What is an average rate for weekly lawn cutting service? archived

I had one guy that charged me $25/cut but then tried to charge/upsell me for every drop of fertilizer and clean-ups as if they were gold. Alternatively, I had another who wants $225/month and still charges extra for cleanups but not as much for seeds, fertilizer, etc. My experience in the last ten years here in South Orange is that landscaping prices quoted are going down (why could be a separate thread). Hope that helps.

Tough question, because it's my understanding that it depends on your yard. For example, I have average yard space for Maplewood, but it's choppy - some in the front; sides and back. I love Giovinne, but he charges $160/week, as does Carmine's. Then again, I've used Glenn's Landscaping in the past, who only charged $110/week for my choppy yard, but found it impossible to communicate with him.

I hear Anthony's is more affordable, but I've seen their work and am not impressed.

I have a 50x101 lot with a front and back lawn. $30 a week. It used to be $25.

Not sure about just mowing, but we've had experiences with two companies who do full service work. We paid $250/month to a company that did great work - this was all inclusive (fertilizers, fall and spring cleanups, etc). We tried another company that was $120/month, but paid extra for everything else - it was still less for the year, but the quality of the work was off, so we switched back to the original company and are happy to pay a little extra.

Quality of service and type of landscape are really key issues--so many MSO homes have ground cover and shrubbery that also needs to be maintained (and leaves to be cleared in the fall) that a flat lawn-mowing rate isn’t necessarily helpful unless you plan to do all that other work yourself. I’d look at who does the work in your neighborhood and decide which properties look ebst and what the demeanor of the workers is. I was always pleased with Glenn’s, though he is hard to reach by phone--eventually it works out.
I am always impressed by the work Anthony’s does in my neighborhood, though I know they used to annoy me by blowing my neighbor’s leaves onto my property years ago. John Brothers seems to do good work too. I think the rate an earlier poster was discussing was monthly though, not weekly--I recall our regular Glenn’s bills as being pretty reasonable, with higher bills for spring fertilizer and fall cleanup.

I try to create a good deal for my landscaper, so I use the same service as my neighbor that way they have to unload the machinery only once. A lot of the work is simply loading and unloading the machinery, and both my neighbor and I get great service, because we are then a bigger client. You also want someone who is knowledgeable, because good maintenance can save you money in the long run.

we paid 140 ONLY for mow and blow, and they never ever did any fertilizer, nor did they ever go in the strip to the side of the house which was always overrun by weeds/grass by June. No longer use the service.

Copihue said:

I try to create a good deal for my landscaper, so I use the same service as my neighbor that way they have to unload the machinery only once. A lot of the work is simply loading and unloading the machinery, and both my neighbor and I get great service, because we are then a bigger client. You also want someone who is knowledgeable, because good maintenance can save you money in the long run.

Good point. Will inquire about the neighbor's service.

The lowest price I found was from Oriental Gardeners, owned by Muoi (MOO-ee) Nguyen. $100/month, early spring to late fall, plus an extra $100 for "spring cleanup" and again for fall leaf cleanup, plus tax. That price has been stable for many years. They also serve several of my immediate neighbors, so this may include an unspecified group discount. They may charge more for new customers, or for those not adjacent to existing customers, but worth checking out if you want to keep your costs low. 973-762-4699.

About $25/week. Extra for fertalizing and seasonal shrub trimming, which is reasonable, I think. Extra for spring cleanup.

TigerLilly said:

About $25/week. Extra for fertalizing and seasonal shrub trimming, which is reasonable, I think. Extra for spring cleanup.

Reasonable

Muoi sucks

What exactly does spring cleanup entail? My mow and cut guy sent us a bill for $250 and I can't really see how he spent more than an hour at my house.

bog said:

What exactly does spring cleanup entail? My mow and cut guy sent us a bill for $250 and I can't really see how he spent more than an hour at my house.

I believe it's along the lines of aerating the soil, trimming all shrubs, blowing stray crap off, fertilizing, edge trimming, seeding. I was home once when our guys came and they were there for over an hour - probably more like 1 1/2 hours working their asses off. That work (if I actually ever got around to doing it) would have taken me all day.

Spring cleanup and fall leaf blowing are the most amount of work. It just sucks.

Some truths learned about landscapers:

-- The size of your lawn has (almost) nothing to do with it. If they mow the neighbors on either side of you, it's going to be cheaper than if yours is the only house within a 10 minute drive of where they usually work.

-- You will get services you didn't ask for, even if you explicitly say you don't want any services you didn't ask for. You will be able to haggle your way out of it most of the time, but it will be a hassle.

-- Finding someone to simply "mow the grass" is almost impossible. Everyone will do various cleanups, fertilizer treatments, lawn massages, exorcisms, etc., and bill you accordingly.

-- I've used at least 5 different landscapers over the years. All charged me a different rate for the mowing, but when I tallied up my annual receipts, all got about the same amount of money from me for the year. Which I think is generally their goal. They take you on with the assumption they will make $ off of you for the year, and bill you for extra services accordingly.

-- Leaf blowers are a menace that shatter otherwise peaceful weekends. And we have brought this upon ourselves because we refuse to mow our own damn lawns, and have further concluded that the visible presence of a cut blade of grass or stray leaf is somehow an embarrassment that MUST NOT STAND. The one year I decided I would be righteous and mow my own lawn, thus cutting down on the noise/clippings/exhaust pollution in my neighborhood, I was the only fool out there sweating behind a lawn mower. Everyone else was enjoying their lives. So, even though I think I know better, I've come back to the fold, supporting the menace.

We use Clements Lawn Mowing. Signed up online at http://clementslawnmowing.com/. Lawn always looks nice and we have never had a problem. We get bi-weekly (every two weeks) cuts at $34.00 each.

Here is the price list: http://patrick.clementslawnmowing.com/prices/

Oriental does us and at least four neighbors for $80 or $100.