Unlike national lawncare firms like TruGreen™, Correy Petz’s EverGreen Turf Solutions specializes exclusively in Northeast Ohio lawns

By Mimi Vanderhaven

One of the things they teach in business school is the concept of “price elasticity.” It’s a measure of how much a change in price affects demand. So MBA’s leading major national companies may determine that a 15% increase in price will result in a loss of 5% of customers, resulting in 10% revenue growth.

Companies do this all the time—raise prices, lose customers, and hope for the best.

But Correy Petz, founder of the local EverGreen Turf Solutions, is taking a different approach.

He isn’t raising prices at all this year.

“We don’t want to grow our revenue by raising prices,” he says. “We want to grow our number of customers.”

Last year, EverGreen’s customer count grew significantly, with most of that growth coming from homeowners who switched from a large national lawn fertilization company like TruGreen™*. They sometimes switch because of poor service, Correy says, but mostly because of poor results. “Our customers just want a beautiful lawn without any hassles,” he says. “And they want to speak with the same person every time they call.”

Understanding Local Lawns
Correy grew up in Strongsville and now lives in Medina with his two sons and his wife, Sarah. And that’s an important difference between EverGreen and the national firms—this team’s deep understanding of Northeast Ohio lawns.

“There’s a big difference between how you treat a lawn in Cleveland versus how you do it in Atlanta, Phoenix, Denver or Seattle,” Correy explains. “We’ve been doing this right here for 14 years. We know our region’s turf, our weed species, and our weather like nobody else. This is one reason why we’re the number one locally owned lawn service company in the region.”

Timing is Everything
For a gorgeous lawn this summer, now is the time to get started. That’s because early spring is when you should apply a “preemergent,” that is, crab grass control.

“You must treat crabgrass before it germinates in the early spring with rising soil temperatures,” Correy says. “If you don’t, you’re going to have crabgrass later in the summer. We like to get started in March and early April.”

Evergreen Turf offers several affordable packages that include five to six applications per season. They also do aeration, weed treatments, lawn insect control, overseeding and disease control.

How to Achieve a Gorgeous Lawn
Achieving a beautiful lawn may not be as simple as you think. Different treatment formulas are required under different conditions. “Most applications are a combination of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium—NPK,” Correy explains. “The percentage of each is determined by the season, whether wet, dry, hot or cool.”

Here are a few more of the many variables to a healthy lawn:

• applying the proper treatment at the right time of year
• choosing slow-release versus fast-release
• using the right spreader set to the correct drop rate
• choosing the right weather conditions for the application
• And, most important: enough product.

“Many lawncare companies don’t apply enough product because they’re trying to cut costs,” Correy explains. “But they can’t get the best results that way. They’re just hoping ‘good enough’ is good enough for you.”

To save money, do-it-yourselfers often don’t apply the proper amount of fertilizer either. “What’s so interesting is that if you actually purchase the right amount of product for your lawn, you’ll find it doesn’t cost much more to just let us do it,” Correy adds.

Bonus Content: How to Mow Properly
Correy says the single best thing a homeowner can do on their own to help achieve a beautiful lawn is to mow properly. And there are three essential rules for that. “Number one, set your mower height to 4 inches,” he says. “Most people cut their grass way too short and that’s not healthy for Northeast Ohio lawns. Don’t eyeball it. Get a ruler and check the height of your mower.

“Mow regularly. Trying to ‘take off’ too much grass at one time is the second biggest mistake we see. Thatch and clumps all over the lawn can lead to fungus, dead spots, and the lawn struggles to ‘breathe.’ Never cut off more than one-third of the lawn’s height at one time. Depending on the time of the year, regular mowing varies. In spring, when everything is growing fast and furious, the lawn may need to be mowed twice a week. In summer, you may be able to mow about every ten days.

“Finally, keep your lawn mower blade sharp. A dull blade rips the top of the grass instead of delivering a nice, clean cut. Pluck a blade of grass from your lawn and look at it closely. If it’s brown and shredded at the very tip, your blade is probably dull. Either carefully sharpen it or buy a new one. We’re just part of the equation. A gorgeous lawn is a team effort.”

Headquartered in Valley City, EverGreen Turf Solutions creates lush lawns all over Medina, Summit, and Cuyahoga counties. For more information and an instant quote, call 330-662-0123 or visit MyEvergreenTurf.com to request a quote online.

*TruGreen is a registered trademark of TruGreen Limited Partnership and is not affiliated with EverGreen Turf Solutions.