In this DIY world, there’s a good chance you might be considering tackling lawn care on your own. After all, why pay for something that you could easily do yourself? But therein lies the big question—how easy is it to really do lawn care on your own?
There may be a number of reasons that you think DIY lawn care makes sense for you. But there are a lot of important points to consider before making that leap.
So, in this article, we’ll be exploring some of the pros and cons of taking over your own lawn care in order to help you make an educated decision.
If you’re thinking about tackling your own lawn care, you should first consider these points.
Saving Money: Chances are if you’re thinking about DIY lawn care, it’s to try and save some money. You might find that doing your own lawn care may initially seem less expensive but in time it could actually cost you more.
Great Exercise: Getting out in the yard to do some lawn work is certainly one way to get exercise and is one reason why some homeowners do their own lawn care.
Taking Pride in DIY Work: Some people like the idea of doing yard work on their own and may even take pride in tackling their lawn care. But that pride can quickly sour if the work doesn’t pan out the way you had expected.
Mediocre Results: Without access to commercial grade products and skilled expertise, DIYers might also get lackluster results. Or, more commonly, they have to continue spending until they find the right solution, if they do at all.
If they continue to do their lawn on their own, they might find they are spending more and more just to try and find the right product, and it would have been more cost-effective to just hire a pro in the first place. Many struggle with crabgrass breakthrough in the summer, certain troublesome broadleaf weeds and nutsedge, as well as poor results with grub control treatments.
Hidden Costs: Although there can be initial savings involved, it’s also important to recognize there are often hidden costs associated with lawn care that most homeowners miss predicting. Without a trained professional regularly overseeing your lawn care, there are also a lot of things that can go wrong.
While a small percentage of do-it-yourselfers might make out okay on their own, the majority of DIYers get an expensive lesson at some point with something going wrong or a problem arising that they don’t know how to fix on their own.
Time Consuming: While you may feel like you have plenty of time to tackle lawn care projects, the process is often more time consuming than most people realize. Multiple trips to the store, finding the right day with the right weather conditions, along with cleanup and storage of materials can eat up more time than many assume.
If you’re considering hiring a professional, you should first weigh these pros and cons.
Better Results: By hiring a lawn care service, you’ll get better results and perhaps even a guarantee on the work, depending on the company you choose. That’s a guarantee that doesn’t come on a bag or bottle you’d buy at your local hardware or home improvement store.
Convenience: Plus, you won’t have to do it on your own. Although this may have initially been your goal, more often than not, what seemed like an easy and perhaps even fun endeavor at the start often turns into a chore when one realizes just how much time, skill, and work is actually involved.
Solutions for Tricky Issues: A professional lawn care service will also have trained technicians who know exactly how to diagnose and solve problems, which can also save you a lot of time and money in the long run. It’s very common for DIYers to misdiagnose issues and waste money not only on products but have damage continue without remedy.
Increased Safety: Professional lawn care companies often work with cutting edge materials for several years until the manufacturers release them to the public. These products can not only work more effectively, but are also, in some circumstances, safer than some products homeowners have access to.
These professionals are trained and monitored to make sure that they are using approved practices that protect the environment, people and pets.
Cost: The downside that probably comes to your mind in hiring a lawn care service is the upfront cost. It may seem expensive at the onset to pay a professional. But the fact of the matter is that a do it yourself lawn care program can actually be more expensive if you wind up making costly mistakes and have to pay to fix them.
By using a professional who practices proactive lawn care, they can prevent problems in the first place. The cost of lawn care may only be slightly more than what you’d expect, and well worth the value it provides beyond dollars and cents.
Making a Bad Choice: Of course, hiring the wrong lawn care professional can also be a con. You simply aren’t going to get the professional benefits discussed if you choose a company that doesn’t practice proactive lawn care.
Some companies out there only address problems as they arise, playing an endless game of whack-a-mole and never really making any true progress toward the health of your lawn. However, a company that focuses on improving soil health, knows it’s what lies underground that is most important to a thriving lawn.
In looking at the pros and cons of each decision, the pros of hiring a lawn care service far outweigh the cons. While the cost may be one of your biggest concerns in hiring a professional, with the right company you can actually end up saving money and preventing costly mistakes.
The key is to find the right company. In order to truly receive the benefits of the “pro” category, you must find a company that practices proactive lawn care with the best commercial grade products on the market. A company with knowledgeable and skilled technicians is also key.
We understand the common reasons why some people want to tackle do it yourself lawn care. It can sound enticing at the start. But we’ve also spent a lot of time working with customers who have come to us after a failed do it yourself lawn care program.
We also understand the frustration and the headaches involved in having to pay more money to fix problems that could have been prevented in the first place.
With a comprehensive lawn care program, our customers also have peace of mind knowing that every potential concern is being addressed and long-term problems are being prevented. Though it may be an investment at the onset, it also leads to savings in the long run and therefore provides a tremendous amount of value.
Since we can see both sides, in our opinion, the answer to the question “Should I do my own lawn care?” is NO. It’s simply not the worth the hassle and the headaches to try and save a few dollars. The pros of hiring a professional lawn care service easily outweigh the cons and the value it will provide to improve your property and life is worth the investment.
If you’re weighing the pros and cons of do it yourself lawn care, we’d be happy to discuss it with you further. Give us a call Toll Free at 833-ZIP-LAWN or click here to request a free quote.