Commercial lawn care and landscape maintenance has become a thriving business in Rowan County. Since the early ’80s, this industry has grown from three landscape services to well over 50 lawn care and landscape entities. In some situations, it is often more cost effective to hire a service rather than invest in equipment, materials and supplies needed for routine maintenance. Many homeowners are now seeking a lawn care company before the return of spring’s busy season. Below are a few tips to select a lawn care company for your home.

• Degree of service. Some homeowners may only want basic weed control and fertilizer application. They opt to mow their lawn themselves, thus they only need partial service. Others may want a total maintenance package. Part-time workers often fit the bill for those who only need occasional care. Lawn care companies applying pesticides and weed control must be properly licensed by the NC Department of Agriculture.

• Acceptable practices. Following the lawn care procedures recommended by N.C. State University and the Cooperative Extension Service recommends is vital for successful lawn and landscape maintenance. Lawn maintenance companies should follow information from N.C. State University, other universities and the N.C. Department of Agriculture before making recommendations on lawn care practices as well as seed application, fertilizers, pesticides and other lawn care practices.

• Reliability. Many lawn care and landscape maintenance companies provide some guarantee of their work. Customers must realize that some practices, especially with lawns, take time to resolve.

• Recommendations. Probably the most important method of choosing a lawn maintenance company is to review their work. A personal inquiry of friends and homeowner experiences is often a key factor in selecting the service which best suits the homeowner’s needs.

Darrell Blackwelder is the retired horticulture agent and director with the North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service in Rowan County. Contact him at deblackw@ncsu.edu.