Gardens & grounds / Planting
Price a planting job
Enter the plants and labour. A zero plant charge works when the customer supplies them.
Describe the job instead
Your estimate / USD
Planting job
Enter plants.
How it works
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Use your own rates, times and measurements.
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What it covers: Price plants and labour separately, with optional soil, mulch and preparation.
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How to price a planting job
A planting quote has two main parts: the plants and the labour to put them in. Keeping them separate makes it easy to quote when the customer supplies their own plants. Extras such as soil, mulch, site preparation, old plant removal and delivery are added as single charges.
- Count the plants included in the job and set a charge per plant. Enter zero if the customer is supplying the plants.
- Estimate the labour: how many gardeners, the hours for each person (not combined hours) and your hourly rate per gardener.
- If you are unsure of the hours, open Work out the hours from the plants and enter how many plants one gardener plants per hour. It splits the time across your gardeners and rounds up to the nearest quarter hour. The calculator then multiplies gardeners by hours by your hourly rate for the labour cost.
- Add single charges for soil and compost, mulch, site preparation beyond planting, old plant removal and plant delivery, where they apply.
- Add a separate travel charge if you use one, then add tax at the rate that applies to your business.
Tips and common mistakes
- Your charge per plant should cover the purchase cost plus your time to source, collect and handle the plants, and the risk of losses.
- Size matters more than count. Larger pots and advanced plants take longer to dig in, so adjust your labour hours rather than using one fixed time per plant.
- Agree what happens if customer-supplied plants fail. Make clear that your labour covers planting, not the health of plants you did not supply.
- Price ground preparation separately. Hard, compacted or weedy soil can take longer than the planting itself.
Questions
How much should I charge to plant plants?
Add the plant cost, if you supply them, to your labour cost, which is gardeners multiplied by hours and your hourly rate. Then add soil, mulch, preparation, removal of old plants and delivery as separate lines. Base your rates on your own costs and local prices.
How do landscapers price planting?
Most work out the plant supply and the labour separately, then add materials and extras. This makes it easy to adjust the quote if the client buys the plants or wants a different plant size. It also shows the client where the money goes.
Should I charge less if the customer supplies the plants?
Leave the plant charge out, but keep your labour, preparation and travel the same. You may also want to state that you cannot guarantee plants you did not supply.
How long does it take to plant a garden bed?
It depends on the number and size of plants, the soil condition and how much preparation is needed. Use timings from similar jobs you have done and estimate hours for each gardener. Inspect the soil first, as hard ground can slow the work a lot.
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