The short answer: Full-service lawn care means a company handles everything your lawn needs to stay healthy and attractive—mowing, fertilization, weed control, pest management, aeration, and often irrigation maintenance. You don’t lift a finger; they manage the entire lawn care process from spring green-up through fall dormancy. The opposite would be “mow-only” service (just cutting grass) or hiring separate companies for different tasks. Complete Lawn Care has been providing full-service lawn care to Tulsa, Broken Arrow, Jenks, and surrounding communities for over 25 years, and we’ve found that most homeowners who want a great-looking lawn without the hassle benefit from the full-service approach.
What’s Typically Included in Full-Service Lawn Care
Full-service lawn care generally includes these core components:
1. Weekly Mowing Service
This is the most visible part of lawn care. Full-service mowing includes:
Mowing: Cutting at the proper height for your grass type (Bermuda at 2-2.5 inches, Fescue at 3-4 inches), adjusted seasonally.
Edging: Creating clean lines along sidewalks, driveways, and landscape beds.
Trimming: String trimmer work around fences, trees, obstacles, and areas the mower can’t reach.
Blowing: Clearing clippings from hard surfaces so your property looks finished.
Frequency matters: Professional full service means weekly mowing during the growing season (April-October in Oklahoma), following the 1/3 rule that keeps turf healthy. Companies that offer biweekly mowing as their standard aren’t really providing full service—they’re providing budget service that compromises lawn health.
2. Fertilization Program
Your lawn needs nutrients to thrive—and the right nutrients change throughout the year. A proper fertilization program includes:
Spring fertilization: Nitrogen-focused to promote green-up and growth as turf emerges from dormancy.
Summer fertilization: Balanced nutrition with increased potassium for heat and drought stress tolerance.
Fall fertilization: Focused on root development and winter hardiness preparation.
Micronutrients: Iron, manganese, and other trace elements are often deficient in Oklahoma soils.
At Complete Lawn Care, our 7-step program delivers the right nutrients at the right time based on soil temperature and grass needs—not an arbitrary calendar.
3. Weed Control
Comprehensive weed management has two components:
Pre-emergent herbicides: Applied in late winter/early spring and again in fall to prevent weeds before they germinate. This is the most effective weed control—stopping problems before they start. Timing is critical: too early and the product breaks down; too late and weeds have already sprouted.
Post-emergent herbicides: Targeted treatments for weeds that break through or weren’t prevented. Different herbicides target different weed types—broadleaf weeds (dandelions, clover), grassy weeds (crabgrass, dallisgrass), and sedges (nutsedge)—all require different products.
Full service means both preventative and corrective weed control, not just spraying whatever’s currently visible.
4. Pest and Insect Control
Oklahoma lawns face pressure from various insects that can damage or destroy turf:
Grubs: White grub larvae feed on grass roots, causing brown patches that pull up like carpet.
Armyworms: Can devastate a lawn in days during late summer outbreaks.
Chinch bugs: Suck moisture from grass blades, creating expanding dead patches.
Bermuda mites: Microscopic pests that cause “witches broom” tufting in Bermuda grass.
Full service includes monitoring for pest activity and treating when necessary—often preventatively for predictable problems like grubs.
5. Aeration (Annual)
Core aeration—pulling small plugs of soil from the lawn—relieves compaction, improves water penetration, and allows roots to grow deeper. Oklahoma’s clay soils compact easily, making annual aeration essential for long-term lawn health.
Timing: Bermuda and Zoysia lawns should be aerated in late spring/early summer when actively growing. Fescue lawns should be aerated in fall, often combined with overseeding.
6. Service Calls and Problem Resolution
True full service includes accountability. If weeds break through, if a pest problem develops, if something isn’t right—you call, they come back and fix it at no additional charge. This is where many companies fall short: they’ll sell you a program but charge extra for “service calls” when problems arise.
At Complete Lawn Care, service calls are included. If you see a problem, we address it. That’s what full service means.
What Full Service Lawn Care Typically Doesn’t Include
To set clear expectations, here’s what’s usually separate from core lawn care:
Landscape bed maintenance: Weeding flower beds, mulching, and pruning shrubs—this is landscaping, not lawn care. Some companies offer it as an add-on.
Tree and shrub care: Fertilizing trees, treating tree diseases, major pruning—typically handled by arborists or separate services.
Irrigation system installation: Installing a new sprinkler system is a separate project. However, irrigation maintenance and winterization may be included or offered as an add-on.
Leaf removal (fall): Heavy leaf cleanup in fall is often a separate service or seasonal add-on, though weekly mowing during fall includes mulching normal leaf fall.
Sod installation or major renovation: If your lawn needs to be replaced, that’s a separate project beyond ongoing maintenance.
Mosquito control: Perimeter pest control for mosquitoes, fleas, and ticks is typically a separate program from lawn care pest control (which focuses on turf-damaging insects).
