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How Much Does Lawn Care Cost Per Hour

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What Our Research Indicates About Landscaping Rates

What does it cost to run YOUR lawn care business. Also what should you charge per hour?

GreenPal recently conducted a poll of over 10,000 lawn care service providers all over the country about how much they charge for weekly or bi-weekly lawn mowing services.

As it turns out.

78% of lawn care professionals we polled responded they charge at least $60 per man per hour. Or $1 a minute.

Next. 12% responded they charge on average $50 per man per hour

Lastly, 10% responded they charge $40 per man per hour or less

But thats just part of the story

Do I Need Fertilization

Yes, fertilization matters a lot in good gardening. As much as possible, go with natural fertilization, like compost, old leaves, ash, etc. Natural fertilizers work on their own without much efforts needed on your side. In case, however, your soil is absolutely unwelcoming for planting, go with professional fertilization of your gardeners choice.

How Is My Invoice Calculated

We calculate the time on site by multiplying the number of staff who service your property by our hourly rate, from the time they arrive on site until the time they depart.

We then add a standard fifteen minutes travel time for each of two staff. The travel time is the same whether you have one, two or three staff working on your property.

Finally, we add any additional charges for supplies or non-standard equipment.

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Hiring A Lawn Care Company

How much does it cost for someone to tender your lawn? Lawn mowing services charge average rates of $25 $150 per hour. Several lawn mowing businesses will also include edging, leaf-blowing, and removal of garden waste after mowing. And since mowing costs are generally subjective, homeowners should study their invoices to know exactly what they are paying for.

The hiring process should be as friendly as possible, the intention is to build a relationship of trust on both sides. This is important because the groundskeeper will still be expected to work on the property even when the homeowner is out of town.

When hiring a specialized lawn mowing company for long term work, a formal contract signed by both parties is essential should disputes occur. However, a casual and less formal agreement can be good enough for irregular, short term work by an amateur.

Irrespective of their mowing needs, homeowners should be prepared to divulge as much detail about the job as possible to get the precise answers.

Below is a list of some questions to ask during the hiring process.

How long will it take to mow my lawn?

This is important if the lawn mowing service is charging by the hour.

What other services am I getting?

Does the service provider offer additional lawn care services like aerating, fertilization, winterization, etc? If so, what are the prices?

How much am I being charged per hour?

Do you provide written quotes?

Additional Considerations And Costs

How Much Does It Cost To Mow The Lawn?
  • Your lawn care provider may offer a discount for regular visits, including weekly or biweekly mowing. Many also offer neighbor discounts if you both sign up for services on the same day.
  • Your town or neighborhood may limit the type of fertilizers and chemicals that can be used on your lawn. Check with your community to find out if there are restrictions in your area.
  • Consider winterizing your lawn each year so that it does not die in the snow. Winterizing costs around $400 on average, depending on the lawn size.
  • If your lawn service uses a gas mower, remember that fluctuating gas prices impact the services cost. Check with your provider to find out if they have yearly rates or if their rates change.
  • To keep your costs down, sign on with a lawn care company. Many companies offer discounts for frequent visits, which keeps overall expenses down.

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How Much Does Lawn Fertilization Cost

Most lawn care companies charge by the size of your lawn but some charge by the hour, so we have broken down costs for both for the smallest, largest and average-size lawns across the U.S.

Oh, and how did we come up with these yard sizes?

  • Smallest average lawn size in U.S. : 4,386 square feet
  • Average U.S. lawn size: 10,871 square feet
  • Largest average lawn size in U.S. : 73,979 square feet

If you know your yard size, you can multiply that by 2, 3.5, and 5 cents per square foot to calculate the cost of fertilization for your yard. For example, the average prices for the smallest and largest average and the U.S. average yard sizes at 3.5 cents per square foot adds up to:

Average Cost of Lawn Fertilization at 3.5 cents per square foot:

  • Average U.S. lawn: $380

Paying by the hour might be advantageous if you have a very large property unless you have a slower worker. Fortunately, most professional lawn care providers have skilled workers and top-notch equipment.

To calculate the costs of fertilization per hour at a rate of $30, $50, and $60 per hour, we estimated that it takes a professional landscaper between one and two hours to fertilize a 10,000-square-foot lawn.

How fast or slow is your lawn care fertilization team? We used a range of 83.33 to 166.66 square feet per minute.

Number Of Lawn Care Visits

The number of service visits performed within the lawn care program also directly impacts lawn care prices. Each visit could be made up of a varying number of applications.

Before agreeing to any services, make sure you know how many visits and specific applications the each visit on the program will include. You want to be able to feel confident that your lawn care company is including just the right number of actual treatments .

