[GrumpyOldMan]

We have been here 1 1/2 years now and are on our 3rd or 4th lawn care company. (one took the job and then never showed up)

It seems they all want to charge a bundle and then spend as little time as possible actually doing any work. And with the constant turnover of employees by the larger firms, any "special instructions" get lost in the turmoil.

For example, we have a couple of large dogs (Great Pyrenese and Labrador Retriever). We have a CYV and put a sign on the gate to NOT open the gate until knocking to let us know they are there so we can lock the dogs inside since we let our dogs run in the back yard. We also give the lawn care specific instructions to do this, so the dogs do not get out and run loose. This usually works until the first time a new hire comes, and they walk into the backyard, and the dogs dash out.

The second problem we have had is these larger companies using riding mowers with people that don't know how to use them. Some of our grass (and the grass of several of our neighbors) was killed by a new employee of Massey scalping our yard down to the sand last year - it still has not fully recovered. They came out and looked and basically said, sorry, we will try to do better. I said, no thank go practice on someone else's lawn.

Now, we are paying a significant premium to our current lawn care company. We chose them and agreed to the premium because we thought if we paid enough we would get good service. So much for that theory.

We pay, as part of the contract, to have the weeds in the hardscape controlled. So far they have not controlled them and now with the spring, you can almost not see the rocks because of all the weeds. The "owner" of the company came out and didn't even apologize, he just said, it must have fallen through the cracks because we started after the weeds were treated in this area - 2 months ago. He said they would be back in our area in a few weeks and take care of it.

Seriously! We are paying this company easily 50% more than any other service we have had and he says they will take care of the weeds in a few weeks.

I am sick and tired of this.

Can anyone provide the name and number of a GOOD RELIABLE individual that does lawn care. Someone that does the work, and doesn't send out a teen that was flipping burgers last week. Someone that takes pride in their work.

Our requirements are pretty simple.

1. Mow the yard when it needs it - we have very LITTLE grass, most of the front is rock.
2. Trim the plants and trees when they need it.
3. Pull the weeds in the rocks, poison the weeds in the grass.
4. inspect and adjust the irrigation as required.
5. Fertilize as required.

That is it, I don't want to have to CALL them to tell them there are weeds, I want them to actually look at our yard, and take care of it.

Sorry, for the rant, I am very frustrated. I paid less to have acres mowed before moving here, and we have not gone with the low price spread here.

As my wife says, all we want is to look at our yead when we get home and think, "'that looks nice". It seems to be too much to ask.

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

Regarding the weeds in particular:

I'd personally suggest poisoning the ones between the rocks, and mowing the ones on the grass. Some weeds are so persistent they'll grow between rocks with roots under the rocks, and you just flat out can't pull them out. You'd have to move all the rocks first. Much easier to kill them instead.

With weeds on the grass, depends on the type of weed. If it's another kind of grass or ground cover, I say let it grow and just mow it with the rest of the lawn. If you have peanut plants growing along the edge of the driveway, I'd recommend giving it room to expand. Edge a space around a foot away from the driveway, and let the peanut plants take over that foot-long strip. It's a stunning ground cover and contrasts very nicely with St. Augustine.

If it's dandelions, they pull out very easily, they root shallow. Just reach down and pull from the base and they come right out. No reason to waste money paying someone to do that, you only need to do it once a week, takes around 15 minutes for the whole yard.

[GrumpyOldMan]

Originally Posted by OrangeBlossomBaby

Regarding the weeds in particular:

I'd personally suggest poisoning the ones between the rocks, and mowing the ones on the grass. Some weeds are so persistent they'll grow between rocks with roots under the rocks, and you just flat out can't pull them out. You'd have to move all the rocks first. Much easier to kill them instead.

With weeds on the grass, depends on the type of weed. If it's another kind of grass or ground cover, I say let it grow and just mow it with the rest of the lawn. If you have peanut plants growing along the edge of the driveway, I'd recommend giving it room to expand. Edge a space around a foot away from the driveway, and let the peanut plants take over that foot-long strip. It's a stunning ground cover and contrasts very nicely with St. Augustine.

