Should I Diy Or Hire A Professional Landscaper
If you have the time and energy for yard work, DIY landscaping is a great option. Although you can DIY a majority of your landscaping, there are a few things that you should leave to the pros. This includes installing pools and outdoor structures, removing trees, resloping your yard and installing drainage systems. Some DIY-friendly landscaping services include lawn care, tree planting and sod installation.
How To Give Lawn Care Estimates From Anywhere
Lawn care estimates can be a pain because you have to:
- Schedule the appointment
- Drive out to the clients property
- Take time to measure the property
Then, after all of that, you might not even win the bid. What a waste…
However, theres a faster way and better way using the best lawn care software.
When you choose Service Autopilot, you’ll have the ability to unlock tools like Smart Maps to measure properties from anywhere.
Get precise property measurements to find the gross, net, or turf square footage. Create estimates with the utmost accuracy – without ever leaving the comfort of your desk.
Give estimates while you’re on the phone with a clients to improve your closing rate and capture clients more quickly with timely estimates.
Plus, you can utilize Service Autopilot’s rapid route optimization to increase your route density – instantly saving you money and increasing your profits.
Misting System Installation Cost
If you live in an area with a warmer climate, a misting system is an excellent addition to the overall comfort of your new landscape. Instead of installing an awning or pergola, an outdoor misting system is one of the most natural and most effective ways to cool an outdoor area. If this sounds appealing to you, be prepared to spend $1,000 – $2,500 for installation.
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How To Save Money On Lawn Care Services
If you love the idea of professional lawn care but not the added household expense, think strategically about signing on for the long term with a lawn company. “Lawn mowing is a competitive business,” says one lawn care pro. As a result, many companies will negotiate discounts and deals based on frequency of visits.
If you are planning to become a regular customer, ask about package rates and bundling lawn mowing and trimming with other lawn care services such as landscaping and fertilization. Lawn care pros benefit by providing you with multiple services, your pocketbook benefits from the discounts, and your lawn benefits from the holistic care.
National Average Mowing Cost
Lawn mowing price per acreLarge lawns are usually priced a bit differently than small yards. The cost per acre will decrease as the number of acres increases. Prices vary from $70 per acre to $40 per acre .
Lawn mowing cost per square footFor smaller lawns, the mowing costs are usually calculated by the square foot. The average price per square foot is around $0.02.
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Maximize Your Profits Using The Best Lawn Care Pricing Strategies
Lawn care pricing strategies can make or break your business.
For many lawn care owners, they feel like its a case of trial and error but it doesnt have to be.
When you use the lawn care pricing strategies given to you in this article, you can:
- Get your lawn care pricing right NOW
- Guarantee your lawn care services are as profitable as possible
- Discover which jobs are the most profitable
- Find out how much you should raise your prices on your least profitable clients
Originally February 26, 2019 7:00 AM, updated May 18, 2021 9:07 AM
Determine Your Hourly Rate
One of the most important factors in pricing a yard correctly is your target hourly rate. This is the first number you need to decide on before you start throwing out prices. Many operators use the âdollar per minuteâ approach or $60/hour, but I encourage you to put a bit more thought into that number. Letâs break down what can make this go up or down.
Experience Level
Operators with a higher experience level can command a higher hourly rate than a new operator. We all make mistakes, but itâs a pretty safe assumption that more experienced operators will make fewer mistakes like scalping the turf, messing up the edge, missing a spot, breaking windows, not blowing off everything .
I am not a fan of undercutting other operators just to pick up a new account, but I also want to say that it is totally okay to start with a lower hourly rate if you are new to the business. I believe it shows self awareness and helps set expectations for your clients. Think about it⦠if you came in with premium prices and offered rookie-level quality, thatâs a quick way to lose clients.
Quality Level
With that said, if you know you lay the straightest stripes and craft the sharpest edges, then donât undersell yourself! It doesnât matter how many years youâve been in business, quality is quality.
The point here is that your prices should reflect the quality of your work and the quality of your work should reflect your prices.
Equipment Setup
Professionalism
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Finding Your Landscaping Company
Find your landscaping designer today, and we hope you enjoy your beautiful new yard for many years to come.
When you’re ready, get free estimates on HomeGuide from trusted landscapers:
Daniel W.
