Lawn Care Services You Should Be Offering

Due to the seasonal nature of the lawn care industry, choosing the right mix of landscaping services to offer (and pricing strategies for each) proves critical. You want to provide the most in-demand services at competitive prices to beat the competition while remaining profitable. 

Need help deciding what lawn care services to offer in 2023? Check out this list of the most profitable professional lawn care services and the required equipment and recurring revenue potential for each. 

1. Lawn Mowing

Lawn mowing is the first lawn maintenance service that comes to mind when most people think of lawn care companies. It’s the foundational step in maintaining a lush and healthy lawn for both homeowners and commercial customers, and it’s a highly profitable service.

Required equipment: Lawn mower, the appropriate fuel or battery for your mower type, lawn edger for clean edges, weed whacker for precision trimming, rake for debris cleanup, safety gear, and either a collection bag or mulching attachment for grass clippings management. Remember the essential maintenance tools to keep your mower operating at its best.

Recurring revenue potential: Lawn mowing provides predictable recurring revenue throughout the growing season. Customers typically require weekly or bi-weekly mowing services. 

2. Edging and Trimming

Edging and trimming are sometimes an add-on or included with lawn mowing services, but they can also be offered independently. Edging creates crisp, clean borders along walkways, driveways, and landscaping features. Trimming in the context of lawn care typically involves using a string trimmer or weed whacker to cut and maintain grass or vegetation in areas that are difficult to reach with a lawn mower.

Required equipment: Lawn edger with adjustable height settings for creating clean borders, weed whacker or trimmer with different attachments for precision trimming, and safety gear like goggles and ear protection.

Recurring revenue potential: Clients often require these services regularly to maintain the pristine appearance of their properties. By scheduling edging and trimming alongside other landscape maintenance tasks, landscaping professionals can establish a consistent presence on their clients' properties, strengthening customer loyalty and providing a convenient, all-in-one lawn care solution.

3. Lawn Aeration

Lawn aeration is a specialized service that is crucial in lawn maintenance for a healthy and vibrant lawn. It involves perforating the soil with small holes for better air, water, and nutrient penetration into the root zone. This enables the roots to access oxygen more effectively, promoting healthier grass growth.

Required equipment: Core aerator or spike aerator. Core aerators remove small plugs of soil from the lawn, while spike aerators create holes by pushing spikes into the ground. Core aerators are generally preferred for their effectiveness in relieving soil compaction and promoting better airflow.

Recurring revenue potential: Lawn aeration is typically performed as needed, often once a year or as part of a comprehensive lawn care program. Because of its annual nature, it may be best to package it with other more frequently needed services or a year-round landscaping plan. 

4. Weed Control

Not only do customers need weeds removed from their property, but they also need a plan to keep them from spreading. The plan of attack requires industry knowledge, as it may depend on the specific weed population. Manual methods are more eco-friendly, but pre-emergent herbicides can prevent seeds from germinating and eliminate the pesky problem. Either way, it requires quick removal so the weeds don’t reseed themselves and take over. 

Required equipment: Hand trowels, weeding forks, herbicides, sprayer.

Recurring revenue potential: With weed control, service providers may only need to visit customers once per season or a few times back-to-back. Regarding a recurring revenue stream, it’s best to pair this service with others, like mowing and fertilizing.

5. Fertilization 

Fertilization ensures that grass receives a balanced supply of essential nutrients like nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, which are critical for healthy growth. The right time to fertilize and the proper nutrients to apply depends on the grass type and environment, so it’s best left to professionals. Including lawn fertilization in your service list ensures your customers' lawns thrive year-round.

Required equipment: Fertilizers, spreaders (for dry formulations), and sprayers (for liquid formulations). Check your local and state-level regulations for information on whether a license is required to apply fertilizers. 

Recurring revenue potential: Fertilization typically happens on a schedule depending on the grass type, growing season, and other environmental factors. Because you can schedule treatments, it provides a source of reliable and steady revenue. 

