How Much Does Lawn Care Cost in Lafayette, IN?

We mix our own fertilizer for the high-pH clay soil around Lafayette instead of buying a national blend. Each visit combines quick-release and slow-release so the lawn greens up and stays green.

A treatment for weeds that are already up: dandelions, clover, thistle and the harder ones. It works best while weeds are actively growing, so technicians check for them every visit.

Crabgrass preventer goes down twice, once in fall and once in spring, one granular and one liquid. Two passes cover better than one. Any crabgrass that breaks through in summer gets spot-treated.

One late-spring application that protects from spring through fall. It stops grubs and also billbugs, chinch bugs, sod webworms and armyworms. Most companies' grub product only covers grubs.

Between scheduled treatments, technicians spot-spray any broadleaf weeds, grassy weeds like crabgrass and foxtail, and yellow nutsedge they find.

Local soil tests between 7 and 8.3 pH. At that level the grass can't pull iron and other micronutrients out of the soil even when they're there. So we spray them onto the leaf, where the plant absorbs them directly.

Most fertilizer bags are padded with cheap limestone, which raises soil pH over time, the opposite of what our lawns need. We pad ours with biosolids, an organic fertilizer like Milorganite, that feeds soil life instead. It costs more and we think it's worth it.

Spot treatments are included. Nutsedge spreads underground, so if a lawn needs more than spot spraying, extra applications are an added charge. We'll tell you before we do them.

A spring application of live beneficial bacteria plus food for them. They break up compaction and improve how water and nutrients move through the soil. Especially useful for new lawns and lawns that have been neglected.

A machine pulls small plugs out of the lawn to relieve compaction so roots can grow deeper and water soaks in instead of running off. Once a year maintains a lawn; twice improves it.

The fall version of the soil builder. Fall is when roots grow most, so this helps the grass store energy for winter and come back strong in spring.

Five pounds of premium seed, applied right after aeration so it lands in the holes. The seed is a 100% turf-type tall fescue blend developed for Shades of Green and Indiana's climate.

A visit often includes several applications at once: fertilizer, crabgrass preventer and weed control in one stop. When you compare companies, compare applications, not visits. It's the number that matters most.

We visit every 4 to 6 weeks. If something looks wrong between visits, call the office and a technician comes out at no charge.

Packages start at $41, $61 and $93 a month for a 3,000 sq. ft. lawn on a 12-month plan starting in January. Most lawns are bigger, so most prices are too. Send your address for an exact quote.

No. Standard is the minimum, because fertilizer, weed control and grub protection depend on each other. Aeration, seeding and pest services can be added to any package.

No. Each application sets up the next one, and skipping one hurts the results you're paying for. Every customer gets the full program.

Yes, any time. We suggest staying on one program for a full year to judge the results. You can also add aeration or overseeding mid-season.

Often not, once you add up product, a spreader, the right timing and your weekends. The blog post "The True Cost of DIY Lawn Care" walks through the math.

Some green-up after the first couple of applications. Give it a full season to see the real change.