A printable lawn care quote for the season, not just the first cut

What should a lawn care quote include?

The property: the address, the size, and a short note on the shape of the yard, because a corner lot and a narrow back garden take different routes with the same mower. The services on each visit: mow, edge, trim, blow down the hard surfaces, and whether clippings leave with you. The extras that are not in the routine: beds, hedges, aeration, leaf removal, and anything you will only do when asked.

Then the frequency and the season, since a weekly cut and a fortnightly cut are different jobs. Then the terms: gate codes, pets, where the clippings go, and what happens when it rains. A sheet with those lines answers most of the questions a homeowner asks before they commit to a season.

Per visit, per month, or per season?

Each shape has a place. Per visit is easiest to explain and easiest to change when the customer adds or drops a service, and it protects you when the grass grows faster than the calendar predicts. Per month is what many homeowners prefer to budget for, but it only works if the visit count is written down, so the customer knows what a month covers and what an extra visit would mean.

Per season suits customers who want one number for the year, and it needs the season defined, the frequency defined, and a line saying what happens if the customer pauses the service. Pick the shape that matches how you already bill, then put the same words on the sheet.

What do I do about rain days?

Write the rule before it happens. Most crews move a rained-out visit to the next working day in the same week and add a catch-up visit if the grass has run on. Say that on the sheet, along with how short the wet season makes the week and whether a skipped visit is credited or carried.

Do not leave it to a text message at breakfast: a customer who reads the rule in advance rarely argues about it, and a customer who hears it for the first time during a storm has a reason to be annoyed. If you work in a place with a long wet stretch, put a line in the terms that says the schedule may compress after a washed-out week.

Should the quote cover the whole season up front?

It can, as long as the sheet says what happens when your costs or the customer's needs change. A seasonal figure is convenient for the customer, but a season is long, and fuel, equipment and labour do not hold still for it.

If you quote the season, write the validity date, the visit count, and the point at which you will re-quote. If you quote per visit, you can adjust at a renewal without reopening the whole agreement. Either way, the customer should be able to see how many visits they are buying, because that number is what they will compare against the bill.

What about clippings, leaves and disposal?

Decide on the sheet, not on the truck. Say whether clippings are mulched back into the lawn, bagged and taken, or left in a pile for the customer. Leaf removal is usually a separate job in autumn, and it should be a separate line so it does not become an argument about what the monthly rate covers. If you are hauling green waste away, the customer should know that, because disposal has its own cost and its own rules in some places. A two-word line under the services, mulch or haul, removes the ambiguity.

How do I handle gates, dogs and access?

Ask before the first visit and write the answers on the sheet. Gate code, which side the gate opens, whether the dog is out on which days, and where the crew should park. If the customer leaves the gate locked on a visit day, say in the terms whether that visit is billed, because the crew still drove there and still has to come back. Access lines feel small when you write them and enormous when they are missing.