Barefoot Lawn Service Inc

This Pro Story

I have been active in the landscaping industry since 2005 in Tampa, Florida. I was just naturally gravitated towards the landscaping business because I really enjoy working outside. Mowing lawns and landscape work doesn't feel too much like work to me.. When I first got my start in the lawn business I was also working a fulltime job and started my lawn care business on the side. Boy those days were tough but and little by little my lawn business grew through word of mouth After a couple lawn mowing season, I took the leap of faith , quit my full time job, and pursued growing my lawn care company in Tampa full time.

Originally I am from Maryland but since I relocated to Tampa about 40 years ago, by this time, I consider myself a Tampa native. My son-in-law and I run the lawn business together and over the past 10 years we have grown the company to 50 ongoing lawn maintenance clients, and recently have taken on 5 more. We will try do 10 lawns in a day, however, no more than that , otherwise we would have to rush through them and not be able to do a good job for our lawn care clients. . We have quite a few bi-weekly lawn customers that we will rotate in and out on of our weekly lawn routes.

For about half of my customers I’ll mow their lawn for every week all year long, as they will run their irrigation systems and need to be cut every week throughout the season. Sometimes a customer will request to mow their lawn only once a month in the off cool season, however, I find that most lawns in Tampa really need to be serviced every 2 weeks or more. Otherwise the lawn degrades and needs a big lawn cleanup if it goes that long between visits. I am flexible and will work with my customers, I just try to educate each one on the best lawn care gameplan for them.

Tampa Bay is huge, so I try to focus my service area on a few parts of the region. Primarily we service all lawns in City limits of the Tampa and basically the areas west of I-75, such as Egypt Lake, Greater Carrollwood, Town ‘n’ Country, and Westchase Florida. Sometimes I will go as far north as Lutz, however, Ill typiclaly stop aroun 56th steet.to the west side of Hissboro River.  Also I can't do any Lawn Care in St. Petersburg, sorry its just too far.

I personally live in North Tampa, however, most of my weekly lawn mowing clients are in South Tampa and near the Macdill Airforce base; I guess you could say that is my hot zone. I also have many lawn care customers near Lake Magdalene.

For my 50 ongoing landscape maintenance customers , we primarily focus on the weekly lawn maintenance visits for them, however, we will also do some landscape work.such as plants replacements, mulch, and shrub pruning. Recently we had a customer that needed a little extra attention with some overgrown vines, and a little extra lawn cleanup work with her first visit. It took us twice the time but cleaned it all up and sure it was a little extra yard work but it turned into an ongoing landscape maintenance customer, and the most important thing was she is happy with our work..

To keep my lawn clients in top shape, I run commercial grade Toro and Gravely lawnmowers, and all my small equipment is commercial grade Echo. I have a blade edger for the curb lines, I feel like it's better to use a blade edger with the curbs, it leaves them nice and neat and straight.. To get into the small 36” gates I do carry a push mower to get into the fenced in areas. We just don't like to ever have to tell a customer “no” because their fence gate is too small.

Outside of lawn mowing , I like to fish, in Tampa Bay , Crystal River, and Harpeth Springs. Of course during the summer, and especially the month of August, I'm busy mowing lawns. Its kind of funny, I guess you can say winter time is my summertime. 

How many years have you been in landscaping business, and what inspired you to get started?

26, love the outdoors, nature, plan ts

How does your work stand out from other lawn service companies in the area?

Attention to detail, trained and knowledgeable staff

What advice do you have for a customer looking to hire a provider like you?

Check credentials, ask for references, get a good feel for the person you are looking to hire

What do you like most about the lawn care industry?

Instant results, working outdoors

What areas do you mainly service?

Tampa