Lawn Care Service in Maryland

Prince Frederick, MD and All of Calvert County and Surrounding Areas

Mowing, edging, aeration and seasonal cleanups from a family-owned crew in Prince Frederick. The leaves, branches and debris leave on our truck

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Lawn Care

A Maryland lawn care company that also hauls the mess

Keeping a lawn healthy is only part of the job. The other part is everything a yard throws off over a year: the leaves in October, the branches after a storm, and the hedge trimmings, pulled shrubs and brush piles. Most lawn crews don’t take any of that. You’re left figuring out what your county will accept and when.

JD’s Landscaping & Junk Trash Removal is a family-owned lawn care company in Maryland, based at 207 Oakland Hall Road in Prince Frederick and working across Calvert County. The company was founded in 2018, and there are more than 15 years of hands-on experience behind the crew. We run lawn care and junk removal under one roof. So when a property needs more than a mow, the leaves, limbs and debris go out on our truck instead of sitting at your curb.

What does a lawn care service do?

Lawn care is the work it takes to keep grass healthy through the year. That covers mowing, edging, feeding, aeration and seasonal cleanup, each done at the right time for the grass you have.

Maryland sits in the transition zone, the band of the country where northern grasses struggle in summer and southern grasses struggle in winter. That’s why the University of Maryland Extension recommends turf-type tall fescue for most Maryland lawns in sun and partial sun.

Tall fescue has rules of its own:

  • Mowing height. UMD says to keep it at 3 inches during the growing season and never cut off more than a third of the blade at once.
  • Feeding. It should be fertilized in the fall, before November 15, not in the heat of summer.
  • August browning. It often turns brown in a hot, dry August, which is usually dormancy, not death.

A lawn service that treats a Maryland lawn like a Georgia or Pennsylvania lawn gets the timing wrong.

Our lawn care services in Maryland

Lawn mowing

We mow on a weekly or biweekly schedule, depending on the season and how fast the grass is growing. Growth is fastest in spring and slows down in summer heat. Tall fescue gets cut at the height UMD recommends, and it goes higher in hot, dry weather, because scalped grass burns and lets weeds in.

Blade sharpness matters as much as height. A dull blade tears the tip of the grass instead of cutting it, which leaves it brown and more open to disease.

Lawn edging and trimming

Clean lines along driveways, walks, beds and fences. We trim what the mower can’t reach and clear clippings off the hard surfaces before we leave. Nobody wants a trail of grass down the driveway.

What happens to your grass clippings

On a healthy lawn, clippings are worth leaving. The University of Maryland Extension recommends letting them break down on the lawn, because they supply about a quarter of the nitrogen the grass needs each year. That also means less fertilizer running toward the Bay.

Leaves, branches, hedge trimmings and storm debris are a different story. Those don’t belong on the lawn, and they leave with us.

Lawn aeration

Southern Maryland soil runs heavy with clay, and clay compacts. Compacted soil sheds the water and air your roots need. Core aeration pulls small plugs of soil out of the lawn to open the root zone back up. For tall fescue, late summer into early fall is the time to do it.

Lawn fertilization

We feed cool-season lawns on the schedule Maryland grass actually needs, with most of the nitrogen going down in the fall while tall fescue is building roots. We follow Maryland’s lawn fertilizer law, including the application limits and the winter blackout.

Seasonal cleanups and leaf removal

Spring cleanup clears winter debris, matted leaves and dead growth so the lawn can green up on time. Fall cleanup is mostly leaves, and a thick layer left on tall fescue through the winter smothers it. Every load of leaves and debris leaves on our truck. See our seasonal cleanup service and our leaf removal service in Maryland for the details.

More than the lawn

Most properties need more than grass work, and we handle the rest too. For beds, there’s garden bed maintenance and mulch installation. For trees, there’s tree trimming. In winter, we do snow removal. That’s one company for the whole property, all year.

