First Complaint

[NiceSpot]

Howdy....I had my first dissatisfied customer in four years. We did a lawn renovation last May dethatched, aerated, leveled off low areas with loam. Re-seeded, starter fert. etc.....Two months later I get a call from the customer complaining of crab grass and weeds she'd never seen before. I always get my loam from the same place and never had a problem before.( I even used some of the same loam in my own yard to renovate an area and it came out great). I went back a couple of times before the fall to treat the crabgrass with orto weed b gone. No charge to her. Now she's buggin me to treat the weeds again this spring, I told her I would work with her, we pride ourselves on doing a quality joband never had aprevious complaint. Any suggestions would be helpful.

[turf hokie]

My first suggestion is to learn what you are spraying for and with.....ortho weed-b-gone will do nothing for crabgrass....

Other than that, at some point you need to just walk away from a customer that is complaining about weeds from a lawn renovation 10 months ago AND the fact that you are in Mass in March....not exactly a good time to spray weeds, can you even see weeds right now?

[Think Green]

Nicespot,
Double the answer, no Weed-B-Gone will not kill or even stare at Crabgrass. There is a product called weed control plus crabgrass killer, but it is a postemerge killer and contains MSMA. It will not stay around long enough to control anything that may emerge later or until the turf recovers from the fill soil.
Does your state have a soil conservation society that mandates all soil to be free of weed matter and contaminates upon purchase and delivery? Arkansas does not have such an ordinance but at one time, Tennessee had such a levy and we were imposed with licenses and regular checks. When we use foreign soils that do not come from our county, we know that weeds will run amuck.
I think that you were in the right direction after you dethatched,aerated, and top dressed the low spots with soil and then applied chemicals, but you just didn't use the correct stuff.

[weasel]

Correct answers so far. You should consult with a Herbicide Pro in your area and get their advice and since you pride yourself in your work if you were at fault just fix it. Its a lot easier to know your reputation will be in good standing.

[NiceSpot]

No weeds in march and no laws that I'm aware of governing foreign soils. I told her I'll work with her and I 'd like to see her have a nice lawn. I was going to use Turpisan after the forsynthia bloom and re-seed again. Turpisan is compatible with new seed from what I've heard. I'm not going to do it for nothing though, I'll give her the quote and request half up front. If she has a prob. with that then she can go pound nails. Should I have put Turpisan down for a pre-emergent after we put the loam in and then reseed or skip the preemerge and take care of the crabgrass with a post emerge? It's tough to kill the crabgrass in June.....Thanks

[signature lawns]

Tupersan is the trade name for the active ingredient Siduron, and yes it is a pre-m for crabgrass. Usually pre-m's will prevent anything from germinating, but Tupersan (Siduron)can be used when seeding new grass areas, while still preventing the crabgrass from germinating. It's very expensive though

[Whitey4]

Is it my imagination, or has this site been flooded with questions lately about weed controls by people who are not legal (and often unqualified) to use pesticides on customer properties? I don't think I will be helping these folks out anymore. We, or at least I pay serious coin to be legal in NYS, and stay up on all the regs and new laws, along with what's new on the herbicide supply side. It's pretty stupid to give that knowledge away to people who take short cuts... and break the law.

Just keep in mind, that if some customer gets all torqued off and makes a complaint, or worse, sues, if you applied illegally, your bacon is in the fire. Just a thought to sleep on.

[NiceSpot]

Thanks for the advce guys and point taken whitey...

[Smallaxe]

Is it my imagination, or has this site been flooded with questions lately about weed controls by people who are not legal (and often unqualified) to use pesticides on customer properties? I don't think I will be helping these folks out anymore. We, or at least I pay serious coin to be legal in NYS, and stay up on all the regs and new laws, along with what's new on the herbicide supply side. It's pretty stupid to give that knowledge away to people who take short cuts... and break the law.

Just keep in mind, that if some customer gets all torqued off and makes a complaint, or worse, sues, if you applied illegally, your bacon is in the fire. Just a thought to sleep on.

Does 'licensing' board, in your state teach the licensee the use and timing of chemicals?
Not Wisco or many other states.

Sorry that NY requires serious coin to be legal. In WI it is learned from Lesco dealers and observation.

Follow label directions - you are safe. Follow wise counsel - you are safe AND effective.

Something else for the original poster to 'sleep on'.
Just because you are getting loam from the same guy doesn't mean he is getting it from the same guy. It is always better to assume the dirt is filled with CG seed.

If you charge for expensive pre-m now. i.e. Siduron it would be good to know how long it will last... 3 months from now CG is going to be popping up all around us.

[NiceSpot]

You need a license to wipe your @#%*! in this state Small. I'm going to make good on my word and "fix it" then be done with it.

"the shortest distance from point a to b is a straight line, no shortcuts here".

[Smallaxe]

You need a license to wipe your @#%*! in this state Small. I'm going to make good on my word and "fix it" then be done with it.

"the shortest distance from point a to b is a straight line, no shortcuts here".

:laugh: R U wiping legally? :laugh:

It can take 2 or 3 years to get rid of CG. U R not indentured under warrantee for that long R U???

[Whitey4]

You need a license to wipe your @#%*! in this state Small. I'm going to make good on my word and "fix it" then be done with it.

"the shortest distance from point a to b is a straight line, no shortcuts here".

LOL, I hear you. NY is the same way. My start up costs to get legal in NY were about $1500 for pesticides. The carrying cost averged out to yearly fees is about $600 a year. That does not include all the time I have to spend in record keeping, daily logs, quadruplicate filing like MSDS's and customer contracts and annual pesticide reports etc, etc.

When someone like me goes to all the trouble, time and expense of being legal... it frosts me to watch so many guys here get away with it. So, pardon if I sounded a bit testy on this subject.

The time is coming when the retailers will only be able to sell pre-mixed ready to spray stuff... no more concentrates. At least then the guys who apply illegally will have their costs go up. I don't mind competing in a fair market, but the guys who aren't certified make it an unfair market for those who are.

It's a literacy test for certification in some states... but FL, NY, CT and MA make sure you know enough to not be a danger out there, know how to read a label and understand the basic of mixing, selecting the right control for a given target and how to apply correctly.

[Dstosh]

Do you ever think the customer didn't water the grass? I know what you mean about trying to work with the customer.

Do you include any info with a final invoice on watering, proper care etc?


See attached file for what I include.