What gets measured gets managed. That statement holds true for most things in life, including the landscape maintenance costs on your commercial property. In this case, if you measure the right factors, you can go beyond controlling your landscaping costs. You can lower them, often pretty quickly.
One of the challenges is finding a baseline for commercial landscape costs. There are plenty of price-range estimates for residential services, but not so with commercial landscaping. And any price ranges you track down online will likely have language about what services cost for “typical properties.”
What is typical, though? That’s part of the issue. And as you’ll see, that’s one of the factors impacting the prices you pay for landscaping maintenance. There are five key factors we’re covering in-depth. If you’re in a rush, we’ve put together a simple checklist at the end of the article showing proven ways to save money on landscape maintenance.
Larger properties usually require more resources. So it’s no surprise that the landscape labor, materials, and equipment costs rise in parallel to more acreage. What might surprise property owners is how quickly landscaping expenses go up, depending on the complexity of the property and design factors.
Here’s a simpler way to think about it—one operator can mow an open field faster than two operators could mow the same area if it’s divided by sidewalks and parking lot islands.
Sloped terrain further complicates matters and often requires special equipment. It also slows down mowing crews since steep hills present safety hazards. Overturned lawnmowers are a tragic reality and are the cause of dozens of landscape professional deaths each year.
Another thing that makes landscaping maintenance tasks less efficient are extensive flowerbeds and other planting beds throughout the property. Various species of plants have unique needs that must be managed properly for them to thrive. It’s much simpler and faster to care for 25 roses than it is to maintain a landscape bed with five different shrub and tree species.
Any factor that slows down landscape crews will make your landscaping costs go up. We’ll talk more about that labor factor, but service frequency is next.
Some commercial landscape expenses occur on a regular basis, so they’re expected and often will be included in your contractual terms and scope of services. Others may be specialized services for work that only needs to be done once or twice a year (or during a storm clean-up, for example).
Basic weekly services like lawn mowing might cost $45 to $65 an hour. Contrast that regularly occurring expense with tall tree pruning, which could cost up to $2000 per tree but isn’t needed as regularly. Tree removal can get even more costly, depending on accessibility and the size of the tree in question.
Then you have lawn aeration which can be done once or twice a year, whereas pest control might involve seven treatments annually.
Irrigation checkups should be happening on a consistent basis, But irrigation repairs shouldn’t be needed often if the system is regularly checked and maintained by certified irrigation technicians. However, an outdated irrigation system can spike your commercial landscape costs. For starters, an old system will waste water, increasing your water bill each month for years and years. Modern irrigation systems can reduce water consumption by up to 60% compared to old irrigation methods.
Just as bad, a poorly designed irrigation layout might leave sections of your most valuable turf or plants lacking moisture and eventually dying.
#3 Plant Selection and Health
More property managers are learning how much landscape costs can be reduced by using native plants in place of more exotic, non-native plants. The math is simple with native plants because they require less water, fertilizer, and pesticides. These plants are designed to withstand whatever the local environment throws at them.
Exotic species can face an uphill battle, even with constant monitoring and increased hours of upkeep by your landscapers.
And if the increased care gets overwhelmed by harsh weather conditions, the replacement cost of non-native plants becomes a serious landscaping expense. One that can often be avoided by choosing the right plant for the right property. See the unnecessary costs of not taking advantage of native plants below:
It’s not only the plant choices that impact landscape costs. Preventative maintenance is a huge opportunity to save money. It’s human nature, though, for people to look for fixes after problems arise instead of leveraging preventive methods.
#4 Use Case of the Property
The type of property and visibility play a role in the cost of your commercial landscape maintenance. Some commercial properties are built to attract visitors and guests, so they need awe-inspiring landscaping features. Other properties are meant to be functional, requiring less of a “wow factor,” even though it doesn’t take much effort to impress when you have high-quality landscape designers on your side.
Space is another factor that affects how a property is utilized and how much investment can be made into green spaces. For example, you may have to spend money on planters if there’s no space to add landscape beds. And that means purchasing additional soil for those planters and replacement costs of the planters eventually.
