Caveat Emptor.

I've never used Scott's service, but read plenty of complaints from dissatisfied customers.

In the ritzy old-money neighborhoods around here where mature Sycamore trees shade the grass most of the day, the lawns look great, but appear to be planted with some variety of fine fescue. They're a brighter, more vibrant green than KBG, but they look nice. I'm pretty sure they didn't hire Scott's to establish the turf and that they don't use Scott's to maintain it.

I think the old axiom "if you want it done right, do it yourself" probably applies in your case.

I'm sure somebody who knows what they're talking about will be along with some advice that if followed will have you much happier with your yard by next Spring. I've found patience is required with turf establishment and maintenance.

There has been a lot written in this forum about lawn service companies, mostly negative. You ask is it worth the money if they get it right. ThatÂs the 64,000 dollar question. I could only say that MOST DO NOT GET IT RIGHT and that you may not be satisfied and would probably be farther ahead by doing it yourself. You will need some equipment. A fertilizer spreader, a pump up sprayer to spot treat broadleaf weeds. Some knowledge and experience is useful. This forum is a good source for the knowledge requirement. Experience comes via trial and error. Please do not just throw down lime unless you know your soil needs lime on the basis professional soil test. Right now you should be thinking about pre-emergent weed and crabgrass preventer. That is usually the first thing to be applied in the Spring. Lowes and Home Depot have large selections this time of year. Look for something with "Dimension" as the active weed preventer. Get yourself a good quality broadcast spreader and a bag or two of crabgrass preventer/lawn fertilizer and get busy outside in the fresh air. Apply before a period of rain or water it in thoroughly. Be sure to carefully read and follow the directions on any lawn chemicals you use. Read twice, apply once. Good luck with your lawn and gardens this year. Bill Hill

Hi there, Claire. You remind me of myself when I came to the Lawn Care Forum. I knew nothing and my grass dying. These good folks set me straight, and I was happy to learn it really doesn't take a lot of work and not a lot of money either. And now, I proudly announce being a fully-ordained lawn care weirdo. LOL

Last of all, forget about the Scotts lawn service. You can do it less expensively and much more successfully. Besides, what you need most, they aren't going to do anyway, which is watering and mowing. If you don't want to mow the lawn yourself each week, you can hire a lawn service that does only that or a neighbor kid. Perhaps you have a youngster of your own. Whoever does the mowing will do so upon your instructions that you are about to learn here.

First of all, the most important aspects of lawn care is proper irrigation and proper mowing. Everything else you do is secondary to those cultural practices. No amount of fertilizer or herbicides will matter if those two are not done correctly.

You'll find a yearly maintenance schedule in this thread. It's the 10th response from the top. Pay particular attention to the paragraphs on watering and mowing. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask.

As mentioned above, right now you want to apply a pre-emergent herbicide to prevent grassy weeds like crabgrass, goosegrass, etc. from popping up this summer. However, it is best to use one that does not also contain fertilizer. The herbicide alone is best and then fertilize around mid May. Scotts has a product called Halts and while they have one that is mixed in with fertilizer, just make sure you purchase the Halts product alone (w/o fertilizer). There is also a product called Portrait to help prevent broadleaf weeds like dandelion, clover, and others. In the event that weeds should emerge, you can use a post-emergent product to spot spray them like Weed-b-Gon or Bayer Advanced All-In-One.

You want to get a soil test. It will determinte if you need to apply lime, sulfur, or other nutrients not included in fertilizer applications. Contact your local UMASS Cooperative Extension Service for a test kit and sampling instructions.

Finally, spread 1.4 inch layer of compost so as to incorporate organic matter into the soil.

Incidentally, to help control moss, you want to apply less water and less fertilizer in shady areas. Also, aerate the soil for good air flow and water filtration. If you don't want to use the mechanical method to aerate (renting a machine), you can cheat with Nitron A-35 or similar liquid aeration product.

With all due respect to Bestlawn, my mentor and friend, IÂm sure the 1.4 inch was intended to be ¼ (one fourth) inch of compost. I am a huge advocate of compost. I make it and use a lot of it around my modest yard and gardens. That being said, I disagree that compost application to your entire lawn should not be on your short list of things to do. Realize that it takes one cubic yard to give approximately ¼ inch coverage on 1000 sq. ft of lawn. So if you have, say about 12,000 sq. ft of lawn, 12 yards of compost weighing about 1000 pounds per yard would be required. Compost is labor intensive to spread using wheel barrel and shove. Use any compost you have first on your flower beds and secondly on problem areas in your lawn. The beauty of this forum is that we often have diverse opinions yet remain friendly and friends.
Bill Hill

oops, Bill, really good catch. Yep, of course I meant 1/4 layer.

I agree it can be back breaking LOL to spread compost, especially over a large area. But, I have to suggest what is necessary, and it is necessary to incorporate organic matter into the soil. Compost is desirable for a sundry of reasons. To reduce the laborious aspect, one might define a smaller area for lawn grass, or do it sections at a time since spreading compost can be done at any time during the growing seasons and summer. So long as it does get done. Of course, I didn't think to mention compost tea would be even better, faster, and no labor involved.

Not to mention cheaper.

Speaking of compost... Last year there was a debate over the use of compost tea. What was the final thought on if it is a good substitute for actual compost? It is certainly easier to spread.

Thanks, guys for the advice. I think I will tackle this myself. I'll have the soil tested asap and begin from there...

Thanks again!
claire

Mark--you may get better responses if you start a new thread with a subject line that is more likely to draw responses from the compost/compost tea users.