Additional Considerations And Costs
- 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.
How You Can Keep Your Lawn Healthy Year
You may want to pay to keep your lawn healthy year-round, not just in the warmer months. Many professionals offer a spring and fall package. In the spring, your lawn is aerated and fertilized so that it grows back fast after winter. In the fall, special fertilizers are used to protect it through the winter months and help it recover quicker in the spring. Some professionals suggest continuing to mow your grass until it naturally stops growing, which could mean December in some climates.
How Much Should I Be Paying My Lawn Care Employees
When it comes to figuring out how much you should pay your lawn care employees, there is a sweet spot. Pay too much and you are going to lose money on each lawn mowing you perform. Pay too little and either you wont attract any applicants or you will attract the wrong kind of applicant. But where is that sweet spot and how do you find it? That is what one lawn care business owner was interested in knowing when he wrote us on the Gopher Lawn Care Business Forum.
He asked does anyone have any suggestions as to how to determine the hourly wage I should be paying for labor? The labor Im looking to hire is for lawn care only, no landscaping. Im looking at the idea of hiring some help and trying to come up with the right number. I obviously dont want to pay more than I need to, but I want it to be fair and attractive to a good employee.
At this point, Ive got one person Im talking with that would be working for me using my equipment. While Ive got another guy Im talking with that would be working for me that would be using his own equipment. Both individuals would be working on their own.
Also, should I be paying employees by the hour or by the job?
Beyond all that, I would hire somebody initially to just trim and blow off the grass while they worked with you. Then as your business grows, hire another to trim and blow off and start teaching the first guy to mow and use more expensive mowing equipment.
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Here Are Some Common Questions To Refer Regarding The Prices For Lawn Mowing
Question: My lawn hasnt been mowed for several weeks and is a bit overgrow
On your very first mowing service, our landscaper will take a visit walkthrough to understand the space and the landscape services required. If the lawn is overgrown, it can take the landscapers 2-3 times longer to mow the grass. This initial cut will cost extra to establish defined edges and an appropriate grass length but after that, your price will fall in alignment with the standard fees.
Question: My lawn takes 10 minutes to mow. Why does it lawn mowing cost $35?
Thats a great question. There are multiple factors that go into the cost. A flat rate is usually applied as a starting point. We have a minimum cost of $35 per mowing service regardless of the size of your lawn. We want to assure the best services for our clients and an equitable environment for our employees to constantly thrive. Our full-time office staff takes immense efforts to offer our clients innumerable services such as billing, invoicing, managing, and providing active customer call service. Also, trucks, trailers, insurance, fuel, and other expenses make it important for us to charge that minimum fee.
Question: How often should you mow your lawn?
Question: What does lawn mowing services include?
Question: What if the plants or irrigation systems get unintentionally harmed?
Dont worry! If there is any damage, we will either fix it or replace it at our cost.
Question: Do we provide any add-on service?
But This All Depends On Your Pricing Structure Of Course
The right prices can help you earn new business, retain customers, and grow in your market. On the flip side, a bad pricing structure can cause your business to go under and fast. No pressure, of course
But seriously, I want to help you set up your lawn care business for success. To help, Ive put together a guide for pricing lawn care services. Ready to get started? Get your pen and paper out!
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Diy Lawn Dethatching Vs Hiring A Lawn Company
While you can rent a lawn dethatcher, youll also need a truck and other materials to get rid of this dead debris.
You might pay more money to hire a company, but its almost certainly worth it. Professional lawn companies typically send 3-person teams out to dethatch. Doing this project by yourself will almost certainly take hours longer .
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.
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Yard Cleanup In Spring And Fall
Ever spring youll have downed branches and debris in your lawn and garden beds to pick up and remove.
In the fall youll want to prune back perennials and rake out garden beds to make them neat and tidy.
Homeowners generally pay between $100 and $250 for yard cleanup in the spring and fall, and its a great investment in making your home neat and tidy so you can focus on enjoying your lawn all year.
