Is there a need to use a Lawn Treatment Service?
Weather-wise, it's been quite a 12 months!
Once again the Great British weather is catching up with itself with our lawns much greener at the moment than last summer! With the large variations in our weather patterns considered you may be asking yourself, is there much to gain by using a lawn treatment service near me?
Why use a Lawn Treatment Service?
Many of the general public do not know what a lawn care specialist does – we are still a niche market at this moment in time!
Lawn care services are still relatively new to these shores, after gaining popularity in the U.S. Homeowners are now becoming increasingly aware of the greater return on investment that a professional can achieve by having your lawns treated for you, rather than doing it yourself.
Over the last century fertiliser products and methods have been forced to improve to keep up with a growing population and these advancements have passed down sports turf and lawn treatment services. The same level of technology is not as advanced, nor legally permitted on the shelves of DIY stores for homeowner use.Weed Controls for Lawns
As a homeowner you may have experienced the DIY product range available in the local garden centre.
The selective herbicides (weed controls) available for DIY use only contain a narrow range of active ingredients which cannot control most weeds effectively. This often leads to them being used more frequently, increasingly ineffectively and to the detriment of our soils. The correct calibration for a product cannot be achieved via a small spray bottle, so caution has to be give with the strength of the active ingredients in that bottle, which then can lead to overuse.
A lawn treatment service provides the correct product for the correct use at the correct time.
There is no waste chemical for the homeowner. Via a lawn treatment service, (even more so one that is Lawn Assured Accredited) the homeowner can be safe in the knowledge that the exact application rates are being achieved along with the legal requirements for storage and disposal of these products.The use of selective herbicides are far safer in the hands of professionals, with the correct product for the weed applied at the correct application rates. As what we do is more effective, we only need to spray for weeds very infrequently, or spot treat. The herbicide that we use per 100,000m2 of lawn is actually very low!
Fertiliser Applications and Lawn Nutrition
Isn’t a fertiliser just a fertiliser? Surely, I can purchase these myself?
There are endless types of fertiliser. Compound, blends, slow release, controlled release, stabilised nitrogen, homogenous, polymer coated, organic… it goes on!
If you were to look at the recommended frequency of application of a DIY fertiliser, it will often state to apply every 2-4 weeks. If all this fertiliser is the same, why does a lawn treatment service only need to visit your property five times per year, for example? Why is it that their fertiliser doesn’t burn lawns in the summer conditions yet the DIY product does…?
Lawn care services, when working with homeowners who are cutting their lawn 'little and often' produce results such as these lovely rear lawns in Sutton Coldfield and Tamworth. One of these had benefitting from our Lawn Repair and Renovation service with an attractive yet hardwearing professional seed mix
The technology available to the lawn treatment service is exceptional, and continues to develop year on year. A granular fertiliser product from the lawn treatment service will typically provide nutrient to your lawn for a 10–12-week period – sometimes a little more and with many more beneficial trace elements and organic nutrient sources than a DIY product. The value packed into a professional fertiliser product is worth multiple of that on the shelf!
A professional lawn treatment service should have the exact nutritional balance for their lawns worked out at the start of the year. Lawns need varying levels of nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium, magnesium and calcium each year – and they are just the major nutrients! We won’t bore you with the maths here of the exactly Kg applied of each nutrient and at each time of year, but rest assured we have it all worked out for maximum benefit to your lawn.
For 2023 we switched to two semi-organic fertiliser applications to our programme of which we have seen brilliant results. This means that rather than manufactures needing to produce as much synthetic fertiliser our products are increasingly semi-recycled.
Synthetic fertilisers make for an intensive, carbon footprint heavy process and when used too frequently in a poor nutritional balance will impact soil health. We’ve always been pro-sustainable lawn care and we’re cracking ways of making that happen while enhancing results to our lawns.
Cost of a Lawn Care Service Near Me
The great news is, that established lawn treatment services are purchasing direct from leading suppliers great quantities. We along with others in the lawn care industry spend more on stock than local golf clubs in many cases.
The second half of 2022 saw us put the deepest considerations to date into our future programme. As costs have increased in recent times, we left no stone unturned to provide the very best value from our service, and we’re know of fellow leading independent lawn care services that we speak to across the UK have been doing the same too.
Given we’re purchasing the products in bulk, and coming onto your estate anyway it can be very cost effective to work with a lawn treatment service. No more spreaders, sprayers, product research and individual product purchase cost required.
A perfect winter lawn treatment carried out for moss control and enhanced winter colour and grass strength
A lawn maintenance programme can be as little as £200 - £300 per year, and that is inclusive of labour, materials and VAT. It really is a no-brainer in our eyes for the house-proud homeowner by the time you've bought inferior DIY products and application equipment!
But I could still get by - Why else would I need a Lawn Treatment Service?
Lawn treatments are a great starting place as a huge enhancement on the DIY approach, but a lawn care service completes much more for healthy lawns dependent on the lawn and homeowner requirements. Every lawn is different, so as an independent lawn care service we take great pride in putting together the best possible programme on our first visit so we can achieve the best possible outcome which meets your needs and provides value for money.
The mechanical lawn care tasks of aeration and scarification are key to a healthy lawn. There are DIY ‘scarifiers’ on the market with wire tines which rake at the lawn surface, but we can assure you that professional machines are both expensive and powerful! The hire cost, transport, and the labour required to carry out the work also makes these tasks great ones for a lawn service to take on if the requirement is there.
Further benefits of a lawn treatment service include:
- A done for you service
- Professional grass seed mixes. Professionals use of the latest seeds and leading services will stock a range of seeds for different lawn types
- Deep knowledge of local soils and pH levels – even how to get the best from those new build lawns!
- Specialist applications, if this be for improving the soil or retaining water in dry conditions
- Lawn diseases – both prevention and cure. This could be red thread, fusarium or fairy ring for example
- Problems with leatherjackets and Chafer Grubs. Is your lawn suffering from these pests?
- Ongoing advice!
- Reduced stress and one less job that many of us can do without
- Enhanced results – a lawn that is ready for play or entertainment when you are
- Environmental and personal health benefits of our own green spaces
- Increased home and garden pride and increased house value
So, is there a need to use a Lawn Treatment Service?
If you’re happy with your lawn as it is, if that be just through regular mowing, or use of occasional DIY products that you enjoy applying these fertilisers and want to be doing so, then you have this all covered yourself. Some neighbours of customers that we speak to take great satisfaction from taking 100% care of their lawn - kudos to them!
However, if there is a source of lawn pain there then we would recommend speaking to a trusted, independently operated and owned lawn care service for the best possible service and results.
Can We Help?
If you're not getting the best from your lawn, and it's costing your time and money to achieve average results at best right now, then we would recommend a no-obligation conversation to see if we're able to help. Click below to see view your best options for getting in touch.