Author: clippin cams

Lets Talk dandelions . It is a battle you have to fight every year. But It does not have to be an all out war. Just a few small battles. The seeds carry in the wind and if not killed in the fall will come right back in the spring. I think for my next blog I will talk about how to make wine and salads with dandelions, Because the best way is to pick them by hand. Picking by hand is hard and may not be an option.

Enhance the health of your grass by leaving the clippings where they are after mowing the lawn instead of bagging them. Leaving the mulched clippings on the lawn smothers weeds and hinders the growth of new weeds.  I put this first because I see a lot of people bag the yard.  I understand but if you have a dandelion issue ditch the bag. The number one way to stop the issue before it is even an issue is have a thick lawn.

If you are going to dig! Dandelions will flower in the spring and again in the fall. The best time to attack them is right after they flower. Flowering and producing seeds takes a lot of energy, when they have finished blooming they are weakened by low food reserves in their taproots. This is the best time to physically remove by hand weeding or digging. When pulling or digging, make sure the soil is moist and remove as much of the taproot as possible. Weeding tools like the Weed Twister, Weed Hound or a large flat-head screwdriver are helpful. You might have to dig a dandelion several times before it quits re-sprouting. Keep digging the new plants as they return and before they have time to form another large taproot.

Chemical war on are yellow buddy. If you want to go organic then vinegar is going to be on the shopping list. I would add lemon juice to give your vinegar more of a punch. Adding dish soap will help the mixture stick to the leaves better, giving the vinegar and lemon juice more time to work against the weed. When using this recipe, opt for an all-natural, biodegradable dish soap. Mix 1 tablespoon of liquid dish soap, 1/4 cup of lemon juice and 1 quart of vinegar. Pour this into a spray bottle and spray enough to thoroughly coat all parts of the dandelion. If the dandelion hasn’t completely withered within three hours, spray the plant again. As a last resort if you need to use chemicals, I would tell you make sure you get a selective herbicide for dandelions.  Simple answer is selective tells you it wont kill the grass.

Thank you all 6 of you who check this out. This is really hard for me because sitting in front of a computer is not my cup of tea. So a million times thank you!!!!!!

We have all heard and used the term cub appeal. It is always nice to take pride in your home and I am sure the neighbors appreciate it. One group of people should really pay attention to curb appeal though. home sellers and real estate agents. First impressions or everything. like it or not everyone makes a snap judgement. Some study’s show up to a 150 percent ROI. on landscaping and curb appeal for your home.  A 2014 ZILLOW survey named curb appeal as one of the top 5 important factors in selling a home.

Real estate agents, I know a lot of you. Marketing tools are important to you. Networking groups, professional head shots on your card, LinkedIn, and all other social media platforms. That is all fine and dandy but what about the product you are selling. getting your clients to hop on board the curb appeal train is just anther marketing tool in your bag.

We now live in an era where everything comes at us fast. I can get Taco bell brought to my house while I write this. We as a people now make a choice before we even realize it. When you drive a client up to what could be the home of their dreams why would you not want it to look good right away. If you are selling your house  someone else needs to buy it Why not add a little curb appeal. We also live in a generation of cookie cutter houses. so set your house up to be noticed or they will just buy the one down the road.

If you really want to fine tune your yard maintenance plan. you should identify the type of grass you have. I will give you a brief description of what I know about grass and how to tell what is in your yard. 1) Bermuda: It is a full sun grass needing at least 4 hours of direct sun light to grow. More common in southern states. It is a fast growing hearty grass. Used a lot on sports fields.  should be cut at 1.5 inches. 2) St. Augustine can grow in full sun, but is more shade tolerant than the Bermuda. Downfall it does not stand up to a lot foot traffic, and even a small dog can wear paths through it by constantly running the same patterns. Mowing height 2.5 to 4 inches. Mowing to low are scalping will lead to poor health and make it more susceptible to disease and less shade tolerant. 3) Zoysia is more shade tolerant than the others. It is very slow-growing and only needs to be mowed bi-weekly during the peak of the season. mowing height is 1.5 to 3 inches. 4) Fescue grass is a cool season grass wich is sun and shade tolerant. Mowing height should be 2 to 3 inches. 5) Kentucky Blue grass is a very drought tolerant grass. Mowing height is 1.5 to 2.25 inches.

