Questions You Need To Ask Your Lawn Maintenance Company

Asking the right questions is essential when working with a lawn maintenance company. Doing so helps you avoid scams, keep your yard healthy, and stay happy with the service you receive. Knowing what to ask can be tricky, though. You need to ask about licenses, insurance, references, and the company's history to ensure you are doing business with legitimate people. You always want to weed out the scammers in favor of more seasoned professionals.

It's also important to ask questions to set realistic expectations about the level of service you will receive. You need to know exactly what kind of work will be done and what it will cost. This helps prevent any letdowns or misunderstandings later on. Plus, understanding the different services the company offers, like pest control and weed removal, lets you customize your lawn care plan to keep your yard looking its best. Keeping the lines of communication open through questions helps build a good relationship with your service provider. This leads to a healthy lawn and quality service, so don't be afraid to ask away!

While the neighborhood guy mowing lawns for cash likely doesn't have a license and insurance, some states require registered outdoor maintenance companies to have both. This is especially true if the company does more specialized work, like installing topiaries or performing any pest control with restricted chemicals. Having a license means the workers at the business meet certain standards set by the state, have the right knowledge and skills, and are following all the local rules. 

It is also important for businesses to have insurance because accidents happen. If anything goes wrong during lawn maintenance — like a broken window from a flying pebble or a chemical burn from pesticides — the business' insurance should cover it. However, if the business doesn't have insurance or you are found liable, all responsibility could be thrown back onto your homeowner's policy instead. So, if licensing and insurance apply in your state, knowing your lawn maintenance company has both can save you plenty of headaches.

If you care about having organic or eco-friendly grass care, you should have an honest conversation with your lawn maintenance company. You need to make sure that this team is well-versed in these practices and will do them correctly. For example, a company that has never worked with organic lawns before might not know how to test the soil to discover its pH level and nutrient content. The team might use pesticides with chemicals you would rather not be around. It also might not mow high, leaving your grass too short for proper root growth to occur. In order to make sure they are well-versed in it, ask them to walk you through their week-to-week procedure for organic lawn care.

However, if you feel iffy with their answers, it might be best to avoid a company that doesn't practice environmentally friendly care for all its clients. While some contractors might be willing to work with you to mow high and avoid pesticides, there is always the possibility that a certain lawn crew might not get the memo, ruining all your progress. There is also likely to be an extra charge for these services since they are outside its typical scope, so it is easier to seek out a specialized company.

You need to know if the company just mows and goes, or is responsible for total lawn care. Some lawn companies offer a full range of services, like mowing, edging, fertilizing, controlling weeds and pests, aerating, and more. They take care of everything — even things like the timing of your automatic sprinkler system — to make sure your lawn and flowerbeds look great and are healthy. Other companies just do a quick mow and edge and jet off to their next clients.

If you are currently experiencing the latter and would like to add more services, speak to your lawn company about what options are available. They may have a larger skillset that is available to you for a small increase in costs. Proper yard care takes a lot of planning, so knowing what exactly your current team is capable of will make the entire process much easier.

You want to make sure your lawn company knows how to handle the type of grass you have. There are many different types of grass. For example, take residents of the southern United States. They tend to use Bermuda grass because it does well in hot weather and doesn't need too much water to thrive. On the other hand, Zoysia grass still thrives in the shade and doesn't mind if things get a little chilly outside. Both of these grasses grow from seed, while St. Augustine which is most popular in Texas, needs to be laid as sod to survive. Each requires a slightly different type of care, so you want to make sure the lawn company is familiar with the one you have on your particular property. When you add in things like topiaries, flowers, and water features, you need a lawn company with plenty of experience.

You don't want to ruin the shape of your topiaries because someone doesn't know how to trim them or reseed your lawn with the wrong type of grass. Even if you have been working with one company for a while, always ask questions about the specifics of their prior experience before you add any new services to your account.

It's really important to know how your lawn maintenance company handles complaints. You should ask about this ahead of time. This way, you don't have to figure out who to talk to when something unsavory happens — you will know exactly who to call. For example, you might come home to see that it doesn't look like anyone mowed at all, but the check is missing from the back porch. Or maybe a few of your plant pots are broken, or the edges of your lawn look terrible and patchy.

By asking how management deals with complaints, you also get an idea of how committed it is to fixing problems and making sure you're happy. For example, if the company has a 100% money-back guarantee policy, you know that it stands by its services. Or if it claims the crew will come back immediately to fix the botched job, you know you won't have anything to worry about if a mistake happens. However, if the company doesn't give you a satisfactory answer or claims it never runs into such problems, that can give you an inkling that it waves off most complaints. 

In addition to sussing out how serious the company is about righting mistakes, this proactive conversation is also great for setting expectations around the quality of work you want to be completed — whether it's about the quality of the lawn care, the health of your plants, or anything else that might come up.

Some lawn maintenance providers do things pretty casually. They might just make verbal agreements about the work to be done and shake hands to make a deal. These companies (or sole proprietors) take payments usually made in cash and have no written paperwork. On the other hand are the larger, incorporated companies. They usually offer written estimates and contracts that include all the details. This will be all the services provided, how much each costs, payment terms, and any special conditions or guarantees. Having everything in writing gives you transparency, legal protection, and a clear understanding of what you're agreeing to.

Writing things down, even if it is just in a text message or email to your provider, is good for both sides. It gives you something to refer back to in case something goes wrong, making sure you get the services you expect. Written agreements also clarify everyone's responsibilities and expectations. By asking about how a company does its estimates and contracts, you can pick one that fits with what you prefer — whether you like things to be formal or more relaxed.