r/LawnCarePros

How are you consistently getting big backyard jobs? If you could share this with us, it would be helpful.

I have a very large yard in a very wooded area. For the past couple of years I have had trees slowly creeping into my yard, and growing along the edges. Recently, I was able to cut all of these down and now my yard mostly looks the way it is supposed to be. I say mostly because due to the trees growing in my yard, these portions of the yard that were once flat and easy to mow are now very lumpy and full of protruding small stumps. Of course, I like the fact that the trees have been cleared from these portions of my land, but I would be happier with that fact if I could just run the riding mower overtop of these places, but because it is so lumpy it is dangerous to do so and so I have to weedwack them. It feels like in the process of trying to make my yard look nicer I've given myself even more strenuous work (I would rather spend my whole day riding mowing than my whole day weedwacking).

So I would like to know what there is to do about this issue. Is there something I can reasonably do or is this a job for some kind of specialized service? Also, is there a word or term for this specific problem that I'm having? I want my yard smoothed out I guess.

So this is specific to a small biz that's still in the early growth phase. My sons business - 1 6x12 trailer currently with 2 stander ZTs and other various tools and obviously a truck.

They are also needing to potentially move into a diesel with dump bed or buy a dump trailer next year...

They have my garage packed with their stuff and are out of room to grow.

However, too early to spend $3k on a shop/industrial space with garage door, and going farther out of the area for space negates the benefits by adding a bunch of commute time.

Anybody in this spot before? Ideas?

I’m currently coming up on my 11th year in the fire service, and with my business growing rapidly I’m beginning to think about the possibility of going full time with my lawn business. However I’m 1/3 of the way through my career as a fire fighter, therefore it makes it an extremely tough decision to just leave all this behind. Anyone else left a career they spent a considerable amount of time in to grow their company? Looking for any and all advice.

I’m hoping to get some recommendations from companies that have grown beyond using paper, spreadsheets, and multiple apps.
We own a commercial facilities company that provides snow & ice management, commercial landscaping, janitorial services, floor care, pressure washing, light maintenance, and apartment turns. We’re growing quickly and need one platform that can handle as much of our operation as possible.

Here’s what I’m looking for:

Work orders
Scheduling and dispatching
GPS tracking and route management
Employee time clock
Payroll integration
Team messaging or group chat
Digital inspections and quality control forms
Custom checklists
Before/after photos and photo documentation
Customer portal
Quotes, proposals, and invoicing
Asset and equipment tracking
Vehicle inspections
Preventive maintenance
Inventory and supply requests
SDS sheet library
SOPs, employee handbook, and training documents
Electronic forms and signatures
Weather integration would be a huge plus for snow operations

Mobile app for field employees (iPhone and Android)
Ideally, I’d like one system that works for janitorial, landscaping, snow removal, and facility maintenance instead of having separate apps for each division.

We’re willing to invest in the right platform, so I’m more interested in reliability, ease of use, and long-term scalability than simply finding the cheapest option.

For those of you running larger commercial service companies:
What software are you using?
What do you love about it?
What do you wish it did better?
If you had to start over today, what would you choose?

I’d really appreciate hearing real-world experiences before committing to a platform. Thanks in advance!
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Hey everyone, I was looking for help on pricing a job. They want their flower beds redone, the edge redone on one bed, weeding, and mulch installed. They are supplying the mulch. This is my first big job dealing with mulch and I don’t wanna undersell myself! Any advice or suggestions is appreciated! All measurements 👇

Measurements:
Front of house - 82sqft
Wall - 90sqft
Small bed by wall - 39sqft
Large bed - 1260 sqft
Other side of house - 308sqft
New edge - 35ft
Weeding - 50hr (2-3hrs)

I usually keep my KBG at 2.5 inches because I like the short look. But it has started turning yellow and thin this summer, so I might cut it too low.I read that cool-season grass should stay around 3.5 to 4 inches in summer, while warm-season grass can be kept closer to 2.5 inches. Do you actually raise your mowing height for summer? If so, how much growth do you allow before cutting again? I have a navimow x430, so frequent cuts would be fine. I'm also wondering whether mowing that often adds more stress during hot weather.

Looking to upgrade my walk-behind setup to something that lays down incredibly clean, professional-looking stripes for residential accounts. Are you guys using custom weighted roller attachments, or does the factory deck setup on higher-end commercial mowers do the trick natively

I have a lawn care business. And I feel as though I’m held back by just having like a 21 inch push mower. I really need to upgrade just so I can cut more in time but I’m not sure what to get. I’ve been looking into like the Toro turfmasters and the Scag 30s but leaning towards the turf master. I feel crazy for spending that much on a push mower though. I have found walk behinds on marketplace with sulkys, but having a hard time with the people selling them. Just want to know others opinions.

Been using the same irrigation timer for around six or seven years now. It has done the job. Set the days, set the times, and pretty much forget about it.
The one thing that gets annoying is having to remember to shut it off every time it rains. Feels like every time I forget, the yard ends up getting watered when it definitely doesn't need it.
I've been looking at smart controllers lately, mostly because I'm tired of having to think about it whenever the weather changes. Seen a few different options, but I'm still not sure they're worth the money.
For those who switched from a basic timer, was it worth it? Does the weather sensing work well enough that you can just let it do its thing?

I'm starting a solo lawn care business in central Illinois and I'm struggling with building a pricing system that's profitable but still competitive.

Right now I'm focusing on residential properties and services like mowing, trimming/edging, cleanups, mulch, shrub trimming, leaf removal, and eventually snow removal.

I'm not looking for someone to build my entire price list. I'm trying to understand how experienced companies estimate jobs.

Some questions I have:

Do you price primarily by time, lot size, or experience?

Do you have a minimum service charge?

How do you account for trimming time, obstacles, gates, hills, and overgrown lawns?

Do you estimate how long the job will take and work backward to reach a price?

How do you know when you're underpricing a job?

What mistakes did you make when you first started pricing work?

I'd appreciate hearing your process more than specific dollar amounts. I'm trying to build a pricing system that I can consistently use instead of guessing every estimate

Our sod farm has switched grass types and no longer uses some of the chemicals in our shop. They are older, 2-3 years sitting on the shelf. Was looking to sell discounted.

Does anyone have a company or website they use to sell their unused herbicide?

I have a brand new Echo PB2620 handheld blower that is bogging down during use. Any advice on how to remedy this?

Do y'all think it's weird as a 30 year old man to go door to door trying to mow lawns. I was trying to make some money today so I could get some diapers until I get paid Friday so I went door to door but so far no luck. Any other ideas??

I’ve only been in the group a couple weeks so I’m sorry if this is a conversation you’ve had before.

There is an obvious cost advantage to mixing your own 2 stroke gas and oil. I have heard people say that mixing your own gums up carbs faster, that it’s not as good, and so on. They say buy Trufuel, but that gets expensive quick.

Advice and experience would be appreciated, is there really a quality difference if you use ethanol free 91?

For reference I’m using echo trimmer and stihl blower. They get used pretty much 5 days a week.

I use Yardbook and connected Stripe but haven't ever used Stripe until today. I do lawncare part-time so most my customers pay cash/Venmo. However, I completed a pricey project and the customer needed an invoice so I sent it via Yardbook and the payment went to Stripe. I logged in to transfer the payment but it looks like it isn't available to transfer for 7 days. Can anyone tell me if this is the norm?