We conducted extensive research of 1,000+ lawn care/landscaping services in the US. All companies included have the below:
- Licensed, bonded and insured
- Offer a range of lawn care services at an affordable price
- Have good ratings and reviews on 3rd party sites like Yelp.
Find the best lawn care near you by clicking on your state:
5 best lawn care services in each state.
- Alabama
- Alaska
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- California
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- District of Columbia
- Florida
- Georgia
- Hawaii
- Idaho
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Maine
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Montana
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- New York
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Utah
- Vermont
- Virginia
- Washington
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
You want to do the mowing and lawn care yourself?
Know your lawn.
Do you know which of the 14 types of grass is growing in your lawn?
Each has characteristics and each requires specialized care to produce the best results. Some grass is better for the warmer parts – the Southern States. Some likes the colder climate – Northern half of the US. And some do best in between.
Here are the types of grass: (Click here to see them all on 1 page)
- Cold Climate Grass: Fine fescue grass. Kentucky bluegrass. Bent grass. Ryegrass.
- Transitional Grass: Zoysia grass. Tall fescue grass. Kentucky bluegrass. Ryegrass.
- Warm Climate Grass: Bermuda grass. Zoysia grass. Buffalo grass. St Augustine grass. Centipede grass. Bahia grass. Carpet grass.
Get the correct equipment.
Lawn care requires specialized tools for the best result. A lawn mower is the most expensive and a sprinkler or rake is the most affordable.
- Lawn Mower: Grass height is crucial for optimal growth and health. Different grasses require different amounts of sunlight during different times of year. The grass blade is what absorbs the sun and converts it for food so if you cut it too short it won’t be able to absorb enough and will die.
- String Timmer/Edger: For trimming the grass that can’t be reached with a mower – edges and tight corners, for example.
- Push Spreader/Fertilizer: Some grass doesn’t need fertilizer. Some needs it for nutrients.
- Thatcher/Rake: To aerate the lawn and allow oxygen to reach the grass roots. Also to surface any dead matter that is trapped.
- Sprinkler: For even watering of the grass.
Put in the effort.
Your lawn can be a relaxing sanctuary or a dirt pit – it’s really up to you. Once Spring hits:
- Remove debris like sticks, garbage, soccer balls.
- Rake the lawn to remove dead grasses.
- Mow the lawn to clean everything up and get the right height.
- Fertilize to ensure the lawn has the nutrients it needs.
- Water.
- Maintain.
How and why the lawn care companies near you were chosen
#1 Licensed and insured.
Every company listed in the database must be properly insured and have a business license. This protects you from being liable if they get injured mowing your lawn. As the stats suggest above most lawn care companies are small and the owner is also the one doing the work. This means the work can be hit or miss – as they are constantly trying to get to the next job. So it is essential contracts are signed – and this means you need to deal with companies that have business licenses.
Professional Associations.
We like to see lawn care service companies and landscaping companies that are certified members of Professional Associations. It shows they are interested in their field and it shows they take pride in their work. Companies with the Professional Association Certificates were chosen over ones without.
A word about the BBB (Better Business Bureau).
Not every company in our database is on the BBB website. Let me tell you why: The Better Business Bureau is an online community of businesses. Any company with a license can be listed there. If you receive bad work from a contractor you can go there and report them. This will cause their rating to drop. Next person to employ them sees they have a complaint against them and they hire someone else.
It works as a sort of reviews network. And the BBB acts as the moderator. It’s useful but less so as more and more people move their company to Facebook pages, Twitter accounts and so on. If a company is dodgy there should be no difficulty for you to find out why. Just do your due diligence, some Google searching etc.
Are you a lawn care or landscaping company owner and want to be listed?
Here’s how:
- Visit the contact page for this website and send a message with your website and company details.
Sources and Further Reading
1. Several different pages on the american-lawns.com website were referenced when researching the above information.
2. The United States National Arboretum had a FAQ page the explained in detail why some grass grows better in certain climates.
3. Honda Power Equipment website did up a FAQ of lawn care tips. The answers were prepared by Dr. Keith J. Karnok, Professor of Agronomy at the University of Georgia.
4. Professional Landcare Network (PLANET) did some National Survey on Consumer Spending on Landscape Services. The information was used to highlight how obsessive we are about our lawns.
5. Jan 2014 IBISWorld Market Report was used to source the following facts that led to the title fact that 7863 companies exist per state.
- $74 billion spent in the lawn care industry and it employed 889,000 people.
- 401,000 different lawn care service companies, or nearly 7,863 companies to choose from in your state.
*Disclaimer: lawnmanual.com has no affiliation to any lawn care service contractors or landscaping companies in the USA. The companies listed in the database located within lawnmanual.com/lawn-care-near-me/ are chosen based on internet research. Companies that have contacted us to be listed were/will be reviewed in the same manner. Please do your own due diligence before hiring a professional lawn care service provider or landscaping company.