No, not lawn chairs...

   
Years past, this time would be spent as a telemarketer; "Hi, this is Greg with 'company name here'. Typical response would be, "I already put my lawn chairs away."
"I said Lawn Care".
      Now I know your are not thinking lawn care at this moment. I do want to remind you though, it was a tough year here at home, all plants took a beating in the drought and that does include the green carpet you call "my lawn". On the bad side, your lawn may need additional seeding this spring. If you are going to be doing any seeding please advise your lawn care provider with that information. The first application on a regular program does include a 'crabgrass control' herbicide; will by nature of the product prevent seed from germinating. Small areas can be 'roughed up' with a hard rake to break that chemical barrier.  Larger areas of seeding it would be best to hold off the crabgrass control until after the new turf has been established. 

     On the good side, turf is a very resilient plant. With just a little water can put up with some harsh conditions. I'm sure your lawn has lost some density through the drought, proper fertilization will no doubt help this situation. 
     This message has been sponsored by Turfman, that is where I work, which is how I pay my bills, including the cable which provides me with internet access that allows me to continue my endless babbling on my so called BLOG.

Water

Even the nice lawns, with sprinkler systems are showing stress this time of year. Its amazing what a little water can do for a lawn. Not just to green it up, that might not happen, but you will keep the crown of the plant alive, dormant, but alive. When the rainy part of the fall comes in, everything will be green again.

The Hidden Truth

Well its not coming down in shovels and pitch forks but rain does hamper my situation, and is best to wait... so wait I do. Some would see this as a bonus, a perk if you will to my job. Actually, I hate this part of my job. Waiting waiting waiting.... Back in the day, when I did my lawn care applications on horse back, the job was sold to you at the time of your hire, "And we don't work in the rain and you are guaranteed 40 hours" the manager would tell you with a fake smile. So you think wow... I may just come to love this gig. What he didn't tell you is on rainy days you still show up, ready to work, and wait wait wait... usually doing busy work, paper, cleanup, maintenance to equipment... maybe even get in your vehicle, usually a van, go to your route and wait. Oh the boredom. Eventually you did some work, a full day on a late start or the "higher ups" would call it a day contact you if out in the field by 2 way and you went home destined to work Saturday. Now days the bigger company's hungry for the billings say screw it, you are being paid do production; you will see the Scott's and True Green's out in the rain, heavy or not.  The real problem with the rain is the granular fertilizer, the Prills get damp, stick together, clump up; its just a real hassle and an aggravation. On top of that you are getting soaked by the rain.Truly, its more the appearance to the public, most would assume the liquid weed control is getting washed off and ineffective. This is where a soapy liquid product known as spreader sticker comes in. Mixed in the tank with water and weed control it helps the active ingredients 'stick' to the plant. A light rain or mist will not effect the application, will actually benefit the application. Now heavy rain, cat n dogs, shovels n pitch forks, this is another story, work should come to a stop at this point. Truth be told, the bigger companies squeezing every bit of the budget don't even use spreader sticker. There's the call I have been waiting on, gotta go. Well guess I have rambled for some time now, and thus ends Lawn Care Tech 101.

Pride

Why is it the other lawn care companies don't hold a candle to Turfman? It's not because I work for Turfman, its just we are not pushed to bill ungodly amounts of money. We (the techs, owner included) just go out, run a route day and do it right. On the new sales, usually loaded with weeds; we apply heavy weed control, bring the weeds to near eradication. Yes this takes more time, it is time well spent, most of the customers on my route are very happy with the results of my service. What's in it for me? Well being happy to have provided a top notch service, the company grows, my job is secure and the worries of day to day living go out the door. My experiences have shown my sense of "job well done" will not equal the definition the 'Scotts' or 'True Green' definitions. I have never had my boss ask me "why didn't you do more?" 


So as the day begins, I am happy to be part of the machine, the machine that produces happy customers.