thatch,aeration,seed & fertilizer price???

[grassman50]

hi, i have a customer that is going to want her lawn thatched, aerated, slitseeded, and fertilized with a starter fertilizer next spring. Her lawn is around 11,500 sq. ft. A typical lawn that takes me about oh 15-20 to mow with a 60" ZTR, doing a neat job. I have been charging $35.00 per application of fert, and i thought that i would check to see if my prices are right. I am getting $25.00 for the cut. I need to give her a bid for next year on all the stuff i mentioned. I have a spreader, aerator, thatcher, so i wouldnt need to rent anything. Could you please help me out on the following?...

Thatching-- With clean-up $$

Aerating-- $$

slit-seeding(overseeding) $$

Starter fert. $$

thanks guys. i would appreciate any help that you can give.:confused:

[grassman50]

Well, please write back if you can, with any info.

[stslawncare]

$25 for a lawn that takes 15 minutes using a 60" ztr? is this not including trimming and blowing afterwards? id imagine atleast $35?

[walker-talker]

Assuming that all your equipment is walk behind, I would esitmate in the neighborhood of $450.

[Chuck Sinclair]

Originally posted by grassman50
hi, i have a customer that is going to want her lawn thatched, aerated, slitseeded, and fertilized with a starter fertilizer next spring. Her lawn is around 11,500 sq. ft. A typical lawn that takes me about oh 15-20 to mow with a 60" ZTR, doing a neat job. I have been charging $35.00 per application of fert, and i thought that i would check to see if my prices are right. I am getting $25.00 for the cut. I need to give her a bid for next year on all the stuff i mentioned. I have a spreader, aerator, thatcher, so i wouldnt need to rent anything. Could you please help me out on the following?...

Thatching-- With clean-up 340.00

Aerating-- 170.00

slit-seeding(overseeding) 75.00

Starter fert. 35.00



thanks guys. i would appreciate any help that you can give.:confused:


The above prices are what i get for this work.

[grassman50]

$340.00 for a lawn to be thatched that only takes me 10-15 minutes to mow sounds like i would be the laughing stock of the city!!! How long would this operation take?

[KirbysLawn]

grassman50, how much thatch is there on the ground now? How deep is it?

[grassman50]

There really isnt that much thatch to be cleaned up. She just wants it done, plus, i think it would be a good idea anyways before i seed it. probably a quarter inch or so.

[KirbysLawn]

If there is only 1/4 thatch I would not de-thatch it, no reason. A little thatch is a good thing.

I have several other questions:

Why would you do this in spring?

What kind of grass are you seeding?

How dense is the grass now?

What kind of broad leaf weed problem do you have?

Does the lawn have crabgrass?

[grassman50]

Um cause spring is the time to do all of this. Poa pratensis is the grass she has now throughout the whole lawn. Also mixed in with some lolium perenne from the previous year. It is kinda dense, could use some thinkening. It is good to thatch before overseeding anyways cause you expose the soil, allowing good seed to soil contact, if i was just to seed on top of thatch, it wouldnt be nearly as good.

[NC Big Daddy]

Grassman dont be such a smarta$$. Remember you asked the questions. Ray was only asking those questions to help YOU with your question. Re-read your last post and re-think some of the things you stated, because you're wrong on most of it.
TTFN

[KirbysLawn]

Uh, ok, sorry I asked to many questions, was trying to help, I thought you were looking for some. I am aware that you need good soil to seed contact, that's why you are using the slit-seeder or aerator isn't it? If you have a good stand of grass why do all this to it? You are talking about dethatching, aeration, and slit seeding a "kinda dense" lawn, when you get done it's gonna be kinda thin. If the lawn is well established then I would think a good aeration/overseeding job would work fine.

Why do I ask about weeds, crabgrass, and spring seeding? Seeding in the spring is the second best time to do this, your seed will have little time to develop a strong and deep root system before the heat of summer hits. This will also cause the grass to be less resistant to drought due to the shallow root system. Seeding in spring also effects the timing of your pre-emergent application and weed control. Obviously it's too late this year but you may want to consider this next year.

As for the job listed as you describe:

* Dethatching: would not do

* Aeration: $132.00

* Overseeding & Fertilizer: $132.00

* Not mentioned...soil test: $35.00

Job total $299.00 hope that helps.....

[MOW ED]

OK being from a closer geographical region I can say that we overseed in the fall or spring but we don't get any calls for dethatching in the fall. I'll go with ya here because I just quoted a job not too different from this although I don't mow or fert for this customer on a weekly basis.

BE ADVISED that these are probably NOT the prices you will get in Michigan but these are the prices I quote in N.E. Wisconsin. As a rule I don't like doing this because it is misleading to guys like yourself. With that in mind, here it goes;

The equipment available to me is my Walker so I can do the dethatch and pickup part quickly compared to a WB and whatever method others might use.

Dethatch and dump on curb= 125.00
or
Dethatch and haul away = 150.00

The price is for a lawn that is not overgrown and having a severe thatch problem, that will cost an extra 50 to 100.

Aerating the lawn with the Walker at 12 to 15 per 1K depending on difficulty getting around so that price is
roughly 140.00 to 180.00

Overseeding is done broadcast method and I get 10.00 per 1k for that roughly 120.00
If ya want it run in with a Mataway then its 75.00 more.

Fert is usually 5 per 1k but part of package I can go around 4
45 for this lawn.

400 on the low end to 675 on the high end.

It all depends on the site and what kind of work it will take. Believe me that if you dont know the costs of your materials and the costs of your equipment and labor you might as well show up and work and pay the customer for the opportunity to do the work.
Thats my situation, good luck in yours.

[grassman50]

I think i worded my last post wrong, i wasnt tring to be a smart a$$.Why would ido that? anyways,,, what type of slit seeder do you recommend?? Are the little 18 inch bluebirds ok? do they do a nice job?? Do you get more business in overseeding or aeration, or both cause you do it at the same time.