How to price landscaping services: Mowing, design, and installation
Stop leaving money on the table. Learn how to price lawn maintenance, landscape design, and installation work for real profit.
- By
- Micah HedrickCo-founder and software engineer, Business Genie
- Published
- Updated
- Length
- 1,278 words · 9 min
Landscaping pricing is tricky because the work ranges from a simple $40 mow to a $50,000 outdoor living project. The fundamentals are the same regardless of the job size: know your costs, price for profit, and present the number with confidence.
Here's how to do it right across every type of landscaping work.
Know your numbers first
Know your man-hour cost before you price anything. Add up your yearly equipment costs (mower, fuel, repairs, truck and trailer), your overhead (insurance, software, marketing, licenses, accounting) and the salary you want, then divide by your billable hours. In the solo-operator example below, that comes to $63 an hour.
Equipment costs (annual)
Your equipment costs money whether it's running or parked:
- Mower payments or depreciation: $2,000–$6,000/year
- Fuel: $3,000–$6,000/year
- Maintenance and repairs: $1,500–$3,000/year
- Trimmer/blower/edger replacement: $500–$1,000/year
- Truck and trailer costs: $6,000–$12,000/year
Overhead
- Insurance: $2,000–$5,000/year
- Software and phone: $1,200–$3,000/year
- Marketing: $1,200–$6,000/year
- Licenses: $200–$500/year
- Accounting: $600–$2,000/year
Man-hour cost calculation
Add up your total annual costs (equipment + overhead + your salary) and divide by your billable hours:
Example (solo operator)
- Equipment costs: $15,000, per billable hour $10.71
- Overhead: $8,000, per billable hour $5.71
- Desired salary: $65,000, per billable hour $46.43
- Every billable hour carries: a year $88,000, per billable hour $62.86
Your timeCosts
Required rate:$63/hour
For a crew, multiply labor cost by the number of crew members and add overhead allocation per crew.
Example (2-person crew)
- Employee wages + taxes + workers comp: $22/hour × 2 = $44/hour
- Equipment and overhead allocation: $25/hour
- Profit margin: $15/hour
- Crew rate(or $42 per man-hour): $84/hour
Lawn maintenance pricing
Most residential mowing is priced as a flat rate per visit by yard size: $30 to $50 for a yard under 5,000 sq ft, $45 to $75 up to 10,000, and $65 to $100 up to 20,000. Work it out from your mowing, trimming and blowing time at your hourly rate, and move recurring clients to monthly or seasonal contracts.
Per-visit flat rate (most common)
The standard approach for residential mowing:
| Yard Size | Mow/Trim/Edge/Blow | With Cleanup | On one scale |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small (under 5,000 sq ft) | $30–$50 | $45–$75 | |
| Medium (5,000–10,000 sq ft) | $45–$75 | $65–$100 | |
| Large (10,000–20,000 sq ft) | $65–$100 | $85–$140 | |
| Extra large (20,000–40,000 sq ft) | $90–$150 | $120–$200 | |
| Estate/acreage (1+ acre) | $150–$300+ | Quote separately |
How to estimate a lawn
- Measure or estimate the area (Google Maps can help)
- Estimate mowing time: With a 48" walk-behind, figure roughly 1 hour per 25,000–30,000 sq ft. Zero-turns are faster.
- Add trimming and edging: Usually 15–30% of mow time
- Add blowing: 5–10 minutes for most properties
- Factor in complexity: Hills, obstacles, fence lines, gates to navigate
- Apply your hourly rate and round to a clean number
Example: 8,000 sq ft yard, relatively flat, moderate trimming
- Mow: 20 minutes
- Trim/edge: 8 minutes
- Blow: 5 minutes
- Total on-site: 33 minutes
- Drive time allocation: 10 minutes
- Total time: 43 minutes
- At $63/hour: $45
- Charge: $50 (rounded up for margin)
Monthly and seasonal contracts
Offer monthly pricing for recurring maintenance:
- Monthly contract: Per-visit rate × visits per month, with a 5–10% discount
- Seasonal contract: Total season cost, divided into equal monthly payments (includes slow months)
Seasonal contracts are ideal because they smooth out revenue. A customer paying $200/month for 12 months is better than $300/month for 7 months of mowing season.
Landscape design and installation pricing
Price installation work as materials plus markup (30% to 100% depending on the category), labor at $45 to $90 a man-hour depending on the skill, equipment rental and permits, then a 15% to 25% profit margin on top. Installation earns higher margins than maintenance but needs more careful estimating; the paver patio example below comes to $3,000.
