Enthusiasm for lawns..?

Hi folks, I'm new to the forum and wanted to ask for a wee bit of feedback. I've recently started up my lawn care business and I wanted to ask for your opinions as this board seems full of gardeners of all levels. Do you think there is the demand specifically for lawn care? (I am not a gardener, all my experience is in greenkeeping).

 

Welcome to Gardeners Corner. A high percentage of enthusiastic gardeners like the members of GC here tend to look after or replace there own lawns. However, there are many people that don't have our enthusiasm or the experience to look after their lawns, they would search out the likes of yourself to maintain their lawns for them.

 

Definitely. Companies like Green Thumb do well looking after people's lawns. My lawns are just average, and I would certainly consider getting help to improve them. For an amateur wanting to have a rye-grass-free lawn I reckon there is a lot to getting it looking nice - rather than just "yellow" in Summer because there is not enough over-seeding, or fertiliser, or wrong mower height, or whatever.

Gardeners just wanting a lawn that is good enough for the kids to kick a football about on might not need your skills

 

Is your lawn "Iffy" like mine then JWK?

 

Thanks for the welcome. Because my passion is for lawns/greens, it is frustrating to see a keen gardener keeping a wonderful area only for often the largest area to be neglected. Surely if the time and effort goes into borders etc then the lawn should compliment this? The aim is to offer specific programmes to suit the lawn depending on soil profile, nutrient levels, conditions and purpose of the lawn - as you say Kristen, no point in developing a putting green if the lawn hosts a cup final every weekend! However, kids tearing around on it doesn't mean you can't have a nice lawn, it'll just need a different approach.

Apparently, the large franchises offer a set programme whether you're in Dundee or Dorset (just a rumour I heard, I don't want to get into trouble!). I just can't see how that would be a success. Anyone can chuck some Nitrogen down but this leads to all kinds of issues down the line.

When I speak to friends who have no understanding of their gardens they think it's a non starter as there isn't the market for it. Time will tell...

 

Good luck with your venture. I personally fall exactly into the category you describe! I have about 2 acres of garden with about 1/3rd "lawn" which I call short meadow as that's pretty well what it is. Unfortunately I know that my grass areas' main problem is less than ideal drainage and soil is pretty acidic. I could lime the grass like my neighbouring farmers do but any rain run off would go into my Rhododendron and Azalea beds which they would NOT LIKE!
I'd absolutely love for someone to come and improve my grass areas in the correct way and hopefully not bankrupt me in the process! I did once have someone around to have a look. He suggested digging the whole lot up and returfing. WHAT? So no improvement to the drainage. A quick fix which wouldn't have lasted more than a couple of seasons if I was lucky and I would have needed to take out another mortgage on my house!
A good healthy lawn is wonderful and I'll be very surprised if there isn't a good amount of interest as long as you target the right areas.

 

No personal experience but I do hear pretty good noises about Greenthumb. Presumably a franchise of local agent so, assuming all agents are equally trained and skilled, clients get an equal service from Dorset to Dundee

They are secretive about their chemicals (no problem with trade secrets, but concerned not to know what is being used if it might impact other things in the garden) but my best guess is that they are formulated to make it easy for once-a-season type time-saving application. They will also have access to, and be trained/certified to use, chemicals not available to Amateur - so should be able to do a better job (e.g. kill off things in the lawn that I struggle to control with Verdone etc.). They also do aeration etc. and as an organisation can afford decent equipment as the cost is amortised across all their clients.

Either way, they will be your competition.

Have then got gardens similar sized to those in terraced houses? I say that because I think you should start with people who have larger gardens and are probably not getting best-value nor sufficient advise/response from outfits like Greenthumb. As a solo operator you need fewer & larger clients, rather than stack-high-and-sell-cheap. People with more than an acre of lawn may well have a Croquet lawn, or better still a grass tennis court. Much more to go wrong, and much more kudos for you (and referrals) from getting a good result. I ahve a large garden, and have friends with a large gardens, most with a gardener 3-5 days a week, but probably no formal expertise in lawn maintenance. Avoid gardens that are too big that can afford to get a Lords' groundsman out of retirement!

Local cricket clubs might currently be getting consultancy help that you may be able to undercut?

 

Good point. We get plenty of people here asking how to convert a bramble field into a decent lawn, and a service that did just that ("Soup to nuts") might well be appealing to new home buyers. They mostly pitch up here saying "How do I lay turf over concrete/scrub/whatever" so they are clearly prepared for the cost of Turf, and seeding it would probably be no more expensive, including time for preparation etc.