To start a landscaping business, decide first whether you’ll mow and maintain, install, or both, because that choice decides your licenses, equipment and pricing. Maintenance and installation are often licensed differently, and applying pesticides or installing irrigation can need its own state license. Then buy only the equipment your first routes need, price maintenance by the visit and installs by the job, and plan for the slow season before it arrives.
Here’s each step, with official sources. This is general information, not legal, tax or insurance advice. Licensing rules vary by state and city, so confirm them with the agencies involved and talk to an insurance agent and an accountant.
The short checklist:
Often the answer is different for mowing than for installs. Your city or county may also require a general business license; the clerk’s office can tell you. Two state examples from official sources, checked October 16, 2026:
Hardscapes like walls and patios can also trigger a state contractor license where your state’s dollar threshold applies. Find your state in the ECHOPS license guides, then confirm with the agency and your local building department.
Very often, yes. Federal law requires anyone who applies or supervises the use of restricted use pesticides to be certified, and state, territorial and tribal authorities run the certification. The EPA adds that many states require all commercial applicators, not only those using restricted use pesticides, to be certified. The BLS says most states require licensing for workers who apply pesticides, usually with a test on the proper use and disposal of insecticides, herbicides and fungicides, while fertilizer licensing varies by state. Herbicides count, so weed control is pesticide work.
If you’re not licensed yet, leave weed control and pest treatments off your service list, or partner with a licensed applicator. Ask your insurance agent whether your policy covers pesticide work, too.
The SBA’s launch checklist covers the basics: choose a business structure and name, register the business, get federal and state tax ID numbers, apply for licenses and permits, open a business bank account and get insurance. The IRS issues employer identification numbers online for free and warns about websites that charge for one. Ask an accountant which structure fits, and how to handle quarterly estimated taxes and sales tax on plants and materials.
For insurance, ask an agent who works with landscapers about:
Buy for the properties you have, not the ones you hope to get. A starter maintenance setup usually includes:
Rent install equipment like skid steers, sod cutters, aerators and trenchers until you use it often enough to own it. Get prices from local dealers and rental yards before you build a budget, and keep a simple maintenance log for every machine, because a broken mower on a Monday costs a day of revenue.
Maintenance and installs are different businesses. Price them separately.
Price each visit from the time it takes on site plus the drive from the last stop, then add equipment, fuel, overhead and margin. Route density matters: ten yards on one street pay better than ten yards across the county. Set a minimum per visit, and price extras like leaf cleanup, mulching and aeration separately. Season-long or yearly contracts with a set number of visits make your income easier to plan.
A hypothetical: say a two-person crew costs you $70 an hour all-in (a made-up number), and a yard takes 30 minutes plus 10 minutes of driving. That’s 40 minutes, or about $47 in crew cost. At a 40% target margin, divide by 0.60: the visit price is about $78. Use the markup calculator to check the math, and the labor rate calculator to work out your real crew cost. For reference, the BLS median wage for landscaping and groundskeeping workers was $18.82 an hour in May 2025; your all-in cost is higher once you add taxes, insurance, unbilled time and overhead.
Price installs like construction jobs: plants, sod, stone and irrigation parts with waste, labor hours, equipment rental, delivery, disposal and permits, plus overhead and margin. Put it in a written estimate with a clear scope, and get a signed contract with a deposit before you order materials. Spell out any plant warranty in writing: what’s covered, for how long, and what the customer has to do, like watering. The free estimate template and contract template are good starting points; have a local attorney adapt the contract to your state.
The BLS notes that some grounds work is seasonal, mainly in spring, summer and fall, that some workers do snow removal in winter, and that crews may work longer hours in the busy months. Plan for both ends:
When you hire, get the basics right:
At first you need a phone, a calendar, a customer list, estimates and invoices. With a few crews, add route planning, job notes and photos from each property, time sheets, recurring billing and job costing, so you can see which properties and installs make money. Ask any vendor whether crews can see their routes on a phone, whether you can price by square foot or unit, whether customers can sign estimates from a link, and whether you can export your data any time. Send invoices promptly; the free invoice template lists what to include.
Often not a state contractor license, but rules vary. California says gardeners paid regularly to maintain landscaping generally do not need its C-27 license. You will likely still need a local business license, and pesticide or irrigation work can need its own state license.
In many states, yes, because herbicides are pesticides. In Texas, anyone applying any pesticide to lawns, trees, ornamentals or weeds for hire needs a Texas Department of Agriculture license, though fertilizer-only applicators do not. Check your state agriculture department.
Price each visit from on-site time plus drive time, using your true crew cost, then add equipment, fuel, overhead and margin. Set a minimum per visit, price extras separately, and keep routes tight so more of the day is billable.
The BLS notes some grounds maintenance workers do snow removal in winter. Others prune, fix equipment and sell next year’s installs. Build a cash reserve in the busy season and consider yearly contracts billed monthly.
Ask an agent about general liability, commercial auto, trailer and equipment coverage, and whether pesticide work is covered. With employees, the SBA lists workers’ compensation, unemployment and disability insurance as required, and some states require more.
It depends on what you’ll offer and what you already own, so price your own list with local dealers and rental yards. The main costs are a mower sized to your yards, a trimmer, edger, blower and hand tools, a truck that can tow and a trailer, safety gear, insurance, registration and any licenses, like the $111 fee for a Texas Landscape Irrigator license. Rent install equipment until you use it often.
Start with mowing and maintenance: a starter equipment setup, a truck and trailer, and routes as tight as you can make them. Price each visit from on-site time plus drive time, set a minimum and price extras separately. In California, gardeners paid regularly to maintain landscaping generally don’t need the C-27 license, but weed control is pesticide work, which many states license. See ECHOPS for landscaping companies.
Build dense routes, since ten yards on one street pay better than ten across the county, and offer season-long or yearly contracts billed monthly. Quote spring installs in winter, when customers are planning, and add off-season work that fits your skills and licenses, like snow removal or holiday lighting. Keep proof of insurance ready, because commercial clients and HOAs may ask for it before you start.
ECHOPS has a route planner and a map of each day’s stops, and service calls carry statuses. Estimates come from your price book, priced by size, unit or allowance with your own markups and waste, and customers sign by e-signature. Crews can log time sheets, job photos from the phone are filed on the job, and the crew portal works in English or Spanish. Invoices and recorded payments live with each job, and review requests are built in. Try it free for 14 days, no credit card.
Posts are general information, not legal, tax or financial advice.
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