Year's turf replacement guarantee isn't worth the paper it is written on. We used them for a couple years after we first arrived in TV. Then all of a sudden, we had numerous burn pathes in our lawn with definite geometric shapes. We asked the technician about it when he was out and he said it was due to cinch bugs. (Which they are supposed to control) We had a supervisor come out and he said there wasn't evidence of cince bugs but the problem was not watering enough. (Mind you, I have never changed the water system time.) I asked him about their sod replacement guarantee. He said that because is wasn't their fault, they would not honor it... but they would give me a reduced rate to redo our lawn!!! I believe they used to much fertilizer and our lawn was burnt. I immediately cancelled their contract and switched to Massey. Haven't had any problem in the last 3 years. Lawn looks beautiful and they are here every other week doing something to the lawn.

Did you replace the sod or did it come back on it's own?

I just made a comment to my neighbor that we both fertilizer our own lawns (Zoysia) while many of the adjacent neighbors use a service such as Masseys, Bates, or Once a Year and the DIY lawns actually look better and greener at alot less cost. I only fertilize in spring and fall and apply weed killer when necessary.

I used a lawn service for a number of years up north and were never happy with them. Sure they come out and try and resolve your problem but when you have a big problem (like dead grass) its always YOUR problem for lack of watering or some other reason.

A couple of points:

Please be careful with advice from anyone with just a couple of posts on TOTV - they may be moles from another service. They might be legit but caution would be advised IMHO. This applies to any sort of criticism on any TOTV topic. Don't kill the messenger!

As far as lawn advice I think somewhere in between is where I'll go. Have a service cut and trim the yard but do my own fertilizer and bug control. This only requires me to keep a spreader in the garage.

Our snowbird neighbor has Mike's and I think they do a very poor job of lawn maintenance (especially for absentee owners). I saw a couple of drive by visits (truck stopped, guys never got out, then they left). Maybe for permanent residents they do better.

I have Massey and am basically satisfied with them. They do come and treat regularly and will respond quickly to any problems. I was not that happy with my lawn for awhile, but, a good aeration really seemed to bring it back to life and now it's doing well.

DIY'ers who are diligent about their lawns do seem to have some of the best looking lawns.

I had a client whose lawn was truly a disaster. They finally got rid of their lawn service and hired KB. I was truly impressed with how quickly they got the lawn in shape and how well they have maintained it since.

However, I do agree that the best looking lawns are those done by the homeowners. If you have the time, I think the best method is to have someone come and do the weekly mowing and you do your own fertilizing and weedkilling on the lawn. I would hire someone to take care of the weeds in the landscaped areas (too time-consuming and bothersome) but I would definitely take care of the plants, etc. myself.

We use PTL (Pest, Termite, Lawn) for our yard and bug maintenance. They do a great job. All in one service, fertilizing, yard weed control, termite and bug control. The one thing they don't do in weed the gardens, but that's not a big deal for us. .

Some spots came back on it's own but eventually had to replace the spot that was the largest. This was an eyesore in the front lawn and I got tired of waiting for it . I did it myself and wasn't all that hard a job.