This spring has been especially wet. There is no doubt about it! The rain hasn't let up yet now that we're almost into July and it looks like mother nature is going to keep it coming. It's tough to get any outdoor work accomplished especially for those Lawn care guys who I'm sure you see driving all around with their trucks and trailers all packed with mowers, trimmers, blowers, and anything else used to keep those lawns looking green, neat, and clean.
You may have thought about hiring one of these lawn specialist to manage your yard, yourself, either because you don't have the time to do it, or because you'd like a professional's touch. Either way, it's good to be sure you know who you are hiring. There are A TON of lawn companies out there to choose from, which makes finding the right one a chore in itself. They all pretty much look the same when you are shopping around, so what should you do to find the right one?
If you simply don't care what your lawn looks like, shopping around for the lowest price may be the way to go. If you can find a RELIABLE teenager to mow your lawn this may be ideal. Lawn care isn't rocket science, and a lot of teens are always looking for a way to make some extra money in the summer. Finding the right teen to mow your lawn may very well be a win/win/win for you, the teen, and the parents of the teen that just wants them out of the house for the summer. Be cautious, however. If you hire a teen to mow for you be sure to have a back up plan or be prepared to mow yourself on occasion because teens aren't necessarily always reliable. Also note that if the kid mowing your yard injures himself, someone else, or damages property while mowing your yard you may be liable. If you go this route be extra cautious by making sure there is nothing lying around that may become a projectile if run over by a mower, be sure to mow any steep embankments for them, and be sure to service the mowers, trimmers, blowers, and other equipment yourself. DO NOT let them operate any equipment for the first time on your property. Lawn equipment is very dangerous, and has been known to injure and even kill people. You do not want to be responsible if something goes wrong.
If you feel more comfortable with an adult mowing your lawn, you're in luck! There is no shortage of adults who also mow part time and as a primary source of income. There is less risk involved with hiring an adult, but (for the most part) there is still risk. If you, again don't care what your lawn looks like, shopping on price might be more beneficial to you. Lawn companies are EVERYWHERE so getting a price from 10 of them shouldn't be too difficult. You may get some wildly different prices from 10 different lawn companies because of their structure. You may even get some that are lower than the teenager's price you were thinking about hiring before. Just note that there are a lot of variables to consider between these companies, and typically there are a lot more benefits to hiring higher priced lawn companies and there is a lot more risk when hiring low priced companies.
Low priced companies: Low priced companies/sole proprietors on the side/under the table guys-these guys don't charge much for a reason. One of the reasons may be that they aren't reliable; they show up every once in a while when you hired them to mow weekly. If they work a full time job, you will always be on the back burner. If their full time job is offering overtime, you might as well start mowing yourself. Another reason is they have no overhead-meaning they have NO INSURANCE and they are NOT LICENSED. This might not seem like a big deal to many people when looking for a lawn company, until their lawn guy sideswipes their A/C unit with a zero turn mower and you never hear from them again.
Higher priced companies: The highest price lawn service isn't necessarily the most meticulous, so don't get suckered into paying too much for your lawn service. However, if you don't want to have to worry about being liable for mistakes, and just want some peace of mind, make sure you hire someone that is licensed and insured. Most licensed and insured companies are in it for the long haul, and genuinely care about their customers. These companies usually have professional looking logos, websites, facebook pages, etc. If you are looking to hire one of these companies you can usually find a lot of information on them and a plethora of pictures to compare on their websites and other web pages to give you an idea of how well they'd treat you and your lawn. Most of them would never leave you with a lawn looking like the title picture no matter how wet the spring is.
As I stated before, " Lawn care isn't rocket science." Finding the lawn company that best fits you should't be either. Don't hire the wrong lawn company!
Below is a link to the Little Lawn Co. LLC's website. The Little Lawn Co. is a lawn care service provider in the Altoona, PA area. They are staffed, licensed, insured, and are one of the few lawn service providers with the capability to take on new customers regularly. The Little Lawn Co. LLC offers the most reliable service in the industry by PAYING YOU double your weekly lawn rate back if they can't make it to mow a scheduled lawn for ANY reason! They take pride on "leaving each property better than they found it," and their monthly billing system makes them simpler to work with than a utility company than a lawn service.
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