Bermuda 

St. Augustine 

Zoysia 

Tall fescue

Kentucky Bluegrass 

Fertilizer

Kentucky bluegrass and tall fescue lawns should both receive their first fertilization of the year between April 20th and May 10th. This application is usually a combination fertilizer and pre-emergent herbicide. Choose a product containing a good amount of slow release. I would strongly recommend having a professional apply all chemicals. If you do however want to do it yourself  look for these formaldehyde, sulfur-coated urea and IBDU chemicals in the active chemical label. Spring is also an excellent time to control weed problems before they get a firm foothold in your lawn. Annual weeds like foxtail, crabgrass and spurge can be controlled with a pre-emergent herbicide that kills the weed seed as it begins to germinate. Crabgrass, a very common weed, germinates when soil temperatures consistently reach 55 degrees Fahrenheit, and is usually considered the “standard” by which we decide when to apply pre-emergent herbicides. A few hours or even a single day of warmth, even with temperatures up into the 70’s, is not enough to induce germination, several days of 55 F degrees soil temperature is required. For this reason, April 20th to May 5th is the target date for pre-emergent application.

I hope this was helpful. Thank you to all 12 of you who support my blog lol. A very good place to go if you need help with any lawn questions specific to Nebraska is the University extension office. phone number Phone: 402-444-7804 Email: douglas-sarpy@unl.edu Website: douglas-sarpy.unl.edu

Well happy spring! that last part of winter was a wild snow ride. Then in true Nebraska style, spring just showed up with rain and sun and melted it all away. This has caused a lot of issues. Some places like my in-laws are under water. Most homes have soggy wet yards. I hope your basement is dry. if your yard has standing water, it is probably to late now. Fear not. I am going to give you a few tips. If you know what you are doing then you can diy it. If you need a pro. I can help with some things. and other things I would point you to the people I trust.

First let me just give you a very generic description of what you got going on. Improper drainage can also cause natural low spots in your yard to accumulate more and more water with each rainfall. Thatch. Proper drainage also depends on your lawn’s permeability. … If grass clippings or leaf litter clog on your lawn, they can prevent the soil from absorbing water as it would under normal conditions.

If it is really bad. I would recommend a french drain.  I would recommend using someone who has done this before. Alo PLEASE call the digging hot line. 811. here is a quick video on doing a french drain on your own.

If You get water from the people around you or a trouble spot that floods all the time a berm might be the way to go. BUILD A BERM, a small hill covered with grass or other plants that will divert runoff around what you want to protect. You’ll need to think about where the diverted water will flow, then consider what to plant. Grass is easy, until it’s time to mow it. A variety of other plantings might be easier to maintain and can help the berm blend into the landscape. The best brief guide I’ve seen is “Building Soil Berms,” available online from the University of Minnesota. If you’re looking for a reasonably quick fix to protect plantings and structures, a berm may be the best option. This project can range from easy to bust out the skid loaders. Again always best to go with a pro.

I hope this helped. I plan on doing more blogs this year. Thank you

Cam

I would first like to thank all my customers, both new and the ones I have had from the start. I would also like to apologize that this is only my second blog for the year. I had planned to do one a month, but the work was consistent this year all the way through. That is a good problem to have. I just want to take the time with this blog post to lay it all out , on the line in a real personal way. I had a bunch of lofty goals, and I want to take you through the ups and downs the mistakes the blessings. If you know me at all spelling and grammar are not my strong suit, but I will do my best I  will not have this proof read by anyone but me. I want this to be raw and pure not watered down just to appeal. That is not me.

     Let us go back to last year, just so you know why this year is a comeback. the mowing year of 2016 ended on a good note rolling into the snow season.  this is the part where I am going to tell you things you may or may not have known about my personal life. My loving wife Ashley Jones had a miscarriage in 2016 and we hit a rough patch right after. 2017 was going to be are year. better home life better work life. We had plans on how to do this, we also wanted to give back to the world in some way. That part was big to me, at one point in my life I was homeless living in a car with one of my friends. I am still not used to having a house and nice things. In January of 2017 the chance to give back showed up in a big strange way. There is not enough time to explain my family!! My half brother’s (same dad different mom, same name though lol) mom passed away from cancer. His brother my other half brother has special needs and was being taken care of. None wanted to take in a 17 year old kid with a drug problem. There will be more on the drugs later. However having the same scumbag father and being written off by everyone is a story I know all to well. Ashley and I decided that we where now in a good place and the best thing to do was take him in. he had one year of school left and the only other option was boys town are ward of the state. So January 28, 2017  we now have 2 kids of are own and a 17 year old. I know the date because its my birthday.