Since we know that well-maintained commercial landscapes can boost property values by up to 14%, visibility is going to affect how much maintenance is needed. More maintenance hours on highly-visible properties—like the six examples below, mean landscaping costs go up.
The payoff for spending more on landscapes with higher visibility? More engagement by community members can lead to increased revenue (i.e., shoppers spend roughly 10% more in business districts with well-kept greenery).
Another reason extra landscape labor and resources are needed is the region you’re in and the climate—which is subject to change. It’s not only drought that increases your costs due to spending more to irrigate plants, turf, and trees. Heavier than usual rainfall wreaks havoc on a commercial landscape as well.
Xeriscaping can shield you from extra expenses brought on by drought conditions. Remember, drought can rear its ugly head anywhere as weather patterns shift across our country. If you invest in xeriscaping now, you’ll be prepared when dry weather strikes. The result? Potentially cutting your irrigation costs in half. But just remember that even xeric landscapes require some maintenance to look their best.
Another factor affecting your landscape costs? Pests and disease are worse in certain locations. These hazards are spreading due to the warming of temperatures across the globe. Just a couple of degrees rise in average temperature can mean your area becomes a breeding ground for damaging pests and diseases.
An example of this is South Florida. It’s a great environment for fun in the sun, but the warm subtropical weather attracts a constant army of whiteflies, scale insects, and mealybugs. Integrated pest management is a great strategy for battling bugs built to destroy valuable landscaping elements. This strategy saves property owners money on chemicals while being eco-friendly.
Labor. Labor costs can vary widely—state by state and city by city. See this infographic showing the spike in general labor costs.
More expensive labor naturally increases costs of landscaping materials. After all, workers have to build, organize, and ship those materials, right? One recent report showed material costs like decorative rock having a wide price range of $50 to $160 per cubic yard, depending on location.
Higher labor costs in the landscaping industry can actually be a good thing for property owners, however. A quality workforce can’t be built on low pay. Most property owners agree that having highly-trained, experienced, and respectful landscape professionals on their property is worth a bit more in labor costs.
Did you know roughly 46 cents of every dollar spent on commercial landscaping goes back to the frontline workers?
The thing to keep in mind is the value of having the same reliable landscape teams on your property year after year. Trustworthy crew members who take pride in their work are much harder to find for landscape companies that don’t believe in top pay for their staff. It’s tough to keep the same crews even on a month-to-month basis as the turnover is high in those cases.
Don’t worry. Even with all those factors related to landscaping expenses, there are ways to save money. A plan and guidance from a landscaping provider who sees you as a partner for the long haul is all you need.
Use these 11 tips to reduce landscape costs:
Property owners must also avoid getting ripped off or not getting what they paid for. Wide price differences on landscaping or lawn maintenance bids should be a red flag.
Could there be a reason one contractor’s bid is much lower than a top-rated company? To give the benefit of the doubt, you could do the following due diligence:
Why Choose Yellowstone Landscape?
Our aim remains the same as it’s been since our beginning. We believe in comprehensive service plans because that’s what it takes to produce the healthiest landscapes and the highest value for property owners.
We customize maintenance plans to make clients’ budgets go further. Along similar lines, we adjust our routes and schedules to optimize efficiency to lower our costs so we can pass the savings on to our customers. Yellowstone Landscape is also serious about environmental stewardship. We know it’s possible to treat the planet properly while producing award-winning landscapes.
While numerous factors will continue to affect landscape costs, we’ve covered the five main ones, recapped below:
As you might imagine, each factor has the potential to affect others on the list. For example, weather pattern changes in 2024 could impact the plant choices made in 2025. The same goes for property types as they evolve with new construction, which can affect microclimates (i.e., shade from new structures robbing shrubs of sunlight).
We could go on forever with potential scenarios. Luckily, you don’t have to concern yourself with endless possibilities and combinations of problems that could derail your landscape maintenance budget. As long as you choose a company with your best interests in mind, that company should worry about and work on those possibilities so you receive the highest quality of service at a fair price.
To develop a customized maintenance plan that addresses the factors discussed and meets your property’s exact needs, contact Yellowstone Landscape.