G Henslee wrote:
Two words. Lawn_service.
A lawn service for a measly 4000 sq. ft.? Writing out the check to a lawn
service is almost as much work as mowing 4000 sq. ft.
My neighbor uses a lawn service for his 8000 sq ft yard. The lawn guy spends
less than a half-hour, including trimming the corners, and a little edging. What
he does do is he cuts (what's left of) the lawn way too short, and applies way
too much fertilizer. This year the first day of spring hasn't even gotten here
yet, and he's already turned 1/3 of my neighbor's lawn brown, and 1/3 is down to
bare dirt again.
So soon he'll come out for the annual re-seeding. My neighbor will spend more
time moving the sprinkler around for the constant watering than he would have
spent mowing the lawn. It'll green-up for the end of spring, and then, thanks to
the crew-cut, that will be the first lawn on the block to go brown for the
summer again. Which means the lawn guy will be able to get my neighbor to pay
for another autumn lawn renovation.
In the end, my neighbor spends a lot of time and money watering his yard, in
addition to the money he spends on the lawn service, and he has the worst lawn
on the block. (Second place goes to the folks who pay for the chemical company
to come out and spray chemicals on their lawn.) The lawn service's interest is
in always having something more they can charge for. Lawn services are
self-sustaining, and not in the best interest of the home owner.
Meanwhile those of us who spend 1/2 hour behind our mowers ultimately spend less
time, and much less money on our yards. If they were only 4000 sq. ft., the
savings by doing it ourselves would be even greater.
So to the suggestion of a lawn service for a 4000 sq. ft. lawn, I'd have to
offer my two words: Get Real.
--
Warren H.
==========
Disclaimer: My views reflect those of myself, and not my
employer, my friends, nor (as she often tells me) my wife.
Any resemblance to the views of anybody living or dead is
coincidental. No animals were hurt in the writing of this
response -- unless you count my dog who desperately wants
to go outside now.
Your Guide to the Care and Feeding of a Suburban Lawn:
http://www.holzemville.com/community...are/index.html