Full Service vs. Mow-Only: Understanding Your Options
Most lawn care companies offer some variation of these service levels:
Service Level
What’s Included
Best For
Mow-Only
Mowing, edging, trimming, blowing
Homeowners who handle fertilization and weed control themselves
Treatment-Only
Fertilization and weed control (no mowing)
Homeowners who enjoy mowing but want professional treatments
Full Service
Everything: mowing + fertilization + weed control + pest control + aeration
Homeowners who want a great lawn without any work or hassle
The advantage of full service: Everything is coordinated by one company. Your mowing schedule aligns with your treatment schedule. If there’s a problem, there’s one number to call. No finger-pointing between different providers.
Do You Actually Need Full-Service Lawn Care?
Honest answer: Not everyone does. Here’s how to decide:
Full service makes sense if:
You want a consistently great-looking lawn without learning lawn care yourself. Full service means you don’t need to know the difference between pre-emergent and post-emergent, or when to fertilize, or what’s eating your grass. You just enjoy the results.
You value your time and don’t want lawn care on your to-do list. Between mowing, fertilizing, spraying weeds, and watching for problems, lawn care can easily consume 100+ hours per year. Full service gets that time back.
You want accountability. With full service, if something goes wrong, there’s one company responsible. If you’re handling fertilization yourself and hiring mowing separately, problems become “not my fault” finger-pointing.
You’ve tried DIY and been frustrated with results. Timing, product selection, application rates, troubleshooting—there’s a learning curve. If you’ve struggled to get the lawn you want on your own, full service solves that.
You travel frequently or have an unpredictable schedule. Full service means your lawn is handled whether you’re home or not, paying attention or not.
Mow-only or partial service makes sense if:
You enjoy the lawn care process. Some homeowners genuinely like researching products, timing applications, and seeing the results of their own work. If that’s you, maybe you just need mowing help.
Budget is your primary concern. Full service costs more than mow-only. If you’re willing to do the treatment work yourself to save money, that’s a valid choice.
Your lawn is already in great shape. If you’ve got healthy, established turf with minimal weed pressure, basic maintenance might be all you need.
You don’t care that much about lawn appearance. If “good enough” is truly fine with you, you don’t need full service. No judgment.
What to Look for in a Full-Service Provider
If you decide full service is right for you, here’s what separates good providers from mediocre ones:
Clear communication about what’s included. A good company will explain exactly what you’re getting—no hidden fees, no surprise “that’s extra” moments.
Customization for your lawn. Oklahoma has Bermuda, Zoysia, and Fescue lawns—they need different care. A company that treats every lawn identically isn’t providing real full service.
Service calls included. If problems arise, they come back without charging extra. This is where commitment to quality shows.
Consistent crews and communication. You should know when they’re coming and see consistent quality. Random schedules and different crews every week usually mean lower quality.
Local knowledge and experience. Oklahoma lawns face specific challenges—summer heat stress, clay soil, and unique weed pressure. A company with years of local experience will deliver better results than a franchise following generic national protocols.
Soil testing availability. Good full-service providers can test your soil and adjust treatments based on actual conditions rather than guessing.
What Does Full-Service Lawn Care Cost in Tulsa?
For a typical Tulsa-area lawn (7,500-10,000 sq ft), here’s what to expect:
Weekly mowing service: $45-65 per visit, approximately $1,400-2,000 annually (28-32 visits)
Fertilization and weed control program: $55-90 per application, approximately $385-630 annually (7 applications)
Annual aeration: $75-150 depending on lawn size
Total full-service annual cost: $1,860-2,780 for a typical lawn
That works out to roughly $155-230 per month for a lawn that looks great year-round with zero effort on your part.
Many companies (including Complete Lawn Care) offer package pricing that reduces the total cost when you bundle services together.
How Complete Lawn Care Handles Full Service
We’ve been providing full-service lawn care in the Tulsa area since 2000. Here’s what that looks like with us:
Weekly mowing service: Mowing, edging, trimming, and blowing—every week during the growing season. Proper mowing heights for your specific grass type.
7-step lawn care program: Our signature fertilization and weed control program delivers the right treatments at the right time throughout the year. Pre-emergent in spring and fall, fertilization timed to your grass’s needs, targeted weed control as needed.
Pest monitoring and control: We watch for grubs, armyworms, chinch bugs, and other turf-damaging pests. Treatment is included when needed.
Service calls included: See a problem? Call us. We’ll come back and address it at no extra charge.
Soil testing available: We recommend annual soil testing so we’re treating based on what your lawn actually needs.
One company, one relationship, one number to call. That’s what “full service” should mean.
Ready to Experience True Full-Service Lawn Care?
If you’re tired of piecing together different services, frustrated with inconsistent results, or simply ready to stop thinking about your lawn and start enjoying it—Complete Lawn Care can help.
We serve Tulsa, Broken Arrow, Jenks, Bixby, Owasso, and surrounding communities with full-service lawn care that delivers the results you want without any hassle on your part.
Contact us for a free consultation and quote—and find out what your lawn could look like with true full-service care.
Phone: (918) 605-4646
Email: [email protected]
Online: completelawncaretulsa.com/get-a-quote
Proudly serving Tulsa and surrounding Oklahoma communities since 2000.