Requirments in Florida for turf

[weedman_34]

I am thinking about relocating to Florida in the Fort Myers area and starting a lawn care/landscaping service there. What requirements for Pesticide applications and fertilizer applications do they have? I have contacted a few agencies via internet and have had no responses. I am from Illinois now and the Dept. of Ag regulates licensing here. Thanks!
Bill Houck
Houck Supply Co

[smburgess]

I did a search.... "florida pesticide license" this was the first site listed!

http://doacs.state.fl.us/~aes/pstcert.html

[Lawn-Scapes]

It's extremely competitive down there. Are you ready for that type of environment? I speak from experience... I had to bust my hump all year to make what I am currently making in 8-9 months here. I don't know what the requirements are for pest control in Florida as I did not offer that service while there.

Did you look here... http://doacs.state.fl.us/~aes-ent/pestcntrl/pcpage16.html

Good luck in your decision... think long, hard and do lots of research.

Is Houck Supply Co. not doing well? What do you supply?

It's freakin' HOT down there

[weedman_34]

Houck Supply is in the ag supply business here. With the farm economy and being tired of the envirment here I am looking to relocate to some inherited property there.
I don't mind the chemical end of the business but just am looking for a change.
I grew up around excavation here and seek to do this on a small scale again.
When you say you had to work harder there what do you mean?
I am assuming year around work there. What rate per hour did you average there compared to maryland?
Anything you have to offer would be very benificial to my decision here.
Thanks
Bill Houck
Houck Supply

[GrassChopper]

You have to work for a pesticide application company for a year before you can get a full applicators license here. You can get a limited applicators license, which basically allows you to spray Roundup, if you have been in business for 3 years. There are different requirements if you have an Ag degree.

I get 50.00 per hour as my rate. Scrubs abound here though.

[mowerman90]

Expect a large portion of your pay to be in sunshine and not money. I am "high priced" in my area for mowing and I only charge $55 per month for 10000 sq ft lots mowed weekly Apr thru Oct then bi-weekly Nov thru Mar. I laugh when I read posts for guys up north saying they won's drop the gate for less than $35. Some scrubs (of which there are many) only charge $10 per cut down here. One guy I've seen charges $12 for half acres! I have an expression to give to people when it finally hits them that they're not gonna make a fortune down here, it's "welcome to Florida"

[mowerman90]

I forgot to mention the other side of the coin. You can buy a "new" 3 bedroom, 2 bath, 2 car garage home and 10000 lot for less than $75000.00 with property taxes around 700-$800 year. Also no state income tax here.

[Turf Technologies]

Im a county north of you mowerman90 and you couldnt of said it better.

[ADMowing]

Hello from Florida!

We are a service in the Tampa area and we see LOTS of scrubs. We've been in business for 5 years and we make a living -- enough to be happy, have a home on 5 acres and put a little away for retirement. My husband is retired military so that helps with health insurance and income. But, it is HARD work during the summer and everyone is right about it being HOT. We usually do a normal lawn for about $50-$70/month annual service. People generally won't pay more than that. We do a couple of 3 acre Mow and Go's for $50/mow,which takes us a little over 1 hour (two mowers). We mow weekly in the summer and we show up every other week in the winter (Oct-Mar) months. We don't always mow and we do little extra trimming and clean up work for extra money. We are licensed to do tree trimming and that kind of work also so it helps us during the winter when we lose some of our summer customers. We have a lot of "snowbirds" in mobile home parks who go up north and want us to do their lawns in the summer. It is hard work, but you get a lot of income for dropping your gate in one park. We like to work things out with other services in the mobile home park so that we don't step on each others' toes. When our customers find out that we are amiable with other lawn services in the park, it actually makes them feel better about us. We don't "steal" other lawns unless the other service is clearly not doing their job and then it is up to the customer (and their right) to have a reliable lawn service. It can be very competitive in a park where management will often do the work for less (and less often too) or scrubs come in and offer service for a lot less without realizing all the overhead. Many of them don't understand the Florida heat in the summer. Many of them have quit on customers while the customer was up north and the customer comes home to find the lawn a mess and their money (that they paid up front) gone.

Word of mouth is our best advertising. We don't even have our name on our truck or trailer. Neighbors see our work and usually want our service. Friends and family of people we mow for also call for our services. We mow for one lady who has bought several houses and has us follow her wherever she goes. Now that makes you feel good about the quality of your work!!! We advertised twice in the little local paper when we first started and that was it.

We drink LOTS of water and relax quite a bit when we are off -- swim in the pool etc... Air conditioned house in a MUST for Florida!My Dad was in the lawn service business in Duxbury Mass. and he made LOTS more money than we do. But we're out for happiness, peace of mind, self-employment and to pay our bills and retire someday.