If it's dandelions, they pull out very easily, they root shallow. Just reach down and pull from the base and they come right out. No reason to waste money paying someone to do that, you only need to do it once a week, takes around 15 minutes for the whole yard.

Thank you for the advice.

I don't care how they control the weeds, I just want someone else to do it - not me. I am retired, I took care of my lawn most of my life. I can afford to pay to have it done, and I don't think it is unreasonable to want it done right if I pay someone to do it.

[JohnN]

I put in rock everywhere, no grass. I gave my mower to the landscaper as part of the deal

I also put in a U-hook on the inside of the gate latch so it cannot be readily opened from the outside. I find it pretty convenient, no lock to worry about, but does the job. I'm 6'4" and can't reach over the gate to unlock it.

Good luck in your venture for a good yard company, hard to find.

[dewilson58]

Who have you tried??

[PennBF]

I agree with the remarks regarding Massey. We have had lousy luck and big charges. Grass looks terrible in some areas. Ran by some contractors replacing a total yard with new sod. Asked them what happened and they yelled back "Massey". Enough said.

[banjobob]

The best lawn guy is you , very little work chemicals to treat disease and bugs not really costly ,a small hand held spreader and the schedule to apply .Hire a good mower and they usually will do your trimming as needed . A gallon of Roundup for those pesky pop up weeds in the rocks and your lawn will look great. That is route I took after 4 lawn companies and 7 years with Massey .

[Rwirish]

Best service is to do it yourself if capable.

[Buckeye Bleau]

I guess that you have been lucky so far to find people that “say” that they will do it.
I have one company that mows and trims, another that sprays the weeds and another for trimming the landscaping.
Though, this is most likely not going to be received well, I am going to say that you may be asking or requiring too much from these people. I know not where you are from, but in Florida, labor and the tasks associated to it are much different than the work ethics in the north.
Chill and enjoy your retirement.
Put a lock and a sign ( English & Spanish) on the dog gate and sleep better.

[mepoole]

Have you tried Choice Landscape & Maintenance?

[RICH1]

Another guy who doesn't want to
"Do it himself", but ends up "Doing it himself ". The only way to get it done right... drive up to someone's lawn you admire, an ask the owner , who they use! Welcome to Florida

[Travelhunter123]

Originally Posted by GrumpyOldMan

We have been here 1 1/2 years now and are on our 3rd or 4th lawn care company. (one took the job and then never showed up)

It seems they all want to charge a bundle and then spend as little time as possible actually doing any work. And with the constant turnover of employees by the larger firms, any "special instructions" get lost in the turmoil.

For example, we have a couple of large dogs (Great Pyrenese and Labrador Retriever). We have a CYV and put a sign on the gate to NOT open the gate until knocking to let us know they are there so we can lock the dogs inside since we let our dogs run in the back yard. We also give the lawn care specific instructions to do this, so the dogs do not get out and run loose. This usually works until the first time a new hire comes, and they walk into the backyard, and the dogs dash out.

The second problem we have had is these larger companies using riding mowers with people that don't know how to use them. Some of our grass (and the grass of several of our neighbors) was killed by a new employee of Massey scalping our yard down to the sand last year - it still has not fully recovered. They came out and looked and basically said, sorry, we will try to do better. I said, no thank go practice on someone else's lawn.

Now, we are paying a significant premium to our current lawn care company. We chose them and agreed to the premium because we thought if we paid enough we would get good service. So much for that theory.

We pay, as part of the contract, to have the weeds in the hardscape controlled. So far they have not controlled them and now with the spring, you can almost not see the rocks because of all the weeds. The "owner" of the company came out and didn't even apologize, he just said, it must have fallen through the cracks because we started after the weeds were treated in this area - 2 months ago. He said they would be back in our area in a few weeks and take care of it.

Seriously! We are paying this company easily 50% more than any other service we have had and he says they will take care of the weeds in a few weeks.

