How to Bid Landscaping Jobs: A Step-by-Step Guide for Small Crews

To bid a landscaping job, measure the areas involved, break the work into tasks, estimate labor hours for each using your crew's production rates, add materials with markup, include equipment, delivery and disposal, apply your overhead and profit, and present it as a clear proposal. Most landscaping bids that lose money miss one of three things: access, disposal or material markup.

Step 1: Measure and document the site

Record square footage of beds and lawn, linear feet of edging, the number and size of plants to remove or install, slopes and access width for machines. Photos of every area help you remember details later, and let you bid small jobs without a visit. See how to estimate a job from photos.

Step 2: Break the job into tasks

For example: remove old shrubs, regrade beds, install edging, plant 12 shrubs, spread 6 yards of mulch, clean up. Each task has its own production rate.

Step 3: Estimate labor hours

Use your own history. How long does your crew take to spread a yard of mulch, plant a 3-gallon shrub, or install 100 feet of edging? Multiply by crew size and your burdened labor rate. Add travel and setup time. See labor burden rate.

Step 4: Price materials with markup

Quantity every material: cubic yards of mulch, soil or stone; plant counts by size; edging, fabric and stakes. Add your markup; materials involve buying, hauling and warranty risk. See mulch installation cost per yard and markup vs margin.

Step 5: Equipment, delivery and disposal

Include machine time or rental, delivery fees, and dump fees for green waste, soil and debris. These are the most common silent losses on landscaping bids.

Step 6: Overhead and profit

Add your overhead recovery and profit margin. Check the result against what similar jobs have sold for. See average contractor profit margin by trade.

Step 7: Present the bid

Show scope in plain language, options (for example, mulch refresh only vs full bed renovation), timeline, warranty on plants, and payment terms. Faster is better: Fast Snap Pro builds an itemized landscaping estimate from customer photos using your price book, so smaller bids go out the same day. See also the landscaping estimate template and landscaping estimating software.

Example: labor math for a mulch job

If your two-person crew installs about 1.5 cubic yards of mulch per crew-hour including edging touch-ups, and your burdened crew rate is $110 per hour:

Line item	How it's priced	Example
Mulch material (8 cu yd)	Cost + markup	$400
Install labor (8 ÷ 1.5 ≈ 5.3 crew-hrs)	Crew-hours × $110	$587
Delivery	Supplier fee	$75
Weeding and bed prep (2 crew-hrs)	Crew-hours × $110	$220
Travel and setup (0.75 crew-hr)	Crew-hours × $110	$83
Total		$1,365

Illustrative numbers only. Use your own rates, production times and local costs.

Production rates to track for your crew

Your bids are only as good as your production rates. Industry averages are a starting point, but your crew, equipment and local soil matter more. Time these tasks on real jobs and keep a running average:

Task	Unit to track	What changes the rate
Mulch install	Cubic yards per crew-hour	Wheelbarrow distance, bed density, slopes
Planting	Plants per hour, by pot size	Soil type, rocks, roots
Edging install	Linear feet per hour	Material type, curves
Sod install	Square feet per crew-hour	Grading needed, access
Shrub removal	Shrubs per hour, by size	Root mass, disposal distance
Bed cleanup	Square feet per hour	Weed density, leaf load

Review these numbers every season. If a crew is consistently faster than the rate you bid, you're either leaving money on the table or have room to be more competitive on price.

Five landscaping bid mistakes that cost money

1. Bidding by the yard without counting wheelbarrow distance. A backyard bed 150 feet from the driveway takes far longer than a front bed by the curb.
2. Forgetting dump fees. Green waste, soil and rock all have disposal costs that change by location.
3. Not marking up plants. Plants carry replacement risk if they die under warranty. Price that risk in.
4. Under-pricing small jobs. Use a job minimum to cover travel, loading and setup.
5. Vague scope. "Clean up beds" means different things to different customers. List what's included and what isn't.

How to win more landscaping bids without dropping your price

• Respond fast. Homeowners often hire whoever sends a clear quote first. See speed to lead.
• Offer good/better/best options: a mulch refresh, a refresh plus new plantings, or a full bed renovation.
• Include photos and a simple sketch so the customer can picture the result.
• Follow up two or three days after sending. See how to follow up on an estimate.
• Sell maintenance at the end of an install. A new bed is the best moment to offer seasonal care.

Frequently asked questions

How do landscapers calculate labor costs?

By estimating hours per task from their production history, multiplying by crew size and a burdened hourly rate that includes taxes, insurance and benefits.

What should a landscaping bid include?

Scope by area, materials and quantities, labor, equipment, disposal, timeline, plant warranty, total price and payment terms.

How do I bid a commercial landscaping contract?

Price per visit or per month from measured areas and service frequency, add seasonal services separately, and include contract length and terms.

Should I charge for landscape design in a bid?

Many landscapers charge a design fee for detailed plans and credit it toward the installation if the customer hires them. Simple bed refreshes and cleanups usually don't need a separate design fee.

How long should a landscaping bid be valid?

Thirty days is common, with a note that plant and material prices may change after that. See how long a quote should be valid.