Like so many individuals out there who start their own lawn care business, I worked hard to quickly build up my clientele.  Having no prior experience in the Green Industry, I needed a way to see what the other guys were charging for their services.  This would at least give me a starting point on where to initially base my pricing structure.

From spending countless hours reading forum post, I was able to figure out that most people doing lawn care basically used one of two ways to calculate their prices.  There were the price per square foot guys and the price per hour guys.  The price per square foot method seemed to me as if it would include just too many variables to be very accurate, or at least for my requirements.  Thus, I decided to attempt to do all my estimating by the hour.

Ok, now my problem was what to charge per hour, and what was my competition charging.  Since I hadn’t actually started my business yet, nobody in the industry knew who I was.  Thus, I went through the yellow pages and called several of the companies who were running display ads.  I figured these companies must be larger considering the cost of yellow page advertising, and knowing that where they were in their business was where I wanted to be, I asked for an estimate to mow my personal homes own lawn.  I was told by a few that they only did commercial properties, but I did manage to get 3 different companies to come out and bid my property.

At the time my home sat on a little under a half acre of land, with very few obstructions.  I knew it took me about an hour to mow, trim and sweep off my small driveway (I didn’t even own a blower).  Of the three guys that came out, I received one bid for $35.00, one bid for $32.00 and one bid for $20.00.

I immediately threw out the $20.00 bid as it just seemed out of place with the other two bids, and his rig and equipment looked old and dilapidated.  Of the other two bids, one guy stood out from the other.  His truck and equipment was very neat and clean.  His truck had his company name on it, and his physical appearance was neat and very professional.  He also happened to be the $35.00 bid guy as well.  So I said to myself, “Self…  if you can present yourself as a professional with good appearance, clean and well maintained equipment, then you can get more money for your services.”

Well this gave me a starting point of $35.00 per hour.  I figured if I could mow a lawn equivalent to the size of my own for $35, and it would take me approximately an hour to do it, then I would be making $35.00 per hour. 

It was several customers, and dozens of bids later that I finally got a grasp of the bidding thing and what I needed to be charging to actually make a decent profit.  That $35 an hour I initially began charging was fine and a good starting point, but it did not take into account any of the equipment cost factors.  So I developed me a little spread sheet to calculate my equipment cost.  This spread sheet worked fine until I began to add employees, and that just opened up another hornets nest of problems.

My little spread sheet ended up developing into a tool I could use to calculate my primary expenses, and tell me what I should bid new customers at.  It also let me know if the customers I was already servicing were being charged enough and whether I should be increasing my service fees.

You can download a copy of that spread sheet by clicking on it below.  Keep in mind though, this is not some fancy spread sheet designed to impress the world, it was developed to accomplish what I needed it to do.  If it helps you out that’s great, if it’s not what you are needing, then perhaps it will give you some ideas on developing your own.  If you come up with any improvements, send me a copy I would love to see what you come up with.

  Lawn Care Overhead Cost Estimating

Note:  You will need Microsoft Excel or an Excel viewer in order to open the document.

• Mowing Frequency: During periods of excess rain, it is easy for your lawn to get away from you. In this case, it is important to not attempt to catch up in one mowing, but to mow higher and more frequent while only removing 1/3 of the leaf blade per cutting until you have the grass back under control. It’s a good habit to match your mowing schedule to the growth rate of your lawn. It may be necessary to mow your grass as much as twice a week during periods of heavy growth, but only 10 to 14 days during periods of excessive drought, and perhaps monthly during the dormant winter months.

 

• Mowing Height: The proper mowing height depends primarily on the type of grass you have. The general rule of thumb for the Green Industry is to never remove more than 1/3 of the grass blade in a single mowing. Mowing too short effects your lawn by causing the grass to use stored food and nutrients to re-grow the food producing leaf blades. During periods of heavy stress, this can result in damaging turf loss. In addition, mowing too low or scalping your lawn can produce overly thinned or bald patches, which make it easier for weeds to become established. Frequent mowing will also keep the length of clipping to a minimum and help eliminate thatch buildup. It is a common misconception that grass clippings cause thatch buildup. Actually mowing only 1/3 of the blade with each mowing produces smaller clippings, which decompose quicker. Small clippings, especially those from mulching type mowers are actually beneficial to your lawn by helping to replace the turfs nitrogen. Grass clippings can contribute as much as 25% of your turfs nitrogen requirements.






• Sharp Mowing Blades: It is important to remember to always keep your mower blades sharp. This may require you to sharpen your mower blades several times during the growing season. Mowing with dull blades is equivalent to having your hair cut with dull clippers. Dull blades tear or rip the blade, which weakens the turf and results in ragged, discolored leaf tips.Blades should be sharpened at a 45° angle along the cutting edge. It´s recommended to have your mower professionally serviced each spring including having your mower blades properly sharpened and balanced. Improperly balanced blades can cause premature aging and wear of your mowers spindles and bearings. A trick is to keep an extra set of sharpened mower blades on hand for quick change outs. Extra blades can be purchased from most lawn equipment dealers for around $15.00 each.

 

• Additional Tips:
  1. If possible, avoid mowing when the grass is wet. Wet grass does not disperse evenly and can result in the clumping of grass clippings. This can not only result in less cosmetic appeal, but spotted thatch buildup as well as creating an environment ideally suited for fungus growth and lawn diseases.

   

  2. Avoid getting in the habit of always mowing your grass in the same direction each time. Altering your cutting direction will help reduce rutting as well as producing a more even cut by forcing the grass blades to grow in a more straight and erect pattern.

   

  3. Remember to change your mowers oil after each 50 hours of usage or once per year. This will help to increase your mowers engine life. It is also important to periodically change your mowers air filter, especially when mowing in areas with excess dust. In those cases, it may be necessary to change the air filter more frequently.

   

  4. Use caution when pulling a mower towards you. Always wear socks, shoes (preferably steel toe), long pants and make sure your shoe laces are securely tied. Never mow your grass in sandals or barefoot. Remove any debris or obstacles prior to mowing. Large ant hills or crawfish mounds should be knocked over or flattened prior to mowing to help eliminate possible flying debris and mud.

Lawn Care Tips For The State Of Texas

Abilene, Amarillo, Arlington, Austin, Beaumont, Bridge City, Brownsville, Corpus Christi, Dallas, El Paso, Fort Worth, Groves, Houston, Kountze, Laredo, Lubbock, Lumberton, Mauriceville, Midland, Nederland, Odessa, Orange, Port Arthur, Port Neches, San Angelo, San Antonio, Temple, Tyler, Wichita Falls and surrounding areas of Texas.