How Much Does It Cost To Mow A Lawn
According to HowMuch.net, the average cost for mowing a lawn is a penny per square foot plus $30 per hour. If you have a 5,000-square-foot lawn and it takes someone about 2.5 hours to mow it, edge it and handle the clippings, you’re looking at $125 for the service.
But that’s just an average based on very basic lawn care services. Your cost could be higher or lower depending on a variety of factors.
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Get Experience And Have Fun
Just a fair warning: youâre going to make mistakes and thatâs okay. Remember to cut yourself some slack . Youâre the one out there grinding and working hard. Youâre the entrepreneur that is showing ambition and building something for yourself. Even though it can be stressful at times, it can also be extremely fun if you let it be. Way to go. Seriously, way to go.
If youâre looking for a way to alleviate some of the pressure of running this wildly successful business youâre building, take a look at our app that helps you get organized, increase efficiency, and get paid faster. It also does some of those fancy things I mentioned above like tracking time and generating a daily route. You can sign up in less than a minute and use the free version forever if you want. Iâll leave that up to you 🙂
The Factors Of Determining A Fair Lawn Care Rate
It’s crazy because it’s not as straightforward a question as you might think
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First of all should you try to negotiate an hourly rate with your lawn care service provider?
-
Should you worry about effectively how much youre paying them per hour?
-
And what is a fair hourly rate to pay for lawn mowing services?
After all. You don’t want to come off like this person. Do you?
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My Lawn Is Beyond Hope What Can I Do
A lawn that is full of unwanted plants will take a long time to pull back round into something worth looking at so one option is to take the grass up and start again with fresh turf which will be well looked after and weed-free. This may also be a cheaper option if you compare it with the cost of hours of intensive lawn care and maintenance plus the outlay on weed treatments and lawn food.
How Much To Charge For Lawn Care Jobs
How much should I charge for
- Mowing a yard?
- Removing bushes and adding flowers?
There is a very simple answer to every single one of these questions.
It depends.
- Time spent on the job
- Your clients
This is why you should NEVER copy your competitors pricing. You will lose money.
Plus, there’s a decent change that your competitors copied their competitors, and theyre losing money right now.
The ONLY way to properly price your lawn care services is to know your numbers.
So, you must ask yourself:How can I maximize my profits AND the value I give to my clients?
This is called The Pricing Sweet Spot. This magic number allows you to make your clients extremely happy and puts a healthy amount of cash in your pocket after every job.
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Cost Of Fertilizing Your Lawn
Your lawn needs the proper nutrients to look its best and your soil does not always have enough nutrients. This is where fertilizer comes in. Fertilizing your lawn is the best way to improve the health and appearance of your lawn.Fertilizers contain the necessary minerals and nutrients that your grass needs to grow to its full potential. But it is important to note that different types of grass require different fertilizers.
- The minimum cost for lawn fertilizer is $0.08/sf
- The maximum cost for lawn fertilizer is $0.48/sf
If you do not have the time or the tools to fertilize your lawn on your own, you can hire a contractor to do the job. If you hire a contractor, the cost of fertilizing your lawn is about $12-$15/hr. You can also hire a lawn care expert or professional lawn care company, which will bring your lawn fertilizing cost up to about $60 per hour, on average. The more experience someone has, the more it will cost. That said, if you go with an expert you will do the least amount of work and you will likely get the best results.
Lawn Mowing Cost Per Week
Regular lawn mowing once a week will run you an average of $30 to $80 per visit. Weekly costs are generally calculated based on the property size and type of work being done. Weekly mowing service is the most common contract option, especially during peak growing season, normally the spring and summer. This is because your lawn will grow faster, and the watering, sunshine, and fertilizer continue to nourish it.
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Are The Lawn Care Products The Gardener Uses Organic And Safe For The Environment
One of the main concerns for lawn treatment is that it is safe for pets and children to go on afterwards. There are organic treatments and you should check with your contractor about the safety of the products they use and if there is any recommended period that children and pets need to be kept off the grass after it has been treated.
Diy The Old Fashioned Way
Finally, you can choose to do everything yourself. Some of the more dedicated homeowners select this option for the pride it provides, although researching the products you need and how to treat certain issues properly can take a very long time. Of course, youll save the most money this way, but youll spend way more on elbow grease.
