Lawn, Garden, Landscaping Franchises

The U.S. landscaping services industry includes more than 70,000 businesses with combined annual revenue of $40 billion. Major businesses include the TruGreen Landcare division of ServiceMaster, the Davey Tree Expert Company, the Brickman Group and Asplundh Tree Expert.

Construction of new commercial properties and the economy’s overall health drives the demand of landscaping. Because management and equipment costs are mainly fixed, the profitability of individual businesses depends on demand volume and operations’ efficiency.

Small businesses can compete easily with big businesses with the exception of providing services to large customers. Big businesses operate mainly through local branches or offices.

Landscaping services include commercial and residential landscape maintenance, installation, irrigation systems, tree services, chemical lawn care and line-clearing – branch removal around utility lines. Larger businesses may offer several of these services but most provide only one.

Landscape installation and maintenance account for the bulk of industry revenue; tree services account for about 30 percent. In the winter, many businesses provide snow removal services.

For a typical client, a landscape maintenance business might provide mulching, fertilizing and flower planting in the spring; mowing, pruning, irrigation and fertilizing in the summer; and leaf clearing in the fall.