Hello, 2019!!!!
What’s Next In 2019
To all of our clients, Happy New Year! In this blog we will explain What’s Next in 2019. We are very excited about several changes and opportunities that 2019 will be bringing to PPLM. While this is one of our slowest months in the field, January keeps us very busy behind the scenes as we prepare for the coming spring. Our maintenance crews will still be operating to complete final leaf touch ups, full service program property checks, 
winter pruning, and winter clean ups, but our fertilization crew will be pausing for a few weeks to make a few updates to our fertilizer program and get ready to start collecting soil samples by the end of this month. Most of our clients receive a yearly soil evaluation as part of their program, but if this is something for which you are not yet signed up, be sure to do so to uncover useful information about the nutritional value of your yard’s soil. As we discussed last month as well, be sure to stay off the grass in the morning until the frost has thawed. Even though fescue is a cool season grass, freezing temperatures are still not its favorite thing; some paling or yellowing in color is normal during the winter and will recover in the spring. Be sure to check out our articles and videos below to learn more about what’s new with PPLM and what we’re expecting for 2019!
Changes Are Coming
As a small, family owned business, PPLM is constantly undergoing changes and adaptations as we discover more and more ways to keep our company and the services we provide efficient and effective. Going into 2019, there are a couple of big changes that we wanted to inform our clients about.
By now, many of you know about our Picture Perfect Programs that we launched in the summer of 2017. These programs have offered set services at convenient monthly rates. This year, PPLM will be improving these programs by reducing the options from four to three and giving them simpler names. If you currently have a 90 Program, no changes are being made to the service coverage or cost; the program is simply being renamed “Prime Program.” The same goes for current 180 Programs, with no changes being made other than the name “Premiere Program.” For current 270 and 360 clients, your programs will remain unchanged for however long you wish to keep them, but we are no longer offering these programs going forward. As a replacement full service option, we will now be offering our “Pristine Program,” which covers fertilizer, aeration, seeding, mowing, spring mulch, and seasonal pruning. We expect these changes will allow us to continue focusing on our strengths as a service provider. If you have interest in further exploring our Prime, Premiere, and Pristine Programs, please feel free to contact our office!
In addition to this change, we are also planning a few changes in our core team to better utilize the talents of the great people making PPLM the most professional and progressive lawn care provider in RVA. Our current Sales Director Caety will be stepping back from managing PPLM’s sales and will be focusing more this year on video and written content creation for social media, our website, and client education as well as programs that will increase PPLM’s involvement with our community. In her place, the current head of our mow division Roger will be returning to the sales side, where he is greatly looking forward to providing excellent service and building long relationships with our clients. Our maintenance supervisor Tyireke will be leading our mow division as a result, and we are very glad to know it will be in such good hands.
Please feel free to let us know if you have any questions or feedback about these changes! We truly appreciate your support, involvement, and trust in everything related to the care of your lawn, and we look forward to being able to continue providing you with excellent service.
Planning for 2019
Now that we’re into 2019, it’s officially time to get ready for the potential difficulties our lawns may face this spring and summer. With record-breaking rainfall in 2018 and certain rainfall to continue over the next few months, it is highly unlikely that many lawns will completely dry out by spring due to the high levels of saturation currently existing in most yards. As a result, we are expecting to see higher rates of fungus and grub issues next year like we did this year.
Additionally, there’s been a greater dependency than usual on the 2018 fall seeding to renew the fescue turf population lost because of these issues, making lawns overall more sensitive to these expected issues. When the majority of lawns will be going into the 2019 season still fragile and recovering from such a stressful season in 2018, it is very important to take preventative measures to reduce the risk of developing a second wave of disease that could be catastrophic. To make it easier for our clients to build in fungicide and/or grub control next season, PPLM will be offering reduced rates on these services for 2019 now through March as well as monthly payment options if paired with a Picture Perfect Program. We will be contacting you this month and next to discuss options personally, but please feel free to reply to this email sooner if you know you would like to get something set up. It is our responsibility to keep your lawn as Picture Perfect as it can be, but when a changing climate creates greater challenges for your lawn, it is especially beneficial to plan ahead and set your lawn up for success next season.
Frost Vs. Fescue
A big threat to your lawn for the next few months is freezing temperatures, morning frost, and snow, but you have more control over how much damage is done than you would think. When temperatures are low enough to form frost, freezing rain, or snow on your lawn, your grass blades themselves freeze as well and get coated in a thin layer of ice. As a result, grass that would normally bend under pressure is prone to breaking or getting crushed, leading to irreversible cell damage within those blades of grass. This means that anytime you walk on frost in the morning on the way to the street and hear the grass crunching underneath your feet, there is likely damage being done to your lawn. Unfortunately, the same can go for kids sledding in the yard, building a snowman (and then letting it sit for a week), or anything else done on the lawn when it’s frozen. The consequence of this damage is the creation of dead spots like the ones in this picture where someone walked on their frosted lawn to their car. These dead spots will usually grow out, but that won’t happen until well into spring, so be sure to stay off the lawn unless it’s had plenty of time to thaw!
Lawn Care Services That PPLM Provides
● – Tailored and Detailed Fertilization Programs
● – Weed Control
● – Aeration and Overseeding
● – Mosquito Control
● – Fungus Control
● – Grub Control
● – Nutsedge Control
● – Plus More…….
Click HERE to read what some of our customers had to say!
We provide service to most of RVA, including: Chesterfield, Prince George, Dinwiddie, Henrico, and New Kent counties; the cities of Richmond, Colonial Heights, Matoaca, Chester, Petersburg, Hopewell, Moseley, Midlothian, Short Pump, Mechanicsville, and Quinton; and neighborhoods like Brandy Oaks, Foxcreek, Harper’s Mill, Hampton Park, Magnolia Green, The Highlands, River’s Bend, Chesdin Landing, Patriot’s Landing, RounTrey, Founders Bridge, and others!
lawn with a fresh design that will have your
neighbors turning their heads! We take pride in our services, and as a family owned business, we treat our customers like family.
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