Pricing Landscape Maintenance

Term: Cost Analysis

Plant: Rhododendron

Rhododendron

• Plant type: Evergreen Flowering Shrub • USDA Hardiness Zones: 4a to 7a • Height & Spread: 4 – 8’" to 96" • Exposure: partial shade • Bloom Color: Lavender, Pink, Red• Bloom Time: Late spring• Leaf Color: Green • Growth Rate: slow • Landscape Uses: Border, Massing, Specimen,

Woodland garden • Special Features: Blooms are very showy • Same genus as azalea – larger leaves & larger blooms

Cost Analysis

• A process that a landscape firm undertakes to:– Assure all costs are accounted for– Provide a fair price to the client– Allow for comparison of profitability of different

tasks– Compare the efficiency of different crews

performing the same task

“No job is too big or small”

• Maybe, maybe not, depending on cost analysis

• Companies need to take the jobs that return the greatest profit for the labor invested

Cost Analysis Includes

• List of all tasks to be performed• Total sq footage area involved• Number of time the service is performed each

year• Time required to complete the task once• Time required to complete the task annually• Cost of all materials required for each task• Cost of all labor required for each task

Unit Pricing

• Method requires time to set up• Company has flat rates for time that they apply

to all jobs• Need raw data to compute• Examples

– It takes one person 15 min to cut 1 acre on a zero turn

– It takes a team of 2 people 15 minutes to plant a shrub in a 5 gallon container

– It takes one person 30 minutes to fertilize a ¼ acre yard with a rotary spreader

Problem 1How much does it cost to mow 10,000

sq ft with a 18” mower 30 times/yr?

• Takes 5 min to mow 1,000 sq ft, laborer is paid $7.00/hr

• Set up your ratio:• Cross multiply: 5 X 10,000 = ? X 1000• Divide 50,000÷1000 = 50 min to mow each time• $7/hour = 7÷60 = $.12/min• 50 min X $.12 = $5.83 each time• $5.83 x 30times each year is $174.90

5 min1,000 sq ft

=? min

10,000 sq ft1,000 sq ft

Problem 2How much does it cost to mulch a 30 X

8 foot garden bed 3” deep• Mulch costs $20/yard• It takes 60 min to mulch 1000 sq ft• Laborer’s wages are $8.00/hr• Mulch in Spring and Fall• Material Cost:

– ? Yards: 30 x 8 x 3/12 =180sq ft÷27=6.6 cu yds– 6.6 X $20 = $132.00

• Labor Cost:– 30 x 8÷1000 = .24 X 60/60= .24 hrs– Wages = .24 X 8 = $1.92

• Total Cost = $132 + $1.92 = $133.92 x 2 times year = $267.84

Problem 1

• Use the calculator on the website• How much would it cost the contractor to

maintain this home:• ¼ acre lot (about 100’ x 100’), lots of bushes,

mow every week from Apr 1 to Oct 15. Mulch 50’X 3’ flower bed 3” deep every Spring

• Given:– 5 min to mow 1000 ft, hourly wage $8.00– 1 hour to mulch 1000 ft, same wage, mulch is $30/yd

Problem 2• How much would it cost the contractor to

maintain this home:• 1/2 acre lot (about 150’ x 150’), mow with 0turn,

mow every week from Apr 1 to Oct 15. Fertilize & aerate every October.

• Given:– 3 min to mow 1000 ft on zero turn, hourly wage $8.00– Fertilizer costs $25/1000ft, takes ½ hour/1000ft– Aerator rents for $50/hr, takes 1/2 hour/1000ft, same

wage– 1 hour to mulch 1000 ft, same wage, mulch is $30/yd