My situation.. It never ends

[XtreemGreen]

Originally Posted by swstout Nitch markets: pressure washing**We are on Harsh water restrictions.. You need to supply the water now a days.. Organic lawn care Insect repellants - Chemical free Soil conditioning - Organic Living fences and hedges Organic insect control - nematodes Weed control (organic) Gutter cleaning Roto tilling** I have yet to see a home down here with a garden... Ask for needs and supply them Steve I replied in bold in your quote... The rest I have never looked into..I may look into the organic weed and pest control..

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In Memory of My Dad..1943-2008..Gary "Snuffy" Smith

[swstout]

Lawn care business tips

Originally Posted by XtreemGreen I replied in bold in your quote... The rest I have never looked into..I may look into the organic weed and pest control.. I have not done a garden yet! I rototill poor lawns and re-seed or sod lawns. Synthetuc fertilizers nave made the soil sterile, Tilling aerates, builds humus and sets the lawns for new health. I use Nature's Lawn products to make the lawns display sites. If you get one such job, you will get many more after only a month. I did one 3 weks ago and now have 3 contracts for neighbors. Steve

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[XtreemGreen]

Originally Posted by swstout

I have not done a garden yet! I rototill poor lawns and re-seed or sod lawns. Synthetuc fertilizers nave made the soil sterile, Tilling aerates, builds humus and sets the lawns for new health. I use Nature's Lawn products to make the lawns display sites. If you get one such job, you will get many more after only a month. I did one 3 weks ago and now have 3 contracts for neighbors.

Steve

Sounds interesting.. What type of sod do you guys use up there... Ours is either St. Augstein or bahia mainly..
I did my sisters yard a couple years ago... I tilled it using my edger..

[swstout]

Originally Posted by XtreemGreen

Sounds interesting.. What type of sod do you guys use up there... Ours is either St. Augstein or bahia mainly..
I did my sisters yard a couple years ago... I tilled it using my edger..

Here, I get calls for Centipede and Burmuda. Centipede for lawn with pH of less than 6.0 (mostly in lawns with many pine trees) and Bermuda because it takes over pushing weeds out. Centipede really must be a sod installation because it is so slow growing. Bermuda can have a lush lawn in 4 - 5 weeks.

I used to rent a commercial tiller and had no problem getting the $500 per day cost. I now have a RD tow behind tiller that has seeding attachments and roling functionallity. 3 jobs paid for it.

Steve

[CHEESE2009]

There is a situation down here where big lawn service companies from 3 cities over have now pushed there services in my city.

The company I used to work for controlled this area, they have several customers.

I got a phone call from them (the company I worked for) & we talked about all these guys coming into the area & harming our business.

Just the other day going to one of my customers I passed by 3 fully loaded trucks from this other company who is based HOURS away, one every 2 blocks. They are really picking up. I'm sure it'll get pretty heated soon. Their prices are low, & they are doing really well.

Not only that, my aunts company is now in my area & she's based several hours away, & she's expanded into my area. It's pissing a lot of owners off. They are coming in to clean out the place.

The worst part is, because I left the company I worked for, they are down 20% also because of other problems. Instead of their plans to grow x2, they decreased to square one, almost where I'm at. So basically the west island based companies are screwed, & others are coming in.

Next time I advertise, I'm going to make a deal with home owners who live in dead end streets. I'll give them my fairest price, if ALL or a lot of them hire my services. It'll keep me secure, save on gas, etc. My stable sections. I'll look pretty bad @ss with my lawn signs on all of the houses too.

[XtreemGreen]

I think alot of lco's are out for QUANTITY instead of QUALITY now a days..

[andyjoneslawncare]

One thing to help narrow down opportunities that hasn't been mentioned. You can't seed St Augustine (which every high end home has) and we don't have soil. We have sand with a half inch of sod on top. There's no clay or soil compaction, etc. I'm not sure that leaves a market for aeration OR seeding, or am I wrong? Maybe look into resodding? Look for burnt out yards or large patches of brown from bugs or whatever, go to the nearest landscape supply place, load up the trailer or truck with sod, and turn average yards into perfect yards. I resodded only about 400 square feet (100 16"x20" pieces of sod I think. You do the math, I'm too tired) but it was a piece of cake. I used a square shovel but I think an edger would've worked to. The old stuff lifted right off the sand "soil" and I just laid the new stuff down. I'm not sure what the going rate is but now is a good time since we're getting more rain to help it get started.

[swstout]

Originally Posted by andyjoneslawncare

One thing to help narrow down opportunities that hasn't been mentioned. You can't seed St Augustine (which every high end home has) and we don't have soil. We have sand with a half inch of sod on top. There's no clay or soil compaction, etc. I'm not sure that leaves a market for aeration OR seeding, or am I wrong? Maybe look into resodding? Look for burnt out yards or large patches of brown from bugs or whatever, go to the nearest landscape supply place, load up the trailer or truck with sod, and turn average yards into perfect yards. I resodded only about 400 square feet (100 16"x20" pieces of sod I think. You do the math, I'm too tired) but it was a piece of cake. I used a square shovel but I think an edger would've worked to. The old stuff lifted right off the sand "soil" and I just laid the new stuff down. I'm not sure what the going rate is but now is a good time since we're getting more rain to help it get started.

You probably wouldn't need aeration but the bio-enhanced de thatcher would help the lawns. It has the natural microbes and fungi the lawns need for robust growth. It also builds humus if you mulch your cuttings. I had St Augustine at my home in Jacksonville. After three years I had about 4" of humus, not just the 1/2" from the sod. Roots well established.

I would have it here but we are at the very top limit for the grass here (Northern South Carolina).

I do sod also, in fact I bid on a housing project with 21 homes under construction on 125 x 200 lots this afternoon. Most homeowners won't go for the more expensive sod, so I offer new lawns, over seeding, etc.

Steve

[andyjoneslawncare]

Xtreem, have you read this thread? http://www.gopherforum.com/showthread.php?t=9245 I'm just figuring this out so it could be a disaster, but I sent around 60 emails a couple days ago and have gotten several responses and today a new account without spending a dime! Even though I haven't seen any money yet, it really helps the positive attitude to at least have something going on instead of being frustrated and losing hope. Even if my payment method doesn't work out, if you can find a realtor to send you a list of distressed properties you can email all the realtors and let them know how you can help. Give them a solution to a problem and try to make it seem personal and not just more spam. Realtors get a lot of spam and are quickly ready to delete. Also, in the "subject" line, just put in the address of the property. Then, they HAVE TO open it and read it, because it could be someone interested in buying the property. Promise me you'll give it a try and we'll compare notes and see what works and what doesn't. Oh, yeah, doesn't cost a dime. Lets turn the corner!