Forget Covid, forget the shutdowns and the physical distancing---yes, we all had to deal, and we still are dealing with it---but the true enemy this year for the Lawn Care Industry was the grass killer known as the month of July.
July was the hottest, driest month in our lifetime and it took no prisoners when it came to your grass. Within a few days lawns began to suffer.
By the time August was in sight, the grass was reduced to a dormant carpet of straw, littered with weeds and crabgrass, infested with chinch bugs and grub larvae---a perfect storm of chaos in a market with little or no answers to challenge the tsunami of scourges.
Yet, there were lawns escaping the onslaught. They were the ones with adequate shade who followed proper watering and cutting practices, and survived to live another day.
These truths are what we repeat, to the point of nauseum, with all: Leave your lawn at 3 1/2 inches going into the summer months, and deeply water your lawn once or twice weekly to maintain a strong and healthy root system.
Yes---we will lose customers because of July, but we are already seeing an influx of homeowners leaving other companies and flocking to us in record numbers because of the same month.
The bottom line is, this is a partnership, a team game, and without this arrangement, it doesn't matter what a lawn care provider does to your lawn, it will suffer in the elements we experienced this past July. The recovery will take longer, and the road back to health will be long traveled.
With the homeowner by our side doing their part and timely applications on ours we can limit future damage and not have to rely on Mother Nature as the third leg of our stool. Because as we've too painfully seen, she has no empathy.
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