Frequently Asked Questions

We take the total of any services you order at the start of the season and split that total into the 8 monthly payments. This is like a budget payment plan; instead of being surprised at service with a bill you’re not expecting, you know you owe the 8 monthly payments on a certain date.

The flyer clearly states 5 basic services (6 in Virginia) for 8 monthly payments.

No, there are 5 basic services (6 in Virginia) and they are scheduled about every 6 weeks, weather permitting. The payment plan is 8 months.

On the invoice left at your door, you will see that it shows at the bottom right “Today’s Invoice Charge”, “Prepay Discount” if it applies, “Invoice Total”, “Bal as of (date)”, and then “Please Remit”. “Today’s Invoice Charge” is the cost of the service applied without tax, and if you are on the monthly installments, “Please Remit” will say either “None” or the amount you currently owe as of that day. If you are current with your installments, then your balance will say “None”. If you have any questions, please feel free to call or email customer service. You can also go to your customer portal on our website to see what your balance is the day after the service is performed.

If your auto pay did not debit the day after a service was rendered, you should receive an email from lawn gateway letting you know what caused the payment to not process. You can also check your customer access portal for more details.

New in 2025, you can set up “customer access” in the top right corner of our website’s homepage. Once you gain access you can set up auto pay for either the 8 monthly installments or per service or both if you have a mix of the 2. Some customers have 8 monthly payments for the basic services and then pay per service for options added during the season.

New in 2025 you no longer have to call in; you can utilize our online payment portal right here on our website. We accept Visa, MasterCard, Discover, and American Express!

We cannot just take someone’s money without their knowledge or permission. You can send in a check, call in and pay by card, or now (new in 2025) access our online payment portal on our website!

Please do not hand any of our technicians payment for any services. The technician should never ask for a payment at the service. To make sure payments are received and processed accordingly, please direct all payments to the main office by either sending in a check, calling in to customer service and paying by credit card, or utilizing our online customer portal (new in 2025). The customer service number is 800-286-8505 or email TLC@tlcthelawncompany.com.

Please purchase a money order and mail payment to our billing address. The mailing address for payments is:
TLC; The Lawn Company, P.O. Box 698, Shrewsbury, MA 01545.
Please do not make payment to our technicians when they come for a service.

We do our best to inform you of your balance. We start sending a past-due reminder at 31 days past due and then every 2 weeks following that up until you either make payment or your account is closed and forwarded to collections. New in 2025, you can access our customer portal to check if a balance is due or make a payment.

Per our terms and conditions, failure to make on-time payments will result in the account being held for payment and no further service will be provided. We do our best to inform you if your account has become past due. At 31 days past due, we start sending letters to advise you the account is past due and then every 2 weeks from there until you hit 75 days past due. Then we have exhausted the use of sending letters and turn the past-due amount over to our collections agency, and they assist with reaching out to our past-due accounts to collect. We try to avoid this step any way possible. We value our customers and try to inform you as best we can before moving forward.

Our auto-renewal policy is on our “Dear Valued Customer” letter we mail at sign-up and at the bottom of all the invoices we leave at your door, along with it being in our terms and conditions. We do our best to make sure you are aware, and we send a renewal in January letting you know so you have enough time to make a decision before services start in March/April.

We auto-renew each year as a courtesy unless you inform us otherwise. Our auto-renew policy is in our terms and conditions, our “Dear Valued Customer” letter we mail at sign-up, and on every invoice we leave at your door after service. We also sent you a renewal packet in January and a confirmation letter in March. If you do not call or email us that you would like to discontinue, we will continue with the same services as last year.

We are sorry to hear that. We pride ourselves on our “Service Guarantee.” If you are not fully satisfied with the most recent service, call or email within 2 weeks from that service and we can either come out and redo the service or we can credit or refund that service cost to you depending on how you paid. Sidenote: Some states won’t allow us to apply more chemicals until a certain time period has passed, and putting too many chemicals can also possibly cause damage to the lawn. We must abide by state laws and manufacturers’ guidelines on each product.

