Product Profile: Aug. 2000, Primo

ProGrass, a lawn care company based in Wilsonville, Ore., has found a way to capitalize on its residential customers’ dislike of frequent lawn mowing. The company has incorporated a turf growth regulator, Primo, from Novartis Crop Protection, Turf and Ornamental Products, Greensboro, N.C., into its premium residential lawn care program, "SupremeCare." The product has yielded excellent results since the program began earlier this year, according to Al Borgen, branch operations manager, ProGrass.

GET WITH THE PROGRAM. The SupremeCare program uses a turf growth regulator in combination with a slow-release fertilizer and a herbicide to provide residential customers with attractive, low maintenance lawns, Borgen said.

As part of the program, Primo is applied approximately every five or six weeks in the spring, since lawn growth slows down on its own during the summer in the Pacific Northwest, Borgen said. He added that the company is still waiting to determine if applications will be needed in the fall.

Just as its premise promises, a turf growth regulator slows grass growth, reducing the need to mow and minimizing the amount of clippings to dispose. This appeals to residential customers tired of mowing their seemingly ever-sprouting lawns, Borgen observed. Displeasure with these high maintenance requirements has been one of ProGrass’s biggest complaints from residential lawn care customers, he said. With a turf growth regulator, however, mowing is substantially reduced, he predicted. "It’s much less cumbersome and less of a hassle to mow."

With such slogans as "Twice the growing, half the mowing," and "A lawn care program that cuts your mowing and your lawn clippings in half," the SupremeCare program is a marketer’s dream and has received positive response from residential customers, Borgen commented. "We’ve only had two complaints from customers saying that their lawn is growing too fast," he said. The majority, however, are pleased with the results.

In fact, since the program’s launch early this year, residential customers have signed up for the program in droves, according to Borgen, who added that ProGrass is one of the few companies currently using a turf growth regulator in a residential lawn care program.

While Primo effectively slows turf growth, it also improves a lawn’s overall quality and appearance, Borgen pointed out. "It allows the plant to take in more chlorophyll," he observed. "The lawns look better."

A turf growth regulator also promises to conserve water. "We’re hoping that the need to use less water will be one of the benefits we can talk about," he said, pointing out the misconception that the Pacific Northwest always gets enough rain. Summers there are actually dryer than in the Midwest, he said.

USE WITH CARE. Generally, using Primo successfully is "just a matter of reading the label carefully," Borgen said, warning that the product can have a phytotoxic effect on certain grass varieties.

Borgen advised against using a turf growth regulator on what he termed a "Heinz 57" lawn – a patchwork comprised of many different grass varieties. If a product like Primo is used in this case, "you get a lot of different reactions and a mottled look," Borgen said. Conversely, a lawn with consistent grass coverage would be the best candidate for a turf growth regulator, he pointed out.

At about $340 a gallon, the cost is one of the product’s possible drawbacks. Thus far, however, customers don’t seem to mind paying more to mow their lawns less.

Borgen hopes that, ultimately, the turf growth regulator’s benefits on the turf and for customers will outweigh its drawbacks. In the long run, "(Primo) will probably be worth it," he predicted.