What Services Do Lawn Care Companies Provide

Additional Services For A Landscaping Or Lawn Care Business

Additional Services for a Landscaping or Lawn Care Business

To maximize revenue opportunities in this business, you need offer a wider array of services and additional services beyond just mowing.

Add-on services can increase your revenue stream and add to your bottom line. In fact, mowing provides the lowest profit margin and should be used as a means to get a wider customer base that you can upsell to more profitable services.

A study by Lawn and Landscape Magazine showed that majority of their respondents said lawn mowing/maintenance makes up the greatest percent of their annual sales, but this number is down 1.9 percent compared to last year. This shows the shift in contractors offering more services, such as chemical lawn care which increased from 9.8 to 11 percent of a typical contractors annual sales and tree and ornamental care, which increased from 2.4 to 6 percent of a typical contractors annual sales.

Diversifying will also help your business during slow periods. Lawn care business is seasonal in some states that you need to adjust the types of services that you offer based on the seasons. In most areas, demand for lawn care in the fall and winter seasons is typically the lowest.

Adding more services also gives you a leg up on your competitors. It allows you to market your business as full service. More and more customers want one-stop comprehensive services. They want to simplify their lives by dealing with, as few contractors as they can.

Renting Buying And Insuring Your Equipment

You need to decide early on if youll rent or buy equipment, or a combination of the two. If youre starting out as a one-person operation, renting equipment may be the cheaper option. And that can help you manage start-up costs.

But as your business grows, buying equipment may be less expensive. Be sure you track your rental costs to see when owning makes more financial sense.

Depending on the services you offer, you may need:

• Trucks and trailers

Best Lawn Care Services Of 2021

Professional lawn care companies can keep your lawn lush and green. If youre wondering which lawn care company is best, check out our comprehensive guide on the best lawn care services of 2021.

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Every homeowner wants a gorgeous lawn, but not everyone has the time and energy to put into making their yard picture-perfect. For homeowners who want their lawn to be the envy of the neighborhood but lack expertise and products or dont have the time to put in the labor, professional lawn care companies are the way to go.

With so many lawn care services across the country, it can be difficult to find the one that is right for you and your lawn. The This Old House Reviews Team has done the legwork for you, analyzing and rating dozens of lawn care companies on key factors like plans, services, customer service quality, and more. We have created a comprehensive review of our top five recommendations, ranging from comprehensive all-in-one lawn services to specialty DIY subscriptions.

Read on to learn about our picks for the five best lawn care services of 2021.

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The Basics Of The Lawn

As you know, lawn maintenance is a seasonal business, with downtime during the winter in about two-thirds of the country. Depending on your area and climate, the prime growing months run from about April to early October. You’ll need to market your services aggressively in the spring so you’ll have enough clients to carry you through the summer. Then, in the fall, you should be winterizing lawns, raking leaves and collecting past-due accounts. Still have energy left to spare? Then during the winter, you can offer services like snow plowing. If you decide to take a well-deserved break instead, you’ll have to make sure in advance that you’ve budgeted wisely throughout the year and have sufficient funds to carry you through those income-free months.

The typical startup lawn care business services 20 to 30 residential clients a week and offers up to three types of services: mowing, fertilizing and chemical application. For the purpose of the lawn care part of this book, we’ll focus on mowing and fertilizing, since chemical applications are a whole industry unto themselves. It’s also a closely regulated industry that requires practitioners to earn certifications that permit them to handle these hazardous compounds.

Most lawn care service owners prefer to start out with basic mowing and add other services as they become more experienced and acquire more equipment.

What About Hawaii And Alaska

Hawaii and Alaska aren’t necessarily ideal for starting a lawn care business. Alaska’s average temperatures are often below zero, and Hawaii is an island full of sand, surrounded by water. In addition to sandy beaches, there are also pebble and lava rock beaches, limiting the amount of land with grass available to mow.

There are many commercial landscapers in Hawaii due to the resorts and tourist attractions that someone must keep up throughout the year. It may be challenging to compete in a marketplace already overflowing with lawns there are green and well-kept. Hawaii’s minimum wage is only $10.10, which is $2.90 less than California’s state minimum wage and $3.82 less than the average minimum paid to lawn care workers nationwide. Alaska and Hawaii are the least likely places to experience growth as the owner of a lawn care company.

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What To Look For When Searching For The Best Lawn Care Services And Companies

Within the landscaping and lawn care industry, what factors are important to take into account?

• BBB ratingsThe Better Business Bureau ratings reflect their research and opinion of a business, including customer reviews. This rating can range between A+ to F, or NR for No Rating. Other factors should always be taken into account in conjunction with the BBBs ratings.
• Availability in your stateSome providers may not be available in all states. Call or check their locations online.
• ReputationIs the company reliable and trustworthy? While there will always be negative reviews and comments about every company, we take the negative and weigh it with the positive.
• Offers and packagesWe lay out a brief summary of the packages each company provides.

