Lawn Care Contract Template

What is a lawn care contract?

A lawn care contract (or lawn service agreement) sets out a season of work for one property: which services, how often, the price, when the season starts and ends, how the customer pays, and how either side can end it. Both of you sign it before the first visit.

For a lawn business it does two jobs. It locks in a customer for the season, so you can plan routes and crews in spring. And it settles the usual arguments, rain days, skipped weeks, extra work and cancellations, before they happen.

A starting point, not legal advice. This template is a plain-language example, not legal advice. Contract, consumer and pesticide rules differ by province and state, so have a lawyer check it for where you work before you use it.

Lawn care contract template: fill it in online

Fill in the services and the season. The agreement on the right updates as you type: each service is visits × price per visit, the season total adds them up, and if you pick monthly payments it splits the total over the months in the season.

Press Print or save as PDF and choose Save as PDF. It prints with signature lines for you and the customer.

Download the lawn care contract template (.docx)

The Word file has more clauses than the online version (chemical applications, insurance, late payment) as [bracketed] fields you fill in or delete. It opens in Word, Google Docs (File, Open, Upload) and LibreOffice.

What to include in a lawn care contract

• The parties and the property: your business, the customer and the service address.
• The season: a start and end date.
• Each service, how often and the price: mowing weekly, cleanups once, fertilizer four times, and so on.
• Payment: per visit, equal monthly payments or the season up front, and when invoices are due.
• Weather and skipped visits: what happens when it rains, or the grass stops growing in a drought.
• Extra work: quoted separately and only done with the customer’s OK.
• Access and the property: gates, pets, and marking sprinkler heads and buried cables.
• Chemicals, if you apply any: following the label and local rules, and telling the customer first.
• Cancellation: how much notice either side gives and what is owed.
• Renewal: whether it ends with the season or rolls over.
• Signatures and dates from both of you.

Pricing a seasonal lawn care contract

Price each service per visit, count the visits in the season, and add them up. Then decide how the customer pays:

For a season from April 15 to October 31, that is 7 calendar months, so monthly payments are $2,070 ÷ 7 = $295.71, with the last one $295.74 to make up the rounding. Monthly payments are easier for the customer and give you steady cash, but you collect for the spring and fall before you do all the work in between, so say in the contract how skipped visits are credited. The prices here are examples, not price advice.

How to set up a lawn care contract, step by step

1. Walk the property. Measure the lawn, note slopes, gates, beds and obstacles, and ask what the customer wants done.
2. Choose the services and frequency. List each service, how often, and the number of visits in the season.
3. Price each service per visit. Multiply visits by price for each service and add them up for the season total.
4. Pick the payment terms. Per visit, equal monthly payments or the season in advance, and when invoices are due.
5. Fill in the template and have it checked. Add the season dates, cancellation notice and any other terms. Have a lawyer check your version once for your province or state.
6. Sign before the first visit. Send it as a PDF or print it. You and the customer sign and date it, and each keeps a copy.

Need the lawn size first? The square footage calculator works out the area from measurements.

Questions people ask