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The Cost of Lawn Care
With every lawn, comes the cost of caring for each one's set of lot variables. While the prices being paid for an individual lawn possibly vary one way or another across the maintenance season, from spring through fall - by looking at averages, representations can be found for much of lawn care pricing that takes place.
Here are 2023 amounts that are expected to hold:
As a rule, caring for a small yard under 2,000 sq foot is roughly $125 to $375 per year. A mid-size lawn and larger yards going to $600 to $700 and greater. These amounts depend on elements like your part of the country, the number of treatments, how open/shaded the lawn is, climate, and just how well is the grass being attended to.
Spring Cleanup
Rates for cleanup in spring will depend on the trees, their species and age. Was the prior months kind or had there been heavy winds? Collecting all the sticks and branches, some minor brush removal and perhaps raking some spotty areas of embedded leaves in the ground from the fall season will add to the bill. Fees for a small quarter acre lot are between $75 and $225 with disposal, and going from there. This average based on some form of 'repeat business', someone with whom the customer has previously done business with and not a one time shot.Grass Seeding/Lawn Clipping
Seeding will also depend a lot on the shading/number of trees as certain areas require continual seeding while other areas might depend on moisture/drainage that might mean the added placement of straw or a retainer screeen. Barring these extras, and considering that many homeowners choose to do themselves, several smaller, confined areas can be done in the $45 to $90 range unless the areas are extensive. This with the customer watering.Lawn cutting brings its own set of variables but for the average suburban lawn, having an open and orderly layout, $30 to $45 per cut on average is common for lots. The type of mower used and the time it takes, for example, to cut around the placement of irregular beds will have much to do with the bottom line. The type of fence (chain link/wood/split rails, etc) will affect trimming - and so some customers choose to spot 'kill' the grass in these areas not only for economy but for appearance, if it is so recommended.
Weeding
Weeding around beds should be done on a regular basis. Obviously the total size
of the beds will render enormously on the price but so too will the kinds of
weeds and whether or not any ground cover was applied beneath the mulch. By getting
an early start, as the weeds start to sprout and during the moist early
spring season, the expense of the total care solution can normally be reduced.
Some smaller operations do have minimum rates of $30 or $35 per service call, which might
serve the most basic of needs. But it's not uncommon to receive hourly bids
for weeding, given its indeterminate nature. If a neighbor is taking care of
this, it could cost less but for an hourly rate expect $15 to $20 on up
for the most modest of business setups. Though generally more.
A common setup is to alot whoever is doing the grass cutting, an extra $40 to $60 per month to keep the weeds out.
Trimming
The cost for trimming shrubs and hedges must take into account the types of vegetation
and whether they can be done by automatic shears or if they have to be hand-pruned.
Whether or not they have been trained into shape is another factor. While it
usually pays to get someone who is skilled in this area, since any follow up recuperation
period could drag on for months and then some, getting a modest amount of ornamental
cutting ranges from $150 to $375 and this at stepladder height and lower.