Knowing whats included is important. Otherwise, you may fall victim to a common marketing scheme in the lawn care industry which is to underprice services just to hook you. This occurs when lawn care companies give you their rock bottom price knowing that it doesnt actually include everything you really need. In the end, you may wind up paying just as much with all of the add-on services and upcharges you have to tack on than you would have with another company that offered everything you needed from the start.

At Master Lawn, we have found that the sweet spot is 7 to 10 visits, which allows us to get all important services completed. This also helps people to choose the program that is best for them both based on their own needs as well as what Master Lawn feels will help their lawn the most. When applicable, we are able to combine certain applications in order to pass savings along to the customer. It is never our goal to upcharge for services that we can offer at a more affordable price when possible.

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Landscaping Cost Per Hour

Labor makes up about 80% of the total landscaping cost. Landscapers charge between $50 and $100 per hour for a crew of two. As the manpower required increases, so will the cost. Additional crew members will cost $25 to $50 per hour extra.

Landscape designers are more advanced than typical landscapers, often charging at least $200 an hour to plan and design your yard. While you wont need to work with a designer for routine landscaping work, you will need to hire one if youre looking to install something unique from scratch.

Get at least three quotes from different landscapers before starting work to find one that works with your budget.

Factors Impacting The Cost Of Lawn Mowing

How Much To Charge for Mowing? | Pricing Cheat Sheet

Type of lawn

A big expanse may take less time to cut than smaller ones with lots of plantings. If your lawn is difficult to access or hard to mow due to a slope, this can increase the rate. A hand mower may have to replace a riding mower, raising lawn mowing prices per hour.

Size of lawn

If you have an acre or more, your price will be higher. It takes longer to mow a broad expanse, even using the high-powered riding mowers that are used today.

Time of year

At the peak of the mowing season, you may pay higher rates. Cheap lawn mowing services and specials may be available during the slow-growth winter months.

Insured companies

You may get a higher rate from an insured company, but you will also know that they are more likely to take pride in a job well done.

Added costs

Many services include the cost of tidying. They will blow or sweep cuttings from sidewalk and driveway. Edging may be included, especially if you have a contract. This service cuts down on the work that the mowing company will have to do because it eliminates the need for extensive weed-eating. It is advisable to ask what is included when you are getting quotes.

Location

Lawn mowing services prices may be affected by the area in which you live. Your hourly rate will be higher if you live in New South Wales or the Australian Capital Territory. Queensland, South Australia and Victorian lawns will cost about the same per hour. The least expensive hourly rates are in Western Australia and Tasmania.

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Do I Need To Hire A Gardener

Lawn care takes much time, like, really much time. For instance, basic lawn mowing requires 2-3 hours a week, basic trimming about 2-3 more hours, add to it fertilization and regular watering and you will get almost 20 hours a week. And remember that weeding and special care also need some hours. If you have this time or adore gardening and its your hobby, then you can work with a gardener for a month to learn all the basics. After that meet with a professional once a month to ensure that you take proper care of your garden.

In case you are a busy person who wants to have a beautiful garden but doesnt want to or doesnt have enough time for garden maintenance, then hiring a gardener will save you both your daytime hours and money while providing the feeling of aesthetical pleasure.

Lawn Mowing Service Pricing And Installation Cost Checklist

  • Expect the Lawn Mowing Service prices to fluctuate between various companies each and every company have different operation expenses and over-head.
  • Try to get prices in late Fall, early winter you should expect aggressive pricing discounts by waiting for a contractors down season.
  • Try to budget and additional 7-15% more on top of what our calculator gives out for Lawn Mowing Service costs.
  • Visit every supply house that sell your particular brand of Lawn Fertilization Service tools and try to negotiate a better price with each supplier I save on average 20%.
  • Lawn Mowing Service isnt an easy task to perform and can leave you with a sore back. You might find it more cost effective to hire a landscaping company to perform the work for you. Landscaping companies will most always get better prices on Lawn Mowing Service saving your back and additional costs of Lawn Mowing Service, so shop around, ask your neighbors if they can recommend someone.

Read Also: When To Start Watering Grass In Colorado

Cost Of Fertilization By Location

Where you live can have a big impact on the cost of lawn fertilization. Several key factors are at play. The balance of supply and demand will change from town to town, and wealthier residents can drive up the price. The cost of labor, transportation, and materials also vary by region.

Here is a sampling of the average rate per square foot rate cost of fertilization for 20 major U.S. cities.

Calculate The Total Price

How Much Does a Lawn Care Program Cost?

Add up all your landscaping costs listed in the above steps plus your markup to find the price youll quote the customer for their landscaping job.

Remember to add sales tax to the estimate, if your state requires it. Some states, like Nevada, dont require service-based businesses like landscaping to charge their customers sales tax.

