bi-weekly bed maintenance

[dnc19694339]

So maybe I would be better off selling them a pre-emergent for the beds and putting that down when I do first lawn application.

Have to figure out some pricing for this. This could be more profitable than the weeding possibly?

I have not used preen before, does it work well? Or what do you recommend?

[greendoctor]

Gly is glyphosate. Personally, I do not like using glyphosate in beds. I prefer either selective herbicides like Lontrel or the grass herbicides or Diquat. There are lots of preemergents that can be used in beds. Ronstar, Sureguard, Gallery, Dimension and the orange herbicides. Preen is good for grassy weed control in cool season areas.

[Florida Gardener]

Originally Posted by dnc19694339

So maybe I would be better off selling them a pre-emergent for the beds and putting that down when I do first lawn application.

Have to figure out some pricing for this. This could be more profitable than the weeding possibly?

I have not used preen before, does it work well? Or what do you recommend?

I try not to spend more time than needed doing weed control. Hand pulling is really a waste of time. You are much better putting down pre m's that will need only a few apps for the year depending on location. I price in weed control in my prices because I don't want to nickel and dime clients for 5-10 minutes of work 1-2 times per month with gly that costs pennies. Now, if you have full beds and weeds are a problem, you need to look at irrigation because full beds have little light penetration so weeds typically shouldn't be a nuisance. I would rather focus my time on pruning, or installing, both jobs that will net more money and be a better use of your time.
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[Florida Gardener]

Btw, for rock beds or open beds, I like sureguard liquid pre m. For tight beds, I like snapshot granular.
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[32vld]

Do not sell weed pulling. Sell weekly bed maintanence, which is weeding and pruning.

[weeze]

i spray gly in beds on every yard i cut once every month or two all season long. it's figured into the regular price. i would never weed a bed or use the trimmer in a bed. spray roundup and i'm done with it for months before i have to worry about it again. i prolly spray a bed 4 times a year on average. doesn't take long at all either. it may add 5min to the amount of time i'm there that day. i just make sure not to spray any plants or bushes lol.

i do the same for weeds/grass growing through cracks in driveways/sidewalks and such and also along fence lines and around telephone poles, mailboxes, street signs, etc.

if you do it right it doesn't look bad at all and you don't have to worry about it for months. also it saves you a ton of time trimming all of those things which helps you profit more money by spending less time there. don't go crazy with it but when you use it to your advantage it will really help you out.

when you roundup around something just roundup right where the pole or whatever is. that way it kills everything about 1"-2" around the pole for example. this way you can just mow right up against it and not have to trim anything. i do the same around trees. gly isn't gonna kill a big tree. when you are mowing a 3 acre yard with 20 trees or so in it you wouldn't believe how much time this will save you. it has to be done right though and not a huge circle around the trees where it's obvious. around here the grass usually doesn't grow that great right next to trees anyways so you can't even notice roundup was used if you do it right.

[Armsden&Son]

Wow, good thread guys... Lot's of good info here... That's pretty amazing that you can get away with spraying around trees on your property there JasonsLawnCare1.... The folks we usually service would go bonkers if we tried to pull that off... All power to you though, if you can save yourself time while still pleasing the customer, you are doing something right. Personally, I'm going to have to agree with Florida Gardener and greendoctor on this one.. Preventative maintenence should be taking care of most of your weed problems in the first place and if you are mowing or trimming by the beds and you see a freshie pop up, yes, you should get off your mower and grab it. Most importantly, and Florida Gardener touched on this, this should all be figured into all of your estimates in the first place. Most folks who pay for lawn service just want to see perfection, nice lawn, nice flower beds, nice shrubs and bushes, nice patio, nice landscape effects, ... If you can be the guy that gives these people the peace of mind that they NEVER have to think about/worry about a single blade of grass being one tenth of centimeter too long...... You will be priceless. So...... Do not sell yourself short.... and price accordingly...........

[weeze]

the problem here is most people didn't have their beds done right to begin with or either the barrier has worn away over time. most are too cheap to have them redone as well. if they had paper/fabrik/barrier put down under their mulch correctly then weeds wouldn't grow in the beds anyways.

[ed2hess]

Just spray the weeds with roundup or hoe em out.

[TheOakGroveGardeners]

Originally Posted by 32vld

Do not sell weed pulling. Sell weekly bed maintanence, which is weeding and pruning.

what this fellow said. calculate your labor rate, and consult a table of production values to figure out what you'll need to charge to get the work done AND earn a profit.

we rely on a thorough spring cleanup to avoid having to weed. the best way to do accomplish that is to clean the beds thoroughly in the spring, apply mulch, and then apply an application of pre-emergent, typically snapshot. it lasts for months. i don't think that ronstar is available for purchase.