BUSINESS GUIDE
How to start a landscaping business in 2026
Lawn care or landscaping, the license by state and the pesticide and fertilizer certifications, what a mow and a cleanup sell for, the mower and the trailer at makers' prices, the insurance, the states that tax lawn care, what crews and owners earn — and how to fill the first route. Written for the owner starting from a truck, not a designer.
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$50–$80a mow, trim and blow visit in 2026, with hourly work at $32–$68 (Housecall Pro, October 2026)
$2,999a 30-inch commercial walk-behind mower at the maker's list price (Scag SFC-30, October 2026)
$63/monthmedian general liability for landscaping businesses, $761 a year — $57 for lawn care (Insureon, October 2026)
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Is a landscaping business worth starting — and what do customers pay?
If you have a truck and weekends, it's one of the lowest doors into business ownership there is: the grass comes back every week, a customer who liked the stripes is a customer every seven days until October, and the street you're on can see the work. The work splits into lawn care — mowing, edging, trimming and blowing on a weekly route — and landscaping — cleanups, mulch, planting, patios and lighting — and most owners start with the first and grow into the second. The trade association's statistics page, restating a market-research vendor, puts the industry at $188.8 billion with 692,777 businesses in 2025 (National Association of Landscape Professionals). Tree work is its own trade, with its own guide.
What customers pay. In Housecall Pro's lawn-mowing pricing guide — written by a company that sells field-service software to the trade — "lawn mowing, trimming, and blowing typically runs $50–$80 per visit," by size "from $45–$70 for lawns under 1,000 square feet to $65–$150 for lawns between 3,000 and 10,000 square feet," "Hourly rates range from $32–$68, while first cuts on overgrown lawns can cost $70–$150" (Housecall Pro, October 2026). Fixr's consumer guide puts a lawn care visit at $75 to $200, averaging $130, and hourly work at $25 to $60 (Fixr, 2026); a new-construction landscaping project at $8,000 to $15,000, averaging $10,000 (Fixr, 2026). Our lawn mowing pricing guide carries the per-visit table by lot size, the every-two-weeks rule and the add-ons, with a calculator.
The catch. The season ends, the equipment breaks, the labor is the margin — the association says "Labor costs are expected to rise roughly 20% from now and the end of 2029" (NALP) — and the price per cut is set by people who undercharge. As an employee, a landscaping and groundskeeping worker earned a 2025 median of $18.82 an hour, $39,150 a year — $37,910 in North Carolina, the plan's own state (O*NET; O*NET, North Carolina); a first-line supervisor of landscaping workers $58,430 (O*NET) — and the survey behind those medians counts employees, not "the self-employed, owner/partners in unincorporated firms" (Washington ESD). Insureon's medians for landscaping businesses are $63 a month for general liability and $299 for commercial auto (Insureon, October 2026). The owner's income has to beat $39,150 after the fuel, the blades, the dump and the winter. That's what the rest of this guide sets up.
How to start a landscaping business, in plain English
Do you need a landscaping license? For installs, a state one in California, North Carolina (above $30,000 at a site) and Oregon; for spraying for pay, in each of the five states read in full; for mowing, rarely — as below. Start with lawn care; add the rest. A weekly mow, trim, edge and blow route is the way in: no state license in Texas, Florida, New York or North Carolina for the mowing itself, and none in California while each job is under $1,000; paid every visit; and every striped lawn sells the neighbor's. Cleanups, mulch and hedges come the same season; patios, planting and lighting once you have the reps and the deposit habit — and once your state's contractor license, where it has one, is in hand. Two layers of rules sit on this trade, and page one never separates them: the company's landscape-contractor license, which among the five states we read in full only California and North Carolina require at state level (Oregon, below, is a third), and the applicator's pesticide certification, which each of the five requires the day you spray for pay.
- North Carolina. "Except as otherwise provided in this Chapter, no person shall engage in the practice of landscape construction or contracting … unless the person is licensed as a landscape contractor as provided by this Chapter" (G.S. chapter 89D, on the Board's site; the North Carolina Landscape Contractors' Licensing Board) — but the statute exempts "Any landscaping work where the price of all contracts for labor, material, and all other items for a given job site during any consecutive 12-month period is less than thirty thousand dollars ($30,000)," and exempts "Lawn mowing, turf edging, and debris removal services" and turf care outright (G.S. §89D-13; chapter 89D). Above $30,000 at one site: a $75 application, a $150 exam, a $100 license and a $100 corporate license for an LLC (the Board's FAQ; corporate license), five letters of reference, an exam in landscape design, general knowledge and plant identification, seven hours of continuing education a year (how to become licensed), and "a $10,000 Surety Bond or an irrevocable letter of credit" (bond information). Spraying: the NCDA&CS Commercial Ground Applicator license is $75 in the ornamental and turf category (NCDA&CS; NCDA&CS exam sheet, January 2026); irrigation work has its own board (NC Irrigation Contractors' Licensing Board).
- California. The C-27 Landscaping Contractor "constructs, maintains, repairs, installs, or subcontracts the development of landscape systems and facilities for public and private gardens" (CSLB) — needed on any job where labor, materials and everything else reach $1,000 (Business and Professions Code §7048), at $450 to apply and $200 for the license (CSLB fee list) with a contractor's bond "in the sum of twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000)" (§7071.6). Spraying for pay needs a Department of Pesticide Regulation license — "businesses that sell or apply pesticides or use pest control methods/devices for hire − such as pest control businesses, maintenance gardener pest control businesses" (DPR); the Maintenance Gardener Pest Control Business license is $180 (DPR fee table, August 2024).