I am sick and tired of this.

Can anyone provide the name and number of a GOOD RELIABLE individual that does lawn care. Someone that does the work, and doesn't send out a teen that was flipping burgers last week. Someone that takes pride in their work.

Our requirements are pretty simple.

1. Mow the yard when it needs it - we have very LITTLE grass, most of the front is rock.
2. Trim the plants and trees when they need it.
3. Pull the weeds in the rocks, poison the weeds in the grass.
4. inspect and adjust the irrigation as required.
5. Fertilize as required.

That is it, I don't want to have to CALL them to tell them there are weeds, I want them to actually look at our yard, and take care of it.

Sorry, for the rant, I am very frustrated. I paid less to have acres mowed before moving here, and we have not gone with the low price spread here.

As my wife says, all we want is to look at our yead when we get home and think, "'that looks nice". It seems to be would liketoo much to ask.

I also would be interested in finding a company that weeds and cuts bushes
I hired Massey to cut the lawn, weed and trim the bushes and was surprised when they only cut the lawn
I also

[seoulbrooks]

Good luck in your venture for a good yard company, very hard to find. They are all in the routine of do as fast as possible and move on. They take no pride in how the yard looks, or how they look. As said above, drive around and find a nice looking yard and ask. We are on our fifth or sixth in four years......

[Samfl]

Try Deans

[Girlcopper]

Originally Posted by GrumpyOldMan

We have been here 1 1/2 years now and are on our 3rd or 4th lawn care company. (one took the job and then never showed up)

It seems they all want to charge a bundle and then spend as little time as possible actually doing any work. And with the constant turnover of employees by the larger firms, any "special instructions" get lost in the turmoil.

For example, we have a couple of large dogs (Great Pyrenese and Labrador Retriever). We have a CYV and put a sign on the gate to NOT open the gate until knocking to let us know they are there so we can lock the dogs inside since we let our dogs run in the back yard. We also give the lawn care specific instructions to do this, so the dogs do not get out and run loose. This usually works until the first time a new hire comes, and they walk into the backyard, and the dogs dash out.

The second problem we have had is these larger companies using riding mowers with people that don't know how to use them. Some of our grass (and the grass of several of our neighbors) was killed by a new employee of Massey scalping our yard down to the sand last year - it still has not fully recovered. They came out and looked and basically said, sorry, we will try to do better. I said, no thank go practice on someone else's lawn.

Now, we are paying a significant premium to our current lawn care company. We chose them and agreed to the premium because we thought if we paid enough we would get good service. So much for that theory.

We pay, as part of the contract, to have the weeds in the hardscape controlled. So far they have not controlled them and now with the spring, you can almost not see the rocks because of all the weeds. The "owner" of the company came out and didn't even apologize, he just said, it must have fallen through the cracks because we started after the weeds were treated in this area - 2 months ago. He said they would be back in our area in a few weeks and take care of it.

Seriously! We are paying this company easily 50% more than any other service we have had and he says they will take care of the weeds in a few weeks.

I am sick and tired of this.

Can anyone provide the name and number of a GOOD RELIABLE individual that does lawn care. Someone that does the work, and doesn't send out a teen that was flipping burgers last week. Someone that takes pride in their work.

Our requirements are pretty simple.

1. Mow the yard when it needs it - we have very LITTLE grass, most of the front is rock.
2. Trim the plants and trees when they need it.
3. Pull the weeds in the rocks, poison the weeds in the grass.
4. inspect and adjust the irrigation as required.
5. Fertilize as required.

That is it, I don't want to have to CALL them to tell them there are weeds, I want them to actually look at our yard, and take care of it.

Sorry, for the rant, I am very frustrated. I paid less to have acres mowed before moving here, and we have not gone with the low price spread here.

As my wife says, all we want is to look at our yead when we get home and think, "'that looks nice". It seems to be too much to ask.

Welcome to the villages. This is very common and always will be. Its not just the villages either