I am so ready! I have been so very eager to get goin. I dont start my regular clients for another couple weeks, but i have been servicing mowers and equipment and gettin it all ready to go this past week. Good luck to everyone this year!
So what happens after scalping? If you would skip that phase you would probably pick up an extra couple mows and keeps weeds from growing in the grass. We probably have same grass types and scalping stopped about 15 years ago.
I make the same whether I mow or not because all my contracts are structured on a year-round basis. I work hard in the summer but I still keep some cash flow in the winter so I don't starve.
Still, I got out and mowed this week. Most didn't really need it but it felt great to get out at least make some stripes so people don't think I died or something.
I agree with the scalping. I always try to scalp and bag the bermuda lawns. I helps get all the dead grass blades out of the way so your not cutting new and dead this spring. It also helps with faster green-up. As for the weeds, with regular pre-m applications they do not seem to be a problem. I guess everbody has their own ways, but this is my favorite.
Ya thats what i do. It just helps the yard look like a deeper green instead of having a little dead mixed in with new growth. I dont know what you guys think about that or you may have your own way but i get 3 times the regular price of the yard for scalping
We have already started our spring clean ups, thanks to the January ice storm that broke all the trees down. The tree people are making a killing. The city of springfield wrote 24 million in contracts for the clean-up. There are crews from as far away as North Carolina here working. I heard one contractor with several bucket trucks was making 100k per week. The weather has been in the 60's all week and I'm sick of trees and ready to get back to lawn care.
Start our spring clean-ups in about a week. Start mulching the next week. Start mowing the week after that. Can't wait to get out from behind this desk and get some manual labor done. Need to feel the sun on my face.
i've found some of the yards i've scalped in the past actually still have green to them closer to the root. bermuda and zoysia are the only two things i scalp.
With scalping you do extra weed control and every fall you completely reseed and fert the entire lawn, a process I don't see but every 3-5 years.
I think scalpers even do this twice / year: In the fall, completely kill off the existing grass, and reseed with rye for the winter.
Then in spring, kill the rye and replant fescue (or possibly the more expensive bermuda).
All of this costs a lot of money.
Might even be better than cutting weekly all season round.
As for me, I believe in neither of these schemes.
Otoh, considering the enormous amount of folks who apparently never think twice of taking advantage of the lawn guy, I can definitely see it.
I dont know what you guys are talking about re seeding with expensive bermuda and everyting else. You are in virginia that is a totaly different climant then oklahoma and you guy grow different grasses up there. Scalping does not kill bermuda here at least. Man i have seen people not water bermuda all summer with no rain and 110 degrees outside and bermuda lives. You cant hardly kill bermuda here.
Yeah I was hoping it would start up soon since it was warming up but now they say were in for an ice storm w/snow this weekend. I just got new tires on trailer and picked up new equipment and starting to get everything else fired up and now this, a winter storm. Go figure that one.
I dont know what you guys are talking about re seeding with expensive bermuda and everyting else. You are in virginia that is a totaly different climant then oklahoma and you guy grow different grasses up there. Scalping does not kill bermuda here at least. Man i have seen people not water bermuda all summer with no rain and 110 degrees outside and bermuda lives. You cant hardly kill bermuda here.
This is true! I think the only thing that kills bermuda here is the shade! Are any other Okies getting ready to scalp? I usually wait till closer to mid March...am I just leaving money on the table?:usflag:
No i dont think so because i usualy dont start till mid march and if you scalp earlier you just have to wait till it starts to grow. I am just doing a few and trying to avoid the all at once rush that happened last year and made me loose a few customers that i couldnt get to. I will probably start hitting it really hard about the 15th or so.
I am getting stuff ready to go this week. I have several estimates to take care of, a few mowings, and generally gettin crap ready to use. It just puts me in a better mood getting to go ot and start working on stuff.
We have had regular jobs all year. From landscaping to small tree removal, winterizing fertilization, fall clean ups, spring aeration, detaching, fertilization, tractor work, and now we have cranked up the mowers, and are cutting regularly. I love year round contracts.
I technically started yesterday. We got my trimmer racks mounted, then when I was driving around showing them off (yea, right, like anyone even noticed) it hit me that "hey, I should be cutting pampas grass". So, I was about the first LCO in town cutting residential pampas grass, ONLY one doing it yesterday even though it was NICE out. I got almost all my pampas grass done already, just got a little more lined up. I will probably put an ad in the paper March 1 for more pampas grass cutting and spring leaf cleanup. I will start clean-up mowing here in a couple weeks. Then in a couple weeks after that I will be mowing weekly .
this week kicks off full time spring clean ups and mulching
we have about 4 installs pretty big and wont start mowing till about 1st of april unless it gets warm and stays that way, cant wait, cant wait !!!!
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