Home And Garden Businesses

This page will list the Best of Hazlet, Home and Garden  Improvement companies.  It will include general contracting and all trades as well as landscaping and underground irrigation companies, nurseries, sod farms  we have used or have determined are qualified to be included in this section.

In my 43 years of living in Hazlet, I have dealt with a number of these companies and have listed those I can recommend without hesitation.  Do you have a business or tradesman that you can recommend too?  Let us know through the form on this page.

Best Home & Garden Improvement	Why We Like Them
	C.A. Power Equipment Power Equipment is our ONLY BUSINESS!! "We strive to bring you the best in service and products!" I have been to a number of lawn and garden rental and service companies in our area including Home Depot and Cerliones, but wasn't thrilled with either the service or the costs of rentals and repairs. So I decided to call C.A. conveniently located on Route 34 one mile south of Lloyd Road. I have a gas powered lawn edger that needed a new pull cord. Cerlione's estimated it would take over an hour of labor to replace it at $75/hour plus parts. That could easily cost over $100 to replace the pull cord. The entire edger was about $200 so I thought that was a bit much. I attempted the replacement on my own only to cut the cord too short after hours of working on it. Frustrated I left the edger in the shed for over a year until this season. I did a search and found the number for the friendly guys at C.A. who told me to bring the edger in. Frankly, I was surprised to see such a large operation with all sorts of heavy and light power equipment on their lot and in the store that I never noticed before. C.A. sells and services top brands of lawn and garden equipment including Scag Zero-Turn Riding Mowers, Little Wonder products including Pro Edgers and other equipment and other equipment and parts to fit many brands of equipment. As you can see from the photos, these guys are not fooling around. They can service and repair just about anything and do it fast and affordable. I had the pleasure of meeting some of the "Shop Guys" and their manager Tony Macchia who presented me with a C.A. cool black Tee-shirt so I would be one of the team. I discovered that Jay Scarfi went to Raritan with my son Andrew...many years ago and we shared some stories about their youth. I had expected to get my edger back in a week or so which was O.K. but I received a call that it was ready in two days...these guys went out of their way for me and I was happy to finally find a local rental, repair and service business that was affordable, fair and did a great job on their repairs. If you need to rent, buy or service your garden or construction gear, be sure to give them a call or drop in to see them and mention you read about them in the Hazlet News. Visit their website C.A. Power Equipment, Inc 52A Route 34 Matawan, NJ 07747 Tel: (732) 823-6237 Hours: Mon-Fri 8 AM - 5 PM, Sat 8 AM - 5 PM, Sunday - Closed
	Home Depot As far back as we can remember, the Hazlet Home Depot has been the meeting place for most of the Do-It-Yourself home owners and professional contractors. It is the mecca in our town for professionals and homeowners. Their staff, most of whom have years of experience in the trades, are there to offer assistance. They even have a Pro Desk that will help you with the info you need to complete just about any project. Manager Allison Martin and her team do an excellent job in running a clean well maintained operation and this store offers a wonderful selection of How-To classes each year that range from garden care to home improvement at no cost. Everyone knows Home Depot in Hazlet and it continues to thrive as it helps homeowners care for and maintain their homes. Tip: Join their Garden Club and receive money saving coupons and offers in addition to helpful and timely tips on taking care of your lawn and garden. They also honor those that serve or have served our country in the military with a 10% discount on most products. Ask for details at the store. Visit their website Home Depot 3700 Highway 35 Hazlet, NJ 07730 Tel: • (732) 264-1661
	Lowes Lowes came years after Home Depot to Hazlet and offered something a bit different to Hazlet homeowners...more decorating items for the home. Some say Home Depot is the place contractors go for their supplies and Lowes is the place homeowners go for their homes decorating needs. I like both stores and they are both in my top three Hazlet favorites (Costco is the 3rd). Lowes has a great garden and lawn care section their own brand of tools under the Kobolt brand name. Lowes also has a new program MyLowes and registered users receive Special Offers and Discounts, online inventory of your home, shopping lists for your mobile device access, reminders, easy returns. It is nice to have both of these giants in our community, easy to comparison shop, best way to take advantage of specials and promotions and both stores will price match each other. Sign Up For MyLowes Visit their website Lowes 2194 State Route 35 Holmdel, NJ 07733 Tel: (732) 739-9350 | Fax: (732) 739-9427 Hours: Mon-Sat 6 Am - 10 Pm, Sun 7 Am - 6 Pm