The Maryland lawn care calendar

This is what a tall fescue lawn in Maryland needs through the year, based on University of Maryland Extension guidance.

When

What the lawn needs

Why

March

Reseed bare spots. First mow once growth starts.

Grass wakes up before most weeds do.

Mid-March to mid-April

Crabgrass pre-emergent, if crabgrass was a problem last year

Crabgrass germinates when soil temperatures average 55°F. Miss the window and you fight it all summer.

April and May

Regular mowing at 3 inches

Peak spring growth. Cutting too low now costs you in July.

June through August

Mow higher. No fertilizer. Water deeply, not often.

Tall fescue slows down in heat and may go dormant and brown. That’s how it survives.

Late August into early fall

Core aeration, overseeding, fall fertilizer

The most important stretch of the Maryland lawn year. Warm soil, cooler nights and roots ready to grow.

By mid-October

Finish any seeding. Leaf removal starts.

Seed that goes in later often won’t root before the ground cools.

November

Keep mowing until growth stops. Clear leaves.

No thick leaf mat heading into winter.

November 16 to March 1

No lawn fertilizer

Maryland’s fertilizer blackout. See below.

If you only do one thing for your lawn this year, make it fall aeration and seeding. Nothing else does as much for a thin Maryland lawn.

Contact Us

Whether it’s a full landscape design or just getting the beds back under control, the first step is the same. We look at the property, tell you honestly what it needs, and send a written estimate within 24 hours.

Call or text (301) 835-9340 for your free landscaping estimate in Maryland. We’re available seven days a week, around the clock.

Special Hero Savings

JD's Landscaping & Junk Trash Removal proudly offers special discounts to our veterans, active military personnel, and first responders.

Call us today and mention your service for immediate savings!

Maryland's lawn fertilizer law

Who calls us for leaf removal

Maryland has some of the strictest lawn fertilizer rules in the country, because what runs off a lawn here ends up in the Chesapeake Bay. The rules apply to homeowners as well as to lawn companies.

Winter blackout. No nitrogen or phosphorus between November 16 and March 1. Certified professionals have a narrow exception from November 16 to December 1, capped at 0.5 pound of nitrogen per 1,000 square feet.

Rate limits. No more than 0.9 pound of total nitrogen per 1,000 square feet in a single application. No more than 0.7 pound of that can be soluble nitrogen.

Phosphorus. Only when a soil test calls for it, or when a lawn is being established, patched or renovated.

Certification. Anyone who fertilizes someone else’s lawn for hire must be certified by the Maryland Department of Agriculture or work under someone who is. The business also needs an MDA license and must file an annual report by March 1.

Penalties. Up to $1,000 for a first violation and $2,000 after that.

Why this matters when you hire someone: a full fertilizer application in December is against the law, even for a certified professional. Any company putting down fertilizer on your lawn should be able to show you its MDA certification. It takes one question.

The six lawn problems we see most in Southern Maryland

Brown circles in the lawn in summer. This is usually brown patch, a fungus that shows up in hot, humid weather, and tall fescue is prone to it. It rarely kills the grass crown, so the lawn usually recovers. The causes to fix are summer nitrogen, evening watering, and mowing with dull blades. Water early in the morning instead, and hold the fertilizer until fall.

Crabgrass everywhere by June. Crabgrass germinates when the soil warms in spring. Once it’s up, you’re stuck with it until frost. Prevention is timed to soil temperature in March and April, not a date in May. Mowing at 3 inches also helps, since taller grass shades the soil and crowds crabgrass out.

Grass that peels back like a carpet. That’s usually grubs eating the roots, so the turf lifts with no resistance. Skunks or birds digging in the lawn is often the second sign. Grub damage calls for a certified pesticide applicator.

Water pooling and grass thinning in the same spots every year. Compacted clay. This is the most common untreated problem in Calvert County lawns. The fix is core aeration in late summer or early fall, and it usually takes more than one season.

