Fall cleanup question

[Lawnut101]

That's usually the first thing I ask when I show up. Then they usually ask for a price both ways. Or they just tell me right away that they want all the leaves gone. It's alright, it's a learning experience. Do the job, do it good, and get the word of mouth spreading.

[pattytastik]

Originally Posted by Lawnut101

That's usually the first thing I ask when I show up. Then they usually ask for a price both ways. Or they just tell me right away that they want all the leaves gone. It's alright, it's a learning experience. Do the job, do it good, and get the word of mouth spreading.

Yeah that's what I'm going to do. Luckily theirs not too much area that is mulched, so it should only take a little bit extra. I was more curious for the future, what is standard.

Thanks everyone!

[larryinalabama]

Make the property look as best as you possible can, its likley they will call you next year and you may be able to turn them into a year round customer.

[sven1277]

Don't forget about decks, behind the garbage cans, the cellar window wells. Everything. Its the wow factor that the customer just paid you several hundred dollars and now their property looks fantastic.

[pattytastik]

The job went well. We probably were there for about 2.5 hours and maybe half hour of that was spent blowing out the gardens. We undercharged like crazy, not sure what I was thinking, but it was OK for our second cleanup. We will figure out pricing over time.

[Grassmaster9]

Cleaning out the beds has always been part of leaf clean up in all of my experiences. I have worked for several companies and now have my own business. Raking would be doing it the hard way. If you can invest in a blower it will pay for itself in a short time. I blow the beds from a distance or at a low rpm to avoid blowing the mulch out. If you do get some mulch out you can blow the leaves from the area and then blow the mulch back in. I like my Stihl BR600 blower the best for leaves.

[lawnkingforever]

Originally Posted by sven1277

Don't forget about decks, behind the garbage cans, the cellar window wells. Everything. Its the wow factor that the customer just paid you several hundred dollars and now their property looks fantastic.

Exactly. Bid the job properly and make the place stand out. Trying to save time and cut corners will cost you referrals and may lead to complaints. Do it right and move on to the next one.
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[ralph02813]

clean up is clean up, the real questions is how through of a job does the customer want and expect.

[J.T.M.]

I live in Northern Michigan, and actually have customers that want me to leave the leaves in the beds as insulation for the winter, also when blowing the leaves from stone beds or soil beds we get all the leaves, however when it comes to beds with mulch or lava rock we blow the bulk of the leaves out without disturbing the mulch or lava rock. Then in the Spring we do a thorough job. the reasoning for this is that the beds have to be gone over again in the spring anyway, so your only blowing half as much mulch out as you would have if you were to totally clean them out in the fall too

[Smallaxe]

Originally Posted by J.T.M.

I live in Northern Michigan, and actually have customers that want me to leave the leaves in the beds as insulation for the winter, also when blowing the leaves from stone beds or soil beds we get all the leaves, however when it comes to beds with mulch or lava rock we blow the bulk of the leaves out without disturbing the mulch or lava rock. Then in the Spring we do a thorough job. the reasoning for this is that the beds have to be gone over again in the spring anyway, so your only blowing half as much mulch out as you would have if you were to totally clean them out in the fall too

Me too... Do not disturb the mulch in the beds but if it's dry you can remove some of the debris, however bed cleanup is best left until Spring for 2 mahor reasons...

Of course everyone has their individual desires and quantity of leave and seasons to deal with. One size doe not fit all...