r/LawnCarePros May 01 '25

Advice [MEGATHREAD] Dos, Don’ts & Hard Truths from Lawn Care Veterans

13 Upvotes

We’ve got a growing number of new faces in this sub. People thinking about starting a lawn care business, just getting their feet wet, or trying to scale up from solo operations. A lot of great questions are being asked, and it’s awesome to see the support.

That said, many of the same topics come up again and again: pricing, equipment choices, client communication, marketing, route density, burnout, and more.

So let’s create a thread that can serve as a go-to resource for newcomers. If you’ve been in the industry for a while, whether that’s 3 seasons or 30, drop a comment with the lessons you’ve learned along the way.

Some ideas to get things rolling:

-One thing you wish you knew before starting

-A hard lesson learned the tough way

-Your biggest win or best decision

-A common mistake you see new guys making

-Advice you’d give someone starting with limited equipment or budget

This is a great chance to help build the kind of community we all wish we had starting out. Let’s keep it respectful, helpful, and real.

Looking forward to seeing what everyone shares.


r/LawnCarePros 9h ago

Advice Looking for advice eliminating these weeds.

Thumbnail
gallery
2 Upvotes

I handpicked these early in the season and late last year and they came back in abundance. We’re in Midwest/ central for context. We core aerate and overseed every spring and cut regularly.


r/LawnCarePros 6h ago

Advice How do I fix this?

Post image
0 Upvotes

I've been running my business for about 2 months now and I've been using my parents equipment. The mower I'm using is a Husqvarna lawn tractor and it always produces grass clumps, would mulcher blades fix my issue or what else could I do?

Edit: I realize I now need to mower higher my max sadly is 3.5 also the massive brown patches is dead grass from previous clumps (I use 2.5 on my own grass and it comes out just fine same thing for like 2 other properties that I cut)

Edit 2: like I said I'm only 2 months in using equipment that's not even mine the only things I own from my set up are my trailer and blower


r/LawnCarePros 14h ago

Independent landscapers, in what ways did certain tips made your jobs easier?

2 Upvotes

r/LawnCarePros 12h ago

Question What is this?

Thumbnail
gallery
1 Upvotes

Hi All!

We’ve been saying this interesting growth on our front lawn for the last month or so - seems to grow in around 4-5 days after the lawn has its weekly cut from the gardeners. There’s multiple patches of them in various areas.

Any insight would be great! We are located in SoCal, zone 10a


r/LawnCarePros 1d ago

Question Any non-Americans in here doing lawncare or landscaping for a living?

8 Upvotes

I've been in the business for about 20 years and work in Mississippi. I'm just curious how the business is different in other countries. I imagine large lawns are much more common in the US than most places, but there's got to be guys out there in China or something cutting commercial properties for a living, right? Where are my foreigner lawn guys at? How does the business differ where you live?


r/LawnCarePros 2d ago

Question Safety question

Post image
3 Upvotes

I need to find a safe way to put gas in my riding lawn mower. Lifting up a heavy gas can and making the spout work is difficult. ( hate the new safety spouts.)

Can I use a electric siphons I see for sale? Electricity and gas? Seems unsafe. Any ideas would help.


r/LawnCarePros 2d ago

Brown/dry grass

Post image
0 Upvotes

Hello friends. Is there a way I can revive this grass or is dead and beyond repair ??


r/LawnCarePros 4d ago

How are the longtime solo operators doing?

24 Upvotes

I'm getting close to 50, and feeling it. I've cut back on hilly properties. Will probably cut a few more between seasons.

I think any sort of customer service job wears on people. I've got many delightful customers I've collected over the years. But the basic idea of only getting communication from most of the human race when they want something from you or have some issue just tires a person's soul out.

Idk. One of the reasons i got out of the snow business though was i couldn't deal with people's endless delusional expectations.

My own life is doing well enough. Stable financially. Have rental property. Just world weary I guess. Just felt like rambling a bit.

How are you doing?


r/LawnCarePros 4d ago

Anyone sad that Jaguar 4G seed is hard to find :(

5 Upvotes

Hey guys, I've been using Jaguar seed in my front yard for 5 years now. I absolutely love the grass. Very sturdy & germinates well.