- Texas. No state landscaping-contractor license. The applicator: "a person may not purchase or use a restricted-use or state-limited-use pesticide or regulated herbicide unless the person is … licensed as a commercial applicator" (Texas Agriculture Code §76.105); the Department of Agriculture's page prints the process (TDA) and Texas A&M AgriLife's step sheet the fee — "Commercial Pesticide Applicator License Fee = $200/year" and "$64 per exam" (Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, July 2025). And not only restricted products: "Applicators who want to apply any pesticide (regardless of classification and including general-use) to ornamental plants, trees, lawns, or weeds for hire must be licensed by the Texas Department of Agriculture," through the agricultural license's 3A Landscape Maintenance category or the structural pest control service's Lawn and Ornamental or Weed Control category (TDA). Sprinklers: "A person may not sell, design, install, maintain, alter, repair, service or inspect an irrigation system … unless the person is licensed by the TCEQ" — $111 (TCEQ).
- Florida. No state landscaping license — chapter 489's contractor categories don't include it (Florida Statutes §489.105) — but Florida licenses the fertilizer: "any person applying commercial fertilizer to an urban landscape must be certified," a $25 certification good for four years after the state's best-management-practices course (§482.1562; §403.9338). Herbicides in beds and on walks need the limited certification for commercial landscape maintenance, with an exam fee of $50 to $150 and handheld equipment only (§482.156). Spraying lawns themselves for hire is pest control under chapter 482 — "'Lawn and ornamental pest control' means pest control with respect to pests of any lawn or ornamental" — and "It is unlawful for any person to operate a pest control business that is not licensed by the department," at a license fee that "may not be more than $300 or less than $75," with a certified operator in charge who is "a full-time employee of the licensee" (Florida Statutes chapter 482).
- New York. No state license — but New York City inverts it: "A person or business must have a Home Improvement Contractor license to do construction, repair, remodeling, or other home improvement work to any residential land or building in New York City," and the list of covered work names "landscaping" — $100 for up to a year or $200 for two, plus $200 to join the trust fund or a $20,000 bond, and a 30-question exam (NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection, September 2026). The applicator: "Any person who engages in the commercial or private application of pesticides … shall be certified by the commissioner" (Environmental Conservation Law §33-0905) — a $100 exam, $450 for one category and a $900 business registration (§33-0911).
Behind all five sits the federal rule: 40 CFR part 171 "establishes Federal standards for the certification and recertification of applicators of restricted use pesticides" that the state programs must meet (40 CFR §171.1), with a five-year recertification ceiling since 2017 (EPA) — the states license general-use spraying for hire on top. Check your own state's rules before the first weed treatment, and your city's before the first patio.
Oregon licenses the landscaping company itself. Outside the five states above, Oregon is the clearest case of a state license for the business: "A landscape contracting business must be owned by or employ a licensed Landscape Construction Professional (LCP) to supervise all landscaping work," with liability insurance of at least $500,000 and, from January 1, 2026, a $20,000 bond ($15,000 on a probationary license) (Oregon Landscape Contractors Board). The route stays open, though: "Landscape maintenance is not regulated by the State of Oregon" — mowing, edging, weeding, mulch and adjusting sprinkler heads need no board license, while planting trees does (Oregon LCB, maintenance). Check the board before your first install.
The equipment, at the makers' prices. A 30-inch Scag SFC-30 commercial walk-behind is $2,999 and the SW-36 belt-drive $5,559 (Scag; Scag); Exmark's 30-inch X-Series lists at $2,699 in its product data (Exmark); a STIHL FS 91 R trimmer $379.99, an FC 91 edger $429.99 and a BR 600 backpack blower $549.99 (STIHL; STIHL; STIHL); an ECHO SRM-225 trimmer $279.99 and PB-580T blower $449.99 (ECHO; ECHO) — all list prices read October 2026. A single-axle utility trailer such as Big Tex's 35SA is priced by the dealer (Big Tex); no maker's page prices a used truck, so the plan carries both as a planning range. Housecall Pro's start guide says a small start can "spend under $1,000 on equipment" and a full-service launch "$30,000 or more" (Housecall Pro, February 2026) — a software company's figures; its scheduling software starts at $59 a month, $79 for the next plan (Housecall Pro pricing). Our free landscaping estimate template, work order template and price list template are the paperwork for before, during and after.
How to price: per visit, by lot size, on a route. The guides above put a visit at $50–$80 (Housecall Pro) or $75–$200 (Fixr); our pricing guide prints the tiers by lot size, the every-two-weeks premium and the first-cut price (its hourly floor, $35–$68, is Housecall Pro's September reading; the page now prints $32–$68). Price each lawn from the minutes it takes and the drive between, group the recurring lawns by street and day, and sell the season rather than the cut. The fuel is a real line — regular gasoline averaged $4.28 a gallon in the week of October 19, 2026 (EIA) — and so is the dump: Wake County's landfill charges haulers $37 a ton for municipal waste (Wake County); Mecklenburg's compost sites price by the load. How to get lawn care customers and landscaping marketing cover filling the route.