Getting Your Lawn Overseeded
Overseeding your lawn via a professional usually cost around $1,200, which you saw in my lawn care pricing chart.
Overseeding can boost the health and appearance of your lawn by encouraging the grass to continue growing even when older and problematic patches die.
When you hire a company to overseed your lawn, you can specify that a disease-resistant or drought-resistant grass seed be used. This will be helpful for you if you live in a harsh climate.
I have an article with detailed recommendations about the best seed to use for overseeding if youd like to learn more.
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Lawn Care Service Price Factors
What youll pay for lawn care services depends on several factors. Take these into consideration as youre planning and budgeting for the type of work youd like to get done:
- The size of your yard.
- Residential vs. commercial lawn care costs.
- Regional living expenses.
- The different types of work you need done.
- Whether you hire a large company vs. a smaller independent operation.
If you live in an expensive part of the country and have a large commercial area that needs significant lawn care, you will pay much more than if you hire a small independent company to help with assorted yardwork on a small residential property.
Popular Lawn Care Services & Costs
- Residential or Commercial
- Landscaper Insurance
Prices you will pay for lawn services will vary based on your yard size, the location of property, current health of the yard, and if it’s a residential or commercial property. Climate also makes a big difference, especially in wet climates. This will dramatically increase your yearly cost because the rate of growth of your grass.
Typically, a lawn care service provider will provide a quote based on the square feet of the yard and if there are any obstacles. This means you can get a fairly accurate lawn care quote just from a phone call or instantly here on HomeGuide.
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Cost Of Tree Trimming Or Pruning
Tree care is often overlooked when considering lawn care, but healthy trees are integral to an attractive and appealing landscape. Pruning trees each winter ensures that there are no dying branches, and it stimulates green growth in the spring. Most homeowners spend between $292 and $638 depending on the size of trees and the number of trees.
How Much Does Sod Installation Cost
The cost to install natural grass sod is quite a bit less than artificial grass. It costs between to $1 to $2 a square foot, or $2,000 to $4,000 for 2,000 square feet, If you decide to go with a pro for installation. If you are interested in learning more, click Turf Installations costs and read our blog post.
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Cost Of Seeding Your Lawn
Lawn seeding is another great way to improve and/or maintain the long-term health and vibrancy of your lawn. It depends on how large of a lawn you have, but the average cost of seeding your lawn is between $850 $1,700. The more area you need seeded the higher the price because it will take longer, and you will need more seed to finish the job.
How To Find The Right Landscape Service
There are soooooo many people and companies that will maintain your landscape. How can you find a good one?
The best way is to find someone who is already doing a great job in your neighborhood. Keep your eyes open for someone who looks professional and who is working on one of the nicer gardens in the area.
This approach almost guarantees two things: you will be hiring someone who knows what they are doing, and they will be very happy to help. Landscape maintenance pros hate the time spent driving between properties, so they love to add clients close to existing ones.
Hopefully this has taken some of the mystery out of landscape maintenance, and next year your yard will look really nice!
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Calculate Your Hourly Labor Rate
How much are you going to charge per person, per hour for the average job? This number should be based on things like the going rate in your area, how much money you want to earn per hour, and how much youre paying your employees.
If youre just starting off, look at the work and estimate the time it will take you to complete the job. Then consider how much you want to make per hour.
Pricing by the hour makes sense because lot size isnt always an accurate pricing metric. For example, garden homes might take you half an hour to complete, even if they are the same size as a quarter-acre lot, which could take you 45 minutes to complete.
Jason Creel explains that your hourly rate is important, but you shouldnt communicate it to your clients.
He explains:
Lets just say that your hourly rate is $60 per hour. Now, youre not going to speak to the customer and say, hey, I charge $60 an hour, so Im going to time myself when I cut your grass, and then multiply that by 60. Youll quickly learn how to estimate and then multiply that in your mind.