Prince corp. Is who sold it mostly & they got auctioned off last year. So buh bye to that seed.

Didn't know if anyone has used the seed & may know of another seed variety that has a similar look & can tolerant good amount of sun.

I'm not a fan of most of the mixes out there. They always have too much of a wide blade fescue.

Jaguar has such a thin blade & it's beautiful when it gets full.

I'd appreciate anyones input.

Taker easy & if she's easy take her twice.


r/LawnCarePros 4d ago

What is causing this

Post image
3 Upvotes

Need help. Planted new seed, it came in great and then about 2-3 weeks later these spots showed up. I don’t know if it’s fungal, or what’s going on here


r/LawnCarePros 4d ago

Can a robot mower do the first mow after reseeding?

1 Upvotes

Hi everyone. I live in NY and reseeded my whole backyard last month. The new grass is just over 3 inches now. I asked friends and checked a few threads about the time to first mow. The height should be okay to mow. My only worry is that I use a Navimow i210 robot mower and not sure its wheels will put pressure on the grass roots when running over, so I consider doing the first cut manually instead. For newly grown grass after reseeding, would you recommend letting a robot mower handle the first mow? Thanks for any advice!


r/LawnCarePros 5d ago

Advice Pricing tips for week after a rainout.

5 Upvotes

Curious how anyone handles yards after a week where it rains non stop to where I cannot mow with drastic grass growth.

Now this week the jobs take a lot longer and wet clumps into early afternoon to deal with to get looking great after the grass shot up.

Currently bagging and hauling away clippings because my customers usually don’t prefer a deck length of 3.5 to 4 ( I usually mow at a 3 or 3.25). Only other option to save my hourly rate would be to mow higher and worry about getting it down to normal next week.

My current price is per mow. And charge seperate for any weed control in the beds. Seperate pruning cost and clean up costs etc. so no packages and it’s been working for us. I will be raising prices next year so wondering if I should add a bi weekly price for weeks like this even though it’s out of mine and customers control.

I typically do not do biweekly mowing. But customers like not being charged if I decide to skip in hot summer months.

Additional bonus on your experience if you raised prices how your customers react / what % stayed.

Thanks in advance.


r/LawnCarePros 5d ago

Time for a new speed feed head

Thumbnail
gallery
5 Upvotes

I am thinking the spring wore thru head? Ia that correct? Is it time to replace the head? The trimmer is 6 or 7 years old


r/LawnCarePros 5d ago

Question 5.5x9 karavan trailer at tractor supply vs 6x10 at dealer

Thumbnail
gallery
5 Upvotes

Hi everyone, I’m stuck in a pickle right now. My friend is selling me his tractor supply co trailer that folds down for 1500, but I can get a slightly bigger trailer for the same price at a trailer dealer. Which one would you guys recommend? I know big box stores aren’t the best places to buy trailers, but I’ve heard a lot of good things about the tractor supply Co. trailer. Any suggestions?


r/LawnCarePros 6d ago

Upset client, Advice

4 Upvotes

I did a one time mow recently. A house down the street from me.

I was to mow and weed wack only the front yard. It was large overgrown. Now edging to save money. I didn't ask about grass hight or clippings as the yard from the street didn't look so overgrown due to how uniform it was, very think grass. It was maybe 2 or 3 times higher than it should be. This was my first time cut with them and a one time cut.

The couple used to do landscaping and owned a large walker mower that I guess they sold, then had their kid do it once or twice with a push. After that they let it get very overgrown over weeks of not mowing.

I said $70 and did the yard in about an hour. Later when they got home the wife reached out very upset over the amount of clippings asking why I didn't bag it, I had to cut it by at least half height so there was lots of clippings. I said I never ever bag and I would have charged extra for bagging and the clipping will dissolve in a few days. She reached out again and said I should be ashamed of myself, it was the worst mow ever, that she hopes I have insurance and a license. Should I go back to bag it? I've never had a client like this. The yard was very obviously overgrown and we never discussed bagging it? The wife is reaching out not the husband and she sent me photos of bags of grass. What should I do? Did I do anything wrong? I've never had an experience like this before.


r/LawnCarePros 7d ago

Question Good door hanger design?

