How to Hire a Maintenance Landscaper

Reliability is the most important consideration when hiring a landscaper to take care of your lawn and plantings. Here's how to find the right landscaper for the job.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Yellow Pages
• Contractor Referral Services
• Pencils
• Pencils
• Personal Organizers
• Spiral Notebooks
• Pencils

1. Consider what work you want done on a regular basis.

2. Sort the work into weekly, bimonthly, monthly and seasonal groups. For example: Mow the lawn weekly, weed the garden monthly, fertilize seasonally.

3. Contact a few area landscapers. Ask friends or relatives for recommendations or write down phone numbers from trucks you see in your neighborhood. If you have difficulty locating a landscaper, consult the yellow pages.

4. Have the landscapers inspect your yard, and give them a copy of the schedule of work you want done.

5. Get a price from each of the landscapers. The price may be a monthly figure for frequent and regular jobs (such as mowing the lawn), with special charges for more infrequent work (such as fertilizing the lawn).

6. Make sure the landscapers are insured - if someone gets hurt working on your property, you want to know that they're covered by insurance.

7. Ask for references if you're concerned about the reliability of the landscapers. Check these references.

8. Find out if any of the landscapers provide snowplowing services in winter (if applicable).

9. Select a landscaper based on price and your impressions.

10. Consider signing a contract if your property is large or if the landscaper is doing extensive work for you. A contract is probably not necessary if the contractor is simply mowing the lawn weekly.

11. Take note periodically that the landscaper is providing the services agreed upon on the proper schedule.

Tips & Warnings

• The landscaper will typically switch over to raking or blowing leaves after grass cutting season ends. You need to decide if you want your regular service to continue at the same frequency through fall.
• Landscapers often plow snow during the winter. Make arrangements with your landscaper so that you're not rushing to find someone when it snows.
• Some landscapers provide only basic services - grass cutting, leaf blowing and so forth. If you want extensive gardening services, make sure that the landscapers you consider provide these services.

on 8/8/2006 If you are home when work is being done, be sure and come out to view the work and let the worker(s) know what you want done and how you think it looks.

The best service(s) will welcome this feedback and do a great job. But don't stay out and chat too long, especially if they are being paid by the hour!

on 11/22/2005 If possible, get landscaping and gardening maintenance work done at a time when you are home. If not, the quality of work and time spent on the job usually deteriorates while the price does not.