There is nothing quite like the smell of fresh cut grass and having a beautifully manicured lawn around your home, especially during the spring and summer months. To keep your lawn looking top notch, it is vital to maintain it regularly throughout the year. If you don’t have the time to do this yourself or if you just don’t want to, consider hiring a lawn mowing service.
Here are some important tips to help you find one that works for you.
How’s their reputation?
While reviews don’t always provide the whole story (usually only really positive and really negative experiences are written about online), they do provide a good glimpse at what you’re getting into. Also, if the company has tons and tons of negative reviews and detailed accounts of inadequacy, you can probably count on them to be a shoddy company.
Are they licensed and insured?
Being licensed and insured is a must. But it’s not the standard. I bet you know somebody who pays under the table for lawn care. It’s very common. You might even do it yourself. We’re suggesting you might want to stop that practice, for a couple of reasons. One, if they’re licensed and insured, then you know they’ve dedicated their life’s work to being a professional. They’re not just trying to make a quick buck on the side. Two – and more importantly – if they get injured on your property, you’ll likely be liable. Not only that, if their mower flicks a rock through your window, their insurance won’t cover the damage.
How is their customer service?
Excellent customer service from a lawn care company seems to be a diamond in the rough these days. It’s tough to get a quote. It’s even more difficult to modify service or get specialty jobs done. Many companies are disorganized, and you’ll spend way too much time playing phone tag (which is why we suggest lawn care companies because ’email first’ businesses).
So in that case, look for a company with an office manager or owner-operator who will always respond promptly and reasonably.
Look for a lawn care company that is up-to-date on technology, reachable through email/social media, and preferably one that uses lawn care scheduling and billing software.
How do they maintain their equipment?
A great question to weed out bad lawn care providers: “How often do you sharpen your blades?” This is a frequent disparity between your average DIYer and a lawn care company. A professional can tell the difference between grass cut with a dull and a sharp blade. Dull blades make grass look tattered and brown on top. If you’re mowing your own lawn, you’d generally change your blade once or twice per year. Good lawn care companies usually sharpen or change blades every 1-2 days.
Make Sure the Price is Right
Fitting the service to your budget is clearly important, so go ahead and ask them about their rates and what level of service is included in their quotes. If you need a number of services, always check to see if you can afford them all. Also, find out how often you’ll have to pay and in which form they like to receive payment.