Weekly lawn care, mid-April to mid-November
Weekly lawn care, the same day every week.
Roughly 26 visits a season. Edge, mow, trim, blow off. Same person, same day, and never a per-visit invoice.
- Spring and fall cleanup included
- Never quoted per visit
- From $129 a month plus HST
See all three memberships and what each one covers
Green in summer. Clear in winter.
Add it on
Everything you can add to any membership
These are available to any member at any time, and to non-members as one-off work.
Every visit
The four things we do, every single time
Consistency is the whole product. There's no version of a Northline visit where one of these gets skipped.
What each step actually means
1 · Mow
We cut at about three inches, and raise it to three and a half in July heat. We alternate direction every week so the mower never runs the same line twice: that prevents ruts and stops the grass developing a grain.
Blades are swapped for a sharp set every 20 to 25 operating hours. A dull blade tears the grass instead of cutting it, and torn tips turn the whole lawn white-brown within two days.
2 · Trim
Around every post, tree, fence line and foundation: cut to exactly the same height as the mow, with the trimmer head held level.
A tilted head digs into the soil and leaves a scalped brown ring around every post. Done properly, you can't tell where the mower stopped and the trimmer started. We never trim against tree bark; it girdles and kills a young tree in a single season.
3 · Edge
A clean vertical line along driveways, walkways and bed edges. This is the detail that makes a property read as maintained rather than just cut.
The first edge of the season is the hard one and we take it in two passes rather than forcing one deep cut. Soil crumb gets blown off the pavement immediately: dried edging debris cements onto concrete.
4 · Blow off
Every hard surface cleared, working from the house outward. Driveway, walkways, patio, steps.
Clippings go back onto the turf: never into the street, a storm drain, or your neighbour's property. Blowing grass into a storm drain is illegal in most municipalities, and Durham's storm drains discharge to Lake Ontario without treatment.
Why your lawn may look slightly longer than the neighbours'
We mow high on purpose. Ontario turf guidance is to cut as high as you reasonably can, because low mowing produces a shallow root system, and a shallow-rooted lawn is the one that browns out in the first heat wave of July.
Taller grass grows deeper roots, shades its own soil, holds moisture, and crowds out weed seed before it can germinate. It looks marginally shaggier the day after a cut than a golf-course scalp. It also survives an Ontario August, which the scalped lawn doesn't.
We mulch your clippings back into the lawn: at no charge
Clippings are roughly 85% water and break down within days. Returning them puts nitrogen straight back into the soil and cuts your lawn's fertilizer requirement by 20 to 35%.
There's a persistent myth that this causes thatch. It doesn't: thatch comes from roots and stems, not clippings. The only time we bag is when growth is so heavy that clippings would smother the turf.
Twice a year
Spring and fall cleanups: included in every membership
Spring cleanup
The visit that resets the property after winter. We clear all the winter debris, rake out matted grass and snow mould so the turf can breathe, clean out and cut back the beds, and re-edge every bed and hard surface.
We also clear the surface drains and window wells while we're there, because blocked ones cause ice dams and basement water the following winter. Snow markers are pulled and counted. The first cut happens once the turf is actually growing: we don't cut grass that isn't ready.
What's in a spring cleanup →Fall cleanup
Every leaf off the lawn and out of the beds. This matters more than it looks: leaves left under snow smother the grass and breed snow mould, and you see the damage in April.
Drains, downspouts and window wells cleared. Perennials cut back. The final cut goes slightly shorter than usual, because long grass mats down under snow. Snow markers go in at the end. If your trees drop late, expect us twice, and that second visit is already covered.
What's in a fall cleanup →Through the season
What changes month to month
| When | Cut height | What we're doing |
|---|---|---|
| April | 3" | Spring cleanup, then the first cut once the turf is growing, not just green |
| May to June | 3" | Peak growth. Weekly without exception: skipping a week breaks the one-third rule |
| July to August | 3.5" | Raised for heat. Taller grass shades its own soil and survives drought |
| September | 3" | Growth resumes. Best month of the year for aeration and overseeding |
| October | 3" | Last cuts, fall cleanup begins as leaves drop |
| November | 2.5" | Final cut, cut shorter on purpose. Snow markers installed |
The one-third rule: we never remove more than a third of the grass blade in a single cut. If growth has got ahead of us after heavy rain, we take a third now and come back in three or four days rather than scalping it.
We're not plowing your driveway. We're still there after every storm.
Silver isn't a snow membership. You told us you've got the driveway. But your membership runs twelve months, so we're there twelve months. After every storm we run, we come back in the daytime and take the windrow off the end of your driveway: the ridge the city plow leaves behind, the heaviest, iciest part of the whole job. You shovel your driveway. We take the part that makes people give up.
You shovel the driveway. We take the windrow the city leaves at the end of it, after every storm, all winter.
Silver: Lawn Care & Winter Backup
What Silver gets after every storm
We're not plowing your driveway. We're still there after every storm.
The windrow pass
What we take. The municipal windrow cleared off the driveway apron, full width, to the surface. Nothing else on the driveway. The member clears their own driveway.
When. A daytime pass, on the same day Northline runs the member snow route, after the municipal plow has been through. Cleared by 5 PM.
Every storm. Every storm for which the member snow route runs. Same trigger, same day. If the municipal plow comes through after our pass, the windrow is taken on the next pass.