Pro tip: if youre just starting out and not sure about how long a lawn will take, keep track of the time it takes you to complete the job using time tracking software or a stopwatch. From there, find the average of your labor hours over time before figuring out exactly what speed you work at.
Prefer watching a video? Jason Creel talks about pricing out lawn care services below:
Whats The Average Cost Of Lawn Care Per Acre
The average cost of lawn care per acre ranges from $60 to $2,000 and up. What youll pay depends on factors like the services you purchase, the size of your property and regional costs. For example, if you live near a large city and need to fertilize an acre, you can expect to pay significantly more than if you live in a suburban or rural area and need mowing services for your property.
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What Does Landscaping Cost
Impossible to say, right? There are so many variables and each landscape project is unique. Ross NW Watergardens has done landscape renovations that were just a couple thousand dollars and residential landscapes that were over $900,000. I can pretty much guarantee that your project falls somewhere between those two extremes…
But I can do better than that.
In this post I will try to give an overview of a typical landscape renovation with some ballpark prices. Further down is pricing specific to Portland, OR.
This patio and retaining wall was around $8000.00
Diy Vs Professional Lawn Care Costs
DIY lawn care is a simple way to cut costs over the long run, though its got significant up-front costs. A gas-powered push mower typically costs between $200 and $400. If you have a large property, youll probably need a riding mower. Those usually run from $800 to $2,000. Fertilizer varies from $20 to $150 or more. Fertilizer with rented equipment is cheaper, while an all-inclusive DIY kit is more expensive. Hedge trimmers run from $50 to $300.
While a pro costs more over time, you get quality work and expertise that keeps your lawn healthy and beautiful.
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Hardscaping And Outdoor Living Spaces
An important part of any landscaping project is the hardscape work. Its not the glamorous or even pretty part of the landscaping, but it established the framework for the landscape plan. It can also be the most costly part of any landscape project because it is so labor-intensive.
Hardscape features include:
- Patios
- Fire pits
Before you begin any landscape project, you want to have a clear plan on your hardscape needs. For example, you dont want to pay to install sod and then later decide you need to haul rocks to build a retaining wall. You certainly dont want to install sod and then realize moving sprinklers is a hassle and need an irrigation system.
Hardscape features are where working with experts can really help your landscape plan. Landscapers often have landscape architects that work with them to help homeowners see the hardscape things that need to be done or that could be done to add real interest to the overall landscaping.
Of course, this is a more costly feature, but one that is often the most impactful when landscaping.
Outdoor living spaces have also become the rage as homeowners have spent more and more time at home. Make your outdoor living space part of your overall plan. This would include things like a patio area, outdoor kitchen, and a fire pit that allows your family to gather together in your yard.
Consider The Costs Of Equipment Repair And Maintenance
Look, you cant just consider the up-front costs of purchasing the equipment. There are a lot of additional costs that go into maintaining and repairing equipment in the long run.
What if your equipment breaks? It will cost more money to repair or replace.
Get this, thats not all. You also need to do an annual oil change and tune up on the mower.
It is also important to keep the equipment in tip top shape. For example, sharpening the blades of the lawn mower twice a year is a must, and can cost about 75 dollars.
Not to mention, if you hit a rock or stump and need to take your mower to a shop for repair. You could quickly rack up $200-$300 in repair costs.
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Cost Of Weeding Your Lawn
Wedding your lawn is also very important maintenance. Removing unwanted and unsightly weeds is a sure way to improve the appearance of your lawn. If you have a regular lawn care professional who does your weekly mowing and trimming, you can ask them to get rid of the weeds on their next visit. There are a couple ways to go about weeding your lawn. You can pull them regularly or you can kill them with chemicals designed for the job for a more permanent solution.
The average cost of weeding is about $12 and $40 per hour, depending on which method you choose and how many weeds you have. Using weed killer is usually the more expensive route and cost closer to the $25 – $40 per hour mark since you are paying for labor and the chemicals.
Many weed killers are environmentally safe and pet friendly, but some are not. Be sure to consult a lawn care professional before making decisions on which path to take.