Irrigation System Maintenance And Repair

Youâve definitely heard it before. The most important element for a thriving lawn is proper watering. A good lawn care company will enable to you to make the right choice of irrigation or sprinkler system, so that your lawn ends up looking great and youâre not spending a fortune on the water bill.

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Landscape Plant Protect And Feed

Plants feed from the nutrients in the soil. Some plants are what we call heavy feeders. This means they pull a lot of nutrients out of the soil. Boxwood are heavy feeders. Proactively adding a plant feed/protect program to your landscape plan, youll receive feedings specific to your plants and soil. Youll also receive disease and pest prevention for the common issues to prevent them from happening. This can include black-spot, other forms of mildew, bag-worms, aphids, etc. This is dependent upon your service package, but is important for thriving plants.

What Does A Lawn Maintenance Company Do

Lawn maintenance services provide homeowners peace of mind by creating a neat, professional appearance and ensuring the yard is healthy and safe.

Each yard has its own individual requirements. A lawn maintenance company will work with homeowners to ensure the desired appearance is achieved and the lawn is healthy. Popular lawn care services include:

• Light tree trimming

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Reasons To Choose Our Texas Lawn Care Experts

With over 45 years of combined experience in the industry, our Texas lawn care professionals at Perm-O-Green can help you create and maintain the beautiful lawn you’ve always wanted. In addition to our services, we offer specials and discounts visit our special offers page to learn more!

Why should you trust our Texas lawn maintenance services?

• We provide free, quick & easy phone estimates
• Our staff is friendly, helpful, and welcoming
• We do it right the first time or fix it for free

When Diy Lawn Maintenance Isn’t Enough

Some people who possess the time and physical ability often attempt a few light lawn maintenance chores on their own. These DIY tasks typically include:

• Insect and pest removal
• Cutting grass
• Pruning shrubbery and trimming tree branches

Many of these tasks involve bending and lifting. It can be easy to overestimate your ability or the severity of the problem. For instance, pruning shrubbery may seem easy at first, but sculpting a neat line can prove more difficult. A lawn maintenance company can craft a desirable arrangement. Assess your ability and the tasks at hand to determine if your project is DIY or if you need to hire a professional lawn maintenance company near you.

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Personalities And A Working Relationship

This may be a non-issue, or it can have a substantial impact on your relationship with the lawn care services provider. Some homeowners feel the need to constantly look over the shoulder of the workers.

Are you the type of person who has a difficult time trusting someone to do their job? You may have difficulty keeping a companys service if you operate as a back-seat supervisor.

A better approach is to communicate before and after, rather than during the work. Let your expectations be known before the work begins. The company should ask for clarification if they are uncertain about any of your requests. Let them do their work. If you find deficiencies afterward, contact the supervisor or owner to remedy the situation in subsequent visits.

Difficulties can arise when the homeowner considers himself to be a supervisor and the worker as an employee. Instead, see yourself as a customer, not the boss.

Focus on getting the customer service, the final product, you deserve and expect, rather than second-guessing the manner in which they perform the work.

The actual relationship is one of an independent contractor being hired to perform a service. Approach it from that perspective, and ask to be satisfied. If they cannot or will not satisfy you, another lawn care services company may be a better fit.

Treat others with respect and hope to receive the same.

On The Path Yard Care

On The Path Yard Care is a family-owned business providing seasonal services like power raking, aeration, and clean-ups. It also offers routine services like snow removal and mowing.

Aside from these basic services, On The Path Yard Care also cleans gutters for a full exterior makeover. It even has a 100% customer guarantee, which means that itll redo any service for free if its customers are still dissatisfied.

As a family-owned business, this yard expert treats its clients with respect, professionalism, and compassion. It does so by being punctual and efficient for all its lawn maintenance appointments.

Another way to make things convenient for its clients is its flexible payment options. On The Path Yard Care accepts all forms of online payments, cash, and cheque.

But you should know, On The Path Yard Care has some strict policies, so you better read up on their terms before you sign-up with their services. Some of their terms even talk about additional fees for some minor services like picking of branches and twigs.

Additionally, it has strict cancellation policies as cancellation or rescheduling less than a week before the appointment will warrant additional charges.

Pros

• No weekend scheduling

Customer Reviews

Here are some customer reviews to help you determine whether or not On The Path Yard Care can be the service provider you need:

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Lawn Care Service Company Reviews

TruGreen was founded in 1973 in Troy, Mich. Today, the company headquarters are located in Memphis, Tenn. The company applies science-based solutions to meet residential and commercial lawn care needs.