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C What’s Included In A Lawn Maintenance Vs Lawn Care Service
Some companies offer more than standard lawn care packages. They might offer fertilizer or weed control applications. They’ll also provide tips for the types of grass that work best in different climates and with different soils.
A full-care lawn service can even install new grass or lay pallets of sod. For physical landscape changes like tree pruning or shrub removal, consider hiring a landscaper instead.
What Is A Fair Hourly Rate Or Lawn Care Are You Getting Ripped Off
So youre about to hire a lawn care service and youre wondering.
What is a fair price to pay for landscaping?
Or what is a fair hourly rate to pay for lawn care services?
The good news is that you’re not alone,
Look, the fact is, this is a question we often get running the GreenPal platform. And, helping homeowners all over America find, schedule, and pay local lawn care services.
It gets better. We decided to research to get to the bottom of what is a fair hourly rate to pay for lawn mowing services.
Here is what we learned!
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Calculate Your Rate When You Have Employees
Employees can speed up your operation tenfold. But, theres an art to pricing out their labor.
Jason explains that when including labor in your price, you should consider how much effort is required per person.
When I say $60 per hour, Im talking about the rate per person. So if you have a two-man crew, youre looking at $120 per hour. If you have a three-man crew, $180 per hour. If Ive got a two-man crew and were cutting grass and it took us 30 minutes to cut, thats a $60 lawn. Although it took half the time to mow this lawn, it required two times the effort for labor for Jasons team.
Or, you can take Edwards approach:
We bid per hour. I like to walk the site, get the job requirements, and decide how long and how much labor it will take. For example, a job might take an hour and a half with three people. So Ill bill three people on the site at $45 an hour, $45 per employee, so that $135 for labor alone.
Notice that this price doesnt include overhead, equipment, and materials costs yet.
Common Landscape Installation Services
There are as many different options for designing a landscape as there are people to come up with them. You can combine countless elements and features to create an outdoor space that truly suits you and your home.
The following are some of the most common features of pro landscape projects. Weve estimated how much you would pay to add each one to your project, including the cost of materials and a pro landscapers fees.
| LANDSCAPING SERVICES |
Landscape design is the piece of the puzzle that brings all of these features together. Your landscape pro may be able to create a design for you, or you may decide to hire a separate designer or landscape architect who specializes in planning.
The exact cost of your landscape design depends on the size of your property, the complexity of the design, and how long it takes to finalize the plans. On average, the typical homeowner will pay about $2,204 to $6,182 for a professional landscape design.
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Pricing Guide: How Much Does Landscaping Cost
Depending on the size and scope of your landscaping project, you can expect to spend between $4,000 and $20,317 for a professionally designed and installed landscape. The national average cost of landscaping across large and small projects is about $12,825.
Landscaping is a huge umbrella term that covers many services you may need for outside your home, including installing new features.
New installations arent the only element of landscaping. You can also hire a pro to maintain your existing landscape for about $133 to $370 per month, for a national average of $252 per month. That cost fluctuates based on the size and complexity of your yard and the specific services you need, such as lawn mowing, garden care, and bush trimming.
As a standard rule of thumb, you should spend about 10% the value of your home on landscaping. So, if you live in a $250,000 house, a reasonable landscaping budget for you would be around $25,000 .
What Are The Benefits Of Hiring A Professional Lawn Mowing Service
Almost nothing is as gratifying as a well-maintained lawn. Fortunately, a lush and beautiful yard no longer requires endless hours of mowing and trimming by the entire family. The best lawn care professionals can help take care of your home, office, rental or commercial properties and they’re beneficial in many ways.
For one, lawn care professionals have their own lawn mowers and trimming equipment, so you don’t need to spend money on a mower of your own. Hiring a professional gives you back the space you would have used to store bulky lawn equipment in the garage or shed. You also won’t have to worry about keeping gas in the tank or a charge in the battery, or finding an extension cord long enough to let you weed-whack your entire yard.
They can also take care of your lawn beyond just a simple mow and trim with add-on services like laying down fertilizer or coming up with a mowing plan to keep your yard growing healthily year-round. Or, if your lawn has been neglected for awhile, they can revive it. No matter how poorly maintained your lawn has been in the past, the pros can bring a dried-up lawn back to life or tame an overgrown mess.
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