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Hiring a quality lawn service
Before you hire a lawn or landscape service, get the information you need to find a good-quality company that fits your needs.
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Look for the logo
In order to apply pesticides and herbicides to your property, a company must be licensed through the Department of Pesticide Regulation, even for basic weed control and fire ant treatments. It’s the law! Look for yellow, S.C.-shaped decals on their vehicles that say “South Carolina Certified Commercial Pesticide Applicator,” or ask to see the pesticide license.
Let’s face it: Not everyone wants to do yard work. I love gardening, but mowing grass is one of my least favorite chores, ranking only slightly above cleaning gutters. Fortunately, plenty of landscape professionals are eager to do the job for you.
Before you hire a lawn or landscape service, get the information you need to find a good-quality company that fits your needs.
What to know in advance
Know what level of service you want. Do you need someone just to mow the grass and tidy up? Do you want total landscape upkeep, including fertilization, irrigation maintenance, pruning, mulching and pest control? Something in between?
Some companies perform only pest control. Others provide lawn maintenance (mowing, aerating, fertilizing, weed control) but no other landscape work. Private gardeners may perform detailed garden design, planting and maintenance but not fuss with lawns or heavy work. Obviously, the more services you desire, the more you’ll pay.
Get recommendations from your friends and neighbors, especially those with attractive landscapes, about which companies they use and whether they’d recommend the service. You can also check for complaints with the Better Business Bureau.
What to ask the company
Once you have some good prospects, do your homework. Ask whether the employees have professional training. In some cases, workers may have good intentions, but they simply don’t know better. That’s not to say someone needs a horticulture degree to offer quality service, but at least you’ll know how invested they are in the trade.
Active membership in the S.C. Nursery and Landscape Association, the S.C. Landscape and Turfgrass Association or the National Association of Landscape Professionals can indicate a company’s dedication to continuing education and professionalism.
Give preference to a company that does on-site consultations or soil tests before making recommendations on your lawn or landscape care. If a company applies fertilizers or pesticides on a calendar-based system, regardless of whether your property needs those treatments, that may be a red flag.
Confirm that the company is properly licensed and insured. Ask for recent references, and visit those properties.
If a company doesn’t employ a licensed commercial pesticide applicator, it cannot apply pesticides to your property. A company must be licensed through the Department of Pesticide Regulation, even for basic weed control and fire ant treatments. It’s the law! Look for yellow, S.C.-shaped decals on their vehicles that say “South Carolina Certified Commercial Pesticide Applicator,” or ask to see the pesticide license.
What to consider with costs and contracts
The fees you’ll pay for professional lawn and landscape care will vary, depending on what services the company is providing. Regardless, the company should be forthright in clarifying how it charges for labor and materials, whether it charges by the hour, by the service, or by the treatment, what extra costs you may incur for specialty services, such as lawn aeration, and other fees.
There should be no surprises; any company you hire should be willing to provide advance notice of which chemicals (fertilizers or pesticides) they use, why they are used, and when they will be applied, as well as planned lawn aeration or shrub pruning.
Before signing a long-term contract, read and review the full agreement. A reputable company should be willing to listen to your concerns and modify its services for your situation. Make sure the contract specifies how to cancel the agreement if you decide to stop using its services.
What to watch for after you hire someone
As an extension agent, I have, unfortunately, seen all kinds of atrocities performed by landscape “professionals,” such as “crape murder,” “volcano mulching” and planting trees too deeply. Improper pruning is one of the most common missteps by poorly trained landscape workers—you may see a shrub bed where all plants have been sheared indiscriminately, regardless of their individual needs.
Another common problem comes with mowing. Proper lawn care includes mowing to the correct height for the type of turfgrass and never shaving off more than a third of the leaf blade height with one cut. Also, if the worker comes to mow your grass with equipment that hasn’t been cleaned after its last use, he may introduce weeds, pests and diseases from someone else’s property to yours.
Pesticide misuse, usually with herbicides, is a common problem, leading to unintended damage to other plants. Some herbicides designed to kill broadleaf weeds like clover and dandelion can damage nearby vegetation, such as shrubs or sensitive tomato plants, if not applied carefully.
If you see signs of negligence or if you’re unsatisfied with how a company is caring for your property, have a frank discussion with them, and see if they will work with you to make things right. Clemson Extension agents will consult with homeowners and landscapers to find remedies for stubborn lawn and plant care problems. If the company can’t solve the problems, it may be time to find a different service provider.
Thorough research will help ensure you get quality lawn and landscape service, avoid future headaches, and enjoy your manicured landscape without all the fuss.
S. Cory Tanner is an area horticulture agent for Clemson Extension based in Greenville County. Contact him at shannt@clemson.edu.
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Get More
To research whether a licensed landscape professional has any violations, visit the Department of Pesticide Regulation Enforcement Database. One or two minor violations shouldn’t be alarming, but multiple offenses may be cause for concern.
For tips on what to look for in professional landscape service, see the fact sheet “Selecting a Lawn Care Service” at Clemson Extension’s online Home and Garden Information Center.