Moss, and a lawn that won’t thicken. Usually some mix of acidic soil, shade and compaction. Start with a soil test before adding lime. Guessing at lime wastes money.

Thin grass under trees. Tall fescue does best in sun and partial sun. In deeper shade, UMD points to fine fescues, with hard fescue the best choice for Maryland. Sometimes more light from selective tree trimming helps. Sometimes the honest answer is a planting bed instead of grass, and we’ll tell you if that’s where your yard is.

Why property owners choose JD's

  1. We’re local and family-owned. Our address is on Oakland Hall Road in Prince Frederick. When you call (301) 835-9340, you reach the people who’ll be working on your property.

    We haul what the yard throws off. Leaves, branches, trimmings, brush and storm debris leave on our truck. Most lawn crews don’t run junk removal. We do.

    One company for the whole property. Mowing, edging, aeration, cleanups, beds and mulch, tree trimming, junk removal and snow removal. One number to call.

    We respond fast. Free estimates within 24 hours, same-day service when the schedule allows, and a phone that’s answered 24 hours a day.

    Transparent pricing. You’ll know the price before any work starts.

    Satisfaction guaranteed. If something isn’t right, tell us and we’ll make it right.

    Responsible disposal. We recycle and donate usable items when we can instead of sending everything to the landfill.

    Discounts for those who serve. Veterans, active-duty military and first responders get special pricing. Just mention it when you call.

What lawn care costs in Maryland

Four things drive the price of lawn care:

  • the size of the lawn
  • how often we come
  • how many trees, beds and fences we work around
  • how much debris has to be hauled away

Service

Typical price

Weekly or biweekly mowing, average residential lot

$1000

Core aeration

$250

I’m not licensed for fertilizer

 

Spring or fall cleanup

$1250

Mulch installation

$1250

Every estimate is free and comes back within 24 hours. You’ll know the price before we start.

How it works

  1. Call or text us. Tell us the address and what’s bothering you about the lawn. Photos help.
  2. Get a free estimate within 24 hours. For larger properties or aeration work, we’ll look at the lawn first.
  3. Pick your start date. Same-day service is often available for one-time jobs. Mowing runs on a regular schedule.
  4. We do the work and clean up. Clippings off the hard surfaces, and any debris hauled away.
  5. We adjust with the season. Mowing height and frequency change from spring to fall.

Where we provide lawn care in Maryland

Our home base is Prince Frederick, in the middle of Calvert County, so both ends of the county are an easy drive.

North of town, Huntingtown and Dunkirk have a lot of newer subdivisions. Builders there often left thin topsoil over compacted clay, which is why aeration does more for those lawns than extra fertilizer would.

Along the Bay, Chesapeake Beach and North Beach lawns deal with wind off the water. Many sit close enough to tidal water that the fertilizer law’s waterway setbacks come into play.

Down south, St. Leonard and Solomons mix wooded inland lots with waterfront homes. Shade and leaf load are the bigger issues there.

Outside Calvert County, we also take lawn care work in Annapolis, La Plata and Leonardtown. Not sure we come to your address? Call (301) 835-9340 and we’ll tell you right away.

How much does lawn care cost in Maryland?

It depends on lawn size, how often we come, how many trees, beds and fences we work around, and how much debris needs to be hauled away. Mowing is priced per visit. One-time work like aeration or a cleanup is priced by the job. Estimates are free and come back within 24 hours, and you’ll know the price before we start.

Weekly during the fast growth of April and May, then every week or two once summer heat slows the grass down. UMD’s rule is to never cut off more than a third of the blade at one time, so the schedule should follow the grass, not the calendar.

About 3 inches for tall fescue during the growing season, which is what the University of Maryland Extension recommends. Taller grass shades its own roots, holds moisture and crowds out crabgrass. Cutting a fescue lawn short in a Maryland August is the fastest way to thin it out.

