big lawns

[mrkosar]

last time i asked this i got no responses. anyone?

what do you guys do about large lawns? is there anyway to do big lawns at a reasonable price? maybe only apply 3-4 times a year?

for those who do bridge type programs with spot treatments of herbicide, do you go over 20K sq ft? the labor costs start to get real bad when the lawn size gets up there.

any suggestions? or do you just focus on smaller residential lawns?

[Duekster]

It can be harder. If the home owner is 100% behind the idea of Organic then they should be willing to pay for the higher cost. Right now a full "Organic" program does cost more and it is a project that takes time to see the full results.

Home owners will often accept these higher cost because the impact on Smaller properties is only a few dollars.

Larger properties will see a higher $ but your cost should go down if you have enough of them to give you more purchase power.

I have some commercial accounts. They want to be green too but they will not tolerate as many weeds as a home owner fully committed to Organic.

I have several properties well over 20K SF. I have one property that pays me 6K per month ( on a 3 year contract ) to hand pull the weeds.

[mrkosar]

did i read that correct? $6K/month for a program? wow! i bet that is fun hand pulling that property. how many times a year do you fertilize/hand pull? what do you use to hand pull, weed hound? how large is that property?

that is amazing. i wish i had a few customers willing to pay that. are you in a highly populated area? the more i learn, and experience...i believe an organic based service can only work in a highly populated city. thanks.

[dcgreenspro]

It can be harder. If the home owner is 100% behind the idea of Organic then they should be willing to pay for the higher cost. Right now a full "Organic" program does cost more and it is a project that takes time to see the full results.

Home owners will often accept these higher cost because the impact on Smaller properties is only a few dollars.

Larger properties will see a higher $ but your cost should go down if you have enough of them to give you more purchase power.

I have some commercial accounts. They want to be green too but they will not tolerate as many weeds as a home owner fully committed to Organic.

I have several properties well over 20K SF. I have one property that pays me 6K per month ( on a 3 year contract ) to hand pull the weeds.

Get the boots out because it is flowing in here...in Texas no less w/ warm season grasses.

[nocutting]

last time i asked this i got no responses. anyone?

what do you guys do about large lawns? is there anyway to do big lawns at a reasonable price? maybe only apply 3-4 times a year?

for those who do bridge type programs with spot treatments of herbicide, do you go over 20K sq ft? the labor costs start to get real bad when the lawn size gets up there.

any suggestions? or do you just focus on smaller residential lawns?

I've got a 3ac property.........fertilize the center front[ circular drive area] and main back 4-times per season [ totals about 25000sqft] a bag of organic fert is about $8.00 [ covers from 2500-5000 sqft.]......charge $175.00 per application..........seeding as needed w/ aslicer is $975 [ takes a 1/2 day ]......grub control as needed done twice is $300 per app..........spot seeding is never under $500.00 [ $300 for me / 200 for materials].....and w/ a back pk sprayer,I charge $95 x 4-apps for oils & soap to the foundation & entrance beds].......$175 for shrub fertilization x 2 apps...........$300x 2 apps for winter anti-dessicants [ foundation and entrance beds].......and its off to Sunny Florida for a well deserved Winters nap:cool2:

[joe7588]

I've got a 3ac property.........fertilize the center front[ circular drive area] and main back 4-times per season [ totals about 25000sqft] a bag of organic fert is about $8.00 [ covers from 2500-5000 sqft.]......charge $175.00 per application..........seeding as needed w/ aslicer is $975 [ takes a 1/2 day ]......grub control as needed done twice is $300 per app..........spot seeding is never under $500.00 [ $300 for me / 200 for materials].....and w/ a back pk sprayer,I charge $95 x 4-apps for oils & soap to the foundation & entrance beds].......$175 for shrub fertilization x 2 apps...........$300x 2 apps for winter anti-dessicants [ foundation and entrance beds].......and its off to Sunny Florida for a well deserved Winters nap:cool2:

Is your grub control organic or traditional, because organic programs are suppose to be pesticide free.

[Duekster]

Get the boots out because it is flowing in here...in Texas no less w/ warm season grasses.


Dallas Texas believe it or not is one of the stronger organic markets.

I just don't do many residential so I sell IPM not organic. Same principle but I don't rule out the use of pesticides but they are a last resort.

[Duekster]

Is your grub control organic or traditional, because organic programs are suppose to be pesticide free.


Have you ever used nematodes for Grub control? Did it work?

[Duekster]

did i read that correct? $6K/month for a program? wow! i bet that is fun hand pulling that property. how many times a year do you fertilize/hand pull? what do you use to hand pull, weed hound? how large is that property?

that is amazing. i wish i had a few customers willing to pay that. are you in a highly populated area? the more i learn, and experience...i believe an organic based service can only work in a highly populated city. thanks.

I have about 5 ac of native grass and about half that under mulch.

Organic Fertilize once per year. Do not fertilize the grass. The beds are all low volume irrigation. I also pay all the cost of dead plants but this year will be the first year I have to buy anything.

[joe7588]

I only have a couple customers on an all organic program and have used
milky spore for grub control, so far so good but time will tell. The problem is
crabgrass control.

[dcgreenspro]

I have used a bridge program w/ earthworks and low N dimension split app. It's a four or five step program that is the best moneymaker for me.

[Duekster]

I only have a couple customers on an all organic program and have used
milky spore for grub control, so far so good but time will tell. The problem is
crabgrass control.

Weed control is always going to be an issue.