# The High Cost of Fert & Squirt Services



## FlowRider (Apr 7, 2019)

I was outside today on a beautiful day, and my neighbor across the street from me had a lawn service contractor come to visit.

I was unloading mulch from my pickup, so I was watching the young man to see what he actually was doing. He used a granular spreader, then a pump back pack, and a leaf blower to clean up.

He came over and asked me if I was interested in their services. I asked him to give me a quote.

I gave him my lot size and turf area square footage. He gave me the "first service discount" of $24.95. He quoted me $88 a visit, 8 services a year in "stages" and said that was for fertilizer and weed control.

So, roughly $720 a year, for basically walking around with a spreader and then spot spraying.

I asked what he was doing to the neighbor's yard. He was "winterizing" so I asked how.

Tells me he used a 5-10-5 fertilizer, and then proceeds to stammer over what N-P-K stood for....

Then I asked about what he was spraying. Their "standard" weed control of "Celsius and NXT" he says, acting as if he had some sort of secret formula.

So, I let him finish his spiel, and told him I would let him know if I was interested. Asked for a card, and he gives me the door hanger card. Then tells me to text him before I call, because he does not always answer a call unless he gets a text first. Interesting approach to instill customer confidence.

So, when someone tells you how expensive Celsius and Certainty and other herbicides are, just think how it would be to hire a contractor service instead. $720 buys a lot of herbicides and pesticides....

BTW, his efforts at put down fert & squirt was so half-hearted I would never hire the company.

These guys truly do take advantage of consumers, in my view. The good news is the neighbors yard does look better than it used to.

They also pay $25 a month to have a guy wash out their trash and recycle bins. $300 a year....

So, since I DIY, now I know I am saving $1000+ a year; and $2000/year on mow/edge/blower work.

Not a whole lot of money, but it looks better in my bank than it does paying them for slack work....

Of course, I have owned this house for four years plus, so that number is now ~$13,500 in savings.

Yeah. It really adds up over time. :thumbsup: Someone is getting fleeced by these guys. :dunno:


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## dfw_pilot (Jan 28, 2017)

TLF is aimed at the DYI'er and the knowledge shared here is invaluable, on so many levels.

Not paying a lawn service saves a lot of money and reminds me of the old saw:

_"I walked home to save bus fare."

"Gee, you could have saved a lot more by not taking a taxi."_​


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## Redtwin (Feb 9, 2019)

FlowRider said:


> Of course, I have owned this house for four years plus, so that number is now ~$13,500 in savings.


Time to get the Toro 3100D!!!


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## Theycallmemrr (May 16, 2019)

I started doing it myself because I wanted it done correctly and for the exercise. I had Tru-Green and it seemed like they were skipping my backyard. Originally it was something like $800/yr. But the local office contacted me after switching to another company and dropped the price to $300/yr after prepay discount. Pre-emergent (prodiamine) is cheap to apply ~$4 an application on my .7 acres. But fertilizer comprises most of my yearly budget. I am much happier with the way my lawn looks even if it may cost me more to do it myself.


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## ionicatoms (Mar 8, 2020)

What you pay a service in dollars is only part of the cost. I feel like with services, there's always some gap in the service that results in a missed opportunity (e.g. lawn guy doesn't recognize a pest problem). Being ignorant about the condition/needs of your property and the products applied and in what quantity takes away from your ability to manage the property effectively, efficiently, and in some cases, safely. Doing it yourself also comes with costs (/errors) but I feel like over time you can reduce those costs because of your learning, whereas if you are always paying a service, you don't really have any choice but to keep paying the market rate.


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## Theycallmemrr (May 16, 2019)

ionicatoms said:


> What you pay a service in dollars is only part of the cost. I feel like with services, there's always some gap in the service that results in a missed opportunity (e.g. lawn guy doesn't recognize a pest problem). Being ignorant about the condition/needs of your property and the products applied and in what quantity takes away from your ability to manage the property effectively, efficiently, and in some cases, safely. Doing it yourself also comes with costs (/errors) but I feel like over time you can reduce those costs because of your learning, whereas if you are always paying a service, you don't really have any choice but to keep paying the market rate.


Especially the safety. Tru green sprayed Simizine which I did as well this year. The problem is Simizine has a 12 hour period where you are not supposed to enter the treated area. I was not made aware of this and went by if it is dry it was safe to reenter. Reading the label myself I have educated myself and kept my family safer as a result. I also don't have to suffer from fire ants anymore because I have been doing my own perimeter pest control and spray the mounds with Bifen when they pop up. I did screw up one time spraying PGR and had a bronze spot for a while where I over sprayed while adjusting the pressure of my sprayer. I won't be making that mistake again.


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## FlowRider (Apr 7, 2019)

Redtwin said:


> FlowRider said:
> 
> 
> > Of course, I have owned this house for four years plus, so that number is now ~$13,500 in savings.
> ...


...Runs off to go research what a Toro 3100D is.... :search:


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## marcjw (Aug 28, 2020)

The only advantage for me personally of using a lawn service would be to cut back on exposure to harmful chemicals. Controversial statement I know. But still those companies aren't spraying PGR, fungicides and things like that so I'd still have to invest in products and be exposed to them. Although I wear PPE, being exposed to products sometimes on a monthly basis worries me a little.


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## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

One thing to remember is that some people just aren't into lawn care. Paying someone to treat their lawn is a way for them to not do something they don't care about. Certainly there are things some of us pay for that others would scoff at because they enjoy doing it or are good at it (taxes, vehicle repairs, home improvements, etc). Everyone has things they enjoy and things they don't. Lawn care isn't for everyone.


