What To Charge For Lawn Care

How To Price Lawn Mowing Services

Image credit: Daniel Watson via Unsplash

Coming up with competitive prices requires a lot of research and a thorough understanding of both your business and target customers.

However, once you find the prices that work for you, youll:

• Find more opportunities.

Follow the steps below to price your lawn mowing services efficiently and accurately every time!

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 Do I Know If Im Getting The Best Price For Lawn Care

Lawn Love offers competitive pricing starting at $29. Not only are we extremely affordable, we also guarantee the quality of your service, unlike most alternative and more expensive solutions.

Still not sure? We want you to feel good about your decision so weve made our pricing as transparent as possible up front. If you want to shop around, you can! Enter your information for your own instant personalized price. If you dont like what you see, you have no obligation to book with us.

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How To Charge For Landscaping Maintenance

Its important to find a niche when you run a business. Some business owners in the green industry focus on cutting lawns, some focus on hardscapes and some on pondscapes! But what if you want to focus on landscape maintenance only? How should you charge for such a service? That is a question put to the members of the Gopher Lawn Care Business Forum. Charlie wrote how do you charge for landscape maintenance only? Great question and we got a great bunch of responses.

How to charge for landscape maintenance.

Ross suggested well you got the choice of hourly or by the job. If your just starting out I would suggest that you do it hourly for the first few jobs just to get an idea of your time. When you do it by the job your still going to figure in how many hours it will take you. Then you have to add any material into that and give them a price. Most people charge in between $40 and $60 an hour.

Tim shared There is a lot that goes into figuring out what to charge. It depends on your specific overhead costs, what your plans for the future of your business are, and what your local market will bear.

The third part of the equation is what your personal expenses are you need to cover each month. Rent, groceries, etc. Lets say you need to make $1,800 to cover your part of the rent , groceries, clothing, etc. So divide that $1,800 by 160 hours and thats how much you add to your hourly rate just to cover your own expenses.

Thats how most of us do it.

How To Have A Healthy Lawn

Like many Canadians, you probably take pride in having an attractive lawn. Find out how to care for your lawn as easily as possible, while reducing the need for pesticides!

Many people use lawn care products like herbicides and insecticides to maintain their lawns. But “cosmetic” pesticide use is now restricted and even banned in many communities across Canada.

There are ways to have a healthy lawn without using pesticides. And when you do have to use pesticides, there are ways to use them safely.

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Lawn Care Costs Per Acre

Lawn care prices per acre run from $150 to $250. Just like with mowing, more significant lawn care such as seeding, weed control, fertilization, and aeration is typically priced per acre, with many companies performing more than one of these services at a time. Maintenance costs range widely due to the variety of services that may be needed. They may include one or more services, such as seeding with fertilization or aeration. These services are usually performed and billed separately from mowing. If you have several acres, costs will definitely be higher:

What Kind Of Business Model Does The Lawn Mowing Service Have

Another factor that will determine how much it costs to mow the lawn is the type of business model the company operates.

Less formalized independent contractors will typically charge less than their more established counterparts. If a lawn care company has a company truck, uniforms, and more systemized business practices, they need to charge more to cover their overheads.

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How Much Should I Charge For Lawn Mowing

When youre self-employed with your own lawn mowing business, one of the best freedoms is being able to set your prices however you like. Its wonderful to be able to set the bar however you feel is appropriate and profitable instead of being tied to somebodys pricing conventions. Sometimes, however, it can be a little difficult to know what is the right price guide for you. How much is too much? Whats the right price for the client? What covers your costs appropriately?

While we detail average costs on lawn care on our lawn mowing page In the following guide, we outline the key factors of pricing from the perspective of new lawn mowing businesses. This way, you can learn how to make suitable decisions on the right price to charge for your lawn mowing services to help grow a profitable business and deliver fair prices to your clients.