Materials pricing
Get actual quotes from your suppliers and add markup:
- Plants and trees: 50–100% markup (they're your time to source, transport, and guarantee)
- Mulch, stone, and gravel: 50–75% markup
- Pavers and retaining wall block: 30–50% markup
- Soil and amendments: 40–60% markup
- Irrigation supplies: 40–60% markup
Labor pricing for installation
Installation labor runs higher than maintenance labor because it requires more skill:
- General landscape labor: $45–$75/man-hour
- Hardscaping: $55–$90/man-hour
- Irrigation installation: $55–$85/man-hour
- Planting and design implementation: $50–$80/man-hour
Common installation prices (2025)
| Project | Typical Price Range |
|---|---|
| Mulch bed installation (per yard) | $75–$120 installed |
| Sod installation (per sq ft) | $1.50–$3.00 installed |
| Paver patio (per sq ft) | $15–$30 installed |
| Retaining wall (per sq ft of face) | $25–$50 installed |
| French drain (per linear foot) | $25–$50 |
| Irrigation system (residential) | $2,500–$5,000 |
| Full landscape design + install | $5,000–$50,000+ |
| Outdoor lighting (per fixture installed) | $200–$500 |
How to estimate an installation job
- Meet with the client and understand their vision
- Measure the area precisely
- Design the project (or work from their design)
- Get material quotes from your suppliers
- Estimate labor hours conservatively (add 20% buffer)
- Calculate total costs: Materials (with markup) + labor + equipment rental + permits
- Add profit margin: 15–25% on top
Example:Paver Patio (200 sq ft)
- Base material (gravel, sand): $300 × 1.5 = $450
- Pavers: $600 × 1.4 = $840
- Edge restraint and polymeric sand: $100 × 1.5 = $150
- Labor: 16 man-hours × $60 = $960
- Equipment (plate compactor rental): $100
- Subtotal: $2,500
- Profit (20%): $500
- Quote: $3,000
Specialty service pricing
Specialty landscaping services are priced separately: spring cleanups at $200 to $500, fall leaf removal at $200 to $600 a visit, fertilization and weed control at $50 to $100 an application, aeration at $80 to $200 ($150 to $400 with overseeding), and shrub trimming from $15 to $40 a shrub. Subcontract large tree work to an arborist.
Seasonal cleanup
- Spring cleanup: $200–$500 (depending on property size and condition)
- Fall leaf removal: $200–$600 per visit or $400–$1,200 for the season
Fertilization and weed control
- Per application: $50–$100 for a standard residential lawn
- 5–6 application annual program: $300–$600
Aeration and overseeding
- Aeration only: $80–$200
- Aeration + overseeding: $150–$400
Tree and shrub trimming
- Small shrub trimming (each): $15–$40
- Large shrub or hedge trimming: $50–$150
- Small tree pruning: $100–$400
- Large tree work: Subcontract to an arborist
Pricing strategy tips
Four pricing tactics raise landscaping profit: a slight discount for clients close to your existing route, maintenance bundled into basic, standard and premium packages, a surcharge for hills, obstacles and hard access, and seasonal pricing, with rates raised in spring and leaf removal priced as a separate add-on.
Route density discounts
It's worth offering a slight discount to clients who are close to your existing route. A $45 lawn next door to an existing client is more profitable than a $55 lawn across town.
Bundle services
Offer packages that combine maintenance with extras:
- Basic: Mow, trim, edge, blow
- Standard: Basic + monthly weeding + seasonal fertilization
- Premium: Standard + mulching + seasonal cleanups + shrub trimming
Each tier increases your revenue per client with minimal additional selling effort.
Charge more for difficulty
Adjust your base rate for:
- Steep hills (+15–25%)
- Lots of obstacles or detail trimming (+10–20%)
- Gated or limited access (+$10–$20)
- Long driveways to blow (+$5–$10)
Seasonal price adjustments
- Raise rates in spring when demand peaks
- Offer pre-season discounts for clients who commit to a full-season contract early
- Price leaf removal as a separate add-on, not included in mowing
Presenting estimates
Present a maintenance price as one simple line with the scope spelled out, such as "weekly mowing, trimming, edging and blowing for $55 per visit", so there are no misunderstandings. For installation, give a written estimate with line items, a project timeline, what's included and what's not, your payment terms, and a deposit (50% is standard) due before work starts. Business Genie estimates and proposals take the deposit when the customer accepts.
Key takeaways
- Calculate your true man-hour cost before pricing anything
- Use flat-rate per-visit pricing for lawn maintenance
- Mark up materials 30–100% depending on the category
- Build route density for maximum maintenance profitability
- Target 40–60% gross margins on installation projects
- Bundle services to increase revenue per client
- Adjust for difficulty and seasonality
Keep reading
All articles on the Business Genie blog- 8 min read · CleaningHow to price cleaning services: What to charge in 2025Learn how to price cleaning jobs for profit. Covers flat-rate, hourly, and per-square-foot models with real numbers and examples.
- 10 min read · HVACHow to price HVAC services: Rates, strategies, and pricebook tipsA complete guide to pricing HVAC work. Hourly rates, flat-rate strategies, and how to build a pricebook that maximizes profit.
- 9 min read · PlumbingHow to price plumbing services: A guide to profitable pricingStop guessing at your plumbing prices. Learn how to calculate rates, build a pricebook, and present pricing that wins jobs and protects your margins.