But to answer your question: We don't do chemical work in our customers' yards. We refer them to local people who are in the business and who are licensed. It is a hefty $5000 fine if you are caught spraying for weeds without a license. So, my husband and I don't even bother. We put down some fertilizer for our customers, but nothing more than that. There are just the two of us and we work a lot of times for people who take very good care of their lawns on their own. They just need someone with good equipment (and crazy enough to stand the heat) to come out and mow for them.

The competition is only in pricing usually for us. As a general rule, once our customers see us at work, we keep them. We've got customers still who we've had from the beginning. My philosophy about Florida lawns is that there are PLENTY of lawns to go around for all of us. We wave at other lawn service people out there because we are all in the same boat. No need to worry about competition if you are doing your job right. We drive around and see so many lawns not being taken care of by the homeowners. If we had the time, we could drum up more business just by stopping by or placing business cards/flyers.

We have gotten undercut serveral times only to have our old customers call us back and ask us to return. One lady called us during a drought and said that she couldn't see paying us a measly $40/month to do her lawn because there was nothing to mow. Three days later it started to rain for the summer and grass was growing like crazy. We didn't hear from her 'cause I think she was too embarassed.

Just some input from a Florida company.

Hope this info helps. If you decide to start a business in Florida! Welcome!!!

[TJLC]

We moved here about 3-4 years and have established ourselves very well. Yes it does get hot here but no hotter than when we lived in Ohio. It just lasts longer here. Florida is what you make of it. Ad mowing pretty well summed it up also. Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

[Lawn-Scapes]

When you say you had to work harder there what do you mean?

People above have touched on it...

1.) The heat & humidity is disgusting. Summers in Maryland (or Ohio for that matter) are nothing like Florida. It sucks all the energy out of you.

2.) Everything grows like crazy there... no one mentioned hedge trimming yet. Most all LCOs offer full service which means lots of trimming. I never want to see another Ficus hedge again! I won't mention palm frons... You better have a 12' ladder, extension hedge trimmers and a pole saw (powered).

3.) Lots of rain.. seemed like I was always working Saturdays to catch up.

4.) Lots of older folk... who expect a lot for their $$$

[trimmer]

You must work for a licensed pest control company for 3 years to get your applicators license unless you have a degree in horticulture I believe it is like 30 credit hours.

[ADMowing]

When we go out to quote on a lawn, we give our customers a preprinted quote sheet which outlines exactly what we will do for them and exactly how much it will cost. The quote amount varies with the amount of weedeating, mowing and edging there is to do. We do not do extra shrub hedging and tree trimming or weeding except for in the winter months. We ask people to hire (and there are ads in the local paper all the time) someone to come in and do that type of clean up work for them. We are strictly a mowing / weedeating / edging lawn service. This is spelled out up front with our customers on our quote. We work for lots of people who take care of all this extra stuff on the weekends. They don't have to mow the lawn, so they have time to do it.

Our customers are very understanding regarding the rainy season. Because we are at their house every week during the summer on the same day without fail, they don't really worry if we miss them for one week because of rain. We keep our computerized schedule of customers limited to a certain amount so that we have time for make up and so that we don't mess up the quality of work we are doing for existing customers.

Tom is right! The summer humidity and heat down here can be unbearable. We trudge through it because we know that in the winter months, we will have lots of time off -- and we don't have to worry about shoveling snow!!

We've lived in New Hampshire, West Virginia, Virginia, Germany, Pennsylvania and are back here in Florida again. I think that no matter where you go, there are drawbacks. But all in all, we are glad to be in Florida.

I went to Tom's hyperlink listed above about how to get licensed for spraying weedkiller, etc. and I think it is very informative.... if that is more the type of industry you are interested in. We always refer customers to licensed people to do this, so you might want to look into doing it. It is a good idea to be more specialized because it is difficult to do it all. Depends on your interests.

[ProMo]

go to greenindconsulting.com bill is in the tampa area and offers the limited pest liscence course and test several times a year im getting in the next class he has in orlando

[ADMowing]

Saw a class in Sarasota that we might go to. Thank you!

[tlcservices]

come on down. where i live , 2000 people live here, 46 lawn co. yes two thousand people 46 lawn co. come on one more wont hurt

[Turf Technologies]

Do you need to be licensed to spray roundup in garden beds in Florida? Ive been here all my life and have done this work for 5 yrs now and neve heard anything about roundup?

O too the old people *sighs* Just watch the road when your driving then can give you a heart attack!

[ProMo]

yes u need a license to spray round up http://www.cdc.gov/Niosh/nasd/docs2/as05900.html
there was a story on the local news so i imagine they are checking.