What would you have done???

[LwnmwrMan22]

Originally Posted by Buckskinner38

Ok Gotch ya, let me see if I read this right:
He bought the BIG bags of the Scotts 28-2-3 or whatever that was sold to him that covers 15,000' SqFt per app and has layed out enough fertilizer to cover a small PARK for the whole year?

THERE you go....

He denied my service when I would only put down the required rate at the 'required' intervals.

[Buckskinner38]

So... How DID his yard look? I mean it sounds like a train wreck, You dont wanna look, but you just got to look!

[LwnmwrMan22]

Originally Posted by Buckskinner38

So... How DID his yard look? I mean it sounds like a train wreck, You dont wanna look, but you just got to look!

I looked "normal" for a yard that's just had snow on it a week ago.

It's somewhat hard to tell what's mold and what's just grass that's still dormant this time of year, especially when you have no idea of how they mowed or what the yard looked like previously. It wasn't completely distressed looking though, although he's got to either be putting TONS of work into it, or he's not telling the truth about that much fert.

I didn't get a real long chance to talk with him, to find out what the reason was for him putting that much fertilizer on, whether he thought it looked better (dark green), wanted to mow every day, or what.

I tried to explain to him how proper care would make the grass healthier and better looking, without the straight fert., but he wasn't really playing along, so that's when I just said "think about it, and give me a call back".

[Buckskinner38]

Or he could have been using some sort of organic fertilizer like milorganite or blood meal. With exception to the Milorganite the blood meal is hi in nitrogen. The Blood meal would be a fast release and neither of them would burn a lawn. Well let be rephrase that by saying its possibilities to burn a lawn are LOW...

I cant see a cool season grass yard taken on that amount of Nitrogen and not get burned.

For all we know his septic tank may have been leaking or is full

[LwnmwrMan22]

If he doesn't call back by Monday, I'm going to give a follow up call, let him have time to think over the weekend.

I'm taking this on as a challenge, plus I want to get the soil samples, see what's really in that yard.

I personally can't believe he's been putting on 4-5 x's the amount of fertilizer that's for his yard.

Either he's putting 8-10 bags per season on, or he's using the 5k sq ft bags per round.

The more I think about it, the more I think of it as an insult to my intelligence. I've been doing this (as have many on this board) long enough to know that if you're doing that much fert., that either it's going to burn out the yard, or you're mowing every day and your water bill is unbelievable.

Either of which I can't understand why you'd do, even if you had so much money you had no other idea what to do with. For what it's worth, these houses are in the $600k-2.5M range, which you east coast guys would be looking at $1.5-4M for these places.... remember, this is the midwest.

http://www.cbburnet.com/CustomModule...51810000000000

There's a link to the type of property we're talking about, this house is across the street and one house to the west.

Here's another house that's about 5 to the west of this property.

http://www.edinarealty.com/Listing/L...sting=26797587

[PHS]

The more I think about it, the more I think of it as an insult to my intelligence. I've been doing this (as have many on this board) long enough to know that if you're doing that much fert., that either it's going to burn out the yard, or you're mowing every day and your water bill is unbelievable.

I've had that happen lots of times. A customer tells you something and since half the time they don't know what they're talking about and the the other half are telling stories to get you to do something it's easy to misread sometimes . Nice neighborhood there.

[Buckskinner38]

Let us know how it turns out. Even if you don't get the job. I'm curious as to what he has to say on what he has done to his yard... So turn on that salesman charm and patronize him!

[humble1]

Originally Posted by LwnmwrMan22

I had a call today, customer in a well-to-do neighborhood. I've already been doing a couple of neighbors of his, and over the winter they dropped my name and number to him.

Anyways, we're talking, and I ask over the phone "how big is your yard, do you know the sq. ft. of the turf?" He says "I put down 8-10 bags of fertilizer 4 times per year, 15k sq ft bags".

I thought that's odd, no one in that area has 4 acre yards, they're all about 1 acre of turf.

I said okay, so 8-10 bags per year, right? He said no, 35-40 bags per year.

I said you do realize that you're over applying, right? He said "yes, but I want it thick and green".

I continued on saying that what you're doing isn't really working, it'd be like painting your house 20 times per year, 4 different times of applying 5 coats. The first time would do the trick, with maybe a second coat to touch things up, but after that you're not gaining anything.

I stopped by today and it's about 40k sq ft of turf. I quoted him a price of $160 per app. He said does that include double fertilizing. I said no, that's using the proper amount of fertilizer for your yard.

He said how much more to double fertilize it. I said I would not do that. It's not good for the health of the yard and it's just a waste of product as well as his money.

He said no thanks, that he'll keep doing it himself.

Would you have purposefully overapplied to get the account?? Or just cut back on the application rate and covered the property 3-4 times so it looked like you're overapplying?? Or turn down the account like I did?

If he is putting down 8-10 5000 sq ft bags he would be on the money.
if he was putting down what he says the amount of N would fry the lawnjust like if you stopped spreading and dropped a pile.

[Stillwater]

Originally Posted by kbrashears

That is encroaching on some serious environmental issues as well.

That guy needs an education. Not so you can pick him up, but for the good of everyone.

Please tell all of us the consequences to double ferting your lawn

[LushGreenLawn]

Originally Posted by Stillwater

Please tell all of us the consequences to double ferting your lawn

Do you really need an explination?