Sales tax — two states tax the mow. Texas: "If you do landscaping or lawn or plant care, you should be collecting sales and use taxes," including "Planting, mowing, trimming and edging grass or other ground cover" — with an exemption for a self-employed individual whose receipts from the services are "$5,000 or less during the most recent four calendar quarters," and none for the equipment: "There is no exemption for the purchase or rental of wheelbarrows, lawn mowers, string trimmers" (Texas Comptroller, publication 94-112). New York: "Landscapers are considered contractors for sales tax purposes" — "mowing lawns" is taxable maintenance while "planting or installing a new lawn" or "planting shrubs and trees" is a capital improvement with no tax to the customer, on a Form ST-124 (New York Department of Taxation, TB-ST-505, October 2026). Florida taxes only the services its statute names — security, nonresidential cleaning and nonresidential pest control — not lawn care (Florida Statutes §212.05). California taxes the plants, sod and trees you sell, not the labor: "Landscape contractors who enter into contracts for landscaping in which they furnish and install plants, trees, and lawns are construction contractors" (CDTFA, publication 9, February 2025). North Carolina defines landscaping — "the installation of trees, shrubs, or flowers on land; tree trimming; mowing; and the application of seed, mulch, pine straw, or fertilizer" — as a capital improvement, so you add no tax to the customer's bill and pay tax on the mulch and plants you buy (NCDOR, SUPLR 2025-0004, August 2025). Ask an accountant before you print a price list.
How to register the business. In the US it's the same four steps in each state we read, with different fees. Form the business — an LLC is $40 in Kentucky (Kentucky SOS), $125 in North Carolina (NC Secretary of State), $100 plus a $25 registered-agent fee in Florida (Florida Statutes §605.0213), $300 in Texas (Texas Secretary of State, Form 205), $200 in New York plus six weeks of newspaper publication (N.Y. LLC Law §1101; §206) and $70 in California (Government Code §12190), where every LLC also owes an $800 yearly tax (California FTB) — or file a DBA if you'll trade as a sole proprietor under a business name. Get the free EIN (IRS), open a business bank account, register for sales tax in Texas or New York, and ask your city about a business license. Our guide to whether you need an LLC walks through the choice.
Insurance and workers' comp. None of the five states mandates general liability for a landscaper — the North Carolina and California boards require a bond with the contractor license — but commercial clients and HOAs require the certificate by contract. Insureon's medians for landscaping businesses: $63 a month ($761 a year) for general liability — $57 for a lawn care professional — $53 a month ($637 a year) for tools and equipment, $299 a month ($3,590 a year) for commercial auto, $150 a month ($1,802 a year) for workers' compensation and $9 a month for a license and permit bond; most of its customers have "less than five employees, annual revenue ranging from around $50,000 to more than $200,000, and five years or less in business" (Insureon, October 2026). NEXT says general liability costs 47% of its landscaping customers $36 to $55 a month (NEXT Insurance). Workers' comp: North Carolina covers "all businesses employing three or more employees on a regular basis," with the owner not counted unless they elect in (NC Industrial Commission); in Texas "private employers can choose to carry workers' compensation insurance coverage, but it is not required in most cases" (Texas Department of Insurance); in Florida, non-construction employers "with four (4) or more employees" must (Florida Division of Workers' Compensation); in New York "Virtually all employers" must, but "coverage is not required for a sole proprietor who does not have employees" (NY Workers' Compensation Board); in California, "If a business employs one or more employees, then it must satisfy the requirement" (California DIR).
Outside the US. In the UK nobody licenses the gardener — the rule reaches the waste and the spray instead: a business that carries customers' green waste registers as a waste carrier, free for waste you produce yourself and £191.02 otherwise, renewed every three years for £130.25 (gov.uk); anyone using a professional plant-protection product must hold a recognized specified certificate or work under the direct supervision of someone who does (HSE); a company costs £100 to form (gov.uk) and VAT registration starts at £90,000 of turnover (gov.uk). Australia licenses the retaining wall, not the lawn: in New South Wales a contractor license is needed for structural landscaping — retaining walls, fences, driveways, paths and paving — worth more than A$5,000 in labor and materials (Fair Trading's "Structural landscaping work" page, reached from its home page), and not for soft landscaping or mowing (NSW Fair Trading); the state makes pesticide training compulsory for everyone who uses pesticides at work, including "landscape gardeners," with a refresher every five years (NSW EPA); an ABN is free (business.gov.au) and GST registration starts at A$75,000 of turnover (business.gov.au). Wherever you are, confirm the rules with your regulator and an accountant before the first paid cut.
Franchise or independent? The Grounds Guys' own franchise page puts the initial investment at $107,650 to $252,850 including a $43,750 franchise fee, and average gross sales at $392,054 for locations under three years old and $820,392 for older ones — with the footnote that about a third of locations reached those averages (Neighborly, 2026). Those are sales, not pay, with a franchise system behind them. Every owner quoted in the next section built an independent route — one of them a franchisee who runs it as his own.
The business, and the route. Price from the clock and the drive, group the lawns by street and day, edge the walk and close the gate every time, and plan the winter before it comes. For one owner starting from a truck they already drive, our free landscaping business plan puts the start at $5,980–$24,643: the commercial mower, trimmer, edger and blower at the makers' list prices, hand tools as a planning range, a year of general liability — tools cover and commercial auto at the high end — registration, lettering, the website, software, and two months of running costs; the applicator license, the North Carolina contractor license and a trailer and truck are the plan's optional lines. The landscaping website templates show what a good landscaper's site looks like, Zarla's landscaping website builder is how a homeowner searching for lawn care near them finds yours, and the best website builders for landscapers scores the alternatives.