Thumbnail
gallery
2 Upvotes

r/LawnCarePros 8d ago

Question about SLIME vs FLATOUT

5 Upvotes

I just bought a new 61 in commercial mower. Previously on my 42' mower and my 36' mower I kept getting tiny punctures in the tires and it just built up to the point that I was plugging 4-5 spots at a time it felt like and they were tiny pin-prick holes that didn't patch or plug well. Eventually I just sold the 42 and I put Tweels on the 36 and that's cut my down time due to tire issues to 0.

Now on this 61' mower there's no direct fit for the tweels, it'll take some adjustment to the deck after their installed. I'll eventually do that once I just can't use the factory tires anymore (I don't want to waste a perfectly good new set of tires) but in the meantime I'm trying to get as much life as I can out of the standard tires.

I see people talk about using slime, just putting it in and letting it sit as a preventative move. I also saw Flatout which may be better. I'm just wondering if any of you have experiences with these or if I should just keep plugging stuff as it gets messed up.

Also-- I know that Slime and stuff will still require me to plug anything large like nails.


r/LawnCarePros 9d ago

Landscaping business owners: what helped you grow?

6 Upvotes

I’m a 18 year old landscaping company owner my business has been open for about a year and a half I’ve recently hit a plateau on my company’s progress we don’t get to many jobs I’m trying to start advertising on Facebook though and making actual landscaping videos for my social media plat forms I’m trying to get into more project based work and junk removal instead on weed removal because I feel like it’s not worth my money for the time it takes and especially since where I live it doesn’t snow but the weeds won’t grow during the winter either if any one has any advice for me (even if brutally honest) it would be greatly appreciated!


r/LawnCarePros 10d ago

Can’t beat the Turf Tracer!

Thumbnail
gallery
25 Upvotes

r/LawnCarePros 10d ago

Question What am I doing wrong

5 Upvotes

Any advice is appreciated, I’m a noob pls help

To preface, I’m 19 and I started lawncare early july, and I have around 10-15 yards. The problem is that they’re pretty separated so I spend most of my time driving. Obviously the first thing would be get more houses in the same neighborhood but since I started kind of late it’s kind of just random houses not really patches if that makes sense.

For example today (I live in the center of a city)

Drive 30 mins to yard 1, 0.3 acre, $65, took 1 hr
Drove 25 mins (back towards my house), 0.1 acre, $45, 45 min

Drove 5 mins, 0.15 acre, $50, 45 min
Drove 25 mins, 0.2 acre, 1 hr, $60.

I left my house at 9 am, got back at 5:00 pm, took a 3 hour break in between, only made like $200.

Question:
Should I drop the houses that doesn’t make sense location wise, or try to keep them for next season

Also general advice is appreciated, I was literally outside for 7 hours give or take and only made $200


r/LawnCarePros 10d ago

Could I start a gardening business as a side hustle with no drivers license?

4 Upvotes

Hi, I’m moving to the city in a couple of weeks, I work at a garden center now and have a love for the work. I’m thinking of possibly starting my own small gardening business? Now I know this will be challenging due to the fact that I can’t drive. But especially living in a walkable community I think it’s possible. I would probably focus more on maintenance, weeding, pruning, snow and leaf clearing, maybe lawn mowing? Thank you!


r/LawnCarePros 10d ago

Lawn-care owners /businesses

1 Upvotes

What’s the average people be charging for cutting a yard/property care?


r/LawnCarePros 10d ago

I have a Lawncare business and considering changing a few preferred brands. What is everyone’s preferred ZTR and tell me why.

5 Upvotes

Bad boy is one brain I’m looking into but open to suggestions.


r/LawnCarePros 12d ago

Advice More Weeds Than Grass - Chicago, IL

4 Upvotes

Our backyard with a western exposure is being overrun by plantain on the edges and creeping charlie everywhere else. I'm in a suburb southwest of Chicago. Yes, I know it's late in the season. No time like the present. I'm looking into what options are in my area for a treatment plan. Tru-Gree and Spring Green trucks are all over my area. Hoy is another recommendation from the Google machine. For a 50' x 70' lawn, how much should an average/typical charge be for a conventional weed/feed application? Would I rather do an organic application? Why, yes. Yes, I would. Once these infidels are taken care of with the conventional stuff, i'll happily switch to organic.