Who we serve / Landscaping and gardening
Estimates and invoices for landscapers and gardeners, by the area or by the hour.
A lawn and landscape job is priced by the yard or the load. A gardening job is priced by the hour, plus the plants. They go wrong in different ways, so this page takes them one at a time.
By Abrar · Updated · 9 min read
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The short answer
Landscape jobs are priced by the area, the visit or the cubic yard. Gardening is priced by the hour, plus plants. Write which one you mean, and say what is not included. For gardening, give a range of hours and stop to ask when you reach the top of it. Write the plant guarantee down. Get a yes before any extra work. InvoiceWren holds each of these on one job.
How a landscaping or gardening job runs on paper
The steps are the same for both kinds of work. What changes is how you price them, so each step says what to write for the area job and for the hourly job.
- 1
The first contact
A call, a text or a yard sign. Write down the address, what the owner wants (mulch, new sod, a spring cleanup, pruning, a new border), the gate code, pets, and who pays: the owner or a property manager.
- 2
The look and the measure
For an area job, measure the lawn and the beds in square feet and write down the slope, the access, the debris and what is not included. For a garden job, write down the plants, the size of the bed and how much green waste you will haul.
- 3
The estimate
For lawn and landscape work, price by the visit, by the job, by the square foot or by the cubic yard. For gardening, give an hourly rate, a range of hours, and the plants and soil as separate lines. Say how long the price holds.
- 4
The agreement
For a planting job, California's contractor board says a contract should name the variety and quantity of plants, their placement, and any follow-up maintenance plan and guarantees the contractor offers [1]. For gardening, write the plants and where each one goes.
- 5
The deposit
Ask only for what you must buy first. For a licensed landscape contractor job in California, the board says never to pay more than 10 percent down or $1,000, whichever is less [1]. Other states differ. If the owner signs at their own home, the federal cooling-off rule may apply [2].
- 6
The work, and the extras
The owner adds more mulch, a branch comes down, a second bed appears. Write the change and its price before you start it. For gardening, stop at the top of the hours you quoted and ask.
- 7
The invoice
Services and materials on separate lines. In Texas, your invoices or contracts should clearly identify the services you perform, because taxable and nontaxable work should be stated separately [3].
- 8
The payment and the follow-up
Record the date, the amount and how it was paid. For a planting job, check on the new plants during the guarantee period.
Where landscaping and gardening paperwork goes wrong
Some are about area and visit pricing, some about hourly gardening, and some apply to both.
A price for a normal visit, and then the grass is not normal
The lawn is overgrown after rain, or the customer wants a quick cleanup thrown in. The crew spends twice the time for the same price.
What to do: Write what a normal visit is, such as grass height and how much debris. Say that overgrown grass or extra work is priced separately and agreed before it starts.
Taxable and nontaxable work on one lump bill
In Texas, landscaping and lawn care includes mowing, trimming, edging, pruning and planting, and the Comptroller says your total charge will be presumed taxable if the taxable part is more than 5 percent of it [3]. Florida says mowing, edging and similar services are not taxed, and that planting trees, bushes and flowers is a real property contract [4]. New York lists lawn mowing and landscaping among the services subject to sales tax [5].
What to do: Put services and materials on their own lines, and keep any nontaxable work, such as a fence or a deck, on separate lines. Ask your state tax office how your state treats each one.
Spraying weeds without the license
A crew sprays weeds as a favor. In Texas, applying any pesticide for hire to ornamentals, trees, lawns or weeds needs a license from the state agriculture department, but applying only fertilizer does not [6]. Florida says anyone applying insecticides, herbicides or fungicides, including weed-and-feed products, as part of landscape maintenance needs a pest control business license [7].
What to do: Keep fertilizer and herbicide on separate lines. Learn your state's rule before you add a spray to a quote.
Hours run over the estimate
"A few hours of pruning" becomes two days, because the shrubs were more overgrown than anyone saw from the street. The owner remembers the first number.
What to do: Write the estimate as a range of hours. Say that you will stop and ask at the top of it, and get a yes before you go on.
The plant dies, and nobody wrote down what the guarantee covers
A shrub dies after a heat wave and the owner says the guarantee covers it. California's contractor board says a landscape contract should name any guarantees the contractor offers and a follow-up maintenance plan [1].
What to do: Write what is covered (the plant, the labor, the disposal), for how long, and what voids it, such as no watering. Put the watering schedule on the same page.
A construction job taken as a maintenance job
California's contractor board says gardeners who maintain landscaping generally do not need a landscaping license, but projects such as plants and sod installs, irrigation and fences do, and so does tree pruning higher than 15 feet [1]. An unlicensed person can do minor work up to $1,000 only if no permit is needed and they employ no one [8].
What to do: Know your state's line before you add a patio, a wall or a sprinkler system to a maintenance customer's bill.
Tall tree work quoted as gardening
A pruning job turns into taking down a branch overhead. The Bureau of Labor Statistics says tree trimmers and pruners have one of the highest rates of injuries and illnesses of all occupations [9].
What to do: Do not quote tree work above what your state and your insurance allow, and say so on the estimate.
What InvoiceWren does for a landscaper or gardener
The price, the extras and the plant guarantee are written down and agreed from your phone in the yard.
An estimate your customer signs from the lawn
Write the spring cleanup, the mulch and the sod as their own lines, with quantity and price. Your customer reads it and signs on their phone before you start.
Saved items for what you quote every week
Save mulch by the cubic yard, a haul-away load, a trip charge and an hour of labor. The next estimate takes a tap per line.