TaxJar has a simple sales tax calculator that estimates your tax rate by street address.

People also ask:

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Top 5 Reasons Why Other Lawn Care Service Providers May Charge Less Than Us:

  • They do not pay taxes.
  • Owner/operator is a one-man show that has very little overhead.
  • They pay their employees less than we do
  • Lack of liability insurance or workers compensation insurance
  • They take shortcuts on your property and do not pay attention to detail as we do
  • If they are taking shortcuts in their business, they are taking shortcuts on your property.

    Costing Of Lawn Maintenance

    On a general note the cost of lawn maintenance costs within a range of $100 to $500 entirely based on the kind and amount of services, also the maintenance company hired and the landscaper you happen to work with. There are innumerable packages that you can choose from which covers a particular section of services. They are clubbed together to make it convenient for the property owner to opt. Take a look at such kinda service package below:

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    How To Estimate Landscaping Jobs In 7 Steps: A Simple Guide

  • Estimates
  • How to Estimate Landscaping Jobs in 7 Steps: A Simple Guide
  • Estimating landscaping jobs correctly is key to running a profitable business. Statistics show that most contractors only make a profit on three out of every five jobs. They lose money on one and break even on the other, according to Total Landscape Care.

    Learning to accurately bid on landscaping work will ensure youre making a profit on every job you do.

    Need a landscaping estimating template? Estimate smarter and faster with FreshBooks professional estimating software. Send estimates online in a flash and easily convert them to invoices when the jobs done.

    FreshBooks, from invoicing to payments and everything in between. Try It Free

    In this article, well cover:

    Garden Landscaping & Maintenance Cost Factors

    How to Price Lawn Care Services – How Much to Charge

    As you work to find and hire a gardener, you can generally expect some or all of these services included in the scope of their work:

    • Planting, including shrubs, trees perennials and annual plants.
    • Maintenance, like mowing, pruning and fertilizing.
    • Removing debris, like brush or other yard waste.
    • Weed removal and prevention.

    These services may also include pest and disease prevention. They could also include plant examination and plant training. This is where the plant is shaped to grow in a specific way. Ultimately, it fits the design of your propertys landscape.

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    What Services You Want

    All companies work with a different pricing structure. Some provide comprehensive packages that include landscaping and lawn care. Others charge a certain rate for mowing that’s dependent on the size and type of lawn. Then, they offer other packages and add-on services for more advanced lawn care.

    Here are some optional services that might drive up the cost of lawn care:

    • Weeding
    • Planting flowers or adding flower beds
    • Adding sod or grass
    • Treating grass or lawns for growth or health
    • Caring for trees or other plants on a regular basis

    If you want to add some of these types of services, it might also limit which companies you can deal with. Depending on your location, someone may need to be licensed to provide some of these services. And even if that’s not the case, not everyone who mows lawns is qualified to treat unhealthy trees or plan out flower beds for optimal curb appeal.

    Where To Hire A Lawn Mower Service Near You

    If you want to hire a lawn mowing service with proven expertise in the field, look no further. HIREtrades is an expert at finding and connecting tradies and customers with mutually beneficial goals.

    If youre looking for a nearby contractor to help with your lawn mowing HIREtrades can help. Simply post your job online, or use the HIREtrades app, and we will help you to get up to three free quotes.

    Receive up to 3 free quotes

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    How Much Does It Cost To Cut 5 Acres Of Grass

    How much does it cost to cut 5 acres of grass?

    How much does it cost to have an acre of grass cut? The average cost to cut one acre of grass is $150, and you generally pay $87 per hour. Some services charge you $100 per person cutting the grass, and that comes out to an average of $200. It costs $900 per year to hire professionals to mow an acre of grass bi-weekly.

    How do you price lawn mowing? The prices for lawn mowing depend on the size of your lawn and the degree of work involved. A one-time appointment may cost around $60 per hour while a regular service deal will charge $50 to $40 per hour. $40 per hour is the usual median rate but the per hour cost of riding lawn mower services is usually around $120.

    How much should I charge to cut 2 acres of grass? Average cost of lawn mowing, by square footage:

    For example, a Texas-based lawn care company shares typical costs for their mow package which includes mowing, weed-eating, edging and blowing for three sizes: Smaller lots in subdivisions: $35. 1/2-acre lot: $50. 1-acre lot: $100.

    Do I Need A License To Do Lawn Care

    How Much Does Seasonal Lawn Care Cost : Free Lawn Care ...

    If youre wondering, Do I need a business license for lawn care? the answer in most states is yes. And aside from a state lawn care business license, there may also be local licensing requirements in your area. We recommend checking with your county clerk and the state department of business regulation.

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