What landscaping business owners actually say
None of this is our opinion about the trade. It comes from people who run lawn and landscape companies, talking about the work in local newspapers and TV, two business journals, three small-business agencies' stories and two vendors' customer magazines between 2017 and 2026. Read each as theirs at the time; the dollar figures in older pages are that year's. Five things come up again and again.
Everyone started with a push mower and a street. Justin Groff of Just-IN-Time Lawn Care & Landscaping in Indianapolis: “I started when I was 9. … It was just, like, in my neighborhood. I couldn't drive. All I could do was walk the push mower or, you know, my dad would take me to a couple yards here and there. And, I mean, I love being outdoors, like, I'm just an outdoorsman for sure. And I like cutting grass, too.” And on the paperwork: “He helped me get the accounting set up, teaching me along the way, the numbers and what needs to happen and setting up the LLC and the Excel spreadsheets.” (Indianapolis Business Journal, July 2022). Dylan Sathren of Sharp Blades Lawn Care in Glenwood, Iowa: “When we started it, I was (driving) on a school permit and we were sneaking around town. It just took off from there.” (The Opinion-Tribune, October 2026). Lawrence Hoye of Hoye Creek Lawn and Landscaping in the St. Louis area, who started at 13: “I'll go to the Starbucks, walk random neighborhoods, get dropped in a neighborhood by an Uber or something, and literally knock and pound doors. A lot of the 'no's' can be turned into a 'yes,' in the sense that while they may not need a certain service we provide, they may be interested in another.” (WTAP, July 2025).
“Having reasonable goals and being honest is what it takes to be a success in this business. I also strive to go the extra mile. Customers appreciate that. It's not what you say or how you look that counts in the end. It's what you do.” — Roy Mejia, Roy's Lawn Care, Wenatchee, Washington, in Walker Talk, a mower maker's customer magazine, April 2017
Maintenance is the business; the rest is added. Mejia again: “I've always liked to mow. Mowing is part of what I am, so I decided to start my own company. I tried to do everything at first, including installing landscapes, but have since focused almost entirely on maintenance.” (Walker Talk, April 2017). Sathren: “I ended up getting my applicator license to spread chemical after I graduated. Piece by piece, it came together. Our biggest service during the growing season would be our chemical applications, mowing and general lawn care. We do spring clean-up - cutting things back - and snow removal has become a bigger thing.” (The Opinion-Tribune, October 2026). Jimmie Fielding, a branch manager at ABC Home & Commercial Services in Corpus Christi: “The biggest thing is to make sure you're licensed because you're taking care of someone's home — that's the number-one asset they have. Once customers trust you, the sky's the limit.” (KRIS 6 News, December 2025).
The team is the ceiling. Josh Schmieder of JOSH Landscape Co. in Honeoye Falls, New York, the SBA's 2023 New York small business person of the year: “However, it's entire team at JOSH Landscape that are the true winners of this award. Our team is the only reason we've experienced any success, and I look forward to seeing what we can do together in the years to come.” (U.S. Small Business Administration, May 2023). Marguerite and Andrew Dowling of Mat-Su Landscaping and Lawn Maintenance in Alaska: “We have been able to grow the company because of the hard work we have all put into it together. We love what we do and at the end of each day we are glad that we can provide a service that allows our customers to have that little extra time with their families or keep their property beautiful if they are no longer able to.” (Alaska Small Business Development Center, April 2021). Dakota Davis of Real Green Lawn Solutions in Florida, on his small-business adviser: “Her guidance and expertise were instrumental in shaping the direction of the company. I'm grateful for the support and encouragement along this journey!” (Florida SBDC at UNF, 2024).
Winter is the plan, not the gap. Joe Helgerson, general manager of Augusta Lawn Care Services in Rockport, Texas, on hanging Christmas lights: “It's something to fill that winter slowdown. The lawn care goes away, the grass starts to go dormant. Nobody's really landscaping in the winter.” And: “We haven't had to lay anyone off because of Christmas lights. It helps keep our guys employed — they still have hours and steady paychecks.” (KRIS 6 News, December 2025). Steve Delaney of Yard Boss in Lincoln, Nebraska, on a warm winter: “We are literally going through every piece of equipment. Every flat tire, bearing, pulley, belt that just doesn't look brand-new and premium and like it's going to last gets replaced.” (KLKN, February 2024). Jeff Baker of The Grounds Guys of Wichita, a franchisee, when the snow finally came: “This was a warm welcome in because we don't rely on winter work, so when this type of weather comes, it does give an extra bump to the bottom line for the people that work in this industry.” (KSNW via Yahoo News, January 2025). Sidne Gardner, office manager at Yard Guard in Montana, on adding holiday lighting, in a software vendor's customer story: “While taking winters off is nice, you end up having to lay people off — you work with all these great, awesome people, and then they have to go somewhere else.” And on the cost: “Our initial costs ran around $25,000. We had to buy ladders, equip several of our vehicles to handle light installation with shelving, containers, and winter tires, purchase a shipping container for extra storage, get winter uniforms for our staff so they could stay warm, and, of course, buy the decor itself.” (RealGreen, a software vendor's customer story, read 2026).