Please, before calling in, make sure there is no product in the area of concern. You can do this by walking over to that area and spreading the grass blades. In between, you should see small beads on the soil. If you are worried a technician missed any weeds with the weed control, you should see the sheen of the product on the weed for at least 4–6 hours depending on weather conditions and how fast it dried. It is always best to wait a week or so for results before calling in for a service call.

If it has been 10 days and you do not see any weeds wilting and curling, please call us. We provide our customers that have the full-season service (5 basic services or 6 in VA) with free service calls to help conquer those stubborn weeds. Some weeds are more resilient than others and need to be sprayed more often. Sometimes, the weeds of concern might even be a nuisance grass that is not affected by the weed control. You can look up on Google to help identify the problem area or we can have a technician take a look the next time they are there for service. Please do not let the weeds get out of control and then call us. It is best to call when they are just starting out.

Some vine weeds are almost impossible to control. Things like ivy, wild violets, or creeping Charlie are just a few of the vine weeds. These could look like they are dying off and then come back a few weeks later full blast. They have a starting point; some have a bulb, and until that is treated, the vine weed can keep regrowing year after year. We will always do our best to get control of any weeds in the lawn.

Clover can be difficult to get rid of because it can thrive in poor soil conditions, spread quickly through creeping stems, has a shallow root system that allows it to establish easily in compacted soil, and can readily reproduce itself, making it a persistent competitor against most lawn grasses, especially when not properly maintained with adequate fertilization and thick grass growth. Essentially, it can easily take root in areas where your desired grass isn't thriving as well as it should be. We will always do our best to get control of any weeds in the lawn.

Pre-emergent is applied to the lawn during our spring service. In ideal conditions, pre-emergent will control up to 80% of crabgrass. When applying, the ground temperature has to be at least 55°F before it will activate. Pre-emergent needs to be applied to grass for it to work efficiently to prevent crabgrass from germinating in the hot summer months, like June or July. Pre-emergent can also break down over time; it usually lasts about 90–120 days and can break down faster in areas where the lawn is thin or bare. Areas along walkways, foundations, bare spots, and thin areas in the lawn tend to be more susceptible to crabgrass because the soil is unprotected and gets warmer than areas protected by thick grass. Crabgrass tends to attack areas that are weak and unprotected. One of the best deterrents against crabgrass or any weed is a thick, lush lawn. If you notice crabgrass is germinating in the lawn, please call us right away to come and apply a post-emergent to the areas of concern.

We are not a landscaping service; we provide the chemical applications to a lawn that is already established and needs a bit more TLC. We do not offer any mowing, raking, trimming, mulching, or any other landscaping services. A landscaper can provide that service for you.

We do not provide spot seeding services for the lawn. We do offer an optional overseeding service for core aeration. If you have bare areas in the lawn, seeding will be needed and recommended by our technicians on the invoice they leave at your door. They will recommend you seed the areas of concern to correct the condition. Our core aeration and overseeding is not intended to replace a full seed to repair dead or bare areas in the lawn and is only meant to thicken an already existing lawn and is not guaranteed to that extent.

We do not offer seeding as a regular service. We offer core aeration and overseeding in addition to the optional core aeration service in the fall at an additional charge.

We are only allowed to apply products to the lawn/turf in accordance with the manufacturer’s label of products we apply. All of the products we use are not listed for use in gardens, mulch beds, driveways, walkways, patios, or the like.

This is a very complex question. The simplest answer is: if your lawn is cool-season grasses, mow as high as your mower will allow. If you have warm-season grasses, they like to be mowed at 2–2.5” range. Mowing often is very important to maintaining a healthy lawn. Plan to mow weekly and, in peak growing times, possibly twice in a week. You only want to cut away at most a third of the blade. Remember to have your mower blade sharpened once a year.

