On Thanksgiving night, when Meadow Pointe resident Vicki Hutto has her yard set up for Christmas and flips the switch to light the decorations for the first time this season, not only will her lawn be ornamented with reindeer and snowmen, but also with a white sparkle that is reminiscent of northern winters. She’ll have a dusting of “snow” on her lawn, thanks to a service now being offered by her company, VIP Pest Control.
Vicki is both the owner and operator of VIP Pest Control, which is celebrating its tenth year in business in New Tampa, Wesley Chapel and surrounding areas in Pasco and Hillsborough counties. While the company’s specialty is keeping homes, businesses and lawns free from nuisance animals and insects (including termites, mosquitoes, ants, roaches, bed bugs and more), Vicki has developed a creative way to help those who have been dreaming of a white Christmas experience it here in Florida.
The VIP Pest Control lawn care technicians will actually paint your lawn white, providing the perfect backdrop for seasonal decorations. “We even figured out a way to make it sparkle, if you want,” says Vicki.
Vicki recalls an elderly customer who wanted snow in her yard, like she had up north, “and she sang Christmas songs from her wheelchair while she watched her lawn being painted,” she says. Vicki tells of another customer who wanted to propose marriage with a white Christmas backdrop. Now, Vicki is offering a way to make that happen, too.
“We use an organic paint that is kid- and pet-friendly,” she explains. “Dogs can play on it and kids can sit on it for pictures.”
How does it work? “We spray the lawn three times, so that all sides of each blade of grass are completely covered. It won’t rub off, wash off, or wear off, but it is removed after about three grass clippings.” She says that since grass is dormant in the winter, that usually takes about three months.
Especially for northerners who may miss the white beauty of winter, but not the cold, Vicki says, “Here’s your white Christmas.”
For videos that show the treatment being applied, and the results of one home’s snow application, visit VIPPestControlLLC.com/snow.
Green Lawns, Too!
Year-’round, the team at VIP Pest Control works to keep lawns pest-free, which helps them stay green and healthy. In the winter, when grass is dormant, you may have brown patches that take time to correct. VIP Pest Control offers a service to paint your lawn green until the brown patches grow back healthy. If your homeowners association requires you to have a green lawn, call VIP Pest Control to learn about painting it green for the winter.
Like all of VIP Pest Control’s treatments, the green lawn treatment also is environmentally friendly and can be used on lawns where both pets and kids play.
In Your Home…
This is the time of year when VIP Pest Control gets many calls about roaches and rodents, especially as people get boxes out of their attics with holiday decorations for Thanksgiving and Christmas.
“If you see signs of rodents (such as droppings or noises), call us right away,” says Vicki. “Rodents can be dangerous, because they can chew through wires and actually set your whole house on fire.”
Vicki says people often see roaches, especially palmetto bugs, which like to live in cardboard, and German roaches, which can be transported into your home as eggs on boxes delivered by shipping companies.
“German roaches are the ones that will make you sick,” she says. “They’re much smaller than the big palmetto bugs, but they carry diseases.”
And, while termites don’t typically swarm in winter, Vicki says that all Floridians need to be aware that both drywood and subterranean termites can cause damage to your home year-’round. With the drywood termites, sometimes people get a “false swarm.” When you turn on your heat, termites may think it’s swarm season and fly out of the walls of your home to mate. There’s nothing “false” about what they do to your home behind those walls, though.
“When that swarm is gone and you no longer see them, you still have termites,” Vicki explains. “They eat the wood of your home 24 hours a day, and there’s nothing you can do to get rid of them yourself. You really have to call a professional.”
When a VIP Pest Control technician comes out to your home to inspect for termites, they’ll help you determine what conditions in and around your house might lead to termites. For example, termites have easy access to your home when you have mulch up against your house, tree branches or plants that touch your house, or wood-to-ground contact. Hutto says you can help keep termites away from your home by reducing these “conducive conditions.”
When Vicki established VIP in 2006, she says it was her goal to provide a higher level of customer service than other local companies. She says she chose to name her business “VIP” to indicate that to her, customers are, “Very Important People.”
That’s why, for example, you’ll always talk with a live person when you call VIP’s office. “We give our customers personal attention,” explains Vicki. “No two people are alike, and no two houses are alike.”
Same-day service is often available, especially if you have a serious issue that needs immediate attention. “If you call us in the morning,” says Vicki, “we can usually work you in that day.”
One of the company’s VIP customers is April Saland, who called Vicki when she discovered flying insects in her home.
“VIP came right out and told me I had subterranean termites,” says Saland. “It was a horrible issue, but Vicki held my hand and walked me through the process. She was awesome, and made us comfortable knowing she could save our home.”
VIP Pest Control is located at 119 Flagship Dr., in Lutz. It is open Mon.-Fri., 8:30 a.m.–5:30 p.m. For info, visit VIPPestControlLLC.com or call 234-8888. Also, check out VIP Pest Control on Episode 1 of WCNT-tv on YouTube.
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