The route is the margin. Hoye, on what it feels like: “It makes me feel accomplished in the sense that how I started at 13 years old and just saw it could be so much more than a kid pushing around a lawnmower making a few bucks.” (WTAP, July 2025). Westfair Business Journal, profiling N. Joel Landscaping in Fairfield County, Connecticut, puts the arithmetic that owners live by in its own words: a crew of three looks after about 50 properties, labor runs "40 to 50% of revenue for any landscaping business," and "route density must be constantly refined and reviewed" (Westfair Business Journal, March 2026). Each of those is one owner's account of one company in one market, not a survey — read them as what the model can do, not what it does on average.
The through-line: the landscaping businesses that last start with mowing and maintenance, price the route and not the cut, get licensed before the first spray or the first big install, plan the winter before October, and keep the crew small enough for the route to pay it.
THE STARTER KIT
What you need to start a landscaping business
A commercial mower, a trimmer, an edger and a blower
A commercial walk-behind or stand-on mower, a string trimmer, a stick edger and a backpack blower — bought once from a dealer at the makers' prices below; the homeowner-grade mower in your garage will do the first month and no longer.
The truck you drive, and a trailer
The pickup you already own at first, an open utility trailer with a ramp to carry the mower, hand tools, tarps and cans, and a place to dump green waste — the county's yard-waste fee is part of every cleanup's price.
The license and the certifications your state asks for
A contractor license in the states that license landscaping, a pesticide applicator license before the first weed treatment, a fertilizer certification where your state requires one, and an irrigator license for sprinkler work — the table below has the states we read.
Registration and the EIN
An LLC or a DBA with your state, the free EIN from the IRS, a business bank account, the sales tax permit in the states that tax lawn care, and the city business license where your city wants one — before the first paid cut.
Liability cover, and the equipment rider
General liability before the first job — a rock through a window is what it pays for — commercial auto once the truck carries your name, inland marine cover for the mower on the trailer, and workers' comp the day you hire.
A price per visit, a route and a way to be found
A flat price per visit by lot size, a first-cut price for overgrown lawns, add-ons for cleanups and mulch, lawns grouped by street and day, a Google Business Profile, and a website with your prices, your photos and a quote form.
THE PAPERWORK
Licenses, certifications, tax and insurance for a landscaping business
| Typical cost | Time to get | Legally required? | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Business registration (LLC or DBA) and EIN | e.g. $40 (KY), $125 (NC), $300 (TX), $200 + publication (NY), $70 + $800/yr tax (CA); EIN free | Days | Depends on your structure |
| North Carolina landscape contractor license | $75 application + $150 exam + $100 license (+ $100 for an LLC); $10,000 bond | Exam + references | In NC, once a job site passes $30,000 in a year; mowing and turf care exempt |
| California C-27 landscaping contractor | $450 application + $200 license; $25,000 bond | Exam + 4 yrs experience | In California, at $1,000 a job or more |
| Oregon landscape contracting business license | $500,000 liability + a $20,000 bond (from 2026); board fees | Exam for the licensed professional | In Oregon, for installs; mowing and maintenance exempt |
| New York City home improvement contractor | $100–$200 for up to 2 yrs + $200 trust fund or $20,000 bond | 30-question exam | In NYC, for landscaping on residential property; no NY, TX or FL state license |
| Pesticide applicator license | NC $75; TX $200/yr + $64 exam; NY $450 + $100 exam; CA $180 business license; FL $50–$150 exam, and a $75–$300 pest control business license to spray lawns | Exam | In each of the five states read, to spray for pay |
| Florida fertilizer applicator certification | $25 for 4 yrs after the state's course | A course | In Florida, to apply commercial fertilizer to a lawn |
| Irrigation license | TX $111 (TCEQ); NC its own board | Exam | In Texas and North Carolina, for sprinkler work |
| Sales tax permit | Registration | Days | In Texas and New York, mowing is taxed; not in FL, CA or NC |
| General liability insurance | $63/month median; $57 for lawn care (Insureon) | Same day | Not by law in the five states read; clients and HOAs ask |
| Workers' compensation | $150/month median (Insureon) | Days | NC from 3 employees; CA from 1; FL from 4; NY nearly all; optional in Texas |
THE STEPS
How to start a landscaping business (step by step)
Eight steps from a mower in the garage to a full route of weekly lawns, a trailer of commercial gear and the first install.
01
Start with lawns, add the rest
Weekly mowing and maintenance is the way in: small jobs you can do alone, paid every visit, and every striped lawn sells the neighbor's. Cleanups, mulch and hedges come the same season; patios, planting and lighting once you have the reps and the deposit habit.
02
Check your state's license and certifications
A landscape contractor license in the states that have one — California from $1,000 a job, North Carolina above its threshold — a pesticide applicator license before the first weed spray, a fertilizer certification in Florida, an irrigator license for sprinklers, and the home-improvement license some cities and counties ask for.
Before the first application03
Register and insure the business
Form the LLC or file the DBA, get the free EIN, open the bank account, register for sales tax if your state taxes lawn care, and buy general liability — before you set foot on a customer's lawn.
04
Price each lawn from the clock and the drive
A flat price per visit by lot size, a first-cut price for an overgrown yard, add-ons priced separately, and every-two-weeks priced higher than half of weekly. Time three lawns and check what the price works out to an hour, drive included.
