Why am I seeing changes in services or price increases?

We have taken much of our winter season trying to adjust for the ever changing economic climate. We have tried to avoid passing on some of the drastic price increases that we have experienced. We pre-bought fertilizer in December which has negated some of the huge price increases we are seeing in the market. Changed our fertilizer program, and teamed up with a few other companies to pool our buying power. That being said, rate rises were inevitable.

What is new for 2022?

Monthly Installment Option

We understand that in these volatile market times it is much easier if you have a constant. We also know that price increases affect some differently than others. We want your business and if it helps you to stay with us in these crazy times we are willing to do what it takes. We will take your total for services you are signed up for and divide that number by remaining months in that financial year. For our purposes of this program the year starts April 1st. Your services will be billed April 1st to March 1st.

Fertilizer pricing

There is no other way to put it. Fertilizer prices are as volatile as we can ever remember with no end in site. We have gone from a 6 round 5 visit program to a 6 round 4 visit program. This is possible because we have gone in with a few other companies in the area and used our collective buying power to purchase some products that were not available to us in years past. That being said prices were still at 70-300% increases over last year! The fact that much of our fertilizer is sourced from Russia and they have halted exports only compounds the situation.

Read a few articles here:

Russia Halts Fertilizer Exports : Article From March 2022

Skyrocketing Fertilizer Prices : Article from December 2021

What's going on with Fertilizer Prices? : Article form December 2021

Learn Why Fertilizer prices are on the rise : Article from July 2021

Grass Seed

2021 was a record year across the country. The record heat and drought took a toll on the seed industry. Prices are currently up 100% over this time last year. There is even talk of seed being unavailable later in the season. For this reason we have pre-bought all our estimated seed as of January.

World Wide Grass seed shortage : Article from January 2022

Grass seed shortage : Article from April 2021

Mowing is a subscription Service

This is one that we have had to think about long and hard. We know that some clients love the flexibility of being billed as services rendered we have found that often time we have had to double cut in the rapid growth seasons and skipped some unirrigated portions in dry periods. With rising labor rates and the workplace being short on labor we need to guarantee our employees a livable wage so we can retain them. This is done by taking on work that we know will be there. You are now paying to be a spot on our route. We will continue to do whatever is best for your lawn be it double cut, skip due to stress or mow according change in growing season. History as shown that we have 26 mows in a typical summer and that is how we have structured the subscription. This is nothing new in the industry, we have just tried to avoid it until now when we have been forced to make the change.

Fuel

We are sure that you have noticed prices at the pump when you fill your personal vehicle. Prices have doubled to over $4/Gal as of time or writing this. All of our equipment, from trucks to mowers to weed whips run on gas. There is no way around this one.

Equipment Costs

Equipment costs have gone up on average of 15-20% in the past year. In order to service your property we need to have the right equipment that we can rely on.

Labor

For the same reason that you can go to Culver's and get a hiring bonus and starting wage of $20/hr we have had to make some changes in the way we compensate our employees. Unfortunately, these are changes that we have has no other option than to pass along to you the consumer.