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## wiread (Aug 27, 2019)

I like spending time outside and doing some stuff on my lawn. Even if I paid someone it wouldn't be that many apps every year. But sure the stuff isn't terribly expensive, but it's not cheap. I get to control what I put down, how much and where. I bought a sprayer, a few jugs of herbicides, milo, urea and some greens classic and easily spent over 1000 bucks last year.

Would have been much more had I paid someone else to do it. But then if someone wanted me to come do to their yards what I did to mine, it would be pretty expensive too. No way i'm aerating lawns for 20 bucks LOL. You wouldn't get me on that thing for less than 100 bucks for less than an hour profit.


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## pennstater2005 (Jul 17, 2017)

Some of the yards that get serviced near me look pretty good. Spray 2,4d a few times a year and fertilize. Fairly reasonable for the more local ones. My neighbor did stop up a month ago or so and asked why some of his grass looked so dead. I attempted to explain poa T and A but could tell he was glazing over pretty quickly. Sort of like when I talk investing to just about anybody.


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## dfw_pilot (Jan 28, 2017)

pennstater2005 said:


> Sort of like when I talk investing to just about anybody.


lol. I was explaining why we want to roll after tax contributions in our 401k over to the Roth401k to avoid further taxation to a guy making over 400 big ones and even his eyes were glazing over. It's stunning what people don't care about.

Now, back to the high costs of lawn services.


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## pennstater2005 (Jul 17, 2017)

dfw_pilot said:


> pennstater2005 said:
> 
> 
> > Sort of like when I talk investing to just about anybody.
> ...


It didn't take me long to realize once I got a financial adviser that the person who should have the most interest in my money was myself. I remember bring up index funds to the last guy I used and he laughed it off as a fad. I knew I was making the right decision there. By then I had already educated myself by reading a few simple Jack Bogle and William Bernstein books.

Now back on topic :lol:


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## Redtwin (Feb 9, 2019)

I think everything... irrigation installation, -cide applications, cultural practices and yes... even investing are so much easier now because of all the available internet resources. Anyone who has an interest and an internet connection has an unlimited resource of instructions and sometimes personal assistance in just about any subject. Some are pretty sketchy but if you can weed those out, you can do a lot more now than you could 10 years ago.


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## LoCutt (Jul 29, 2019)

marcjw said:


> The only advantage for me personally of using a lawn service would be to cut back on exposure to harmful chemicals...


Since I'm having skin cancer issues on the back of my hands, I wonder about all that gas I spilled and the round-up I sprayed over the years.


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## thesouthernreelmower (Aug 28, 2018)

I am a licensed applicator and do this for a living the past 20 years. It's a service just like anything else. You can clean your own home, or change your own oil and save money. But for some people, they don't want to or care to. So they pay someone else. the average homeowner has zero clue about chemicals, nor cares to learn. Their time it better spent elsewhere. So just because you know enough to be dangerous, doesn't mean someone else is wasting money by hiring a company. It's a good industry and just like all others, there are good and bad companies. We treat all kinds of issues, and offer pgr and fungicides to our customers. We use top of the line products and equipment.


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## MasterMech (Sep 24, 2017)

thesouthernreelmower said:


> I am a licensed applicator and do this for a living the past 20 years. It's a service just like anything else. You can clean your own home, or change your own oil and save money. But for some people, they don't want to or care to. So they pay someone else. the average homeowner has zero clue about chemicals, nor cares to learn. Their time it better spent elsewhere. So just because you know enough to be dangerous, doesn't mean someone else is wasting money by hiring a company. It's a good industry and just like all others, there are good and bad companies. We treat all kinds of issues, and offer pgr and fungicides to our customers. We use top of the line products and equipment.


You're fighting an uphill battle for sure.

There's a few apathetic national corporations hiring entry-level labor and looking to standardize the applications and schedules along with Tom, **** and Harry's Lawn Service that don't know dogfennel from thistle. They only see fert and weed control as an add-on profit opportunity and care nothing about the agronomy or even the end results of their work. All of them think their work is worth the same price as yours.

I wish it was easier for homeowners and commercial customers to differentiate the level of service they are receiving. It's a two-way street for sure, as the customers vary in level of awareness. But even as a "dangerous" DIY'r, :lol: (it's funny because it's true!) even I have trouble identifying the better services just from their forward-facing advertisements.


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## MasterMech (Sep 24, 2017)

marcjw said:


> The only advantage for me personally of using a lawn service would be to cut back on exposure to harmful chemicals. Controversial statement I know. But still those companies aren't spraying PGR, fungicides and things like that so I'd still have to invest in products and be exposed to them. Although I wear PPE, being exposed to products sometimes on a monthly basis worries me a little.


As opposed to the operators of these service who are exposed on the daily? Many of the products we use are safer than they have ever been. At least as far as we know. :mrgreen: Which is exactly why you should use proper PPE and storage/disposal methods. Most of the services will in fact spray fungicides and even PGR, but both are relatively expensive and require frequent applications. Hence they are usually only offered as add-ons.


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## BobLovesGrass (Jun 13, 2020)

When buying stuff folks focus to much on material cost.
Running a business in is expensive, taxes, insurance, trucks, equipment, sick pay, vacation, administration, marketing, time spent quoting, time spent driving. It all adds up to a lot.


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