05
Buy the commercial gear, once
A commercial mower, trimmer, edger and blower from a dealer, a utility trailer, and the hand tools — or start with what you own and upgrade from the first month's route.
06
Get found, and work the street
Put your Google Business Profile and website live with your prices, your photos and a quote form, letter the trailer, leave a card at the three houses either side of every lawn you mow, and tell twenty people you've started.
07
Build the route by street and day
Group recurring lawns so the truck barely moves, keep the same day every week, edge the walk and close the gate every time, and ask for the review while the stripes are fresh.
08
Fill the week, then hire
Fill one route day completely before you open a second, add cleanups and installs with a deposit before materials, plan the winter — leaves, snow, lights — and hire once the route pays a second wage.
THE COSTS
How much does it cost to start a landscaping business?
The total is our free landscaping business plan's itemized US ranges for one owner starting from a truck they already drive: a commercial mower, trimmer, edger and blower at Scag's, STIHL's and ECHO's list prices, hand tools as a planning range, a year of general liability with tools cover and commercial auto at the high end, registration, lettering, the website, software, and two months of running costs. The applicator license, the contractor license and a trailer and truck are optional lines; your own living costs come on top. Checked October 2026.
$5,980–$24,643to start as one owner — the low end is a $2,999 Scag mower with ECHO's trimmer and blower, a $40 LLC, a year of liability cover and the truck you already drive
$2,999a 30-inch Scag SFC-30 commercial walk-behind at the maker's list price; the SW-36 is $5,559, Exmark's 30-inch $2,699 (October 2026)
$549.99a STIHL BR 600 backpack blower; the FC 91 edger is $429.99 and the FS 91 R trimmer $379.99 — ECHO's SRM-225 trimmer is $279.99 and PB-580T blower $449.99
$761/yrmedian general liability for landscaping businesses (Insureon, October 2026) — commercial auto averages $3,590 a year once the truck carries your name
WHAT WE'VE LEARNED
What actually makes a homeowner hire a landscaper
Thousands of local business websites in, the pattern for lawn and landscape work is plain: the customer wants a price before the visit, proof the yard will look like the photos, and a fixed day. Three things on a page decide who gets the call.
A price per visit, before the visit
Your starting price for a standard lawn, what a visit includes — mow, trim, edge, blow — what a cleanup or mulch adds, and a quote form that asks the lot size and a photo, so you can often price it without driving over.
Photos from streets they know
Before-and-after photos of real lawns and beds you've done, the neighborhoods you cover, your insurance, and the licenses and certifications your state asked for — the proof a homeowner wants before they hand you the gate code.
A fixed day, and a way to book it
The day you're in their neighborhood, weekly or every two weeks, the first-cut price for an overgrown yard, and a quote request that comes back the same day — so the homeowner knows when the truck will be there.
THE UPSIDE
What a landscaping business can earn
Prices from Housecall Pro's lawn-mowing guide (a field-service software company) and Fixr; revenue from a franchisor's own page and the trade association's benchmark; pay from O*NET. Ranges and medians, not a promise — your route density, your prices and your winter decide it. No public survey reports what one-truck landscaping owners take home.
$50–$80a mow, trim and blow visit, with $32–$68 an hour and first cuts at $70–$150 (Housecall Pro, October 2026); Fixr's average visit is $130
$14,682revenue per customer at a median of 355 customers among companies in the trade association's 2025 benchmark study (NALP) — established companies, not solo starts
$392,054average gross sales for The Grounds Guys locations under three years old, $820,392 for older ones, on the franchisor's own page — sales, not pay, and about a third of locations reach them
$39,150a year: the 2025 US median for landscaping and groundskeeping workers (O*NET) — the pay to beat; a supervisor's is $58,430
SEE IT WORK
Landscaping website designs you can start from
All four are real Zarla templates. Open the one closest to how you'll work — weekly lawn care, paver patios and hardscape, full design and build, or landscape lighting — swap in your per-visit price, your neighborhoods and your own photos, and publish.
GET FOUND
Get found by the homeowner whose lawn got away from them in April
Most lawn customers search in the first warm week of spring, when the grass is ankle-high and the Saturday is gone, and they call the first company with a price and a photo of a lawn like theirs. Zarla builds the website with a call button at the top, your services and starting prices, and a quote request form. Add your per-visit price, your neighborhoods and your photos in chat, and once you connect your Google Business Profile, your Google rating and reviews show on the site.
“Lawn care near me”
Searched by a homeowner done with Saturdays, a landlord between tenants and an HOA board with a contract to award. Your starting price per visit, what a visit includes and a quote form answer it.
Google Business Profile
Your neighborhoods, your services, before-and-after photos and your reviews inside Google Maps — the listing a homeowner taps before they open your site. Free, and an afternoon to set up.
Reviews from the street you just mowed
Ask while the stripes are fresh — and send the link that day. Reviews that say you came the same day every week, edged the walk and closed the gate sell the next three houses on the street.
Google Search
Ccedarstonelandscapes.com
Cedar & Stone Landscapes — Trusted landscaping in Your AreaWeekly mowing from a flat per-visit price. Spring and fall cleanups, mulch, hedges. Insured. Free quote from a photo of your yard.← Your Zarla siteCcitylandscapingservices.com
City landscaping ServicesGoogle Maps
1
Cedar & Stone Landscapes
← You2
Metro landscaping Co.
