What should I look for when hiring a lawn mowing service?

A good mowing service is easy to spot once you know what to ask. It cuts your grass at the right height, on a schedule that follows the grass rather than the calendar, with sharp blades and a tidy finish. It carries insurance, puts the arrangement in writing, and if it also sprays anything, holds the Virginia pesticide license that work requires.

Mowing know-how to ask about

The questions that separate a careful crew from a fast one are about grass, not equipment.

Height. Ask what height they will cut your lawn. For most Virginia lawns, which are tall fescue or fescue blends, Henrico County's Extension office says to set the mower at 3 to 4 inches for fescue lawns.^[6] A crew that scalps every lawn on the route to the same short height will stress yours in summer. Our guide to mowing height for fescue explains why.

The one-third rule. The same guidance says to remove no more than one-third of the leaf blade at each mowing.^[6] Ask how they handle the spring flush, when fescue can outgrow a weekly visit, and whether they will raise the deck when they arrive to grass that got ahead of them.

Sharp blades. A sharp blade avoids tearing leaf blades, which can lead to disease or insect attack.^[6] Ask how often they sharpen. A lawn that looks frayed and pale a day after every visit is a sign of dull blades.

Clean equipment. Henrico's guidance also says to wash mowing equipment after each use to remove infested clippings, because disease organisms can live on plant debris and be carried to other locations.^[6] A crew that mows a dozen yards a day should have a habit of cleaning decks.

Weather judgment. Wet grass sticks to the mower and falls in clumps on the lawn,^[7] and in a real drought, Virginia Tech's advice is to keep mowers and other traffic off the lawn during extreme drought.^[8] Ask whether they skip or reschedule in those conditions, and how that affects your bill.

Licences and insurance

Plain mowing is not pesticide work, but many mowing companies sell weed control and fertilizer programs too, and that changes the rules. Under Virginia law, "No person may apply or recommend for use any pesticide commercially without a pesticide business license and the employment of a certified commercial applicator"^[2] responsible for safe application. The law's definition of a pesticide reaches any substance intended for destroying or repelling weeds, insects, fungi and other pests the Commissioner declares to be a pest,^[3] so a fertilizer with weed killer in it counts.

A licensed pesticide business has to show more than a permit. To get the license, it files a certificate of insurance showing at least $100,000 for property damage, $100,000 for injury to or death of one person, and $300,000 per occurrence.^[1] It must keep written records of any pesticide applied commercially for two years,^[1] and every pesticide business license expires on March 31 and has to be renewed each year.^[1] Ask to see the current license and the name of the certified applicator who will be responsible for your lawn.

Building work is a separate matter. Virginia's contractor licensing covers work such as "the construction, removal, repair, or improvement of any building or structure permanently annexed to real property"^[4] along with other improvements to it. If your mowing company offers to put in a retaining wall, a patio or drainage, check the business on DPOR's License Lookup^[5] before you sign anything for that work.

For any crew, ask for a current certificate of liability insurance. If a stone thrown by a mower breaks a window or dents a car, that should be the crew's insurer's problem, not yours.

Clean-up and the street

Watch where the clippings go. Prince William County lists grass clippings and leaf litter among the potential sources of illicit discharges to the storm drain system,^[9] and the storm drain empties straight into local creeks and streams.^[9] State law adds that depositing soil, sand, mud, gravel or other substances on a highway so as to create a hazard to the traveling public is a Class 1 misdemeanor.^[10] A professional crew blows clippings back onto the lawn before it leaves.

What the written agreement should say

• What a visit includes: mowing, trimming, edging, blowing off walks and the drive.
• The mowing height for your lawn.
• The season's start and end dates, the visit frequency, and how rained-out, drought and extra visits are handled.
• The price per visit or per season, when you are billed, and how either side cancels.
• For any chemical work, the products' purpose, the license number and the applicator's name.

What it will cost depends on your yard; our guide to lawn mowing costs in Virginia covers the factors.

Stop and call a pro if

• Brown or thinning patches spread through the lawn despite regular mowing; the problem may be disease, drought or soil, not the cut. See why a lawn turns brown after mowing.
• You want weeds or insects treated: use a business that holds the Virginia pesticide license.
• The job includes grading, drainage, walls or anything built: check the contractor's DPOR licence first.
• Trees over the lawn have broken or hanging limbs that a mowing crew should not be under.

Browse the lawn and landscaping answers, see lawn mowing services, or look up lawn and landscaping businesses around Blacksburg. To get quotes you can compare, describe the job once and local businesses quote it.