FAQ

Q: What makes us better than other lawn care companies?

A: Morrison Lawn & Landscape is a full time business that is licensed and insured. In the lawn care industry, we distinguish ourselves from other companies by our staff. We are professionals with horticultural education and experience. We also provide a very high quality of products and services with impeccable timing. The owner is able to work one-on-one directly with each customer.

Q: What can you do for me that my present contractor cannot?

A: Clients tell us that the reason they selected us over their previous contractor is that we provide better communication with our customers. Owner Joe Morrison is on site for 100% of all work that is done. Our customers can communicate with him directly on the job site, or other times he is easily accessible via email, phone, or text. Morrison Lawn & Landscape also provides excellent resources for education to customers through quarterly newsletters and blog articles about lawn care and landscaping in the South.

Q: What will your services cost?

A: It depends on your property and your own unique specifications. Property considerations include slopes, fences, and extensive weed-eating areas. Seasonal factors include how many times the lawn requires double cutting in the spring or leaf removal in the fall. We take more time determining a realistic price for service levels that meet your expectations for quality and customer service. We don’t want to provide you with services that are not needed, nor do we want to exclude services that are required by your landscape.

Q: For years I have tried unsuccessfully to get grass to grown in an area of my my yard shaded by two oak trees..

A: No grass grows well in shade, as you’ve discovered. Other considerations are that the roots of the oak tree are competing for water and nutrients with the grass. So consider covering the problem area with either pine needles or mulch and making a natural area. This will hold the soil in place and need little upkeep, other than replenishing the pine needles or mulch each year. You could also plant a shade-tolerant ground cover, such as English ivy.

Q: My hydrangeas have pretty foliage but never bloom. I water and feed them regularly. What am I doing wrong?

A: There are two possible causes. The first is too little sun. For hydrangeas to bloom well, they need full sun in the morning and light shade in the afternoon. The second is improper pruning. Most selections of French hydrangea (Hydrangea macrophylla) should be pruned by midsummer to remove or shorten stems that have just finished blooming. If you prune in late summer, fall, or winter, you’ll cut off flowerbuds for the upcoming year. Exceptions are “All Summer Beauty”, “Penny Mac”, and “Endless Summer”, which bloom from both the current and previous years.

Q: Every winter I see many commercial landscapers commit “crepe murder”. How should a crepe myrtle be properly pruned?

A: Late February is the ideal time to prune.

  • Trim away suckers at the base, crossing (or rubbing) branches, and branches trowing inward toward the center of the plant.
  • Cut back to another branch, to just above an outward-facing bud on a branch, or to the branch collar (a swollen area where the branch joins the trunk). Never leave lone or clustered stubs.
  • Instead of a sawed off, rounded look, the tree should be thinned out leaving or or two shoots at the end of each limb, yielding more blooms for the upcoming summer.

 

Q: What mowing height do you recommend for summer lawns?

A: Most of our customers have tall fescue grass. The best overall turf height is 3 ½ to 4 inches. Cutting your grass too short can stress your lawn, especially during summer heat and drought. Higher heights will reduce weed growth, provide a better drought tolerance, and improve the rooting depth of grass.

Q: My pine needles seem to decompose and turn a dull, dark brown too soon.

A: Bales of pine needles that are trucked in by the trailer load from home improvement chains or purchased for fundraisers are typically short leaf (slash) pine needles. Those pine needles are often cheaper because of greater supply. We only use long leaf pine needles for our installations. Long leaf pine straw is a pine needle that averages 14″ in length; it is a very high quality pine needle with a reddish color. The bales are a little more expensive and harder to find, but are more durable and maintain better color quality.