Let's face it, there are some people that just love cutting grass, getting that perfect lush yard neatly trimmed. Then there are the rest of us. Those who either who hate the chore, or hate the time it takes. When you decide its time to call in the pros, lawn services like TSR Lawn and Landscape in Traverse City can come out, trim, mow, and blow.
Dave Drake started the business with a little more than a mower and a dream. In a little more than a decade, TSR has grown into one the largest lawn services in the area. I sat down with Dave to get a little information about what you actually get when you hire someone else to take care of your yard. Dave explained when it comes to cost, "the average lawn is $35. You average that out over 24 times a year that's what we normally mow. That comes out to $840 per year to have us do it. If you spread that over the season, the cost doesn't really seem that bad, when you consider going out buying a mower, and then spending your weekend, your only time off and you are out there pushing a mower around. If you don't enjoy that, it's worth $840."
So is it really worth it? With the economy the way it is, Dave admits some clients are having second thoughts about paying a pro, instead thinking doing it themselves with mixed results. With a grin, Dave recalls, "people are tightening up, starting to really think about what they are spending their money on of the first things to go is the lawn jockey. We have people call up and say I am going to do this myself this year. They have a two acre yard; they call us back about two weeks later. The guy says "Dave, can you put us back on the schedule. I don't know what I was thinking. I bit off more than I could chew."
In most of those cases, the time factor is the breaking point. But it costs more than time to do your own yard. Here's the dollar downside. Depending on your mower, trimmer and blower, the average size 2 acre yard takes about 2 hours a week to maintain. If you do it yourself, you’re spending a chunk of your free time and a fair chunk of change to do the work. If your starting from scratch without any equipment, a walk behind mower, backpack blower and gas trimmer will set you back at least $800 on the low end but a lot more it you want a riding mower. That investment pays for itself after a year or two, versus hiring a yard service. But you still do have to buy gas, for a trimmer, blower and mower and keep everything running ship shape. Dave says when it comes to maintenance, "You have to sharpen blades. We sharpen our blades everyday. You have oil changes, the mowers, and the general maintenance in itself. I am not saying it's a wash, but when you really weigh it out and you look at what it takes for you to do it versus what it takes us to do it, it's not as big of a difference as you might think."
So let’s break it down. If your doing it yourself, lets assume you own the mower, blower and trimmer, (which is big costly assumption but just for the sake of running some numbers lets go with it) Over a season for the average yard, it will take about 25 gallons of gas, a little less than $100 worth depending on the price of a gallon. For a yearly tune up for each piece of equipment, a total of about $250, (the service shops I checked with gave estimates of $100 for a complete mower tune up, $75 each for a blower and trimmer) , and miscellaneous expenses for things like oil and trimmer string of at least $75. That comes out to a yearly total of at least $425 to do it yourself versus $840 for a professional service. That of course assumes no major repairs are needed, or even worse an entire replacement.
So based on these very general basic numbers, a yard service may cost you about twice what you can do it yourself for. As with many things, twice the cost may have a yard service fall into a luxury expense, but for many who choose to pay for it, it's not all about the money. At two hours a week for a cut, trim and blow a 2 acre yard over a 24 week grass growing season will consume about 48 hours of your summer. Fans of lawn services point out that’s like getting an entire extra weekend of free time to do anything they want.