Yes this is a mowing blog we are getting to that. I told you I was going to tell you a story in a real personal way. Now that you have some background it’s time to tell you about the downfall of 2017. We are going to cover a lot  of ground sorry if it becomes a ramble. Ashley my wife is also self employed . You would not understand if I told you what she does, I still don’t get it after 7 years. Spring of 2017 she had to go to a big event in Tennessee in the spring. The spring time is a busy time in the lawn care business, with aeration , clean ups, first mows, and trying to gain new customers . Lucky us we got a 17 year old kid to help keep an eye on things with the 6 and 11 year old kids while I work and she is out of town. He told us he loved cleaning, and kids . He also told us he was done with drugs and the people he did them with.

     The start of the downfall, was right after my wife got back from her trip mid April .  We had found out my brother left my kids home alone 3 hours before he had to got to work. I knew he had to work so I planned on being home just before or after he had to go. My kids where just fine they have me as a dad bad things are scared of them . Why would he leave a 12 and 6 year old home alone longer than need be? He would have you believe it was to see his long lost friends and his mother’s grave. The fact of the matter is he was buying and using meth. The meth he was buying was even used in the bathroom my kids used right there on the sink. You know for them to touch as they wash their little hands and teeth. If you have not ever lived with someone who was addicted to meth, it is a ride from the carnival without any screws in the ride. This festered throughout the year. The mid day phone calls from him, my wife because of him. Taking him to rehab, calling centers. My favorite part however was the dealing with the cops when he would run away and sometimes say I beat him. Each time we took him back in. If that was not a big ball of fun we also had the cops and his friends at the same time who refused to give him back to us. Turns out they all used together.  I am not in any way saying Travis is to blame for anything that has happened to me. it was just one factor and I am responsible for me. As it stands now he left the place he was living after me. He went back to Fremont to live in his car with no job. he his currently facing 2 felony charges.

Because of the brother ordeal I was forced to deal with something that I should have done long long ago. I had to battle out custody for my oldest son. I do mean battle . After he went home after my brother had left him and my youngest alone, it really hit the fan. At first I found his mom’s reaction almost funny. It was like the game telephone. A few hours turned into 8 hours and so on and so forth. Everything got blown out of proportion. She went as far as to file a restraining order. She used examples of things that didn’t happen or did happen 8 or more years ago. I am no angel but I have had know contact with her other then child related matters in years. Lucky for me I hired Matt Saathoff. it got tossed out so fast she did not have to appear in court. Not so lucky for me we have not ever had anything legal worked out for custody. Things up to that point where cohesive for the most part. With all that she ended up keeping him from my family for 3 months. Yes that hurt me but I am a big boy and I play the long game I knew it would turn around in time. What hurt the most was how hurt my youngest was thinking his brother did not like us and somehow he was at fault. He being 5 at the time did not understand did not matter how you told him. My wife was hurt to. She does a lot for all of us. But besides that when we first started dating they were best of friends. I at times had to make sure they was not dating lol. This entire thing ended up taking 2 years, we did not come to an agreement until Oct. 2018. Again I am not blaming anyone or anything for things I may have done because of the stress. Life deals all of us a bad hand from time to time.

Any normal person would have noticed that things where not really headed in a goo place. I did not. I thought I could do more and I was fine I just had to start at the crack of dawn and work tell dark 7 days a week then I will make good money and everyone gets done. I pulled that off for a while, but then I lost 4 big accounts and I wasn’t eating good didn’t sleep started drinking more then normal. I really don’t know who it was but someone noticed and told me I really need to see a Dr. because I was having panic attacks all the time I was no longer having any fun at all. I did end up going to the Dr. I xanax. That really helped but we all know its just a band aid. Things got better for a while. then I started to thing I needed the pills all the time. It got so bad I took my 30 days worth in 2 weeks are less. So naturally not having it made me mad. At some point I will the world what went down on that July night, but for now I don’t think it is wise.  I will tell you that I asked my wife to call 911 because I had hit rock bottom and I could not be around her are the kids because I knew I was in a dark dark place. That was the dumbest thing I ever did. I did not get help I went to jail. Tuns out I may have not got help but I got what I needed. After I got out I went to a different Dr. I told him everything I got on the medication I should have been on. Not what I wanted to be on.

