Frequently Asked Questions

For our routine maintenance customers, we will assign you a target day depending on your location

For most of our recurring maintenance services, we set a certain day of the week that we aim to complete that particular service. Many factors can delay our crews by a day or two throughout the season (weather, holidays, fleet or equipment issues.) On average, we hit our Target Days for maintenance service the majority of the time, or our promised completion date for non-recurring services.

In the event of a rain day, we determine if our operations will be harmful to your landscape (i.e. create ruts, tracking of mud, etc.). If we decide we may cause harm then we will not perform maintenance that day and schedule you the following day.

If there was a weather delay earlier in the week, each subsequent service day is pushed one day ahead. If we receive multiple delays, we are sometimes forced to push all days ahead by multiple days, and work in order of priority until all properties are caught up. We have on rare occasions faced multiple rain delays and in these instances we work our crews overtime, as well as switch our install crews over to maintenance to help get scheduled services back on track faster.

There are a select few other scenarios where a mowing service will be skipped. Please keep in mind that we are not simply a “mowing company” but rather a “lawn care company”.  We are trained in turfgrass management and prioritize the health of the lawn over the money for the lawn mowing visit in the case that a mowing service could negatively effect the quality of the lawn. Occasionally our mowing crew leaders may opt to skip a service upon arriving to your property in certain scenarios where mowing your lawn would potentially cause more stress/damage to the lawn if the service were to be performed.

These scenarios are:

• Heat Stress: We are located in what is called a “transition zone” where neither cool-season nor warm-season grasses grow perfectly in our region. This is why you see a mixture of both lawns in the area.  For the majority of you with cool-season lawns, your lawn will experience heat stress at some point in the dead of summer, especially those without sprinkler systems. Cutting your lawn in high temps when your lawn is thirsty can put unnecessary stress on your lawn.  (also related to next scenario)
• Lawn still at recommended cutting height (summer dormancy): Many lawns will retreat back into a brief dormancy to protect itself from the heat and/or drought conditions. This means the turfgrass drastically slows the growth above ground to the point it’s barely growing. Once temps fall back to normal it continues with rapid growth again. Most of our clients never really notice this (we will) but it happens all the time and it’s natures way of protecting itself. *You will NOT see this with Zoysia lawns or any warm-season grass varieties since they favor warmer climates.
• Lawn is water saturated or pooling: It may not be raining anymore, but sometimes the ground can remain heavily saturated with water from the most recent rainfalls. If we get enough consecutive rain days, the ground takes even longer to fully dry out. If the crew finds that after walking on the lawn, they believe the mowers may tear up the lawn or landscape, the crew leader will opt to skip w/ office approval and push the mowing forward 1-3 days.
• Stinging/biting Insects or Animals present: We employ only the toughest lawn warriors in the field, but sometimes a large wasp nest in just the right spot will call off a crew. Some team members are allergic to stings so we have to opt on the side of safety sometimes. We do come across snakes, raccoons, foxes, and many other wildlife so we’ve seen them all. In this event, it gets reported to the office, and we work together to find the best solution to the particular pest we encountered.
• Obstructions on the lawn: Our crews are assigned to perform lawn/landscape tasks and we please ask that the areas we are servicing be cleared of any toys, balls, building materials, excessive trash, excessive pet waste, hoses, sprinklers, etc. prior to our service visit. A well hidden garden hose on the edge of the lawn can be tough to see if we don’t know it’s already there during a mowing, and may get punctured.
• Another contractor working on-site OR building materials left on the lawn: There are some instances when our crews arrive to your property to find another company working on the interior or exterior of your home as well and are in some way preventing our service from taking place OR there are building materials being held on your property but on the areas that we are servicing. We do not want to take the risk of damaging any of the building materials in the yard (either by our equipment or by our crew moving them) so we prefer to skip till the materials are cleared from your property.
• Pets outside: Most of our team have pets, we love them! But, we do not know YOUR pet and YOUR pet does not know us. So for the safety of our crews and your pet, we ask that you keep your buddies inside during the expected service days. Also, doggie poo is not fun to step in, please pickup any pet waste – it also greatly improves the lawn!
• Extreme Cold (frost or frozen lawn): Very rare occurrence but it has happened. In very low temps, during the mowing season, we may skip service if our lawn mowing service would stress or damage the lawn.
• Non-payment or Declining Card on File: We require a valid payment method on file in our system when services are active with Patapsco Valley Lawn & Landscape LLC.

Our response time varies depending on the time of season, and ranges from 1 to 4 days to either perform a site visit, or schedule the initial walk-through. Many of our services can be estimated remotely and a quote can be provided the same day.

We have been serving the local community since 1991.

We currently offer lawn maintenance, leaf removal, spring clean ups, mulching, aeration, overseeding, fertilization, snow removal and planting. Please explore our Services section for additional information.

No, we currently are not taking on any hardscaping projects. We would be more than happy to refer you to a local company to help you with this!

Gutter Cleaning is something we offer our lawn maintenance customers and is just another perk about working with us! We recommend most customers have their gutters cleaned twice a year, along with their spring and fall cleanups.

Our mulching services include cleaning the beds. This includes removing debris and weeding. We then edge the beds and apply a 2 inch thick layer of dark brown mulch. Additional mulch colors are available, at a premium cost.

You may provide your own mulch, but we strongly recommend that you allow us to use our high quality mulch. It will most likely cost you less than any store bought mulch and it will have a consistent look throughout your property. Store bought mulch can also contain weed seeds (and even trash), if it is not properly screened and heated prior to resale. It is also difficult to determine how much mulch will be required for each job. If there isn’t enough mulch provided, we may need to return to the job after it is acquired and that would result in extra fees.

Aeration should be performed at least once per year. Lawns with compacted soil or soil with high clay content may benefit from aeration twice annually.

Yes! Feel free to reach out for more details.

No, we currently do not offer pest control services. We would be more than happy to refer you to a local company to handle this.

Mulch beautifies your property, it reduces weeds keeping maintenance to a minimum, it retains ground moisture reducing the need for watering, it protects the roots from heat damage and it enriches the soil reducing the need for constant fertilizing.

We can prune the lower limbs of your trees but do not remove trees or limbs over 12 feet in height. We have a great list of recommended Arborists that we work with on a consistent basis that we would be happy to share with you.