How does TruGreen do it??

[mikey30]

Somehow all of the houses in our neighborhood that subscribe to a lawn care company such as TruGreen, TopTurf, etc., do not have a single weed in their yard. With the warm season grasses still dormant, it would be easy to see.

I have been trying to be good with applying my Pre-m in the winter and spring and still have a decent amount of mostly broadleaf weeds and some Poa.

It's just discouraging when it seems like even the people that never fertilize or apply Pre-m have as many or less weeds than I do.

What do the pros do that is so successful in eliminating and preventing weeds?

[Conbano]

Don't know what the pros do but for me, it is about timing and appropriate watering after. Also, Pre-m alone doesn't work for me. I always add 3-way or gly depend on time of year.

[scottcgrable]

The only possible way that I could think that your neighbors lawns have no weeds would be if TruGreen just went ahead and killed the whole lawn! When I had TruGreen my yard was essentially a field of POA. Keep at what your doing, you will soon see why lawn services are a waste of money.

Check to make sure you are getting down enough PreM to cover 6 months as it sounds like you are applying semiannually. I have been taking care of my lawn for a little over a year(post TruGreen) and I still have many weeds.

[greenc51]

Same here...just moved into a new home, and almost every yard is weed free while the grass is dormant. I plan on taking care of the yard myself, and its disappointing to already have a yard full of quackgrass in a newly sodded yard in a home I've only been in for a month.
I am going to pull the quackgrass tomorrow (or what I can since there is a lot) then put down some pre-m. Any suggestions on pre-m and where to grab a bag?

[HitEmTrue]

The only possible way that I could think that your neighbors lawns have no weeds would be if TruGreen just went ahead and killed the whole lawn!

Gonna go out on a limb here and say that TrueGreen probably didn't kill the entire lawn. Mikey will know soon enough...

[Tomb]

My friend had a yard full of weeds we went to site one and the they recommended Red Zone he said it would not hurt Bermuda grass.Well I had a 25 gallon sprayer and he bought the 2 qt jar 44 bucks.it made 21 gallons and my friend sprayed his yard that was 2 years ago and now he is weed free does.He now died a 4 stage pre emergent jan,April,Sept,Nov.Well he does not have a weed period.His yard backs up to a drainage area where it is only mowed a couple times a years and is full of weeds.So he sprayed a small spot behind his fence and there wasn't any weeks there after the first year also.He did the spraying in Mid April.

[luderiffic]

My friend had a yard full of weeds we went to site one and the they recommended Red Zone he said it would not hurt Bermuda grass.Well I had a 25 gallon sprayer and he bought the 2 qt jar 44 bucks.it made 21 gallons and my friend sprayed his yard that was 2 years ago and now he is weed free does.He now died a 4 stage pre emergent jan,April,Sept,Nov.Well he does not have a weed period.His yard backs up to a drainage area where it is only mowed a couple times a years and is full of weeds.So he sprayed a small spot behind his fence and there wasn't any weeks there after the first year also.He did the spraying in Mid April.

The only stuff I see called "Red Zone" is a post emergence herbicide. What exactly is he using?

[Oicu812]

They are mostly using indaziflam. (Speciticle) then simazine and 2,4-d after that. Some use prodiamine at a heavier rate 1.5 lb per A but must be watered in pretty quick.

[wiredawg]

Well around these parts, "Tru-Green" seems to be a waste of money. Though, there is a another service called "Weed-Man" and they seems to be fairly weed-free, but the grass is rarely green...let me clarify, if one is paying for a lawn service one's lawn should look great not just okay.

I get compliments on my lawn all the time.

A basic list of what I use: Most can be found at (domyownpestcontrol.com)
Pre-emergent: Prodiamine 65 WDG

Typically, I do not like using too much herbicides,but when hand pulling is not practical I will declare chemical warfare on my weedy enemies. For me that is always in spring...I get a little lazy during the late fall and winter months, I guess...though, this year I used less than a gallon to spot treat my entire lawn for weeds...

Herbicide: Trimec Southern Broadleaf (2,4d) (When needed)
Target-6 for Crabgrass/dallisgrass (When Needed) Though, goal here is to avoid the emergence of crabgrass and dallisgrass in the first place. Since these are summer weeds I'm actively in my yard and can usually avoid these annoyances.

I do use a "marking dye" so I can see where I sprayed.

My go-to fertilizer is "Milorganite" its cheap and seems to do the job...