What Do Landscapers Do in the Winter? 15 Fall & Winter Landscaping Services to Keep a Steady Income

1. Yard cleanup services

By the end of summer, organic matter and debris like leaves, weeds, trash, and rotting fruit can make a real mess of client lawns. They can lead to fungi, mold, or unwanted pests left unattended. 

Yard cleanup is a popular and easy-to-add-on service. The perfect time to offer it is late summer to mid fall. Although really you could offer it year-round. For example, after storms or if a client has left their yard unattended for a long time. 

Try offering a fall cleanup towards the end of your seasonal lawn mowing contract. Most homeowners want to enjoy the last days of summer instead of working on their lawns and will be grateful to keep their grass looking fresher, longer.

 A typical fall yard clean service will include:

• Leaf and debris removal
• Removing dead plants
• Lawn mowing
• Garden bed cleanup
• Pruning and trimming trees or bushes on the property
• Weed control
• Tidying any other outdoor areas (e.g., sweeping decks and patios)

Pro Tip: Give your customers flexibility by offering your fall landscaping services as optional line items on estimates. Adding options lets customers select the services that best fit their needs.

With quotes made in Jobber, customers can see their quotes automatically and update them with the line items they want before they approve. The best part? Clients can accept with no back-and-forth revisions required.

2. Winter lawn prep

Your customers have invested top dollar to keep their property in tip-top shape throughout the summer. Don’t let that investment go to waste during the winter. 

Winter lawn prep and maintenance ensures your clients’ lawns can withstand damage caused by harsh weather and are more likely to bounce back in the spring.

Offer a comprehensive winter lawn prep package that includes:

• Draining all sprinklers and hoses to avoid freezing
• Aerating the soil by dethatching the lawn
• Pruning trees and shrubs and wrapping plants in burlap
• Removing all leaves, weeds, and debris from the lawn
• Removing dead grass, leaves, and plants from flower beds
• Keeping the lawn dry to prevent snow mold build-up
• Removing and storing all patio furniture
• Once February rolls around and the ground begins to thaw, offer debris removal and fertilizing to make lawn mowing easier in the spring and summer

3. Leaf removal contracts

Most people associate raking leaves with the fall. In reality, leaf removal is often needed well into winter to keep lawns healthy and prevent snow mold.

Best of all, clearing fallen leaves off the grass often requires multiple visits, as some trees can take months to lose all of their foliage. A lawn care contract that includes leaf removal can help you secure steady work and income.

Reach out to customers with large or multiple trees on their properties. Faced with a bigger job, these customers are often willing to pay for recurring leaf removal services.

4. Winter weed removal

Some types of weeds, such as chickweed, henbit, and shepherd’s purse, thrive in the cold and begin germinating and growing in late fall and early winter. 

Stand out from the competition by offering weed removal for these fall and winter irritants. Preventative measures will help stop the spread of weeds and make your job much easier once spring rolls back around.

With all the right tools already in your arsenal, starting a weed removal service can be a great addition to your lawn care business during any season.

5. Snow removal

Many lawn care service providers transition their business in winter by offering snow removal services.

While snow plowing may seem like a natural fit, starting a snow removal business can require a substantial investment in snow plows, salters, and snow plow insurance. (Not to mention the added wear and tear on your work trucks.)

If you’re not ready to front the added costs needed to plow parking lots, you could offer residential snow removal services to your existing lawn-mowing clients. Use a shovel or snow blower to plow sidewalks and driveways until you’re ready to invest more.

READ MORE: How to run a successful snow removal business

6.  Christmas light installs and takedowns

Homeowners are always looking for that gorgeous light display without the hassle. Starting a holiday lights installation business can provide a couple of months of winter work for landscapers during the slow, cold weather months.

Kirk Brown, Owner of Kirk’s Lawn Care, saw Christmas lights installation as an opportunity to extend his business and bring in extra income over the holiday season. Dynamic Celebration Lighting offers all-inclusive holiday lighting installation, maintenance, takedown, and storage.

Using a professional website as the base for his winter business, Kirk attracts both commercial and residential clients with a high-quality photo gallery and a simple quote request form.

7. Winter mulching

Winter mulching should be on your landscaping services list as yet another way to generate winter income for landscapers. Mulch acts as a layer of insulation to keep the ground frozen and plants dormant, especially throughout brief, warm-temperature spikes.

For best results, offer mulching to protect perennial plants from cold weather damage once the ground has hardened or after the first hard frost. Winter mulching can also block weeds and pests from penetrating the surface of your soil.

8. Gutter cleaning

Waiting too long to clean out leaves and other debris from your gutters can have costly impacts, resulting in roof leaks or structural damage to your property.