3
Quick landscaping Services
AI assistants (ChatGPT / Perplexity)
For a weekly lawn service that also does spring cleanups in your area: Cedar & Stone Landscapes — a local lawn and landscaping company that publishes its starting price per visit, shows before-and-after photos from nearby streets, is insured, and quotes from a photo.
YOUR LAUNCH PLAN
Your landscaping business launch checklist
The whole guide as things to check off. Work through them in order and you'll be licensed, insured, equipped and priced before the first lawn.
- Start with lawns — weekly mowing and maintenance; cleanups, mulch and installs after.
- Check your state's license and certifications — contractor license, pesticide applicator, fertilizer, irrigator, the city's home-improvement license.
- Register the business and get the free EIN — the sales tax permit where lawn care is taxed, a business bank account.
- Buy general liability — commercial auto for the truck, an equipment rider for the trailer, workers' comp before you hire.
- Price each lawn from the clock and the drive — per visit by lot size, a first-cut price, add-ons, every-two-weeks priced right.
- Buy the commercial gear once — mower, trimmer, edger, blower, a trailer — or start with what you own.
- Get found — website and Google Business Profile live with prices and photos, trailer lettered, cards on every street you mow.
- Build the route by street and day — same day every week, the review while the stripes are fresh, winter planned.
REAL CUSTOMERS
Small business owners who got online with Zarla
Verified reviews from real Zarla customers.
“Optimized for local service-based businesses. Easiest website build I've experienced. The AI-based build is the way to go instead of clunky theme-based websites. Get the site built and get out of the weeds with Zarla!”
“Using Zarla to create my website saved me so much time and effort compared to hiring a developer. The template I used was perfect — I just customized a few bits and published it.”
“Very reliable, professional, and fast results. I was able to get my business online in no time, and the ease of access made it so simple.”
“I had no idea how to set up a website for my business. Thanks to Zarla, they've helped me a lot.”
Be the crew the whole street books for the season
Add your town and your company's name, and Zarla builds the website from that one line — a call button at the top, your services and starting prices, and a quote request form. Add your per-visit price, your neighborhoods and your before-and-after photos in chat. Free to build; you pay when you publish.
Already have a website? Bring it across →Zarla keeps your old page addresses where it can and redirects the ones that change, helping you keep the Google standing you've built.
Frequently asked questions
How much money do I need to start a landscaping business?
In the US, about $5,980 to $24,643 for one owner starting from a truck they already drive, in our landscaping business plan's itemized ranges — a commercial mower, trimmer, edger and blower at the makers' list prices ($3,729 for a Scag SFC-30 with ECHO's trimmer and blower, $6,919 for the SW-36 with STIHL's trio), hand tools as a planning range, a year of general liability (Insureon's median is $761; tools cover adds $637 and commercial auto $3,590 at the high end), registration ($40 in Kentucky to $870 in California with its yearly tax; $125 in North Carolina), lettering, the website, software, and two months of running costs. The applicator license ($75 in North Carolina), the contractor license where your state has one and a trailer and truck are optional lines on top. Housecall Pro's start guide puts a small start at under $1,000 of equipment and a full-service launch at $30,000 or more — a software company's figures.
Do you need a license to start a landscaping business?
In the US, two layers, and it depends on the state. For mowing, edging and cleanups: no state license in Texas, Florida, New York or North Carolina, and none in California while each job is under $1,000. The company's landscape-contractor license applies in California (the C-27: $450 plus $200, a $25,000 bond) and North Carolina (once a job site passes $30,000 in a year: $75 application, $150 exam, $100 license, a $10,000 bond — mowing and turf care are exempt), New York City's home improvement contractor license covers landscaping on residential property, and Oregon licenses the landscape contracting business itself for installs (mowing and maintenance are exempt). Spraying for pay needs the applicator license in each of the five states: $75 in North Carolina, $200 a year in Texas, $450 plus a $100 exam in New York, a $180 business license in California, and in Florida a $25 fertilizer certification, a landscape-maintenance pesticide certificate, and a pest control business license ($75 to $300) to spray lawns. Texas requires the license for any pesticide applied for hire, general-use included. Check your state and your city before the first weed treatment or patio.
How do I start a lawn care business?
Register the business (an LLC is $125 in North Carolina, $300 in Texas, $125 in Florida, $200 plus publication in New York, $70 plus an $800 yearly tax in California), buy the commercial mower, trimmer, edger and blower, insure it (general liability runs $57 a month for a lawn care professional at Insureon's median), price each lawn per visit by lot size from our lawn mowing pricing guide, and fill one route day completely before you open a second. Add the applicator license the day you start spraying, and register for sales tax if you're in Texas or New York, where mowing is taxed.
How much do landscapers make?
As employees, landscaping and groundskeeping workers earned a 2025 median of $39,150 a year, $18.82 an hour, with the top tenth at $56,730 or more; their supervisors $58,430; North Carolina's median is $37,910 (O*NET). The survey excludes the self-employed, so no agency prints what a one-truck owner nets. A business journal's unsourced estimate puts an owner-operator's revenue at $90,000 to $130,000 a year after three or four years with labor at 40 to 50% of it; a franchisor's own page averages $392,054 in gross sales for locations under three years old — sales, not pay.
Is a landscaping business profitable?