Photos on the line they belong to
Add up to 3 photos to a line. The overgrown bed or the dead shrub sits beside its price.
Change orders for the second bed
The owner wants two more yards of mulch or another bed? Send a change order. They approve it on their phone, and it is never counted as approved until they do.
Hours, plants and the balance on one job
Take a deposit for the plants. The final invoice shows the estimate, each approved change, the deposit and each payment, line by line, so the balance is explained.
Reminders that stop when they pay
If an invoice is late, InvoiceWren emails your customer for you. You choose the schedule, and it stops once you confirm the payment.
Estimates and approval · Change orders · Deposits, progress and final invoices · Getting paid and receipts
Need a document right now? Make a free estimate or a free invoice with no sign-up, then bring the job into InvoiceWren when you are ready.
Rules to check, by state
Landscaping is taxed and licensed state by state. These are examples from official pages we read on Nov 13 2026. They are not every rule. Check yours.
- Texas: landscaping and lawn care includes any work you do to maintain or improve lawns, yards and ornamental plants and trees. A self-employed person with no employees and $5,000 or less in gross receipts from these services in the most recent four calendar quarters is not taxed on them [3].
- Florida: the Department of Revenue says mowing, blowing, weed eating, edging and related services are not subject to tax. A business that plants trees, bushes and flowers is doing a real property contract and should not charge the customer tax [4].
- New York: the Tax Department lists lawn mowing and landscaping among the businesses and services subject to sales tax [5].
- Texas: applying any pesticide for hire to ornamentals, trees, lawns or weeds needs a license from the Department of Agriculture. Applying only fertilizer does not [6].
- Florida: anyone applying insecticides, herbicides or fungicides, including weed-and-feed products, as part of landscape maintenance needs a pest control business license [7]. That leaflet is undated, so check the current fees and penalties with the state.
- California: gardeners who maintain landscaping generally do not need a landscaping license. Plants and sod installs, irrigation, fences and tree pruning higher than 15 feet are on the board's list of work that does need one. The board's guide says never to pay more than 10 percent down or $1,000, whichever is less, to a licensed landscape contractor [1].
- California: from Jan 01 2025, an unlicensed person may do minor work up to $1,000 only if the work needs no permit and they employ no one [8].
- Federal: if the owner signs at their own home, the Federal Trade Commission's cooling-off rule can let them cancel until midnight of the third business day [2]. The rule has exceptions, so ask the FTC or a lawyer about yours.
This is general information, not legal or tax advice.
Checklist
Questions
Do I need a license to mow lawns or do yard work?
It depends on the state. California's contractor board says gardeners who maintain landscaping generally do not need a landscaping license, but installs, irrigation, fences and tall tree pruning do [1]. Check your own state board.
Do I charge sales tax on lawn care?
It differs. Texas taxes mowing, pruning and planting [3]. Florida says mowing, edging and similar services are not taxed [4]. New York lists lawn mowing and landscaping as subject to sales tax [5]. Ask your state tax office.
Do I charge tax on plants and mulch?
It depends on the state and on how the job is written. Florida treats planting as a real property contract, and the contractor pays tax on what it buys [4]. Texas expects taxable and nontaxable work to be stated separately [3]. Keep materials on their own lines and ask your tax office.
Can I spray weeds for customers?
Often only with a license. Texas requires one for any pesticide applied for hire to lawns, trees, ornamentals or weeds, but not for fertilizer alone [6]. Florida requires a pest control business license for herbicides and similar products [7].
How big a deposit can I ask for on an install?
It depends on the state. California's contractor board says never to pay more than 10 percent down or $1,000, whichever is less, to a licensed landscape contractor [1].
How do I price when I do not know how many hours it will take?
Give an hourly rate and a range of hours, and say you will stop and ask when you reach the top of it. Then, if the owner says yes to more time, send it as a change order.
What if a plant dies?
Write the guarantee before you plant: which plants, what is replaced, for how long, and what voids it, such as no watering. A shared watering schedule on the same page avoids most arguments.
A customer wants extra work in the middle of the job. What do I do?
Write it as its own line with a price and get a yes first. In InvoiceWren you send a change order, and the customer approves it on their phone.
Do I have to give a three-day cancellation form?
If a consumer signs at their own home for $25 or more, the Federal Trade Commission's cooling-off rule can apply, and the seller must give a completed receipt or a copy of the contract [2]. The rule has exceptions, so ask the FTC or a lawyer about your sale.
Send your next estimate from the job.
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Sources
- California Contractors State License Board: Fast Facts, Choosing the Right Landscaper. Checked .
- Code of Federal Regulations, 16 CFR 429.1: Cooling-Off Rule, unfair or deceptive acts or practices. Checked .
- Texas Comptroller: Landscaping and Lawn Care Services (publication 94-112). Checked .
- Florida Department of Revenue: Are lawn care services subject to sales tax?. Checked .
- New York State Tax Department: Do I need to register for sales tax?. Checked .
- Texas Department of Agriculture: Applying Pesticides to Ornamentals, Trees, Lawns, or Weeds. Checked .
- Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services: Certification Requirements for Commercial Landscape Maintenance Operators When Applying Pesticides. Checked .
- California Contractors State License Board: License Requirement for Minor Work Increases from $500 to $1,000 (bulletin 24-07). Checked .
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook: Grounds Maintenance Workers. Checked .
Prices and features change. We check these pages before each update. If something here is out of date, tell us at hello@invoicewren.com and we will fix it.