Get Quotes from Top Lawn Care Companies in Philadelphia, PA

How Long Have You Been in the Lawn Care Business in Philadelphia?

When choosing a lawn care company in Philadelphia, the company's longevity and reputation are essential factors you must consider. Usually, companies that have been in business for a long time, preferably not less than two years, maintain a reputation for producing consistent results through their experienced and qualified landscaper employees.

Compared to their less experienced counterparts, these individuals are more knowledgeable about properly caring for garden plants and native grasses in Philadelphia. Some of the types of garden plants that are commonly found in lawns throughout the city include:

• Swamp Milkweed
• Small Sundrops
• English Ivy Gold Child
• Winterberry
• Tulip trees
• Ninebark
• Summersweet
• Italian Jasmine
• Canna Lily
• Joe-Pye weed
• White wood aster
• Wildflower
• Maidenhair Fern
• Butterfly weed

Hiring a reputable and long-lasting lawn care company can help reduce the chances of getting lured into a home improvement scam. It is estimated that US consumers spend more than $400 billion annually on home improvement and repairs. To this end, you should hire a well-established and long-running lawn care company to minimize your chances of getting ripped off by fraudulent home improvement companies.

However, before you hire a lawn care company, make sure that you ask for references from past clients. Even if the company has existed for a long time, you should not overlook requesting references. Also, check the company's history and customer reviews on various online platforms such as Better Business Bureau, Yelp, and Google Review.

Do You Hold Any Professional Qualifications Relevant to Lawn Care?

One of the most important factors you should consider when choosing a lawn care contractor is their professional qualifications in lawn care services related to your project. Although there are no licensing requirements for lawn care contractors and landscape professionals in Philadelphia, they are still expected to follow certain state and local regulations when providing their services. For instance, to apply pesticides in the city, your preferred lawn care company must possess a commercial applicator pesticide certification issued by the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture.

To become certified, candidates must complete one core exam and one category exam offered through the PaPlants website. Successful candidates must attend training programs to maintain their certification. You can check if your intended lawn care company has the necessary certification to apply pesticides to your lawn via the Pesticide Business/Applicator Lookup tool provided by the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture. For more information regarding the certification process you can contact the department at (717) 787-4737.

Per the Home Improvement Consumer Protection Act (HICPA), lawn care contractors who provide home improvement services worth more than $500 in Philadelphia must register as home improvement contractors with the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office. It is unlawful for lawn care contractors to offer home improvement services without registering with the Attorney General's Office. However, lawn care companies with a total cash value of home improvement services worth less than $5000 in the previous taxable year may be exempted from the state registration.

To register a home improvement contractor in Philadelphia, the lawn care contractor can complete the registration process online or mail a pdf Home Improvement Contractor Registration Application Form to:

Applicants must then pay a non-refundable registration fee and provide proof of their insurance. The attorney general's office may also request additional documents at the time of the registration. Queries related to the registration of home improvement contractors in Philadelphia can be directed to the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office at (717) 772-2425. Before you hire a lawn care company carrying out services worth more than $500, you should confirm they have been registered as a home improvement contractor in Philadelphia. You can confirm through the Verify Contractor Registration tool provided by the Attorney General's Office.

Aside from being required to have a license and registering with city or state agencies, many Philadelphia lawn care contractors and professional landscapers also have voluntary certifications in fields like organic farming and arboriculture from organizations like:

• The National Association of Landscape Professionals
• The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society - Philadelphia
• The Professional Grounds Management Society
• The Pennsylvania Landscape & Nursery Association
• The International Society of Arboriculture

When your lawn care contractor claims to possess a voluntary certification, make sure that you ask for proof. Also, take steps to authenticate this certificate with the issuing organization.

How Much Do You Charge Compared to Other Lawn Care Companies in the City?

To maintain the aesthetics of your lawn in Philadelphia, it is best to hire the services of skilled lawn care professionals. How much you will pay for lawn care services in the city is dependent on various factors, such as:

• The nature and scope of the required services
• The size of your lawn
• The type of equipment and materials required for the job
• The labor intensity of the required services
• Your locality within the city
• Lawn features and obstacles, like steep hills, trees, fences, and rocks
• The frequency of the required lawn care services

Professional lawn care contractors in Philadelphia use one of the following pricing structures to determine their charges:

• Per Hour: This pricing structure allows the lawn care contractor to set an hourly rate for the work they perform on your lawn. It can be as low as $25 per hour or as high as $85 per hour, depending on the scope and nature of the job.
• Per Square Foot: This type of pricing structure allows the lawn care contractor to charge their clients for every square foot of their lawn that they work on. It typically costs between $4 - $14 per square foot.
• Per Visit/Per Project: This pricing structure allows the lawn care contractor to charge a flat fee for each service they provide. Depending on the nature of their work, the fees of lawn care companies can range from $50 to $1,000 per visit.

