Folks – looking for some feedback. I live in the Maritime provinces in Canada, thus a cool relatively damp climate. First to admit I have minimal knowledge in lawn care – and recently sourced two quotes to deal with some moss/lack of grass growth in areas. One vendor told me I needed to tear everything up and start with new sod, $3500+, whereas the second gave me a prescriptive treatment plan for the summer at ~$1500. Where they vary so much – in price and approach – I’m unclear as to what is actually required. Looking for some insight/guidance, and if this is something I could potentially tackle myself!
by sjb574
34 Comments
You do not need sod….that’s not bad enough for a total redo. Moss does need to be killed, and then removed…it can be ripped up alive, but it’s not as easy to do as when it’s dead.
Being in CA, not sure what you can get.. Fatty Potassium acids or Iron will kill it. Then it’s removed, and you have to seed over for grass. There’s also making sure the soil is in good health, meaning pH mostly..
If all they are using is that Fiesta product, that’s just iron, nothing else. It does kill moss as I mentioned, but it’s pretty weak against any other type of weeds…but in CA, that may be all you can use, especially near the water…
$650 for four fertilization, weed treatments, lime and aeration is a good price. It’s not clear to me that you need overseeding.
BTW – the shadows in that last photo are SPOOKY
Hydro-mulching the bare spots would be cheaper if its available there. In the U.S. its about $0.10-$0.20/sqft.
Sadly I would agree that you are… some all that summer fert, late summer fert, fall fert you can do it yourself. It all starts with a good soil sample and wait for the results. Some of these fertilizer you can grab at your local lawn stores for less than 30$ . Idk what it’s priced for where you live but here in the states that seems to be a reasonable price for fertilizers.As for the broadleaf applications … many options you can load up on a backpack sprayer and go from there, knowing what you’re trying to prevent and eliminate ( pre /post emergents ) . Again, you can buy weed fighting liquids and granules at your local lawn store along with your lime applications . All this is a matter of doing your research .As for the aeration … many ways to do this yourself , renting equipment or making or buying your aerator. At the end of the day we the people pay for services in an exchange for time !
Warm season grass here so not much technical insight for you but I will say, taking care of your lawn is totally DIY if you take the time to learn the basics. It does take time and effort but don’t be scared of it.
How big is your yard?
No grubs right?
If you lay new sod, you’ll still need to do all of that eventually. Can’t just lay new grass and forget. And frankly, that looks exactly like my yard looked like 2 years ago in New England. I found a knowledgeable guy to do the fertilizing, aerating, etc and now the lawn looks nice and thick. (I’m too lazy to fertilize and aerate myself, for now).
And for lawn service, $650 sounds normal, even if it doesn’t include overseeding. If anything, you want to overseed yourself probably with higher grade seed than what they’ll use.
Aeration included? Good price..if not, I’d pass..
Given that you can’t use herbicide or pesticides in Canada, you are better doing on your own. That is the big perk in my opinion here, the chemicals and overloads of nitrogen are impossible there.
Is there a reason why you’re mowing so short?
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Price is fine. Bit the results are poor if you have had this for more than a year.
Depends on if you are clear about the desired outcome of grass and overall look of lawn. You might be overpaying if they are only maintaining what was. If you are asking this question of monetary value then you need to first understand what your goal is.
Hahahaha
Buy seeds, buy lawn food
I’m also in the Maritimes and this is an amazing price, not sure how they actually making money, our minimum pricing is 650$
I’m going to answer your question with a question. Why get rid of the moss? You never have to mow it. It produces significantly more oxygen than grass, giving your yard a nice fresh air bubble.
How do you plan on watering your lawn after application of either the treatment plan or new sod? If you don’t have in ground irrigation or a solid watering schedule, you’ll have wasted your money. I hate to see people in my neighborhood spend their money on these services only for them to never water their lawn. Their lawns are never any better as a result. Some food for thought
Hey! I am in the Maritimes myself. Reach out to the department of Ag and they will be more than willing to help you. You will need to deal with your moss problem now and also deal with any issues while the roots are actively growing. The price quote you have is good for the Maritimes but the after care and maintenance is up to you.
There’s no leaves on the trees. You won’t see any changes until it starts warming up. Give it a year and if you’re not happy with the service cancel then go look around town for signs on peoples yard
This is cheap for Missouri area. My charge for aeration and overseeding along would be around $250. The price of fertilizer is going up and I’m seeing that it cost more for people to go buy their own right now than being in the service. My pricing would be for the first column alone would be $660 on the year. Even with prepay.
Your yard doesn’t look that large. Most fertilizer comes in either 5,000 or 15,000 sq. feet. You can probably get by with 5,000 sq feet bag. You don’t have to fertilize 3 times/year. I don’t fertilize in the summer. The list says broadleaf applications. These are the easy weeds. I don’t have a single dandelion in my yard right now, but I have other weeds that are much more difficult to eliminate. Crabgrass requires a reemergent. Creeping Charlie is one of the most difficult weeds to eliminate even with multiple spot spraying. Will these weeds be an extra charge? What about grubs? I treat every year and still get damage.
The price seems pretty good to me. There are going to be plans that are more than this and probably some cheaper ones too. Lawn service is a service that I wouldn’t go cheap with, you might want to check around and find someone knowledgeable that owns their own business. As others have said, doing it yourself will save you some money, but not having to store products and buy a spreader is a good benefit to paying someone to do it.
I use that same company and located around the same area and they turned my front lawn from only weeds to a pretty nice full lawn
That’s not what cultural practices means, lol.
Also, wtf in regards to using fiesta as the sole post emergent…
> Hires a lawn service
YES.
My dad was sole proprietor of a lawn service company when I was growing up. People who pay them to take care of their grass literally put me through college.
And at least my dad was accountable. Big companies who hide behind fancy graphics don’t take responsibility for whatever crap they’re spraying on your lawn. Having faceless laborers dump unknown blue liquid on your property is weird and should be unsettling to you.
A lawn your size you could spend $300 on an electric mower, weed whacker, and blower, and just take care of it yourself. You could just mow it, or you could take the next step and spread fertilizer, or the step after that by aerating and overseeding in the fall.
If you already found this subreddit you have all the information at hand.
I feel the slit seeding is completely unnecessary and you are being ripped off there. $650 for weed control, aeration and fertilizing isn’t that bad at all. Labor costs are probably what’s pushing the price up honestly. Save $350 and buy $50 worth of a sun/shade mix seed and overseed yourself. Literally just throw handfuls across the yard, no extra equipment necessary. You get plenty of rain up in NS if that’s where you’re at. Idk about west coast tho.
If you have disposable income to pay them, that’s one thing. But it’s too easy to do the research and take care of your lawn yourself. I just bought $125 worth of fertilizer, weed & pest treatment, and sprinkler heads for the spring and my lawn is 100% green and healthy. I’ll do another treatment in late summer. We get down and pull weeds from their roots when they appear too.
So it takes some time, but you’ll save a lot of money and get to understand how your lawn and garden work… what they need, etc.
So to answer your question, in my opinion you are getting ripped off.. at least that would be a rip off in my house as we can do it all ourselves.
Go on Amazon you can buy a jug of fiesta for 125$ save the hassle but as a professional vegetation control operator I can say fiesta is garbage
Is this weedman Maritimes lol? Used to work for them
Annually thats not bad
If it’s a landscaper than yes, you’re getting ripped off.
Side note: I have that same play set in my backyard. It’s took me forever sorting through screws and wood pieces.