How to get more landscaping and garden work
Landscaping and gardening are seasonal, visual and local. The businesses that stay busy plan the year rather than the week, show their work well, and build a base of regular customers who keep the diary full when project work is slow.
Plan the year, not the week
People start thinking about their gardens in late winter and early spring, and the big projects are often booked well before the weather turns. Make sure your website and Google profile are up to date before then, with your best recent work at the front.
Autumn and winter still bring work: hedge cutting, clearances, fence repairs after storms, and bare-root planting, which runs roughly from November to March. Say on your website that you take this work, and remind past customers about it.
Landscaping and maintenance are two different businesses
Patios, turf, fencing and planting schemes are one-off projects sold on photos and trust. Regular maintenance, such as fortnightly mowing and seasonal tidies, is steady income sold on reliability. Both are worth having, and they need different pages on your website.
Maintenance rounds work best when the gardens are close together. Ask existing customers whether their neighbours would like the same, and fill the days you are already in that area.
Photos sell gardens
Take a before photo, a few during, and an after from the same spot. A finished garden photographed in good light, with the tools cleared away, is the most persuasive thing you can show a customer. Put the best on your website and Google profile, with a line saying where and what the job was.
Explain the work customers never see
A patio is only as good as what is underneath it, and drainage problems show up years later. Customers cannot judge that from a photo, so explain it: how you prepare the ground, how you handle levels and drainage, and why that matters. It is the clearest way to justify a higher price than the cheapest quote.
Be clear about what you do and do not do
Say whether you design as well as build, whether you take away green waste, and whether you do tree work. If larger tree work goes to a tree surgeon, say so. Customers like knowing where they stand, and you avoid enquiries you would only turn down.
Work with builders and agents
After an extension or new build, gardens often need putting back together, and builders like a landscaper who will follow on without fuss. Estate agents and landlords need tidy gardens before a sale or a new tenancy. Both bring repeat work once they know you are reliable.
Reviews with photos
Ask for a Google review when the job is finished and the customer is enjoying the result. Reviews that mention the type of job, such as a patio or a new lawn, help when people search for that job in your area.
Common questions
- When do landscapers get busiest?
- Usually spring and early summer, with enquiries starting in late winter. Plan your marketing for before then rather than when you are already busy.
- How do I get regular garden maintenance customers?
- Offer a regular slot to every one-off customer, ask them about neighbours, and keep rounds close together so the travel is short.
- Does a gardener need a website?
- Many people look for a gardener on their phone and check photos of work before they call. A simple website with your area, services and real photos does that job and works alongside your Google profile.
If you would rather somebody just did it
I build websites for self-employed tradesmen and small businesses across the UK: £249.99 to build, then £49.99 a month to host, maintain and update it. The sites I have built show on page one of Google for 103 searches between them, in Search Console.