Usually it’s dormancy, not death. Tall fescue slows down in heat and drought to protect itself, and it greens back up when rain and cooler weather return. If the brown shows up in circles or patches instead of across the whole lawn, brown patch fungus is more likely.

Late summer into early fall. The soil is still warm enough for seed to germinate, and the cooler nights help it survive. Finish seeding by mid-October. Spring seeding works much less well here, because the new grass hasn’t rooted by the time summer heat arrives.

If you have clay soil, water that pools, or grass that thins in the same spots every year, probably yes. Southern Maryland soil compacts, and compacted soil turns away the water and air your lawn needs. Late summer into early fall is the time to do it.

On a healthy lawn, yes. The University of Maryland Extension recommends leaving clippings to break down, because they provide about a quarter of the nitrogen the lawn needs each year. Leaves, branches and storm debris are different, and those should come off.

Yes. We run junk removal as part of the same business, so leaves, branches, trimmings and storm debris leave on our truck instead of at your curb.

Yes. Maryland requires state certification to fertilize someone else’s lawn for hire, and we hold it. That means we work within the state’s rate limits, respect the winter blackout, and don’t put down phosphorus unless a soil test calls for it.

We handle mowing, aeration and cleanups ourselves. Maryland requires state certification to fertilize someone else’s lawn, so fertilizer applications are done by a certified applicator we coordinate with.

It’s state law. Maryland bans nitrogen and phosphorus applications on lawns from November 16 to March 1, to keep nutrients out of the Chesapeake Bay. Certified professionals have a narrow exception up to December 1 at a reduced rate. After that, nobody can legally fertilize your lawn until March

Yes. Spring is cleanups and mowing. Summer is mowing and bed care. Late summer and fall bring aeration, leaf removal and fall cleanups. Winter is snow removal. Our phone is answered 24 hours a day in every season.

What Our Maryland Customers Say

Molly S.

JD’s landscaping did a spectacular job sprucing up our yard by edging, mulching, trimming, and weeding. They will return again this spring to get our yard ready for another year.

M. Knott

He and his team took the time to treat my yard as if it were his own yard. He is knowledgeable and dedicated to his craft.

Same-Day Service Available

Don't wait days for landscape help or junk removal. Our team can be at your Prince Frederick, MD, and all of Calvert County and surrounding areas today when you need us most.

Free estimates available!

Provide Review

How It Works

1. Call, text or request service online. Tell us what you want done.
2. Get a free estimate within 24 hours. Written, itemized, no obligation.
3. We schedule around you. Maintenance goes on a fixed day. Projects get a start date we hold to.
4. We work and clean up. Debris hauled away, clippings off hard surfaces, tools out of the yard.
5. We follow up. New plantings get checked and schedules get reviewed each season.

Free estimates available!

Ready for a lawn you don't have to think about?

You shouldn’t need one company to cut the grass and another to deal with the leaves and debris. One call covers both.

Call or text (301) 835-9340, or request your free estimate. We’ll get back to you within 24 hours.

Text START to (301) 835-9340 to get our specials by text. Messages may be autodialed. You don’t have to agree to texts to buy our services. Message and data rates may apply. Text STOP to unsubscribe.

JD’s Landscaping & Junk Trash Removal 207 Oakland Hall Road, Prince Frederick, MD 20678 (301) 835-9340 · jdsenterprisellc@yahoo.com Hours: Open 24 hours, 7 days a week

Written by Julius (JD) Simms, owner of JD’s Landscaping & Junk Trash Removal. JD has worked on lawns, landscapes and cleanups in Calvert County for more than 15 years and founded the company in 2018. Last updated: 

Serving the Prince Frederick, MD and all of Calvert County and surrounding areas, JD’s Landscaping & Junk Trash Removal specializes in lawn maintenance, lot clearing, and junk removal services. 24-hour service available. Customer satisfaction guarantee. Free estimates within 24 hours. Call us today.