	Charlie Croce Construction We have known Charlie for a number of years and have used him on a number of projects, big and small. He has always delivered quality jobs and does it at a fair price. If you talk to people at Home Depot, Lowes or just people you meet and mention his name, everyone seems to know Charlie. You can see a slide show I did of my home office that Charlie completed for me a few years ago, Before and After Home Office Building A House Charlie Croce Construction 55 Leonardville Rd. Middeltown, NJ 07748 Tel: 732-241-1050 Email: charlie@crocehomeimprovement.com
	Quality Irrigation Quality Irrigation is one of our best picks for underground irrigation (sprinkler) systems. I struggled for many years trying to keep a lawn healthy and green and never realized that one of the single most important elements to do this was consistent and proper watering. For most of is this is impossible. The best times to water is early in the morning, around 4 AM. Watering later in the day means much of the water evaporates before it hits the ground. Watering later in the day can cause the water to sit on the grass and that leads to a mold issue. This company is owned by Daren Kaufmann who has been doing this since 1989 and is a Certified Irrigation Professional. Every customer and every job are valuable to them, regardless of the size or complexity. So whether it is a simple installation or a complete landscape renovation they can do it. Be sure to visit their website where you will actually see images of my lawn before and after. There prices are very competitive and they also provide winter turn off and Spring turn on services at affordable rates. They also do landscape lighting and in the winter snow removal Visit their website, one of the best ones we have seen Quality Irrigation P.O. Box 109 Manalapan, NJ 07726 Call Us: (732) 446-1166 Monmouth County (732) 679-0771 Middlesex County Email: info@qualityirrigationnj.com
My Backyard With Brookrest Kentucky Blue Sod My Front Lawn - Left Side	Brookrest Sod Farm I have been using Brookrest Sod Farm for the better part of the 43 years I have lived in Hazlet. In the beginning when I had no idea of how to maintain my lawn, I would constantly replace weed infested areas after using Roundup to kill it all with new Kentucky Bluegrass sod. Over the past 5 years, I have only had to replace very few areas of the lawn with new sod from Brookrest. The reason is I have better control over my lawn now that I have a timed watering schedule with my sprinkler system. It is almost impossible to grow a thick Kentucy Bluegrass lawn from seed. Each year I try and each year I fail even on seeding small areas of the lawn. The seeds are very fine, take weeks to germinate and even longer to fill in. So I have given up and decided to continue to get my sod when i need it at Brookrest. The cost of a 10 square foot roll is about $4 and is half the cost of the 5 square foot pieces you buy at Home Depot or Lowes. If you go early in the morning you get freshly cut sod. This gives you a better chance of success because sod should be cut and planted within hours for best results, especially in hot weather. Steve the owner tells me they grow grass the right way. Other sod farms cheat by using a plastic mesh that they grow their grass on. The mesh allows them to cut and roll the sod even if it isn't thick because it holds the less dense sod together. They grow most of their sod on large land areas in Holmdel. There is a lot more info on their website and you can decide if you want Kentucky Blue for lawns that get a lot of sun or Turf Type Tall Fescue / Bluegrass blend for lawns with shade. Tell Steve you read about them at the Hazlet News. Visit their website Brookrest Sod Farm Email: brookrestsodfarm@yahoo.com 146 Route 79 N - ( Route 520 ) Marlboro, New Jersey 07746 Tel: (732) 946-8186 Fax: (732) 946-7227 Office Hours: Monday - Friday 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM
	JR's Tree Service JR's Tree Service of Matawan offers their services throughout Northern Monmouth and Middlesex Counties. They have vast experience in all tree-related projects, including pruning, stump grinding, and storm cleanup. They handle all sizes of projects from residential to large-scale city and municipality jobs. We have seen then over the years on our street and in our town and are happy to add them to our listing. Their prices are competitive and they have a strong commitment to safety and service to their customers. Let them know you heard about them at the Hazlet News. Visit their website JR's Tree Service Email: info@jrstreeservicenj.com Matawan, New Jersey 07747 Tel: (732) 844-634-7210
	A. Casola Farms I have bought my seedlings both flowers and vegetables from A. Casola Farm for many years. I like their wide assortment of vegetables of border plants which I buy each year. Their prices can't be beat. A typical example is a flat of young flowers that contain 36 plants or 6 packs of 6 in a flat. The cost at other garden stores runs as much as $17 a flat, at Casola they are only $8.99. Their 6 packs of vegetables cost $2.99 vs. Home Depot or Lowes that sell smaller individual plants for as much as $3 each. I did see an add for 4 plants for $10 at HD and Lowes a few weeks back. I would rather pay $2.99 for 6 healthy plants, wouldn't you? They have a huge assortment, they run sales especially on Holidays like Father's Day, but here is the best part, they serve fresh bakery donuts and pastries with coffee and it is FREE!!! Yup, go in, say hello, get your donut and coffee and save a bundle and remember to tell them you read about them on the Hazlet News. Visit their website A. Casola Farms 178 State Route 34 Holmdel, NJ 07733 Call of Fax Us: Tel: 732-332-1533 Fax: 732-332-1608 Email: casolalandscape@aol.com