Hiring a professional to care for your lawn is not a bad idea if you can afford the help.

Lawn care is often a task homeowners feel they can handle on their own. Often they hate the idea of paying others to do something that they are perfectly capable of doing themselves. They spend their weekends working in the yard and mowing the grass only to find that their precious free time is almost entirely consumed by their yard. Many homeowners find it is well worth the money to have professionals care for their yard, so that they can spend their free time on more enjoyable things.

There are many types of lawn care companies to consider when trying to find the one that fits best for you. Some companies offer fertilizing, mowing, landscaping, pruning, planting, and everything under the sun. Others may only mow your lawn for you. Before calling a lawn pro, make sure you decide what you want to accomplish by hiring help and what your budget is.

Once you have determined your needs, you can call around and get pricing. Pricing alone should not be your main concern...reliability, quality of work, and customer service are all important factors to consider.

What else should you do when looking for a lawn care pro?

We recommend:

• Ask your friends and neighbors to see if they have had good or bad experiences with local lawn care companies. Simply knowing that another person has had a good experience with a company prior to calling them lessens your chance of hiring a problem.

• If you have the time, call a few companies to look at your lawn. This will help you determine fair market price for your job. This does not mean you should always go with the lowest price...you should go with the company you feel most comfortable with and who you feel will do the best job. If a company or individual is offering a real low price you should ask yourself "why?".

• Make sure the company has insurance.

• Always get a statement of work performed in writing. Keep this filed away. Make sure the statement clearly states what work is to be performed, how often, and for what price.

• Make sure that your estimate states the term you are agreeing to. There is no need to sign a year long term right off the bat before you know if the company is good.

Good luck with your lawn care needs!