No agency measures solo owners' profit. What is public: the trade association's 2025 benchmark reports a median of 355 customers and $14,682 of revenue per customer among its participating companies, with labor costs expected to rise about 20% by the end of 2029; The Grounds Guys' franchise page averages $392,054 in gross sales for young locations, with about a third of locations reaching it; and a Connecticut business journal estimates an owner-operator's revenue at $90,000 to $130,000 a year with labor at 40 to 50% of it. The owners quoted here say the same thing: the route is the margin, the winter needs a plan, and the crew is the ceiling.
Is landscaping a good business to own?
Owners here say yes with three honest caveats: the season ends (one Nebraska owner on snow removal: "We're reliant on Mother Nature"), the equipment eats a winter (the same owner rebuilds every flat tire, bearing, pulley and belt), and the labor is the margin (the trade association's top concern). The structural advantages are real too: recurring weekly visits, a $5,980 start with a truck you own, and a street that can see the work. Several owners quoted here started as teenagers with a push mower.
How much for 2 hours of yard work?
About $64 to $136 at Housecall Pro's October 2026 hourly range of $32 to $68, or $50 to $120 at Fixr's $25 to $60 an hour (our arithmetic). Most lawn work is priced per visit rather than by the hour — $50 to $80 for a mow, trim and blow in Housecall Pro's customer data — with the first cut on an overgrown lawn at $70 to $150.
What are the 7 principles of landscaping?
A design-school list — unity, balance, proportion, rhythm, emphasis, simplicity and transition — that landscape designers teach; it is a convention, not a regulation, and a lawn care business needs none of it to mow a route. Design and build is the trade you grow into once the maintenance route is full.
What is the 3-5-7 rule in landscaping?
A designer's planting convention: group plants in odd numbers — threes, fives, sevens — so a bed reads as natural rather than lined up. Nobody regulates it; it's a habit worth knowing once you start planting beds for customers.
How much should I charge for lawn mowing?
Per visit, by lot size, on a route. Housecall Pro's October 2026 customer data puts a mow, trim and blow at $50 to $80 a visit — $45 to $70 under 1,000 square feet, $65 to $150 at 3,000 to 10,000 — with hourly work at $32 to $68 and a first cut on an overgrown lawn at $70 to $150; Fixr's average visit is $130. Our lawn mowing pricing guide prints the full table by lot size, the every-two-weeks premium and the add-ons, with a calculator. Price from the minutes the lawn takes and the drive between, and sell the season.
What equipment do I need to start a landscaping business?
A commercial walk-behind mower (Scag's SFC-30 is $2,999 and its SW-36 $5,559; Exmark's 30-inch X-Series lists at $2,699), a string trimmer (STIHL FS 91 R $379.99 or ECHO SRM-225 $279.99), a stick edger (STIHL FC 91 $429.99), a backpack blower (STIHL BR 600 $549.99 or ECHO PB-580T $449.99), hand tools, and a truck with a utility trailer — Big Tex's 35SA is priced by the dealer. Makers' list prices, October 2026. The residential mower in your garage will do the first month and no longer.
Can I start a landscaping business with no money?
With a truck and a residential mower you already own, the cash items are the registration ($125 for a North Carolina LLC, or a DBA for less) and insurance ($57 a month for a lawn care professional at Insureon's median); Housecall Pro's figure for a small start is under $1,000 of equipment. Two owners quoted here started as teenagers with a push mower and door-knocking, and one hired his first crew only after years on a school permit. The commercial gear comes out of the first season's route.
Do I need an LLC for a landscaping business?
No — in the US, none of the five states we read requires one; it's the liability wrapper owners choose once they're on other people's property with power equipment. It's $40 in Kentucky, $125 in North Carolina, $125 in Florida with the registered-agent fee, $300 in Texas, $200 plus newspaper publication in New York and $70 in California, where every LLC also owes $800 a year. In North Carolina an LLC that does licensed landscape contracting also needs the Board's $100 corporate license. Our guide to whether you need an LLC walks through the choice.
Do I charge sales tax on landscaping?
In the US it depends on the state. Texas: yes — landscaping and lawn care are taxable services, with an exemption for a self-employed individual under $5,000 of receipts a year. New York: mowing and maintenance are taxable, while planting a new lawn or shrubs is a capital improvement with no tax to the customer. Florida does not tax lawn care; California taxes the plants, sod and trees you sell but not your labor; North Carolina lists landscaping — mowing, mulch and fertilizer included — as a capital improvement, so you add no tax to the bill and pay tax on the materials you buy. Check your own state's rule and ask an accountant before you print a price list.
When is the best time of year to start a landscaping business?
Spring fills routes: searches for starting a landscaping business run 1,900 to 2,400 a month from March to June against 1,600 the rest of the year, and homeowners book the season in the first warm week. The owners quoted here fill winter with leaf cleanups, snow and holiday lights — one Texas company kept its whole crew on through December hanging lights — so a fall start spends the winter on the registration, the applicator exam and the equipment, ready for April.
How do I get my first landscaping customers?
Knock on the doors on the street you're already mowing — one owner quoted here built his company door-knocking neighborhoods he was dropped into — leave a card at the three houses either side of every lawn, tell twenty people you've started, and ask every finished lawn for the review while the stripes are fresh. Then answer what homeowners search for: your starting price per visit, what a visit includes and the neighborhoods you cover on your website and Google Business Profile. Zarla builds the website from one sentence — a call button at the top, your services and starting prices, and a quote request form — and once you connect your Google profile, your Google rating and reviews show on the site.