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what to do about dead grass?

2K views 12 replies 5 participants last post by  mrbray101 
#1 ·
I have a property which is mow/weed/trim hedges only. Its a fast food restaurant so theres a lot of vehicles passing through. I do not do any sort of fertilizing/spraying anything like that. About 8 months ago when I started I told the manager that he needs to get a chemical application company to look at the turf (St. Augustine) and diagnose the problem. It was very thin and a lot of the roots were showing through. It almost looked like too much water to me but I wasn't sure.

That manager moved into a supervisor position and I told the new manager the same thing about 2-3 months down the road.

Now almost 8 months later, the turf looks about the same maybe a little worse. Today there is another new manager. I told him same thing after introducing myself to him.

They are very prompt on the payments. It pays 260/month and takes b/w 45 minutes to an hour depending on what I do. My question is, should I drop them because it makes me look bad. I cringe every time I am there because people see my truck parked there and me mowing the grass and probably assume its my fault the grass is like that. I am not really sure what to do about it, its like an hours worth of negative advertising. Any suggestions?
 
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#4 ·
I dunno man, I dunno...

Suggest aeration + seeding + fert + lime ?

If it's raining in your area, now is a good time so long it's before end of april but it has to be done before that and the sooner the better (NO you can not do this in may, the grass will fry come july because there's not enough time for growth of fresh seeds to withstand summer heat and drought).

If it's not raining, it has to wait until fall.

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LOL hide your truck someplace when you work there j/k
no seriosly I would push and push for a change and if it doesn't happen, either drop the account or wait until they drop you (they might keep you for some time, they might not). It all depends what they want, if they don't care then it's no problem to them.
 
#6 ·
I am not licensed for any treatments, and the only thing they wanted in the contract was mowing. edging, hedge trimming, and weeding the beds. This is all they were willing to pay for. I have been pushing them, but i do not want to do anything until the problem is taken care of. What if there is some problem and I do all that work and nothing changes. I am going to write a letter to the corporate office and see what they say, then maybe give them a month and if nothing changes oh well. Its just hard to drop an account that pays on time every month. Thanks for the replies.
 
#7 ·
ok, Now you lost me, I thought you cared about what your yards looked like as a reflection of your business, but you dont even have a licences to do treatments. Not being able to do treatments for your customers is say to me, you dont really care what they look like, and your just in it for the mow and go service
 
#8 ·
mow2nd said:
ok, Now you lost me, I thought you cared about what your yards looked like as a reflection of your business, but you dont even have a licences to do treatments. Not being able to do treatments for your customers is say to me, you dont really care what they look like, and your just in it for the mow and go service
I am in college for landscape architecture and am doing this job to pay my way through school. I do not want to invest the time and money into getting licensed for spraying/fertilizing because before too long I will be in an internship and will not have time for the business. However, I do care what the lawns look like. Just because fertilizer and sprays arent dumped onto a lawn does not mean it will look horrible. This turf is an exception, from the day I got there it looked bad and I referred them to someone else to have it taken care of. In almost 8 months they have not manged to make a simple phone call and the lawn looks pretty crappy.

The point of the post: I can not treat it and it looks bad. I do not like that people see it and associate the problem with my business. So I am not sure if I should just give them a months notice and drop them or what. They have always payed promptly and are happy with the work I do. It seems like they dont even care that their grass is going to $%@. Maybe that is just the type of people in that business. Thanks for the suggestions though.
 
#9 ·
So, what your asking is does mowing this lawn in a high traffic area reflect on the image of your business and the quality of work you do???I'd have to say that it does...if someone is looking for a lawn service, see's your add then see's you mowing a mostly dead lawn(even if it's NOT your fault) many of them may not know that its not your fault. If your area is as swamped with lawn services as ours is there is plenty to choose from. It is most definently possible you may be considered a hack by whoever sees your work. If the job is worth it keep it...if not then you know what you got to do,
 
#10 ·
Yeah you are right. I think I will give them a month to do something about it, maybe I can get a sod/mulch job and make it look much better. Just want to find out whats wrong first. But after a month if nothing is done about it ill just drop them. 260 isnt going to break me. thanks for the advice, i kind of knew that but just needed to hear it from someone. Most of my accounts are more like 120-150 a month so a 260/month is just hard to get rid of. Thanks for the replies though. :drinkup:
 
#11 ·
At lot of companies don't have the proper licenses to apply pesticides,They either sub out that part of the job or just do it illegally and hope they don't get caught. Personally i think the first option is better.. you can sub that part out still make a little money and have the lawn looking nice.
 
#12 ·
jt5019 said:
At lot of companies don't have the proper licenses to apply pesticides,They either sub out that part of the job or just do it illegally and hope they don't get caught. Personally i think the first option is better.. you can sub that part out still make a little money and have the lawn looking nice.
Yes, if they care enough to pay for it (no offense sir).

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It's a tough call you'll have to make. As for me, in my first 4 years I could've cared less what the lot looked like so long I got paid but now in my 5th year I find myself without that tolerance. To me it had little to do with image per se, I live in a big town and my rig is unmarked so even thou I am sure some folks recognize me, if the owners of the lot were not concerned about the looks then neither was I, and this went on for a long time and I had many sub-standard lots, both commercial and residential.
But it hurt me in other, more subtle ways. For one, it affected my overall attitude, by me not caring for a few lots I found I cared somewhat less for others, or at the very least found it difficult to give a lot of attention to those who wanted it... It was like having to throw a switch inside my mind, it just didn't quite work, in the end either I cared, or I didn't - And that's for all my customers, or none.

More and more I also dislike that feeling of having my hands tied behind my back, which is to say you're left without the option of doing anything at all about a problem for the simple reason the customer won't pay for it because they just don't care.

But... There are some commercial lots around here where image wouldn't make that much a difference, either. If they're in a section of town where every lot all around looks like that, I question whether a ritzy-looking place would make a difference, other than standing out like a sore thumb (even if in a nice way). I don't know, I just don't... perhaps the owners / managers of these lots face that same judgement call, who knows?

But if you're not willing to tolerate it, then do what you feel is best for you and your business. As for me, today I would do what you're thinking but for the past 4 years I would've serviced such a lot without question - In the end the business survives regardless, and I'm not sure exactly how to explain the difference, money-wise it does appear that the better looking places mean less work for more profitable income. So, I have less work (yes literally) but they pay better if you go that route, and I find it easier on the nerves. The bit with having less work is two-fold. For one it could be because such a large percentage of sub-standard lots got dropped, it just didn't quite replenish itself fast enough, but for another I feel the competition for the higher standard props is tougher as well.
 
#13 ·
I hear ya, ive only been in business for a little over a year on my own but the company I worked for before was very picky and highly reputable. I have always cared about my personal property and taken care of things, i guess because I had to buy everything on my own which is sometimes tough for a kid but taught me a lot. This carried over with my lawns that I do. I wouldn't even care too much about subbing out the work if they would just call a treatment service like florida pest control or someone to see what the problem is. Anyways thanks for the advice, i wrote a nice letter, now all i can do is wait and see what the outcome is. Thanks again. Happy easter
 
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