The corner that never dried out
Eleven years of standing water behind the garage, and two companies before us who said it could not be fixed.
Most companies mow from April and disappear in November. We do not.
Groundcrew is a landscape company in Wyckoff, New Jersey. Two hundred and forty properties a week, one crew per street, and work on the calendar in all twelve months.
Established 2009 Bergen and Passaic counties USDA zone 6b / 7a
Month by month
Every month has work that only makes sense in that month.
Most of what goes wrong in a yard goes wrong because something was done at the wrong time of year. Seed in April, prune a spring bloomer in March, mulch before the soil has warmed. Swipe through what the crews are doing, and when.
January 01
Plows and pruning
Snow crews run on call, day or night. Between storms we prune the shade trees. Leaves off, you can see the shape of the thing you are cutting.
- Snow and ice response
- Dormant tree pruning
- Equipment rebuilt in the shop
February 02
Drawing and ordering
The quiet month. We measure properties, draw the spring builds and get stone and plant orders in before the yards sell out. Book a patio now and you sit at the front of the line.
- Site measuring and plans
- Spring estimates
- Stone and plant orders placed
March 03
Everything comes off
Spring cleanup. Leaves and winter debris off the beds, grasses cut to the ground, edges re-cut by hand. The yard looks worse for about four days and then it looks like a different property.
- Spring cleanup
- Grasses and perennials cut back
- Hand-cut bed edges
April 04
Mowers out, water on
First cut of the year, usually the second week. Irrigation gets turned on and every head checked. Mulch goes down after the soil has warmed, never before.
- Mowing starts
- Irrigation start-up
- Mulch and pre-emergent
May 05
Planting season
The busiest four weeks we have. Everything goes in the ground: trees, shrubs, perennials, annual color at the front door. Patio and wall crews start their first builds.
- Planting installs
- Hardscape builds begin
- Full weekly mowing
June 06
Growth you can hear
Peak growth. We mow weekly, prune the spring bloomers as soon as they finish, and put grub control down before the beetles lay eggs, not after the damage shows.
- Weekly mowing
- First pruning round
- Grub control
July 07
Raise the deck
We cut higher in July. Taller grass shades its own roots and holds its own moisture. Through a dry August that does more for a lawn than anything you can buy in a bag. We would rather it look shaggy than dead.
- High mowing
- Watering checks
- Bed weeding
August 08
Hot, slow, honest
August is when lawns tell the truth. We walk properties with owners, mark what struggled, and plan the September repair. The second pruning round goes through the hedges.
- Second pruning round
- Fall planning walks
- Heat and drought triage
September 09
The best month for grass
Soil is still warm, nights are cool, weed pressure is gone. Aerate and overseed now and you get a lawn that holds through next summer. Do it in spring and you are mostly feeding crabgrass.
- Core aeration
- Overseeding
- Fall planting starts
October 10
Leaves, bulbs, color
Cleanups run on a rotation so nothing sits long enough to smother the lawn. Bulbs go in for spring. Last feeding of the year, and the one that matters most.
- Leaf rotations
- Bulb planting
- Final fertilizer
November 11
Shut it down properly
Full leaf cleanup, irrigation blown out with compressed air, perennials cut back, burlap up on the evergreens that catch road salt and wind. Done right, nothing is lost over winter.
- Final leaf cleanup
- Irrigation blowout
- Burlap and winter protection
December 12
On call again
Snow contracts start on the first. Trucks are loaded, salt is stocked, routes are set. Holiday lighting goes up the first week for the properties that want it.
- Snow contracts begin
- Holiday lighting
- Last cleanup pass
What we do
Eight services, all of them run by our own crews.
All eight are run by people on our own payroll. Nothing gets handed to whichever subcontractor is free that week.
Weekly maintenance April to November Spring and fall cleanups March, and October into November Lawn care program Six visits, March to November Planting and garden design April to June, September to October Patios, walkways and walls May to October Drainage and grading Year round, ground permitting Lighting and irrigation Installs May to September, service year round Snow and ice December 1 to March 31
Recent work
Six yards, and the specific thing that was wrong with each.
Standing water that two other companies would not touch. A hedge the deer ate three times. A lawn under two hundred-year oaks that was never going to be a lawn.
Eleven years, not one settled stone
A full-color bluestone terrace with steps and a seat wall, built in 2015 and still dead flat.
Three arborvitae, three funerals
A front foundation planting rebuilt entirely around what the deer in this neighborhood will walk past.
Seventeen years in Bergen County
The same crew, on the same street, every Tuesday.
Turnover is the whole problem with this trade. Our maintenance managers have been here an average of nine years. They know your gate code and where the dog gets out.
240
properties on a weekly route, April through November
14
people on staff: four maintenance crews and one build crew
2 years
warranty on every tree and shrub we plant, replaced once
$2M
general liability, with workers comp certificates on request
A client in Ridgewood
Two other companies told us to live with it. It has been dry through two hurricanes.
Dana R. has been a client since 2019. We regraded the back corner of her property, put in a dry well and planted the low spot.
Five more like itTell us what the yard is doing.
Forty-five minutes on your property, a drawing you keep, and a number in writing. If we are the wrong company for the job we will say so on the first visit.