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During the summer months we can have 20 inches of rain in the blink of an eye. With this in mind, the realities of lawn maintenance during the summer months in South Florida can be quite harsh. Within two weeks, an entire yard can look like it’s been neglected for months.

Given enough rain, grass can easily grow three to six inches in a week. The saying, sit and watch the grass grow, is really true here. In season — October through April — it can take a month to see that much growth. Now consider you couldn’t cut the grass on time due to rain. It grows another two to three inches. When you do finally cut the grass it is very lush, wet and hard to cut. It takes you twice as long because you may have to cut areas twice.

Weeds take on a life of their own in the summer. You look around and have killed or pulled all the weeds and the gardens are virtually weed free. More of those rain storms go through and another crop of weeds has germinated. You decide to spray again when you mow this week but another rain storm washes the herbicide away just after you complete the job. There’s a good chance the weeds won’t die. Another week goes by and while some of the weeds died from your efforts last week some have survived. These weeds are now a foot high and producing seeds for the next crop of weeds. More than likely more rain has fallen and has begun to germinate that new crop of weeds as well as fueling the growth of the last crop you’re still trying to kill. It is almost a losing battle to keep gardens weed free in the summer.

Ornamental shrubs grow at astronomical rates this time of year. One of the reasons for this is that we plant shrubs and small trees meant to be 10 to 20 feet tall at maturity and try to keep them pruned into tiny, square hedges around our houses. Once again, you can have a foot of new growth in a week with enough rain. That kind of growth takes a month or two in season and can take a year in the northern states. Pruning is a constant job this time of year or you’ll find your shrubs kissing the eaves of your house. That is also the reason this is the best time of year to cut back those shrubs which have become leggy and woody. They will grow back so fast you will be pruning them again in a week or two.

If you maintain your own yard you know the realities of the above mentioned. Imagine having 50 or one 100 lawns to maintain each week. That is the reality for people in the lawn maintenance business. The growing season is slow when most residents are in town and so it seems that the job is an easy one and the company doesn’t spend much time or effort in your yard. But should you decide to come to Marco in July, August or September, you might be quick to think the landscaper is slacking off while you’re not here. He is actually working five times harder and doing his best to keep your landscape neat and trim. At times it’s a near impossible task and only the strong will survive in this business.

An extra problem we are having this year is our dumping facility has moved across the street and is in the process of rebuilding a new facility. They are only open from 8 a.m. to noon Tuesday through Saturday. If your truck is full there is no where to put the debris and so you have to wait to prune more until the next week. This is truly an inconvenience to those of us with standard sized pick up trucks. I have begged them to open until at least 3 p.m. to no avail. The new facility should be open by next summer and hopefully this will not be a problem next year.

So have a little compassion and give us a break, and maybe a really cold drink, when we arrive to battle the jungle in your corner of the island.

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Eileen Ward and her husband, Peter, own and operate Greensward of Marco Inc., a lawn maintenance and landscaping company. Besides completing horticultural courses from the University of Florida, she has a commercial maintenance spray license and is a registered dealer in agricultural products in Florida. To reach Ward, call 394-1413.