I had to make some vary serious choices after that, Because at that point I lost a lot of my customers. Lucky for me bye this time it was almost winter I had time to think. I Also got really lucky that I have a good friend that hooked me up with snow accounts. I came really close to just saying everyone was right I can’t do it. I had one of my mowers listed for sale 3 times. In the end I said people go though things a lot harder then me all the time. I need to face my wrongs I need to sit down make a plan to get people back. I need to say no to things if I can’t do it. I need to know what I can do and set a limit. I spent all winter on this. I also wrote my first blog and made a bunch of ig videos. In the end I came back and it was amazing I had fun again. I had ups and downs but I stayed on track. I can not tell my customers how much I love them!!!!!! I even got Omaha’s choice award. One day I will get best of Omaha lol. But I came back that is all that you need to know, and I plan on staying as long as I can.

Thanks for joining me!

Someone is sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago. —  Warren Buffet

Welcome to the Clippin Cams blog.  This blog will be used to tell the story of a solo lawn operator as well as posting helpful information and facts.  Yes, I take care of lawns for a living and enjoy getting paid for what I love.  I want you to become as educated as I am about your yard.  Sometimes I have to make a difficult call to push things back, skip them all together, or add services to your yard.  I hope that this blog will allow me to help educate you on the reasons why I choose to make these calls.

What sets Clippin Cam’s apart from the other big companies?  You may see other guys with several trucks and crews.  Maybe one day Clippin Cams will go in that direction.   I chose to stay a solo operator for the time being because I feel it is the best way for me to give you the best experience. When you call Clippin Cams (402-957-3246), I (Cameron) answer the phone or respond to your text.  This ensures from the start we are the same page on what you are looking for in your services.  When someone comes out to look at the job, that someone is me and only me.  When the price is given it comes from me and will not change; because I know exactly what the job is. When it is time to do the work, again, I show up.  I feel this is the best part of being solo.  You and I already have built a relationship when it is time for Clippin Cams to come get the job done.  Another positive for being a solo operator is you know while you are away at work, on vacation, or just enjoying life; you always know who is at your house working on your yard.

While there are a lot of positives to having a solo operator take care of your lawn, I understand the need for big crews.  I do not do a lot of landscaping, create a fire pit, or build a big wall.  However, I can point you in the right direction of people who I feel will do the best work to suit your needs and wants.

What all services does Clippin Cams offer?  I chose to focus on my skill set that I feel I excel at.

In the spring:  Cleaning up beds, redoing mulch areas, power raking, aeration with over seeding, trimming up shrubs and small trees. Summer time is the best time.  My focus all summer long is to keep the yard cut and looking well manicured. Weekly mowing, edging sidewalks, and blowing walkways is done each week.  This keeps everything looking well groomed and keeps grass clippings from where they do not belong.

In the fall:  During this time I am still doing weekly mowing.  However, as the leafs start to fall, I blow out the leafs in the yard and bag them up.  This ensures that the leaves are removed weekly and do not impede your curb appeal.  Later in the fall, I do big clean up jobs.  This includes aeration for anyone that did not do it in the spring.  Plants that need to be cut down to prepare for the winter months will also be completed during this time.  Of course, complete leaf removal is done at this time as well to prep for the winter months ahead.

In the winter:  I do snow removal!  At this time, I currently only offer snow removal for home owners.  This is another positive with my solo operation, you don’t have to worry about your driveway taking a back seat to bigger commercial parking lots.  This gets me to your door faster. What else sets me apart?  I am glad you asked!  I use a snow blower and a shovel with ice melt. Doing this gets your driveway cleaner and no you don’t have to worry about damage to driveway or grass from a snow plow.  You also do not have the worry of finding ice melt the day before a snow storm, save that for someone else.

Thank you,

Cam