GET TO KNOW YOUR CUSTOMERS DAY- Sam Jarocky - Jay Rock Gardening (Scotland)
Sam is a busy man! He works full time for the British Army as well as owning his own lawn-care company based up in North East Scotland. He is extremely active on Social Media in the summer months and runs his own lawn-care podcast which is well worth a listen.
1. Name/Job
Sam Jarockyj - full time British Army, part time owner operator of JayRock Lawn Care & Gardening
2. Family status?
I live with my Partner Paige and my son Jay(6)
3. Where do you live?
Morayshire, North East Scotland
4. How did you get into lawn-care?
For myself it all began playing golf and not only loving the game but loving the different locations of the courses where the game took place. After buying my first home in 2018 and having my own garden for the first time the initial urge was to have a striped lawn! Now the initial starting point was a mess so I soon realised I had to fix the lawn in order to achieve my goal, from there the deep dive into Youtube Lawn Care started which increased not only my knowledge but my love for lawn care.
5. What's your lawn journey been so far? Did you renovate your lawn from scratch?
My journey has been from an unmaintained, moss driven, thatch ridden, weed haven lawn to now a beautiful PRG mix lawn, I never killed the whole lawn off, instead I decided to try and improve the lawn as much as I could through using selective herbicides for the weeds, iron for the moss, and to remove it all by hand with a leaf rake.. from there I scalped it back, seeded and top dressed.. although I still suffer with some Yorkshire Fog in the lawn the rest is at a great standard.
6. What grass seed do you use?
Primarily I now use Total Lawn Luxury Lawn Seed which is PRG & CRF mix. This germinated around day 6.
7. How many times a week do you cut? What height of cut in general?
I try to stay on top of cutting the lawn, during the growing season i would be cutting around 3 times per week at a height of 25mm, this is the sweet spot in my opinion.
8. What mower do you use? What do you like about it?
I currently use a Suffolk Punch 14SK which is the equivalent to an Allett Classic 14”, the mower is fantastic! The Kawasaki engine doesn’t skip a beat and it also has the ability change cartridges. It is a fantastic piece of kit which I really couldn’t have maintained such a great lawn without.
9. What's your favourite cartridge?
It has to be the Scarifier.. this is where I really started seeing the improvement in my lawn, lifting moss, scratching out thatch, lifting lateral growth, picking up debris, it really does have many uses when used correctly, it’s a must have in my opinion.
10. What are the biggest challenges you face with your lawn?
It has to be the fog grass, immune to selective herbicides, thrives in lower temperatures, and worst of all, with its lighter, thicker foliage it stands out like a sore thumb.
11. Any other hobbies?
I love to golf as mentioned, that really does keep my mental health in good health but as of recent years creating Lawn Care YouTube videos and creating my Lawn Care Podcast has turned into more of a hobby than i ever thought it would.
12. Favourite food?
Pizza!
13. Dream holiday destination?
With the other half it has to be somewhere like the Maldives. With friends it has to be Golfing in Italy.
14. Which three people would you invite around the dinner table - can be famous or not!
Jim Carrey - I grew up loving his films. Elon Musk - I believe he would be really interesting and Gary Vee - he’s such a straight talker, his advice would be priceless!
15. If you could invent a lawn tool/ new mower what would it be like?
A Condition metre “Lawn Sense”, it would analyse the growth rate, root formation, nutrient level, Ph, moisture, compaction - all of the main factors within a lawn and sends the data straight to your phone - notifications on when the lawn is about to break the 1/3 rule and requires a cut, when the moisture level is causing stress, when it is deficient in Nitrogen etc.. this app could also be linked with automatic sprinklers and robot mowers.
16. What are your lawn plans for 2022?
In 2022 the main goal is to completely renovate the lawn - a full kill off and rebuild, from there it would be great to finally enter the creative stripes competition.
17. Have you got any social media channels for us to follow?
Yes !
Facebook - JayRock Lawn Care & Gardening
Instagram - JayRock_LawnCare_Gardening
Podcast - JayRocks Lawn Care Gardening Podcast (uk)
18. Any tips for lawncare enthusiasts to help them get a better lawn?
Aerate Yearly, Scarify every 4-8 weeks while the lawn is growing, ensure you feed the lawn at least 3 times per year with a sufficient formula for the season your in, Cut at least twice per week & water the lawn when required and I promise you! You will have a lovely looking lawn.
