Lawn Care Service

Archive for August, 2010

National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation is a classic movie that I personally could watch over and over again. The effort that Clark put into decorating the family house is epic and of course was naturally going to lead to people in real life attempting to one-up the movie. I thought I would go on an adventure to see if I could fine as many as 20 holiday lighting displays that could hold a candle to the brightness of the Griswold’s home. I have to say I think I found some real impressive works of art here (thank you America). Without further ado, here are 20 Christmas lights that even Clark Griswold would admire:

1. House 1 – The sides and the back of the house are going to get jealous!



2. House 2 – I think I see a spot that was missed, do you?



3. House 3 – Wow! It’s a lot but it is also quite elegant.



4. House 4 – Nice job lighting up the grass (seriously).



5. House 5 – This roof is an amazing show of creativity and patience. Engineer maybe?



6. House 6 – Holiday props do count!



7. House 7 – Best use of snow in the lot!



8. House 8 – This is another example of how elegant a massive lighting display can be.



9. House 9 – What’s all that green grass doing there with nothing on it?



10. House 10 – No words can do this justice!



11. House 11 – Nice tree wrapping!



12. House 12 – Now that’s a lighted pathway!



13. House 13 – Check out the interesting grid look between the siding and the lights.



14. House 14 – This one is much brighter in person!



15. House 15 – Can you see the person taking the picture in this shot?



16. House 16 – Why one blue tree?



17. House 17 – Santa looks like he is falling over, is he okay?



18. House 18 – This is a house right on the Griswold edge.



19. House 19 – By far the best use of snowmen!



20. House 20 – If you can’t beat them, join them!

Now, it might seem unusual for a lawn care service company to put together a list like this but we are all about giving people what you want.  If you want us to help turn your home into something the Griswold’s would admire we would be happy to assist.  Although our work more often is going to look more like this:

There are several different types of holiday light packages and services that most lawn care companies offer including complete installation, removal after the season, and year-round storage of the lights and props.  Normally lighting displays start to get put up early in November (you can usually get a deep discount if you allow your lighting company to install your display earlier in the year).  You should pay close attention to the rules for your home owner’s association to make sure that you have a legal display and that you don’t have your lights up or down too early or late.

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When growing up and mowing our family’s yard I was bent on trying to make different patterns (nothing overly glorious).  I would experiment and most of the time it worked out okay.  I have to admit though, a few times my parents were less than thrilled with the level of creativity I put into my designs.  Okay and sometimes my “designs” were really just what resulted from hurrying up to get on with the rest of my busy day.  However, here are some really nicely done lawn patterns for you to enjoy and perhaps be inspired by (I know I am):

1. Lawn 1 – Notice the complexity of the pattern with diagonals and horizontal lines, nicely done! The way this lawn is cut makes even a standard picture like this look 3D.



2. Lawn 2 – This is a nice and professional circular pattern, not a crop circle just a nicely groomed area of the yard. You will need to start with pretty tall grass to pull off this lawn pattern.



3. Lawn 3 – This is a picture perfect diagonal pattern that even crosses the sidewalk without any errors. This is very nice work!



4. Lawn 4 – This is my personal favorite due to the fact that the multi-layers would take a considerable amount of time to cut. This one is a masterpiece!



5. Lawn 5 – C’mon you have to smile when you see this!



6. Lawn 6 – This is a more subtle diamond pattern that is relatively easy to cut.



7. Lawn 7 – This particular lawn care professional knows how to round off an edge!



8. Lawn 8 – This looks just like the yard at my home when I was growing up, thanks for the memories!



9. Lawn 9 – Do you see the 3-stripe pattern, very nice!



10. Lawn 10 – I call this one “the wave.” This is a beautiful yard and what is most amazing is the vivid colors supporting the pattern.

