Lansdowne sits on the high ground between Route 7 and the Potomac, with Goose Creek running along its western side. Most of it was built out over the late 1990s and 2000s, so the lawns here are well past the new construction stage but not yet as old as the turf in Sterling or the original parts of Ashburn. They are at the age where compaction and thatch start to catch up with a lawn that looked effortless for its first ten years.
Pro-Mow has been caring for Loudoun County lawns for over 35 years, and it is still the family business Chris Gepford started in 1990. Our office is in Dulles, and our crews are in Lansdowne every week. Here is how we approach lawns in this community.
Lansdowne is built on rolling ground, and a lot of lots slope toward the Potomac or the creek. That slope creates a pattern we see over and over. Rain and irrigation run downhill, so the top of the yard dries out first and thins first, while the bottom stays damp. Fertilizer moves the same way, which means the high side ends up underfed even when the application was perfectly even.
We handle that in two ways. First, we mow sloped areas a little higher than flat ground, because taller grass shades its own root zone and slows evaporation at the crest. Second, we treat a significant slope as its own area during aeration and overseeding so the dry side gets the attention it needs. If the low end of a yard stays wet enough to grow moss or disease, that is a drainage problem rather than a lawn care problem, and we will tell you so instead of selling treatments that cannot fix it.
The river is also why our product choice matters here. Every fertilizer we apply is phosphorus free. Lansdowne drains straight into the Potomac and on to the Chesapeake Bay, and phosphorus is the nutrient under the most scrutiny in that watershed.
Lansdowne has active community associations with landscaping standards, and residents tend to care how the streetscape looks. Routine work like mowing, fertilization and trimming does not normally need approval. Anything that changes the layout of your lot, such as new beds, moved edges or hardscape, generally needs an application before work starts. Rules differ between sections, so check your own covenants first. If your submission needs a layout drawing, we can provide one.
The other side of an association community is consistency. A neighbor’s lawn is the yardstick for yours. That is a big reason we keep every customer on the same mowing day each week and edge every visit, so the line along the sidewalk looks the same on Friday as it did on Monday.
Property sizes vary a lot across Lansdowne. Townhome yards are small and highly visible, and a missed edge or a wheel mark shows right away. Single family lots have more lawn, more beds and usually more trees. In Lansdowne Woods, many residents simply want the lawn handled without having to think about it.
Our service is built for that. You get a set day, a written makeup policy, and after every fertilization visit the technician leaves an information bulletin and a small yard sign that tell you what was applied and how to water and mow until next time. If something looks off between visits, call and we will come back to look.
We cut every turf area once a week on the same day, at a height suited to the tall fescue and Kentucky bluegrass that grow in Northern Virginia. Regular cutting makes grass spread sideways, which thickens the lawn, fills thin patches and leaves less room for weeds. On sloped ground it also helps hold the soil. Every mowing visit includes:
Rain delays move your service to the next business day, which can be a Saturday. After a makeup visit you go back to your usual day the following week, as long as there are at least four days in between. Please shut off irrigation the day before we come, since mowing wet turf on a slope tears the grass and leaves ruts.
Loudoun soil is clay based and acidic, and acidic soil holds back nutrients the grass would otherwise use. Our fertilization programs start with five slow release applications six to eight weeks apart:
There are three packages to pick from. The five step Basic Care program is the foundation. Basic Care Plus brings it to seven with a lime treatment between June and September, so pH is corrected before fall seeding, and a grub preventative in late spring. Premium Care, at eight steps, folds core aeration and overseeding into the schedule.
Mulch. Double shredded hardwood in black, brown or natural at a uniform two and a half inches. Beds are cleared, edged cleanly against the lawn and treated with granular pre-emergent before the mulch goes down. On sloped beds, a consistent depth also helps keep soil from washing out in heavy rain.
Hedge and bush trimming. Shaping and pruning for hedges, shrubs, ornamental grasses and crape myrtles, done to keep plantings in scale with the house and within community standards.
Leaf removal. Mowing customers can add weekly leaf removal, where the mower bags leaves along with the grass all fall. For a bigger job, the complete cleanup is a single visit that clears leaves from the lawn, beds, decks, patios, stairwells, fence lines and the space around your condenser. With no county leaf pickup in Loudoun, everything goes out through your hauler or HOA contract, which is why we bag it.
Not for mowing, fertilization or trimming. For changes to the layout of your lot, such as new beds, moved edges or hardscape, most Lansdowne associations require an application first. Check your own covenants, and if the application needs a drawing, we can supply the layout.
Raise the mowing height on the slope right away, since taller grass shades the soil and holds moisture. Then aerate and overseed the slope as its own area in early fall to build deeper roots where the ground dries fastest.
Usually not. Persistent wet ground at the base of a slope is a drainage issue, and no fertilizer or seed will solve it. We will tell you that up front rather than sell you treatments that will not work.
Lansdowne drains to the Potomac and the Chesapeake Bay, and phosphorus runoff is one of the main concerns in that watershed. All of our fertilizer is phosphorus free.
Yes. That is the standard for every customer. Weather is the only thing that moves it, and when it does, we come the next business day and put you back on your regular day the week after.
We also serve nearby Leesburg and Ashburn. If your street is not listed, call and ask.
Call 703-957-4880 for a free Lansdowne quote. Tell us which section you are in and whether the lot slopes, and we will tell you what the lawn is likely to need.
Reviewed by Brian Gepford, General Manager of Pro-Mow, Inc.
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