This is another great but complex question. All of the fertilizers we apply to your lawn need water to become active. Some of the services we provide MUST be watered in immediately after the application, and we will leave instructions with these services. When the lawn is stressed due to lack of rain, you have two options. The first option is to not water and allow your lawn to go dormant. During this period, the lawn will tend to brown out and go to “sleep.” The browning is due to the lawn pulling the water into the roots and crown of the grass to survive. The second option takes commitment: heavy, infrequent saturation is best for the lawn. When watering the lawn, you want to give ¾ to 1” of irrigation every 2 or 3 days. A regular tuna can is 1 inch deep and an easy way of measuring your water output. Water early in the morning to reduce the opportunity for disease and fungus in the lawn. Watering in the early morning hours allows the lawn to use the water that it needs and the excess to evaporate in the mid-day sun.

There are so many different types of grass that we could never cover them all. To simplify this answer, all grasses are in two different categories by the area you are located. If you reside north of the Mason-Dixon Line, you are in the North or “Cool Zone.” From the Mason-Dixon Line south through the Carolinas, you are located in the “Transition Zone.” All points south are in the “Warm Zone.” It is most common to have cool-season grasses in the Cool and Transition Zones. These cool-season grasses are varieties of bluegrass, ryegrass, tall fescue, and fine fescue. Each grass type has different strengths and weaknesses. There are some lawns that will have warm-season grass types. These lawns are typically Bermuda or Zoysia lawns. You can either use your local extension service, Google to identify your grass type, or ask a technician to identify it on your next service. Our program is tailored to cool-season grasses, as they are the most common in the areas we service.

When the growing season ends and the grass goes into a hibernation state because the ground is freezing, it shuts down and will sometimes turn brown. When spring comes, it should green right back up as the ground starts to thaw. Zoysia grass naturally goes dormant earlier than other grasses and greens up later as soil temperatures rise.

These grass types are warm-season grasses, and they tend to go dormant when the temps are cooler and will start to green up once the temps start to warm up.

There are some states that have laws and regulations about when products can be applied to lawns. Our services usually start as early as possible in March, but all services are weather-dependent and dependent on the ground temperature for best results. If the ground is still frozen, we have to wait.

Based on the manufacturer’s recommendations for the products we apply, ground and air temperatures must be taken into consideration when applying any products. Weed control can only be applied if the ground temperature is 55°F and the air temperature is also above 55°F. During early spring, the temps tend to stay lower in some areas, and we have to follow the manufacturer’s guidelines as to when we can use the weed control. Spraying weeds in soil that is still too cold is wasteful and can be harmful to the environment. We have to wait until those temperatures are ideal before we can spray the weeds. Sometimes a service will be applied of just fertilizer to help the grasses start growing as the ground starts to thaw. We will always return at no cost to you to spray any weeds that might be in the lawn.

Our grub proofing application can be applied with either our “2nd Service—Late Spring” or “3rd Service—Summer.” The product we use works on the nervous system of the insect, interfering with feeding and causing the insect to die. We apply during the time the eggs are being laid until they are almost ready to hatch, which normally starts around mid-May to mid-August. During the late summer and fall, the larvae of the beetle hatch and come to the root of the grass to feed. They ingest the product we apply and die off. You could still see grubs in the lawn, but as long as they are not doing damage to the lawn, the product is working properly. Remember that the grub proofing MUST be watered in immediately after the application.

Due to county laws, we are not allowed to apply a pesticide of any kind. You purchased an insurance policy in which we will repair any damage done if grubs feed on your lawn. If you have this service and you see that grubs are doing damage, you can call us at that time. Repairs will be done once the feeding has stopped and weather conditions allow.

Japanese or European Chafer beetles are what lay the eggs in the soil and, in turn, hatch into grubs. We do not treat for the beetles, and there is no way to prevent them from coming into the lawn. The Japanese or European Chafer beetles do damage to flowers, shrubs, and trees, and the larvae of the beetle (the grub) eat the grass roots. Our service is only to treat the grass, not the trees, shrubs, or flowers.