There is quite a bit actually involved with creating a complex lawn pattern.  Some of the above designs can be done with standard mowers but others require a reel mower, rotary mower, and/or other types of equipment to pull it off.  In general it’s about knowing how to establish a pattern and to get the grass to lay properly.  I personally like the following article for a quick explanation of creating your own lawn pattern: http://www.scag.com/lawnstriping.html.

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It’s getting to be really cliché to talk about saving money in these times.  I mean let’s be honest… when has it ever been a bad idea to save a few bucks?  One great place for a homeowner to save though is with lawn care costs.  Actually, this applies to anyone that is responsible for their own yard whether they rent or own; or have a single-family home versus live in a condo, etc.  It’s surprising how quickly basic lawn maintenance can add up into meaningful money.  So while continuing to keep your lawn green, here are 10 ways that you can SAVE some green ($$$$’s).

1. Mowing your own yard.  Yes, it actually is still possible to acquire lawnmowers and to mow your own yard.  Even though you may be able to pay a lawn service or the kid down the street $10 to do it for you.  Why not pocket the money and use that mower that is sitting out there in the garage collecting dust.  Even if you don’t have one, you can get one for under $200 at almost any Target, Home Depot, WalMart, Lowes, etc.  Better yet, pick one up on Craigslist from someone that has retired from mowing their own yard.




2. Lower the blade for a close cut.  You can also lower the mower blade to cut your yard a bit shorter.  Be careful though, you don’t want to scalp the yard that is not the point.  The idea is to just cut it a little shorter to stretch out how long the cut will last before you have to mow again.




3. Electric mowers or Manual mowers.  One other consideration to avoid having to fill up the tank every time you mow is to use an electric mower or go really old school with a manual mower (don’t act so surprised, you know what they look like).  This can save you a couple of dollars every time you mow your yard and again, that adds up.  Here is a site that covers reel and rotary mowers: http://www.peoplepoweredmachines.com/reel-mower/reel_defined.htm.




4. Reduce lawn care service trips – Okay, if you are just realistically not going to be mowing your own yard.  You can also save money by reducing the frequency of the service calls.  So go to every other week versus every week and then make sure they lower their blades, etc.




5. Trimming and Edging can go Electric – In general electric weed eaters, trimmers, and edgers all cost less to initially purchase and to maintain than their gas-based cousins.  In addition they are A LOT quieter for your family and neighbors.




6. Negotiate with your lawn care service provider – Tell him to knock some money off of each trip if you decide you will edge and trim and all they have to do is mow (or some similar variation).  Of course you could just get multiple competitive bids to drive the price down as well.  NOTE:  this also goes for any lawn treatments that you normally order for your lawn (stretch them out too).




7. Water less often – If you have a sprinkler system or use manual sprinklers to water your yard you can try to reduce the times you water.  For instance, if you just have sprinklers on a timer you might alter the schedule if you get enough rain or expect rain, etc.  Basically only water when you need to water and that will help save on your water bill.




8. Water the lawn at dawn or dusk.  You don’t want to water your yard in the heat of the day because too much of the water will immediately evaporate and not be getting to your lawn.  If you water at dusk or dawn you will increase the amount of water your lawn gets each time and usually reduce the number of times per week that you have to water.




9. Make your own fertilizer.  Okay, this sounds either gross or really hard to do, but in fact it is very possible and can save you quite a bit of money.  Here is a great article that I came across on the subject.




10. Spot treat your weeds.  If you pay for pesticides to be spread over your yard you may want to try skipping the service and just manually spot treating weeds as they sprout up.  Granted, there is some risk to this but if you run into a problem you can always call out a lawn care specialist to help you (don’t wait for your lawn to get over-run before calling though).

There are definitely other ways to save money on yard work.  However, most of them will involve more work from you, family, and/or friends.  I mean in the end it’s generally the labor that is the expensive part and where most of the savings lie.  The more you do yourself, the more you save and you also get a greater feeling of appreciation for your yard in the process (win/win).

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