A landscaper charges $50–100 an hour per crew member in 2026, and most recurring work is sold as a seasonal contract instead: $40–90 per visit for mowing on a typical suburban lot. Installation work is priced by the unit — sod at $1.50–3.50 a square foot, mulch at $50–120 a cubic yard installed. Tree removal and hardscaping are separate trades with their own pricing.
Updated September 15, 2026
Maintenance is a route business: a crew arrives every week or two, mows, edges, blows and leaves. It is priced on lot size and drive time, and a seasonal contract is almost always cheaper per visit than calling ad hoc.
Installation is project work — beds, sod, irrigation, patios, walls. It's quoted from a plan and a materials list, and the price is dominated by material volume and access. A backyard reachable only through a 36-inch gate costs meaningfully more than one a skid steer can drive into.
Design is its own line. A landscape designer charges $500–3,000 for a plan, and a licensed landscape architect more, but a plan lets you get three comparable installation bids instead of three different ideas.
Installed prices including materials unless noted.
| Job | Typical price |
|---|---|
| Hourly rate, per crew member | $50–100 |
| Mowing visit, quarter-acre lot | $40–90 |
| Spring or fall cleanup | $250–700 |
| Sod, installed, per sq ft | $1.50–3.50 |
| Mulch, installed, per cubic yard | $50–120 |
| Planting bed with shrubs, 100 sq ft | $800–2,500 |
| Paver patio, per sq ft | $15–35 |
| Segmental retaining wall, per sq ft of face | $30–70 |
| Irrigation system, quarter-acre | $3,000–7,000 |
| Tree removal, medium tree | $500–1,800 |
Irrigation work and anything touching the potable water supply usually requires a licensed irrigator and a backflow preventer with an annual test. Pesticide and herbicide application requires a state applicator license — if a company treats your lawn, ask for the license number and the product labels.
Grading, drainage and retaining walls above a height threshold (often four feet) need a permit and sometimes an engineer's stamp. Many municipalities also restrict tree removal by species or trunk diameter, and some HOAs require plan approval before anything visible from the street changes.
Get bids in the off season. Landscapers book out in March and April, and a February contract is often 10–15% cheaper for the same work.
For maintenance, ask what a visit includes — mowing only, or edging, bed weeding, hedge trimming and debris haul-off. Contracts vary enormously and price differences usually turn out to be scope differences.
$40–90 for a quarter-acre suburban lot, including edging and blow-off. Larger lots and steep or obstructed ground cost more per visit.
$1.50–3.50 per square foot installed, so a 2,000 square foot front yard runs $3,000–7,000 including grading and soil prep.
Usually above about four feet of exposed face, and sometimes lower where there's a slope or surcharge behind it. Your building department will confirm, and taller walls often need engineering.
Almost always, because the crew can route your property efficiently. Expect 10–25% less per visit than one-off service.
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