The most likely culprit is a pest called “sod webworms.” The adult moths lay eggs that hatch into larvae that look similar to small caterpillars, which then eat the grass blades, causing brown patches on your lawn. You might notice this if you see the moths flying up when you walk across the affected area.

Lime increases the pH level of the soil, making it less acidic and more alkaline. This will help discourage moss growth and improve the availability of nutrients for grasses. Lime contains calcium and magnesium, which help keep your lawn looking lush and green. Lime also creates an alkaline environment that makes it harder for weeds to survive.

We do not provide a lime test on the lawns. Adding lime to your lawn enables it to attain a balanced pH level and a healthy supply of calcium, which in turn can improve the health and quality of your lawn by making nutrients available to the grass for plant uptake. We recommend if someone has not had any lime in 3 years or more, they start with 3 lime applications the first year, 2 lime applications the second year, and 1 application per year from that point forward to maintain proper pH levels. You can purchase a pH test at a local landscape supply house to test your soil or bring a soil sample to someone who would test it for you.

Lime breaks down over time and can take up to 6 months to have a full effect on the soil’s pH levels. We use a high-concentration granular lime application on the lawns. The granular breaks down into the soil and works to raise the pH levels.

Lime does not kill moss directly, but it can help prevent its growth by improving the soil conditions. Lime increases the pH of the soil, making it less acidic and more alkaline. This can discourage moss growth and improve the availability of nutrients for grasses.

When your lawn is core aerated, it pulls small 2–3” cores out of the soil. They are dropped on top of the soil and left to regenerate back into the soil; this aids in breaking up the thatch layer. These cores should not be raked up or removed from the lawn. If you need to mow the lawn, you can mow right over them.

You need to water for at least 2 weeks to maintain proper moisture so the seeds that fell into the core holes can germinate.

Overseeding is not meant to fix or repair bare or dead areas in the lawn. Overseeding is meant to thicken an already existing lawn and is not guaranteed to repair bare spots to that extent.

TLC technicians have access to the best equipment in the industry. The equipment we use allows us to treat 1–2K square feet of lawn in a minute. An average 9,000-square-foot lawn could take about 9 minutes. All equipment is calibrated to apply the proper amounts of fertilizer and herbicides required for the application.

Please check your service invoice to see what products were applied and at what time. If a weed control has been applied, it is best to avoid mowing for 24 hours. This allows the product time to work its way through the weed, offering the best results. If you mowed the lawn and then realized a service was performed, just let us know in 7–10 days, and we can return and respray the weeds in the lawn. Mowing will not affect fertilizer or lime applications.

Most weed controls work by disrupting critical plant processes like photosynthesis, cell division, or nutrient uptake—essentially poisoning the plant and preventing its growth by interfering with its ability to produce essential compounds needed for survival. Most weed controls are absorbed through leaf tissue and root uptake, so the weed has to be actively growing for them to work.

This answer really depends on what you want out of the service we provide. Fertilizers take about 15 days from being watered in to start causing the lawn to green up. Weed control is a little different: some weeds react quickly and results are seen within 24 hours; other weeds may take up to 14 days. Unfortunately, some stubborn weeds like vine weeds might take multiple applications to see results. If you are looking to turn your yard around, we recommend 2 years of complete services with aeration and seeding to see major improvements. Please reach out anytime if you need us to come back out.

Your invoice should have a start time on it so you know when the service was completed and it will show what products were applied. For any granular applications like fertilizer or lime, you can resume using the lawn immediately after the service has been completed. Any granular that might contain pesticide like grub proofing or insect control must dry thoroughly before reentering. Any granular that might get on you can be washed off with soap and water. If liquid weed control has been applied, avoid returning to the lawn for a few hours to give the product time to dry. In warmer areas, the liquid might dry faster than in cooler areas, but we always recommend 4–6 hours to be safe.

