I just moved into a house that was at one time a foreclosure so the yard is thrashed. It’s unhealthy and really needs a shot in the ass. I’m thinking about doing Trugreen for a year or so to straighten it out. I do my own yard work but this is beyond my time availibility to do the work myself. I have already put down an intial fertilizer but after that I think I’m going to contract Trugreen to treat my yard.
Have any of you had good/bad experiences with them? I’ve heard that they tend to treat too frequently to up their revenue but at this point my yard needs all the treating it can get so that doesn’t bother me too much.
comments? Worth it?
My last job before I enlisted was with Tru-Green/Chemlawn. My suggestions would be, don’t agree to a contract over the phone. The salesmen work on commission as do the techs that spray your lawn, but the techs will actually know what you need. I worked with very few that had the time or the interest in providing services that the customer did not need. The salespeople will try to sell you everything in order to up their commission. The techs, OTOH, will want to provide you with the services you actually do need.
I can’t guess at what condition your lawn is in, but generally an application every other month will be acceptable. (EOM as they call it) Generally, fertilizer and pesticides are applied every time the tech comes out. I would advise you to be there the first two times that the tech comes out. You need to meet him or her. If you don’t like the tech, you can request another. You also need to clarify what it is you want from your lawn. Most want to give you a lush green lawn with thick layers of grass, but you may just want it to be green. Also, meeting the tech will allow him to tell you what can and can’t be done. Some people have unrealistic expectations. He will also tell you what you need to do to make the application more effective. Yes, he will leave you a note if you are not home, but at first, you may have questions that he will be able to answer then and there rather than get a phone call later in the day.
Good luck, and as Stephen King said in a short story, “God bless the grass.”
SSG Schwartz
My neighbor has this lawn service and her yard looks awful. It is lacking grass and full of weeds and nutgrass. My yard looks better and I have a house full of kids who trample the yard endlessly. I have fertilized the yard 2-3 times in the 8 years I have lived here.
My opinion is that my neighbor is wasting her money.