Lawn mowing service cost

A lawn mowing service costs $35 to $75 a visit for a typical 5,000 square foot lawn, typically around $50, for a mow, a string trim around the edges and a blow-off of the paths. Weekly, that is $140 to $375 a month. A homeowner in Pennsylvania paying $50 a week from April to October pays for about 30 mows, or $1,500 for the season.

Crews price by minutes on site, not by square feet. A flat, open lawn behind a wide gate takes a 48 inch mower fifteen minutes. The same area broken up by beds, trees and a slope, behind a 36 inch gate, takes forty, and the quote follows the clock.

What it costs

A bigger lawn costs less per square foot. The mower is already unloaded and the drive is already paid for, so an acre at $180 works out at a fraction of a cent per square foot, while a 2,000 square foot front lawn at $35 is several times that.

Weekly or every other week

Cool-season grass in May grows one to two inches a week. The rule every decent crew works to is to remove no more than a third of the blade at a time, which on a lawn kept at three and a half inches means cutting at around five.

Every other week in spring breaks that rule. The crew cuts half the blade, the lawn goes pale and stressed for days, clippings lie in clumps that smother the grass, and the mower has to slow down to cope. That is why a mow every two weeks carries a 15 to 30% surcharge.

The saving is therefore smaller than it looks. Thirty weekly mows at $50 are $1,500. Fifteen mows at $62, one every two weeks, come to $930. You save about $570 and get a worse lawn through the months when it matters.

The sensible compromise is weekly from April to June, every other week through a dry July and August when growth slows, and weekly again in September. Many crews will agree to this if you ask, and some will not mow every other week at all in spring.

What changes the price of a visit

Beds, trees and obstacles. Every island bed and tree ring means string trimming by hand, which is the slow part of the job.

Slopes. A bank too steep for a ride-on mower is cut with a walk-behind or a trimmer, and adds 10 to 25%.

Gate width. If the commercial mower cannot get into the backyard, a smaller machine does it slowly.

Clippings. Mulching them back into the lawn is free and good for the grass. Bagging and hauling them away costs $10 to $25 a visit.

Route density. A crew already mowing three houses on your street quotes lower than one driving across town for you alone. Asking the company your neighbors use is often the cheapest quote you will get.

Region. Per-mow prices run $60 to $90 in expensive metros and $30 to $45 in small towns. In the South the season runs 40 to 45 weeks, so the same per-visit price becomes a much larger annual bill.

Per visit, monthly or a season contract

Per visit is the fairest arrangement. You pay for cuts that happen, and a skipped week in a drought costs you nothing.

Flat monthly is predictable, and it quietly charges the same for a four-mow month as a five-mow month. Over a season that usually evens out, and in a dry summer it does not.

Season prepayment earns 5 to 10% off. It is sensible with an established firm and a poor bet with a new one-man operation.

Whatever the billing, the agreement should say:

• Frequency, and whether the crew may drop to every two weeks in dry weather
• What each visit includes: mowing, trimming, edging, blowing
• Cutting height
• What happens on rain days, usually the next dry day
• Notice to cancel, typically 30 days

If you want a single contract covering mowing, treatments and clean-ups, the annual picture is on the lawn care cost page.

What goes wrong with cheap crews

Scalping. Cutting a cool-season lawn to two inches because it means fewer visits. The grass browns in the first hot week and weeds move into the thin patches.

Dull blades. Torn tips turn white-brown a day after mowing. Sharp blades cut cleanly, and a crew sharpening once a season is not sharpening often enough.

Mowing wet grass, which ruts soft soil and leaves clumps.

Trimmer damage. A string trimmer run against a young tree's bark every week will girdle and kill it within a couple of seasons. Mulch rings around trees fix this, and fresh mulch is cheaper than a new tree.

Stones through windows. Ask for proof of liability insurance even from a small crew. It costs nothing to ask, and a broken patio door costs far more.

Frequently asked questions

Why does a bigger lawn cost less per square foot to mow?

Most of the cost of a visit is fixed: loading the trailer, driving, unloading, trimming the edges. A large open lawn adds mowing time, which on a wide commercial deck is fast. A small lawn is almost all fixed cost, which is why crews have a minimum charge of $25 to $40 however small the grass.

What cutting height should I ask the mowing crew to use?

Three to four inches for cool-season lawns such as tall fescue and bluegrass, and higher still in summer heat. One to two inches for Bermuda and zoysia, and two and a half to four for St Augustine. Put the height in writing, because the default setting on a crew's mower is often lower than your lawn wants.

Will a mowing service skip visits during a drought, and do I still pay?

A good one skips, because mowing dormant grass damages it. Whether you pay depends on the contract: per-visit billing charges nothing, flat monthly billing charges the same. Ask before signing, not in August.

Should the crew bag the clippings or leave them on the lawn?

Leave them, in almost every case. Mulched clippings return nitrogen to the soil, do not cause thatch, and save the bagging charge. Bag only for the first cut of an overgrown lawn, or where a disease is spreading.

How much should I budget for mowing in the South?

The same $35 to $75 a visit, over a season of 40 to 45 weeks rather than 30, so $1,400 to $3,400 a year for a typical lawn. In Florida and southern Texas, some crews mow year-round at a reduced winter frequency.