Lawn care and landscaping services
We look after residential yards across North Pinellas County. Four jobs happen on every scheduled visit and four more are booked when the property needs them. One company covers all eight, so nobody has to coordinate three of them.
- On every visit
- Mowing, edging, trimming, blowing off hard surfaces
- Booked as needed
- Hedge and bush work, tree trimming, mulch, cleanups
- Usual schedule
- Weekly April to October, every other week November to March
- Where we work
- North Pinellas County, Florida
Four jobs make up every scheduled visit
These four are one visit rather than four things to choose between. A lawn that has been cut but not edged still reads as unfinished from the street, and clippings left on a driveway go down the storm drain in the next afternoon storm.
Mowing
Cut at a height that suits the grass and the season, so the lawn holds its color and shades out weeds.
DetailsEdging
A clean vertical cut along driveways, sidewalks, curbs and bed lines on every visit.
DetailsTrimming
String trimming around fences, posts, mailboxes, A/C units and everything a mower deck cannot reach.
DetailsBlowing off hard surfaces
Driveway, walkways, entry and lanai blown clean at the end of the visit, with the clippings kept out of the street.
DetailsWhy the four go together
- The lawn is cut to a height that suits the grass. St. Augustine, which is what most lawns in this county are, holds its color and shades out weeds when it is left tall.
- The edges are cut vertically along the hard surfaces. The line where grass meets a driveway, a sidewalk or a bed is what makes the difference between a cut lawn and a maintained one.
- The trimmer reaches what the mower deck cannot. Fence lines, mailbox posts, tree rings and the pad around the A/C unit are done by hand.
- The hard surfaces are blown clean at the end. Keeping yard debris out of the street and out of the storm drains is part of Florida Landscape Best Management Practices, and we are certified in them.
Four more services for the rest of the yard
These do not run on a weekly rhythm. Each one is booked when the plant, the bed or the property needs it, and any of them can be asked about on the same call as a mowing schedule.
Hedge and bush trimming
Hedges, foundation plantings and ornamentals shaped and thinned so light and air keep moving through the plant.
- Cutting a hedge back to the same outline every time builds a shell of growth that is dense on the surface and bare inside. Thinning some of that growth out lets light reach the middle of the plant again.
- Air moving through a plant dries the leaves faster after an afternoon storm, and leaves that dry quickly are far less prone to fungal trouble.
- The cuttings are cleared away when the work is finished, so nothing is left on the beds or in the lawn.
Tree trimming
Low limbs lifted for clearance and growth pulled back off roofs, gutters, driveways and walkways.
- Low limbs are lifted for head height over walkways and driveways, and for the mower to get under the canopy without scraping the deck.
- Growth is pulled back off roofs and gutters. Wet leaves sit in a gutter all wet season, and a limb resting on shingles wears through them in a wind.
- Cuts are made just outside the branch collar rather than flush to the trunk, because the collar is the tissue the tree seals the wound with.
Mulch and pine bark installation
Beds edged, weeded and topped up to an even depth, which holds moisture in and slows the weeds down.
- Beds are edged and weeded before anything new goes down. Mulch laid straight over weeds only hides them for a few weeks.
- An even depth of two to three inches is what holds moisture in sandy soil and keeps most weed seed dark enough not to germinate.
- Mulch is kept back off trunks and stems. A mound of it piled against bark holds water against the plant and invites rot.
Property cleanups
A single visit that takes an overgrown, storm hit or vacant property back to a state a regular schedule can hold.
- One visit takes an overgrown, storm hit or vacant property back to a state that a regular schedule can hold from then on.
- Grass that is well over height cannot be taken back in a single pass without scalping it, so the cut is stepped down instead of forced.
- A cleanup can be booked on its own. It does not have to turn into a schedule afterwards, although most properties are easier to keep once it does.
What is not included in the eight services
A lawn maintenance company and a lawn treatment company are two different trades in Florida, and plenty of homeowners use one of each. The eight services on this page are the whole of what the company states it does.
Several jobs that homeowners often expect from a lawn company are not on that list, and this page does not claim them. Tree trimming is on the list and tree removal is not, for example, and the two are not the same job at all.
The eight services on the list
- Mowing
- Edging
- Trimming
- Blowing off hard surfaces
- Hedge and bush trimming
- Tree trimming
- Mulch and pine bark installation
- Property cleanups
If what you need is not one of these eight, ask us on the call and we will tell you plainly whether we do it.
How often the yard needs a visit
Grass in this part of Florida does not grow at one speed all year, so one fixed frequency does not suit it. The schedule is set to what the yard is actually doing and changed when that changes.
| Time of year | What the yard is doing | Usual frequency |
|---|---|---|
| April to October | Heat and afternoon storms push hard growth, and the hedges and the beds move at the same time as the lawn. A missed week shows. | Weekly |
| November to March | Cooler and drier. Growth slows right down and the yard holds its shape for much longer between visits. | Every other week |
| Any time | A cleanup, a hedge cut, fresh mulch, a house going on the market, or a yard that has got ahead of you. | A one time visit |
The four additional services do not follow that table. Hedges and bushes are cut when the plant has put on enough growth to be worth shaping, mulch is topped up when the depth has broken down, and a cleanup happens whenever it is needed. We will say what we would do and how often when we look at the property.
What to ask for when you are not sure
You do not have to know which of the eight services the yard needs before you call. It is easier to describe the problem, and each of the four below points at a different place to start.
The grass is fine, it just needs cutting
That is regular maintenance: mowing, edging, trimming and blowing off, weekly through the growing season and every other week once growth slows.
See mowingThe yard has got completely away from you
That is a cleanup first and a schedule afterwards. The first visit is the long one, and the yard is much easier to hold from then on.
See cleanupsThe house is going on the market
Sharp edges, a cleanup and fresh mulch are what change how a front yard reads from the street, and the three can be done on one visit.
See mulch and pine barkOnly the hedges and the trees need doing
Hedge and bush work can be booked on its own without a maintenance schedule, and so can lifting limbs off a roof or a driveway.
See hedge and bush trimming
Describe the yard on the phone or in the form and we will work out which of the eight it needs when we come and look at it.
Tell us what the yard needs
Call us and we will come out, walk the property and put a plan together for the yard and a schedule to keep it that way. There is no obligation once you have it, and nobody will chase you afterwards.
Seven days a week, 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM. Email cjackc.inc@gmail.com.