Lawn Care Cost Per Square Foot

Though pricing per square foot is not the most common method for pricing this type of project, you can expect to pay between $0.03 and $0.08 per sq.ft. The square foot pricing method is almost always reserved for yard sizes that are less than an acre and may be the preferred method for heavily landscaped or wooded yards.

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Average Cost Of Lawn Mowing Per Square Foot

On average, you can expect to pay anywhere between $0.01 to $0.05 per sq.ft. for mowing. Mowing costs are sometimes calculated by the square foot, especially for smaller yards. Keep in mind that as the size of the area approaches a full acre, your costs may switch to acreage to make the estimates more accurate. Your professional may also choose to charge by square footage if your yard has large, landscaped areas.

Lawn Service Cost Estimator By Brand

Many brands, like Lawn Doctor and TruGreen, do not publish prices online. This is because what youll pay can vary so significantly based on the condition of your lawn, its size and where you live. Heres a look at what youll pay with two different popular brands:

• TruComplete Lawn Plan: $780 per year.
• Scotts LawnService: $650 per year.

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Cost Estimator By Service Type

Lawn care services have a range of costs, with mowing usually being the least expensive. Some lawn care services require more labor and/or expensive equipment.

Below youll find the average amounts most U.S homeowners spend on standard lawn care services:

When To Replace A Lawn Mower Battery Damaged During Winter

The freezing temperatures of winter wreak havoc on a lawn mower battery. Unfortunately, charging or checking, and cleaning the connections of a battery damaged during the cold of winter will not always bring it back to life. There are certain indications that the lawn mower battery should get replaced, such as:

• A cracked or leaking battery case: The case that holds the batteryâs fluids can sometimes become cracked and leak due to cold winter temperatures. Always check the battery case for cracks or leaks after it has been frozen. The battery acid that leaks out could be harmful or dangerous.
• A bulged case: Another indication of damage due to winter weather conditions or freezing is a bulged or deformed battery case.
• Corroded or damaged terminals: Sometimes, the wet weather of winter will corrode the terminals of the battery beyond repair. Replace the lawn mower battery if the wet winter weather has damaged the terminals in any way.
• Your battery doesnât hold a charge: After the winter months, you should probably charge the battery for your lawn mower. However, it may be time for a new lawn mower battery if it wonât hold a charge even after a charging session.
• Loose or broken cables: The cables connecting the battery terminals to the rest of the lawn mower need excellent conductivity and connection. If they are constantly loose or visibly broken, they need replacement and may have damaged the battery. If the battery is also damaged, replace both the battery and cables.

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Do You Already Own An Aerator

Aerators can be very expensive to buy. Some of the good ones will set you back thousands of dollars so you might not be willing to take a hit like that early on if youre just starting out offering this service. Furthermore, most customers will not want their lawns to be aerated outside of the spring/fall so you might not be getting the most out of the machine all season long.

Id recommend finding a place that you can rent from first. A lot of these aerators are available to rent at reasonable rates. Its common to rent an aerator for $75 a day. You can often find a weekly rental for around $200.

If youre inclined to buy, Id recommend getting a feel of how much it costs to rent first. You can then run some numbers through your head and see whats worth it to you.

If you rent an aerator, you dont have to worry about maintenance expenses

After youve completed the job and payed the rental fee, all of the money goes straight into your pocket. You dont have to worry about lots of extra hidden costs like repairs or oil changes for your machine. You can just return it back at the end of your rental agreement and not worry about it again.

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

If they are taking shortcuts in their business, they are taking shortcuts on your property.

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Obstacles In Your Yard

A lawn care professional may raise their rates if obstacles in the lawn make their job more difficult. Old tree stumps or large tree roots can slow down the task at hand.

For example, if youre having sod installed, a professional will require more time and labor to ensure the sod aligns with the surrounding obstacle.

