The List of Standard Services

Mowing: Because absence makes the lawn grow longer

Just like any other living thing, your lawn needs regular attention, so Four Feet to the Yard mows weekly. This lets us treat your grass the way it should be treated: with only a third of its length being cut at a time.

A lawn that’s properly watered and fertilized usually requires mowing from late March through the first weeks of December, although there are occasions where we’ll determine that your grass doesn’t need our attention that week.

Four Feet to the Yard makes that decision for its customers, since we’re accountable for keeping lawns in the best shape possible. If we see that your lawn doesn’t need us for a week, you won’t be charged for the services.

Leaf control: Because you’ll want to see your beautiful grass

It never fails. Every fall, the leaves come down.

So, beginning in mid-October, Four Feet to the Yard also collects leaves from your lawn when we mow. This keeps your lawn from yellowing and weakening from lack of sunlight.

To keep things safe and neat, we also remove leaves from the places they tend to collect: walkways, basement wells, street gutters…anywhere they could be hazardous to your bones or your home.

If you like to rake your own leaves, just let us know — Four Feet to the Yard will stop mowing as soon as the leaves increase the amount of time it takes for us to do the job.

Leaf removal: Because they don’t just disappear

And soon enough, they’re all on the ground. At this point (unless you request that we do it earlier), Four Feet will remove the leaves from your property, including your flower and ornamental beds, shrubs, and groundcover areas. When you opt for a fall cleanup, leaf removal is included.

Cleanup and mulch: Because things get messy

We think it’s best for your garden if we do this twice a year, like bookends — in the spring and in the fall. All the work is customized to your property, your plants, and your needs. We make an organized sweep through your property. Among other things, we will prune as appropriate, remove deadwood, artfully shape shrubs, tame or remove overgrown plants, weed, and rediscover or reshape bed and lawn edges.

You don’t want your shrubs to be 98-pound weaklings, so we’ll fertilize them at this time and then lay the best double-shredded pine bark mulch. Both our fertilizer and our mulch are the best available for your plants and are carefully applied to follow University of Maryland guidelines.

Once we’ve done our spring cleanup, your grounds will be set to grow on you all summer — beautifully — with our standard maintenance and, after our fall cleanup, your property will look clean, groomed, and healthy through the winter.

Four Feet to the Yard will schedule this task depending on what type of plants you have and on the condition of the property.

Gardening visit: Because the best thing next to a beautiful lawn is a beautiful garden

Bottom line: some things you want to see growing in your garden and some things you don’t. So, on a monthly basis and as appropriate, Four Feet to the Yard will weed your flowerbeds, prune shrubs, deadhead annuals and perennials, and fertilize plants.

Installation: Because only weeds just appear

Four Feet to the Yard will plant annuals, perennials, shrubs, and small trees—and we’re more than willing to work from the ideas that you have for your lawn to give it just the look you want.

Design: Because lovely grounds grow from beautiful plans

We can also design a plan for you using our landscape designers or work with a designer you already use, or recommend a specialized designer.

Fertilize lawn: Because your lawn could use a little boost

Your grass needs some extra care to make it through the long winter months. Four Feet to the Yard will apply organic fertilizer—loaded with healthy stuff—to your lawn three times a year, giving it the strength it needs to endure its long hibernation. We separate out pest control from fertilization, follow University of Maryland environmental guidelines, and never overfertilize.

Lime lawn: Because lime is the base of a healthy lawn

We’ll apply lime to your lawn once during the winter, and the freezing and thawing of the soil will work the lime in, over the months, getting the grass in good shape for its spring growth.

Lawn pest control: Because pests can control your lawn, or you can

Crabgrass can ruin the look of a lawn, so Four Feet to the Yard will treat yours with a pre-emergent control that will keep crabgrass and other nasty weeds from ever showing up. In addition, things like broadleaf weeds, nutsedge, and damaging insects can appear on occasion, and we’ll treat those on a customized program.

Shrub and tree pest control: Because we know what’s eating your plants

And we’ll take action as soon as you or we notice a problem. We’ll bring in experts to do integrated pest management (IPM), an approach that includes periodic inspections by a trained professional.

Core aerate and overseed: Because your lawn wants to put down roots

This is the single best thing you can do to get your lawn looking great. Four Feet to the Yard recommends this treatment late each summer, to loosen soil so that the grass can develop a deep root system.

Our machines pull finger-long soil plugs up to the surface providing grass with the needed access to water and fertilizer. We overseed with the finest grass seed available and return in a month to reseed.

Lawn renovation: Because sometimes, you need to start over

We’re not saying you did it, but lawns sometimes become neglected. In those cases, Four Feet to the Yard will do all it takes to restore your lawn to a happy and healthy appearance.

In the most extreme cases, lawn renovation will require us to kill both weeds and grass. In all cases, we mow, core aerate, and seed the lawn; then we apply an organic material like Leafgro, followed by a lime appliction.

Prune and trim: Because nice shrubs are neat shrubs

We’ll keep your shrubs and small trees looking healthy and stylish by pruning and trimming them as needed each time we come to do cleanup and gardening visits. We work in both natural and formal styles.

Gutter cleaning: Because you don’t want your mind there

So let Four Feet to the Yard worry about it. We’ll clean your gutters at least twice, once in late June and again about six months later.

We’ve learned that cleaning gutters twice a year is best, though, because it minimizes the chance of downspout stoppages. And once downspouts are stopped up, you’ll have to deal with snakes…and the plumbers who own them.