How To Find A Great Lawn Care Specialist Near You?

05 April 2024 (Last updated: 23 Apr 2024 14:53)

If your lawn is looking tired and you’re not sure how to revive it, there is a whole raft of experts ready to help you. Here’s how to find a great lawn care specialist near you.

What Can A Lawn Care Specialist Do?

Lawn care specialists are not the same as gardeners or landscapers. They have a finely tuned set of skills that relate to diagnosing and solving lawn care problems. In the same way that you wouldn’t expect a dermatologist to do your knee replacement operation, hiring a landscaper to bring the colour back into your lawn may not get you the results you want.

A good lawn care professional is an expert at creating the perfect conditions for lawn grasses to thrive. Their skill set includes:

•   Recommending grass species and varieties that best suit your soil type and the way you want to use your lawn.

•   Improving soil structure so that the plants can grow a strong root system.

•   Creating a level surface for easier mowing with no trip hazards.

•   Understanding the nutritional needs of your lawn and applying the right treatments at the right time.

•   Controlling moss and weeds without endangering any of the other plants in your garden.

•   Recognising and treating lawn pests and diseases and helping your lawn recover from damage.

•   Devising a mowing regime that will suit you and your lawn.

Of course every business is different. A few lawn care specialists may offer a regular mowing service, but most focus on specialist renovations and treatments. And so when looking for a lawn care specialist near you, it’s important to have an idea of what services you need.

What Lawn Care Jobs Do You Need Help With?

Even if you are not an expert in lawn care, you will have an idea of your perfect ‘before and after’ scenario. It will help you to narrow down your choice of contractor if you can describe your needs and your budget during that first phone call or email. That way they will know whether or not they can help you.

Here are a few of the jobs that garden owners commonly ask for help with.

•   Seasonal treatments such as feeding, weed control and applying growth stimulants.

•   Lawn dressing to get rid of those lumps and bumps that spoil the look of your lawn.

•   Overseeding or reseeding to create a nice thick sward of lush green grass.

•   Spring and autumn renovations such as aeration to improve soil health and scarification to clear away moss.

•   Lawn edging for that lovely manicured appearance.

What To Look For In A Great Lawn Care Specialist

At the time of writing, the UK lawn care industry is not regulated. This means that anybody with a mower can call themselves a lawn care specialist even if they have no training and limited experience.

So, for the sake of your lawn, your peace of mind and getting best value for money. It is wise to do some research before hiring somebody to work on your lawns.

Are they properly insured? At the very least a reputable lawn care specialist will have public liability insurance and professional indemnity coverage.

Are the qualified to apply chemical treatments?  To apply pesticides, herbicides or fungicides to a lawn, a professional lawn care specialist must hold PA1 and PA6 certificates and also be registered with the government to apply Plant Protection Products (PPP). These certificates confirm that the person is competent at handling and applying chemicals and that they know how to protect the wider environment from contamination.

Has Their Work Been Recommended By Other Lawn Owners? No matter what services you are buying, it’s good practice to look for online reviews and, if possible, chat to other customers. If you see them out and about working in a garden, try to pop you head over the gate to take a look at their work practices. Are they working efficiently? Do they clear up after themselves? Does their machinery look well maintained? Would you say they were taking pride in their work?

Polite and Personable. If somebody will be working on your property, you need to feel comfortable with them being there. When you chat on the phone or meet face to face with a lawn care specialist take note of what your instincts are telling you.

Do Their Views And Ethics Align With Your Own? Everybody has their own idea of what a perfect lawn is like. For one person that may be a close cropped ornamental lawn resembling a golf green. Somebody else may want a hard-wearing lawn that copes well with the rigours of family life.

A good lawn care specialist will be able to help you create and maintain any aesthetic. But where do they stand on environmental matters? Do you want to manage your lawn organically? Would you prefer it if they used battery powered equipment rather than petrol powered? These are things that you can discuss in your initial conversations.

Affiliation To A Trade Body. A good indication sign that a lawn care specialist is dedicated to providing the very best service for their customers is affiliation with a trade body such as the UK Lawn Care Association (UKLCA), or BASIS Lawn Assured. 

The UKLCA supports members with training, industry news and technical information to ensure that they are confident and competent at delivering good lawn care.

 

 

 

BASIS is a lawn assured scheme. To attain BASIS accreditation, a company must demonstrate that they are meeting specified requirements relating to the following areas:

 

·         Pesticide storage

·         Integrated management of weeds, pests and diseases

·         Staff training

·         Application equipment

·         Record Keeping

What sets UKLCA Specialists Apart From The Rest?

Every member of the UKLCA is an independent trader. That means that they truly value their reputation because bad reviews would impact directly on their livelihood. In order to maintain a good reputation, UKLCA members work hard to perfect their craft, they care deeply about customer satisfaction and they take great pride in their work.

When you hire a UKLCA lawn care specialist you are supporting a local business who is more likely to  ‘give back’ to their community in terms of employment, using local suppliers (mechanics, tool suppliers, bookkeepers, marketers etc) and that helps to keep neighbourhoods vibrant and successful.

Where To Find A Lawn Care Specialist Near You

It’s very easy to find a UKLCA member near you. Simply head to the home page of our website and key your postcode into the search box. Within the blink of an eye, a list of lawn care specialists near you will pop up on your screen. Each listing has a full contact details and a link to the company’s website so that you can learn about their services and their business ethos before getting in touch for a quote.

Click HERE to start your search

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