A: At Sanders Ground Essentials a handshake & your word is all we need. You are free to cancel at any time. But if you stay on our program, you will see the best results. Our service is continuous and automatically rolls over from year to year. If you move or need to cancel for some other reason, you must contact us to stop the service or change the service location.
A: You can call the office to request a time for us to meet with you in person, or we can come by and leave the information on your door.
A: All of our prices are based on the square footage of the turf you want to be treated. Prices start as low as $33 per application. We can estimate a price range over the phone by looking at your property using the program Google Earth on the computer.
A: Our office hours are 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. CST Monday through Friday.
A: All our applications equal or exceed EPA safety standards. We recommend that children and pets stay off the yard after a liquid application, until it is dry, usually we recommend approximately an hour. Some clients leave their dogs out all the time, even while we're doing the application, and others always put them up when we are servicing their yard, this is a personal decision that we leave up to you.
A: Not at all. We will just leave your invoice on the door, along with information on today's application as well as watering and mowing instructions. If you need to know when we're coming out, to unlock a gate or put up the dogs, we can call you the day before to let you know.
A: Our programs consist of 5 to 8 applications per year, depending on the type of grass and soil type you have. When we do an estimate, we will recommend the appropriate program for your lawn. We may recommend some additional applications for the first year only if an issue arises over the course of your program that may need to be addressed on an as needed basis.
A: Our applications are generally 4-8 weeks apart, depending on your location and the time of year. During the growing season, applications are closer together than they are in the fall and winter, for obvious reasons. When you receive your estimate you will be given an approximate time frame for applications. Our schedule is always dependent on weather conditions, and is more climate based than calendar based.
A: Unfortunately, we can't treat flowerbeds. Flowers and ornamentals are just too sensitive to the weed control materials, and we can't risk damaging any of your plants.
A: Most of our customers come from referrals from other happy customers, and we appreciate that very much! If someone referred you and you become a full-program customer, that person will get a $25 credit on his or her account. Likewise, when you are on our service and you refer someone else, you will receive the same $25 credit each time someone you refer becomes a full-program customer.
A: If you see weeds popping up, or you need some extra fertilizer between your regularly-scheduled applications, we'll come out and treat your lawn at no charge. (Skipping regular applications voids this guarantee.)
A: It depends on the shape your yard's in to begin with. When we do your estimate, we'll let you know how long it will take for your lawn to reach its maximum potential. Normally it takes 10-14 days for you see a noticeable difference after an application has been completed, and with each application, you'll see a difference, but if your yard is thin and full of weeds, it make take a growing season or two to get it looking like a showplace.
A: It depends on the results you are wanting with the desired look we are striving to achieve. To obtain the optimal results you must take the full program. Many people think if they just take the weed control applications, they won't have weeds. But your main defense against weeds is a thick, healthy stand of turf. If you want to take just the weed control applications, then you must be sure you fertilize your lawn yourself. Keep in mind that when we do fertilizer applications, we also spot spray weeds. The materials we use are not available over-the-counter at your big box stores. You have a license to purchase and apply some of the material we will use.
A: In most cases, rainfall will not harm your application. In fact, most applications need to be watered in, so rainfall is beneficial. However, if it's raining when we're planning on coming out, we will reschedule your application. If it does happen to rain after we did your service wait about 7-10 days to correctly gage the effectiveness of the treatments, if you can't see visible results simple call the office and we will be glad to schedule a time to come back for a complimentary retreat.
A: With dry granular fertilizer applications, it doesn't matter at all. The lawnmower will not "suck up" the fertilizer. But if we did a liquid weed control application, give it 7-10 days to judge the effectiveness, and give us a call if you don't see some results. If you have a lawn mowing crew that has a set schedule (or you always mow on certain days,) just let us know, and we'll note that on your account and work around it.
A: Rule of thumb is to wait 24 hours, water the application, then mow. You can wait longer if you want to, but try to get it watered in within 7 days, if there's no rain. Each time we come out, we'll leave information about the application on your door with your invoice.
A: For best results after an application, you need to water before mowing.
A: If we did a liquid application, please let it dry before letting children and pets on the lawn--about 30 minutes.
A: We do our best to keep fertilizer off your concrete areas, but you might find some once in awhile, because the commercial spreaders that we use are designed for the best possible coverage. The fertilizer we use will not hurt or stain your concrete.
A: Although your lawn may be brown and dormant in January and February and looks like it doesn't need anything, there are literally millions of weed seeds down there, just getting ready to germinate. Over the winter, rain and wind and animals have brought all kinds of seeds to your lawn. Our pre-emergent is designed to stop a lot of these before they germinate. Once certain weeds germinate (like crabgrass) they are extremely difficult to control.
A: Summer drought can put some nice lawns into premature dormancy, and we understand that it's not always possible or practical to keep watering, not to mention the water bill! But even though it looks brown, the root system is still active and still needs caring for, even more so because it is drought-stressed. When the fall rains come, your lawn will recover much more quickly than those that have not been fertilized, and the late summer fertilizer will give it a healthy boost to help protect it against cold weather and freeze damage.
A: There are many different scenarios that will produce different answers. But, regardless of the scenario, if you see weeds between your regular applications, just call us and we'll take care of it.
A: During spring and summer, when get into the growing season, your applications could be 4 weeks apart. If it's your first year on the service and your technician may have to do 2 or 3 applications as close together as a week or 10 days. While this is a rare instance, we do realize that may not be convenient for your budget, but it's what your lawn needs to get into shape.
A: We will never come out and perform any unauthorized supplemental applications without your knowledge and prior approval. If we feel your yard needs an extra or supplemental application due to results from a recent soil test or diagnosed issue, we will always call you and discuss all your options prior to applying anything outside the normal scope of work of your specific plan.
A: Certain supplemental applications coincide time-wise with regular applications. If you requested one of these applications, it may coincide with your fertilizer application. The applications are perfectly compatible and thus can be done at the same time. If this is a strain on your budget, you may feel free to take an additional 30 days to pay, or just call our office if you need to make other arrangements. We'd rather get the applications down at the right time and get paid a little later, than put the applications down at the wrong time.
A: Each time we come out, we will leave your invoice on the door. There are many ways to pay:
A: Currently we do not.
A: If you would like to prepay for the year, we offer a 5% discount. If you take the full program, plus one supplemental application (Preventive Grub or Fire Ant) we offer an 8% discount on everything.
A: Of course. Sometimes two applications are done at once because it's the proper time to do them, but we know that's tough on the budget. In that situation, you may take an additional 30 days to pay.
A: We ask that you pay within 30 days, but we do not apply late fees. If it's going to be over 30 days, please call our office to notify us. When the time comes for your next service application if you have an outstanding balance we will call you to make payment arrangements, and you can either drop us a check in the mail or leave payment on your door and we will service that day while we are in your neighborhood. Once you are over 30 days your account is considered outstanding and your service will be suspended until payment is rendered and then once your account is current will be happy to resume service.