6. Lawn Seeding and Overseeding

By offering seeding services, lawn care professionals are likely to acquire customers at the beginning of their lawn care journeys, whether they recently bought a house or commercial property with brown patches that require lawn repair. You can also offer overseeding to established clients looking to introduce new grass varieties for a more lush and resilient lawn.

Required equipment: Seed spreaders (drop or broadcast), aerator, lawn mower, dethatcher, or power rake. While a drop spreader tends to be more accurate, a broadcast spreader helps reduce labor time on large properties. 

Recurring revenue potential: While seeding is typically just an annual service, it may require other services to take root and thrive. For example, overseeding is a great way to crowd out weeds, but weeds must be removed first. Lawns need to be mowed before applying seeds and may require fertilizer services after seeding. 

7. Leaf Removal 

For customers focused on maintaining lush green lawns, leaf removal is vital in the fall when deciduous trees shed their leaves. Not only do fallen leaves detract from curb appeal, but they can also smother the grass while harboring weed growth and pests. Consider adding leaf removal to your service roster to show your commitment to assisting customers regardless of season.

Required equipment: Rakes, leaf blowers, leaf vacuums, and collection bags or bins for disposal. You can also invest in a leaf mulcher for easier bagging and transporting. 

Recurring revenue potential: Leaf removal is typically a seasonal service, but it helps ensure revenue as the growing season comes to an end in many climates. Additionally, satisfied customers are more likely to use your services for other outdoor maintenance needs, such as lawn mowing, fertilization, and weed control.

8. Yard Cleanup

Whether a spring cleaning, fall cleanup, or post-storm debris removal, yard cleanup and garden maintenance is a valuable service to offer landscaping company customers. Yard maintenance services may include the removal of leaves and debris from flowerbeds, walkways, and yards, mulch refreshment, pulling weeds, or even power washing patios, decks, and sidewalks. 

Required equipment: Dependent on cleanup services but may include rakes, leaf blowers, power washers, debris collection bins for yard waste removal, gloves, and goggles.

Recurring revenue potential: Cleanup service revenue can be unpredictable, as many clients request these services after a storm that leads to yard debris. However, spring and fall cleanup can occur annually. By offering yard cleanup services, you provide a valuable solution to help your customers maintain a clean, safe, and attractive outdoor environment.

9. Snow Removal

For lawn care business operators in geographic areas subject to all four seasons, it’s important to maintain a revenue stream in the off-season. Many lawn companies choose to offer snow removal services. In addition to shoveling, snow blowing, or plowing, this may also include salting and de-icing.

Offering snow removal services helps keep your customers’ properties functional, accessible, and safe.

Required equipment: Shovels, snow blower, plow, ice chipper, salt spreader, sturdy winter shoes. 

Recurring revenue potential: Offering snow removal services helps keep revenue coming in through the slow season, although it depends on the amount of snow and ice accumulating. It also provides another opportunity to sign customers up for annual service agreements. 

In addition to these services, some landscaping businesses offer pest control, shrub care, tree services, landscape design, hardscaping, dethatching, sprinkler system and irrigation system installation, and grub control. In maintaining and designing outdoor spaces, service professionals use various landscaping tools. 

Provide Outstanding Services With the Help of FieldRoutes

To truly provide outstanding customer service and remain profitable, you must consider your clients’ year-round lawn care needs when building your lawn care business plan. It takes a multi-service approach, but managing labor, scheduling, and pricing for many services can be overwhelming.

The FieldRoutes^® Operations Suite delivers time-saving solutions to help professional landscaping companies simplify, scale, and grow their lawn care businesses.

From a mobile app that allows technicians to get contracts signed from the field to automated customer communications and smarter scheduling and route optimization, FieldRoutes helps business owners increase productivity and profitability. 

Schedule a free demo today to see how FieldRoutes can take your lawn care business to the next level.