When looking to hire a professional lawn care company in Philadelphia, it is important that you first get and compare cost estimates of multiple lawn care companies. Doing so will provide you with several benefits, such as:

• Giving you a fair idea of the current market rate for the services you require
• Protecting you from being overcharged by unscrupulous lawn care companies
• Helping you spot fraudulent lawn care contractors easily

Lawn care contractors in Philadelphia earn an average wage of $37,060 annually. The list below compares the average wages earned by these contractors per hour against the average hourly wages of lawn care contractors in other parts of Pennsylvania and also in other locations across the United States:

What Is Included in Your Lawn Care Program?

In Philadelphia, lawn care companies provide various types of services to home and property owners, including:

• Shrub and hedge trimming
• Shrub and tree planting
• Flower services
• Mulching
• Pest control
• Irrigation system maintenance and repair
• Tree trimming
• Garden cleanup and debris removal
• Lawn aeration
• Lawn seeding
• Lawn mowing
• Lawn fertilization
• Weed control
• Landscape design
• Retaining wall installation
• Leaf blowing

When planning to hire a lawn care company in the city, you should know the extent of the services they are planning on offering. Some lawn care contractors will try to get their clients to sign up for their services by pitching low-cost programs, knowing that their current clients will require more services in the future. As such, before you start working with a lawn care company, it is important that you have the necessary information about the scope and nature of their services and the cost of their offerings. This will allow you to avoid misunderstandings with them later on.

In Philadelphia, lawn care companies offer two main types of packages, namely:

• Basic Lawn Care Services: A basic lawn care program can help improve the appearance of your lawn. However, the lawn's overall health will not be improved. Some basic services a lawn care company can provide include lawn mowing, bush trimming, and garden cleanup.
• Full-Service Lawn Maintenance: These services will help improve the appearance of your lawn and its health. This service includes basic and additional services such as tree trimming and pruning, fertilization, lawn disease remediation, and weed control.

Below are the estimated costs of various lawn care services that are commonly included in Philadelphia lawn care programs:

Do You Provide Organic Lawn Care Services?

Organic lawn care involves using natural and animal-based chemicals and substances that are not harmful to the environment. Instead of using chemicals, such as pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides, these lawn care providers use organic materials, such as seaweed, manure, and potash, to maintain the lawn. An organic lawn care system is designed to provide a safe environment for pets and children. It also reduces the number of harmful chemicals released into the atmosphere.

If you are environmentally sensitive or have a pet that will frequently play in your yard, you should find out if your preferred local organic lawn care company provides such services. This way, you will be able to limit the exposure of your kids and pets to harmful chemicals.

Note that organic lawn care is typically more labor-intensive than regular lawn care services and can also be more expensive. Nonetheless, this type of lawn care also has several benefits, such as:

• It minimizes soil and water pollution
• It reduces the vulnerability of your soil to pests and diseases
• It utilizes biodegradable substances
• It is safe for children and pets
• It makes your lawn healthier
• It saves you money in the long run
• It improves plant root growth
• No risk of over-application
• It revitalizes your lawn's ecosystem
• It assists the photosynthesis process

Do You Offer a Warranty for Plants Installed?

When planning to hire a lawn care company, it is important to consider the plant warranties they provide, especially if the services they offer include the installation of seeds, plants, or sod. These warranties are important to ensure that the plants will flourish and thrive after they have been placed on your lawn. You should be cautious about continuing with a lawn care company that does not offer these guarantees.

Although the plant installation warranty terms and scope vary depending on the company, most professional lawn care firms in Philadelphia offer one-year limited warranties. These cover areas such as residential and commercial properties, but they will not cover in situations such as:

• Damage caused by lack of proper plant care and maintenance on the part of the home or property owner
• Damage caused by animals.
• Damage caused by natural disasters like earthquakes and floods and acts of vandalism

Since these plants and flowers are organic and require proper care, many lawn care companies also provide certain conditions that must be followed for their plant warranties to remain valid. These include:

• Mowing schedules and acceptable mowing heights
• Watering schedules
• Fertilization requirements

As such, before you hire a lawn care company, it is important that you thoroughly understand the terms and conditions of the plant warranty that they provide. Doing so will allow you to avoid voiding the terms of the warranty.

Do You Carry the Necessary Insurance Policy for Lawn Care Companies in the City?

Before hiring a lawn care company and its lawn care contractors in Philadelphia, ensure that you confirm they are adequately insured. Unforeseen and potentially costly expenses can occur due to the actions of your lawn care contractors and workers if they are not insured. The use of mowers by lawn care contractors alone is estimated to cause over 87,000 injuries annually and over 70 deaths. Meanwhile, if your lawn contractor is insured, you will be protected from incurring these expenses and liabilities.

Note that per the Home Improvement Consumer Protection Act, lawn care contractors registered as home improvement contractors in Philadelphia are required to carry two types of insurance

• Personal injury in an amount not less than $50,000
• Property damage in an amount not less than $50,000

To this end, before you sign any contract with a lawn care company, make sure that you ask for proof of insurance. This will allow you to confirm that they are adequately insured. You should also ask if their general liability insurance will cover your services. You should contact the relevant insurance company to authenticate the proof. You can also contact the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office at (888) 520-6680 to get more information about the mandatory insurance requirements for lawn care companies registered as home improvement contractors in Philadelphia.