Step-by-step guide to starting a successful Gardeners business.
Basic garden maintenance is usually unlicensed, but pesticide or herbicide application typically requires certification, and tree work beyond a certain size often falls under arborist rules — requirements vary by location. Liability insurance is essential regardless, since you're working with sharp tools on other people's property.
Recurring rounds are the business: predictable income, dense routes, and customers who stop shopping around. One-off cleanups and landscaping pay better per day and are the natural front door — price them well, then convert every one-off customer to a maintenance schedule before you leave.
Charge by the visit or the job rather than a bare hourly rate, and cost in travel, green-waste disposal fees, and equipment wear — the three things new gardeners forget until margins vanish. Quote in person for anything overgrown; photos hide the worst of it every time.
It depends on visit length and how tightly your rounds cluster — a gardener with thirty customers on five streets out-earns one with thirty scattered across a city. Prioritize filling streets you already visit before accepting distant work, and raise prices or hire when your rounds are genuinely full.