The Lawn Doctor began in the 1960s when new homeowners in New Jersey sought professional help to maintain beautiful lawns. The company now has approximately 500 franchises in 40 states, making them the largest lawn care franchise in the United States.

Green Lawn Fertilizing was founded in 2004 and is headquartered in West Chester, Pa. The company is a small, locally owned business and serves parts of New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware.

Massey Services Inc. was founded in 1930 and is now one of the nations largest pest prevention companies. Headquartered in Orlando, Fla., the company serves Florida, Louisiana, Texas, Georgia, South Carolina and Oklahoma. Massey Services provides irrigation maintenance, pest prevention and control and landscaping services to residential and commercial customers.

SavATree has been providing tree and lawn care since 1985 and is headquartered in Bedford Falls, N.Y. The company provides organic and hybrid treatments to keep lawns and trees green. They service areas in Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington DC and Wisconsin.

Disclaimer

What Is Included In Lawn Care Services It Depends

Some professional lawn care companies offer so many services, its overwhelming. So many choices. Packages to ponder and choose. How many visits do you want? Mowing? Pruning? Pool cleaning? Holiday lights? Shouldnt this be easier? Do you really need all that stuff? What lawn services do you really need?Lets take a look.

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How To Find A Houston Landscape Contractor

Now that youre aware of the great landscaping services that a landscape contractor can offer, you need to learn how to find a landscaper. There are a ton of ways you can find the best lawn care providers. Here are a few common methods to try:

• Google Search When you search online, you can easily come across several options for your landscaping needs. For example, searching for Houston commercial landscapers will easily yield a long list of potential local landscaping companies. However, its important to note that many companies use a technique called Search Engine Optimization or SEO to attempt to rank to the top of the search results. Learn more about your prospective company, and avoid picking a landscaper just because they are at the top of your search results.
• Social Media Social media platforms are a great way to get a wealth of opinions from people. You can use social media platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or even YouTube to find reviews of local landscapers to consider.
• Review Sites Review sites are a source that you can leverage to find a landscape contractor that can provide the services you need.
• Word-of-Mouth Referrals Get a referral from a friend, family member or neighbor to find reputable landscapers. Theyll be able to share their experiences so you know what to expect.

Weed Man Usa: The Stewards

Who they are: Founded in Canada, Weed Man has grown exponentially through franchising. They now serve Canada, North America, and the United Kingdom.

What makes them stand out: They are the #1 lawn care and landscaping provider in the world. In partnership with the EPA, Weed Man participates in the EPA Pesticide Environmental Stewardship Program, which promotes responsible pest management practices. Weed Man promotes environmentally friendly solutions. They also focus on weed prevention.

• BBB rating: A-

Does the lawn care company offer these services that are essential to almost every lawn?

Lawn fertilization

Nitrogen is key in building a dense green turf. Different types of grass need different levels to flourish. Introducing nitrogen-rich fertilizer is a basic service that lawn care companies should offer. But nitrogen isnt the only important nutrient, and there are several factors that contribute to the composition of your soil . Fertilizing is tricky and it can be overwhelming to choose a fertilizer on your own. A professional lawn care company should do that for you and maximize the effect of the best fertilizer for your lawn.

Lawn aeration

Like any living thing, your grass needs to breathe, too. Over time, your yard may develop thick thatches and compacted soil beneath the surface of your lawn. This dense material makes it difficult for necessary nutrients to penetrate the soil. If your turf is suffering from these problems, aeration is the solution.

Overseeding

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The Best Lawn Care Services And Companies

When you just dont have the time, energy, or desire to maintain good lawn care, youre likely doing some research into comprehensive lawn care services that will provide your yard with what it needs at a reasonable price. In this article, weve compiled a detailed list of the best values on lawn care programs in the market today, so you can choose the best lawn care service and company for you. We consider important factors like availability in your area, BBB ratings, offers and packages, and reputation.

Our top recommendation is TruGreen, a leading company in the lawn care industry. To get a free quote for their services, fill out a form online or call.

Startup Costs And Pricing

Begin by estimating your initial business expenses. These should include the costs of:

• Renting or purchasing equipment
• Hiring employees
• Registering your company

But dont fall into the trap of undervaluing your services because a competitor is offering them dirt cheap. Landscaping business owners ranked low-ball competitors among their top concerns in Lawn & Landscapes 2019 State of the Industry report.

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Lawn Maintenance Services By Eden

• One Time Grass Cut

Our online site or mobile app can be used to order a one-time grass cut. This is a on demand service that is paid per visit.

• Bi-weekly Grass Cutting

Edens bi-weekly grass cutting services are perfect if you need to mow your lawn frequently. Our professional contractor will provide you with the greatest possible outcome at a good price.

• Weekly Grass Cut

Mowing your lawn on a weekly basis ensures an even, clean cut and improve the overall health of your lawn. Lawns that are in good condition are more appealing.