Charging Lawn Mower Batteries During The Winter

If you still plan on using your lawn mower during the winter months but still want the battery protected from getting drained of all its power, you should charge the battery while itâs not in use. Over time, lawn mower batteries lose energy. Since this is accelerated during the cold conditions of the winter months, charging is an excellent idea to ensure it remains fully charged for use.

Charging the lawn mower battery while it is not in use is generally only possible if you store it near an electrical outlet. The battery charger is an adapter that plugs into the electrical outlet in your home or garage and attaches to the battery terminals of your lawn mower battery.

Charging a lawn mower battery during the winter protects it from becoming completely depleted. A completely depleted battery is much more difficult to charge and will not usually have the same length of power or endurance as a battery that has been properly cared for.

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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, youre looking at $125 for the service.

But thats 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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Lawn Care Price Sheet

A lawn care price sheet lets your customer know your prices in advance and gives you a baseline to help develop accurate estimates for your customers.

To create your lawn care price sheet, you should use a lawn mowing pricing formula to determine your prices.

Heres what your lawn mowing pricing formula will look like:

Hourly labor rate + overhead + profits + taxes = Total job price

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What To Do If Your Lawn Mower Battery Is Dead

Leaving your lawn mower battery out in the winter cold will drain it of all energy and result in a dead battery. It is always best if you are proactive and remove, store, and charge your lawn mower battery all winter. However, if you are left with a dead battery after the long and cold winter months, there are a few things you should do before replacing the battery.

Dead batteries are much more difficult to charge up completely. Because the battery has lost its electrical conductivity, it might never get charged again.

If you find that your lawn mower battery is dead, you should do several things to fix it. You should perform actions on your battery before replacing it include checking connections, charging the battery, listening for sounds, and testing the overall battery voltage.

Read more in, â5 Things That Are Draining the Life of Your Lawn Mower Batteryâ.

What Other Services Could I Get At The Same Time

So, youve decided you want to hire someone to mow your lawns, but the price of lawn mowing services is more worth your while if you add other services in a single visit. What can you get? Lawn mowing services are wide and varied, and it can often depend on who is providing them.

Commercial lawn care, water blasting, tree trimming, lawn mowing, hedges, and section tidies are many of the outdoor services available from lawn care providers throughout New Zealand. However, its not out of the question to find some who will offer gardening, weed spraying, repairs, lawn repair, fertilising, and more. When you find the right lawn care provider for you, ask the question.

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How Often Should You Mow Your Lawn

The frequency of mowing your lawn depends on the weather in your area, the season, and your personal preference. During the prime growing season, you will most likely want to mow your yard weekly, though you may stretch that to ten days if you live in a hot area with lots of sun and prefer longer grass to protect the roots from the heat. Preseason and the end of the growing season see slower growth, so bi-weekly mowing will likely be sufficient.

Use A Variety Of Ways To Deal With Problems

Pest problems that keep coming back are often a sign that your lawn care practices need to change. These changes can include:

• correcting drainage or fertility problems
• adding lime
• increasing mowing height
• removing thatch

For help in dealing with common problems like weeds, pests, and diseases, see Dealing with lawn problems.

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Find Out The Track Record

Ask how long a lawn care provider has been in business. What level of experience and education does the person or a providers staff have? Also, is the provider properly licensed and insured?

Unfortunately, some providers are fly-by-night operators that havent been in business very long and are interested only in taking your money, not in providing top-notch service. As noted by MarketWatch, providing lawn care requires little more than some equipment and a business license. Almost no training is required.

What Is The Cost Of Fertilizing Your Lawn

Your lawn needs the proper nutrients to look its best and The best way to enhance the appearance and health of your lawn is to fertilize it. Fertilizers contain the necessary minerals and nutrients that your grass needs to grow to its full potential. Adding fertilizer to your lawn aeration can increase final costs but also save money over having the jobs performed separately.

The cost of fertilizing your lawn will run you around $.28/sf, with average prices ranging from $.08/sf to $.48/sf in the Canada for 2020 according to Homeguide.

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