MOWING AROUND: "GREEN THUMBS" FOR HIRE: AREA BUSINESSES DEDICATED TO MAINTAINING GOOD-LOOKING LAWNS

Spring may be nature's way of smiling, but for many homeowners, nature's gentle spring smile turns into a monstrous, weedy glare.

As busy homeowners struggle to maintain the fresh look of their lawns and gardens, crabgrass, dandelions and wild onion shoots need not win the battle.

Cape Girardeau has an abundance of businesses dedicated to maintaining a good looking yard and lawn.

Dozens of services, ranging from simple lawn maintenance to trained landscape artists and horticulturists, offer "green thumbs for hire" to those homeowners who don't have the time, talent or desire to cultivate their lawns and gardens.

The businesses range from two to about 20-person operations who mow and clip lawns, provide mulching services to professional horticulturists who provide insect control and fertilization of the lawn.

The largest and probably the oldest lawn service is Mid-America Teen Challenge, which provides lawn-mowing and leaf-removal crews of 12 to 20 people.

"We started our lawn service business almost 20 years ago, in 1975," said Bill Vance, who is in charge of the organization's lawn crew. "At that time, the big need in the community was to have lawns mowed."

Since that time more lawn maintenance has been added, and in the fall Teen Challenge offers leaf-raking and removal services.

"During the peak lawn season, we utilize about 18 to 20 persons," said Vance, who added that the group had about 150 customers.

When Teen Challenge first started maintaining lawns, very few similar companies existed, but over the past decade many businesses have opened.

"Although there are several lawn service businesses in the Cape Girardeau area, we still have a waiting list," said Vance. "There's plenty of work out there for everybody."

Among the Teen Challenge accounts are residential and commercial.

Last week, the crews could be found around the Southeast Missouri Hospital green areas one day and at the Holiday Inn/Victorian Inn area the next day.

Don and Robin McQuay, who operate Cape County Lawn Services at Route 2 Jackson, agree that work is available for lawn service businesses.

"Mowing is our number-one service," said Robin McQuay. "But we also offer weed control and fertilizing service, landscaping, leaf and snow removal. There are a lot of services out there, but there's still plenty of jobs for everyone,"

The McQuays, who use up to three or four part-time employees, say their clientele includes residential and commercial customers.

"The spring season is already in full swing," she said. "Although we have a good list of regular customers, we're always open for new ones."

Sunny Hill Gardens, 206 N. Kingshighway, provides a number of lawn maintenance services.

"We treat lawns for weed control, insect control and offer fertilization," said Paul Schnare, "As a part of our landscaping service, we offer mulching."

About the only service not included by Sunny Hill is mowing.

"Lawn care is a big part of our business," said Schnare, who has been involved in the lawn care business since the mid-1970s.

Schnare, a graduate of the University of Missouri-Columbia, has a bachelor's degree in forestry, a master's degree in genetics and a doctorate in plant physiology.

In 1975 Schnare and a partner opened a lawn care service in Columbia, eventually expanding into Jefferson City, Cape Girardeau and Carbondale, Ill. In 1981, Schnare purchased the company's branches in Cape and Carbondale, which became Accu-Grow. In 1992, Schnare purchased Sunny Hill Gardens and combined the operation with Accu-Grow.

"We have a number of regular customers, dating back to the mid-1970s," said Schnare. "We provide information on how to maintain a beautiful lawn or garden and how to care for plants, shrubs and trees around the home."

Schnare is a founding and charter member of the Professional Lawn Care Association (PLCA), formed in the late 1970s.

He was on the first PLCA Board of Directors, and is still a member of the organization.

Plants Plus, 910 S. Kingshighway, includes a lawn care service in its operation.

"And, for the first time this year, we have added a lawn-mowing division," said Joe Touchette, manager of the business. "We offer a basic five-point lawn maintenance. That is fertilizer application, broadleaf weed control, pre-emergent crabgrass control, insect and disease control, lawn seeding-renovation, and landscape maintenance."

Touchette has more than a dozen years experience in lawn care. He owned and operated a lawn care service 11 years before joining Plants Plus.

He is a Southeast Missouri State University graduate, with a degree in horticulture, botany and agriculture.

Besides a number of other lawn care facilities in the area, there remains young teenage entrepreneurs who pull their lawnmowers by a rope, tapping on doors in hopes of picking up a few bucks for mowing.