It could be just a spider making a web, or it could be a type of fungus called dollar spot (Mycelium). Unfortunately, we do not treat fungi with anything other than fertilizer to help it grow out. You can always call in, and we can have a technician assess the issue for you.

Mushrooms are a fungus, and they grow in areas that have something under the soil that could be decomposing or rotting. It might be an old railroad tie or some type of woody debris buried below. Mushrooms are not dangerous to the lawn. You can easily rake, mow, or stomp them out, and they will regenerate into the soil. There is no application that will prevent mushrooms from growing.

They were most likely already growing and then fertilizer was applied. Fertilizer makes things grow—whether it is the grass, weeds, or mushrooms. They are all plant life and will grow faster when fertilizer is applied.

Moss grows in areas that have poor soil conditions, heavy shade, and excess moisture. Some ways to help rid the area of moss are to address the issues that may be causing the moss to grow: trim trees to reduce shade and bring in natural light; possibly replace the area of concern with mulch or stone; fix drainage issues with the lawn or area of concern; and manage pH levels in the soil.

We do not offer this service; this is more along the lines of a landscaper or something you can do on your own. Doing a simple rake and seed to the problem areas can help fill them in.

We do not offer this type of service; this is more along the lines of a landscaper or something you could do with a rake and seed.

We do not offer this service. You would need to hire either a landscaper or perform this on your own. We recommend what is best for the lawn each time we come out. Filling in bare areas will help prevent weed growth in those areas.

No. Our grub proofing does not prevent moles or any other animals from digging in the lawn. Moles are carnivorous and they eat insects, grubs, and earthworms. They will tunnel in lawns looking for any food source available. There is nothing we offer that will prevent any animal from digging in the lawn.

No. Our grub proofing does not prevent voles or any other animals from digging in the lawn. Voles dig tunnels in lawns to create runways that provide access to food and protection from predators. Voles are herbivores that eat the roots, stems, and bark of plants. There is nothing we offer that will prevent any animal from digging in the lawn.

No. Our grub proofing does not prevent skunks or any other animals from digging in the lawn. Skunks dig in lawns to find grubs, worms, and other insects to eat. They are nocturnal, so the damage is usually done at night. They dig small, cone-shaped holes that are about the size of their nose. There is nothing we offer that will prevent any animal from digging in the lawn.

Grub proofing is not to prevent animals from digging. That is not what it is for. Animals like moles, voles, skunks, and the like do not just dig for grubs; they are looking for anything edible like earthworms, nuts, berries, or roots. They will eat grubs that are alive or dead also, but they are not the preferred food. We do not prevent animals from digging.

Every state has very specific training requirements that are required to apply products to your lawn. Training includes a variety of agronomic, horticulture, environmental, and safety topics. Training must be completed by all new employees and yearly retraining is required. Training is provided by state licensed/certified managers. TLC also utilizes training provided by many of the universities that regulate the industry in those states.

Every technician will be wearing a uniform with a TLC logo on the shirt. Our company vehicles will also have a logo on them so you know they are with TLC; The Lawn Company. If there is ever someone on your lawn with an unmarked vehicle and/or no uniform, please advise us immediately.

A lawn turning brown during a drought is primarily because the grass is not receiving enough water, causing it to become dehydrated and enter a state of dormancy, resulting in the browning appearance; this is a natural response to lack of moisture during dry conditions. Hot weather during a drought can exacerbate the issue, further stressing the grass and accelerating browning. Once the grass receives the moisture it needs and is able to come out of the dormant state, it should recover.

Do not panic—your lawn may turn brown, but it doesn’t mean it is dead. Lack of water causes the grass to go into a dormant state to protect itself. Once the grass gets the right amount of moisture, it will turn green again. You should reduce the mowing height by raising the mower blade to a higher setting to allow the grass to retain more moisture or wait to mow until it rains. When watering is allowed, water thoroughly but less often to encourage deeper root growth. Follow your local water usage restrictions and consider drought-tolerant grass varieties in the future. As always, please call us with any questions.