With no major investment in landscaping tools or equipment required (all you need is a sturdy ladder), gutter cleaning can be a winning addition to your lawn care services repertoire.

9. Plant trees and shrubs

Cooler temperatures make labor-intensive jobs such as planting young trees and shrubs much more comfortable. As long as the ground isn’t frozen, winter is a good time to plant trees or shrubs for your customers.

While the typical range for plant installations is between $1,251 and $6,058, some professional landscapers will charge anywhere from $300 to $10,800. That means a few large-scale planting gigs could get you through the slow winter season.

10. Pressure washing

Early spring and fall are good times to offer pressure washing services. Offer to pressure wash pergolas, fences, patios, decks, planters, and driveways to clear off any grime or dirt that may have built up over the summer or winter months.

Depending on the scope and surface area, the average pressure washing prices range from $55 to $600. And since pressure washers are fairly affordable (starting around $150), adding pressure washing to your service list is a small investment with big rewards.

11. Firewood delivery

Firewood delivery is an excellent way to stay active during the fall and winter months. It shouldn’t add too many additional costs since you can use your existing vehicles to transport the product. 

Whether you’ve collected a haul of firewood over the course of the spring and summer from tree removals or know a firewood provider in need of delivery services, this is a great way to expand your service offerings to existing and new clients. 

Firewood delivery is also great for repeat business so you can lock down delivery commitments for the entire season. If you’ve already got a solid scheduling and appointment booking system, you’re off to the races.

12. Indoor plant care

You’re already a pro at taking care of lawns and landscaping outdoors, so why not apply that to the greenery inside? Help existing or new clients with watering, pruning, plant selection and recommendations, and any other maintenance needs they have for their indoor plants.

And since indoor plants need attention all fall and winter, you can set up regular visits (and payments) to keep your business active and your clients happy.

13. Reach out to existing clients

If your fall landscape schedule still isn’t full, take advantage of this slower time to build relationships and start filling in next year’s calendar. 

Past customers already know and trust your services but are busy people, too. If you don’t stay connected, they might not even realize what services you offer that they can book.

First, use your CRM (customer relationship management) software to analyze and segment your client list—are there clients you haven’t serviced in a while? Or, do you have any clients that you have a really good relationship with and you think they might like some new offerings?

Next, send an email to either announce a new service, offer a seasonal promotion, or find out if they’d like to lock in any big landscaping projects before your summer schedule starts to fill up.

With Jobber Campaigns, you can choose from pre-made templates, customize them with your service details, and target specific client segments.

14. Generate new leads

Once your current leads are exhausted, it’s time to start marketing to new clients. 

Robbie Ackley, Owner-Operator of Ackley’s Property Services LLC, uses slower periods to practice lead outreach.

“We work to grow our business by sending out letters to commercial accounts about being put on their list of bidders.”

A few other ways to boost your marketing during a slow season include:

• Asking customers for positive reviews
• Updating your website 
• Designing new lawn care ads
• Setting up profiles on lead generation websites

Pro Tip: Book new leads without lifting a finger. Jobber’s online booking feature enables users to receive leads directly from your landscaping website, your business Facebook profile, and Google Search.

15. Work on your business, not in it

Finally, if adding new exterior services isn’t on your roadmap this year, don’t sweat it. You can do lots during the winter months to work on your business instead of in it. 

As an entrepreneur, you’ll find that there is no slow season—just a different kind of growth season. 

So, what else do landscapers do during the winter? Here are some productive ways to prepare your business for serious growth in the New Year:

• Assess your business spending: Take a good look at your overhead and material costs. Now could be a good time to negotiate with your suppliers to squeeze out a higher profit margin.
• Rethink your pricing strategy: Are your prices competitive? How can you be more profitable? Would better bundles attract more customers? Give your pricing strategy a look to make sure you’re generating the revenue you deserve.
• Pricing new services: To get the most out of new services for any season, make sure you price them to cover costs and earn a profit. For pricing formulas and benchmarks, read how to price lawn care services. 
• Put new systems in place: Is your CRM working for you? How about your invoicing software? Get up to date on the best apps for lawn care businesses to keep your business running smoothly.
• Clean and maintain your tools: Landscaping tools aren’t cheap—so treat them right. Use quiet days to take stock of your inventory and do any necessary repairs. 
• Hire and train the best lawn care professionals: Spend your off-season hiring and training lawn care employees for the spring season.
• Listen to your customers: When it comes to winter landscaping services, get creative and observe what your customers need most. Your next high-margin service could be something you haven’t even thought of.

READ MORE: How to grow a landscaping business