The windrow pass is not driveway clearing. The member clears the driveway; Northline clears the ridge the municipal plow leaves across the end of it.
Four banked clears a season
What it is. A full clear (driveway, walkway and front steps), exactly as a Gold member's, but on request and four times a season.
What it is for. The storms that beat you. Away, ill, Christmas morning, the 30 cm one.
When. Served after the member route is complete, never during it. Same day if requested before the route rolls; otherwise the next available pass.
Unused visits do not carry over to the following season.
What Silver does not get
No driveway plowing. No 7 AM target. No walkway or steps except on a banked clear. No salting. No entrance widening. Those are Gold's, and they are what Gold is sold on.
No driveway plowing. Gold plows the driveway, unlimited visits, every storm.
No 7 AM target. The windrow pass is a daytime pass, cleared by 5 PM; the 7 AM target after overnight snow is Gold's.
No walkway or steps except on a banked clear. Gold clears the walkway full width and the front steps every storm.
No salting. Salt is on request at Gold and unlimited and automatic at Platinum.
No entrance widening. The driveway entrance is widened all winter at Gold.
What you get
Lawn service by membership
The lawn work is identical on all three memberships. What changes is the winter half.
| Silver | Gold | Platinum | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weekly edge, mow, trim & blow-off | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Roughly 26 visits, mid-April to mid-November | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Spring and fall cleanups | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Clippings mulched back into the lawn | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Photo record of every visit | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Driveway | member clears it | plowed, unlimited | plowed, unlimited |
| The windrow | scheduled daytime pass, every storm, by 5 PM | free on the next scheduled pass; $45 dedicated | dedicated trips included |
| Walkway and steps | only on a banked clear | every storm, full width | every storm, full width |
| Timing | by 5 PM, daytime | before 7 AM: our target after overnight snow | before 7 AM target, first on route |
| Full clears | 4 a season, on request | unlimited | unlimited |
| Salt | none | on request | unlimited, automatic |
| 5-step fertilizer, aeration and overseeding | Add-on | Add-on | ✓ |
| Garden bed maintenance | Add-on | Add-on | ✓ |
| Priority scheduling | No | No | ✓ |
| Monthly price, before tax | $129 | $189 | $279 |
| Monthly payment with 13% HST | $145.77 | $213.57 | $315.27 |
All prices are before tax; 13% HST is added and the with-HST figure is what comes out of your account. We're not plowing your driveway. We're still there after every storm. Silver's winter is the windrow pass after every storm and four banked clears on request; Gold is the same weekly lawn care plus the whole driveway all winter on one payment, which is why it is the membership we recommend and lead with: $189/month plus HST, $213.57 charged. Moving up takes a two-minute phone call. The separation is real and threefold: what (windrow vs whole property), when (daytime vs before 7 AM target), how much (4 on request vs unlimited).
Lawn care questions
Common questions
What if it rains on my service day?
Light rain we work through. Heavy rain or standing water we don't: cutting a saturated lawn causes ruts and scalping that cost more to fix than the missed day. We reschedule within 48 hours and text you before you notice.
Do I need to be home?
No. Tell us about gates, dogs and where to park once and it goes in your file permanently. You'll get photos after every visit.
What if my grass gets too long between visits?
We cut a third now and return in three or four days to bring it down the rest of the way. Scalping a long lawn in one pass shocks the plant, browns it out and invites weeds, so we don't do it, even though it would be quicker.
Do you spray for weeds?
No, and neither can anyone else legally. Ontario's cosmetic pesticide ban prohibits spraying lawns for appearance. The honest and effective answer is density: a thick, well-fed lawn crowds weeds out on its own, which is exactly what the 5-step fertilizer program is for.
What happens to the clippings?
They go back onto your lawn on every cut, at no charge. It's better for the turf and it saves you money on fertilizer.
Can I get lawn care only, without the snow?
You can have the lawn without the driveway, and that's Silver: $129 a month plus HST, $145.77 charged. But Silver is not a summer-only membership and we will not sell it as one. We're not plowing your driveway. We're still there after every storm. You shovel the driveway. We take the windrow the city leaves at the end of it, after every storm, all winter.
So Silver's winter is real: The windrow pass: the ridge the city plow leaves at the end of your drive, off by 5 PM, every storm; Four banked clears a season: a full clear (driveway, walkway and steps), on request, four times a season. No driveway plowing. No 7 AM target. No walkway or steps except on a banked clear. No salting. No entrance widening. Those are Gold's, and they are what Gold is sold on.
What Gold adds is the driveway itself: unlimited driveway, walkway and step clearing after every storm, typically cleared before 7 AM, at $189/month plus HST, $213.57 charged. That is about what a driveway-only seasonal contract costs on its own, which is why Gold is the membership we lead with. Move up whenever you like: a two-minute phone call, starting on your next billing cycle.
Will you cut my back yard if the gate is locked?
We'll do the front, text you, and note it in your file. We never force a gate. If you give us a code or leave it unlocked on your service day, we do the whole property.
Get a fixed monthly price for your property
Send me the address and I'll send you a real number the same day, Monday to Saturday. I price what is actually on the property, and if a membership is not good value for yours I'll say so.
Green in summer. Clear in winter.