How should I charge for edging?

[harperservices]

When cutting and trimming this year should I make edging a separate cost?

Last year I included it in the price because I did not have an edger, just used my trimmer and a spade shovel.

What do you think?

:blob3:

[Bob Minney]

The price of edging is included in my mow price. The only exception is when I am dealing with overgrown conditions for a new customer. I will quote cleaning up the edging as a seperate cost the first time, same goes for overgrown turf.

[proline32]

I've always included it in with the price of the mowing and trimming, that way the customer gets a package deal, but sometimes a customer only wants edging, so I charge based on the linear footage to be done. I have a customer this year who only wants me to edge and trim her property, no mowing she will do her own mowing and she will be paying me $81.00 per month for 8 months for two visits a month. Crazy Yes , especially since It will only take me an hour per visit to do it, But once in a while I get customers like that.

[LAWNGODFATHER]

I include it in the price also.

If it's real bad I eat the cost if I can't get extra out of them.

I hope you ment for edging side walks and such. not beds, cause I saw shovel in your post.

Also we only edge concrete. No black top.

[BigJim]

Yep its part of the job,if you tell them its $30 for the lawn and $10 for the trimming you know what a lot of folks are gonna say!.Several LCO's here advertise "Free" trimming but their prices are the same as everyone elses for the job!:eek:

[keifer]

Yes I edge with the package but some want to save every penny so I will give them a price with and without it. even if it bad at first same price because after you have it under control you can edge every other time and get your money back.

[mdb landscaping]

i dont edge sidewalks etc weekly. i just have a price for mowing and trimming with the line trimmer, and then charge by time if they want their beds or sidewalks edged.

[RB]

I include it also. I provide a mid-level lawn maintenance program, and after the fast growth and edging weekly in Apr and May I can get away with edging and weed whacking every other week. Saves a lot of time.

Ron

[TJLC]

I have always included edging in the price of mowing unless it hasn't been edged before and is overgrown. In that case I just price it seperately for the first time to get the edge where it should be and then include it in the regular price of mowing from the on.

[kutnkru]

It all depends on how you plan to bid your mowing services.

Will you be charging the same hourly rate for a ZTR/WB as you do for a stick edger or are they seperate rates???

Will you just add up how long each task will take and compile a figure based on XXX.XX number of dollars per hour???

The price that you give to a residential client IMHO should not reflect how long its going to take you to edge with a stick edger or line trimmer in addition to the routine trimming the job takes.

I like to break mine down for ME - not the clients, so that I will have a record of how long it takes so that when I bid a large site I know how long it takes to edge, trim, blow, mow, bag-mulch-disperse clippings, etc., etc., etc.

[C4chris70]

In our area we include mowing, edging, string trimming, hedges up to 6 feet, and blowing off debris caused by mowing in our package price. We take all these services and the time it will take to provide the services into consideration while drawing up the proposal. The only time we will charge specifically for edging is if we are approached by someone who hasn't had their yard edged in a while and wants only edging done. Hope I was some help.

[Green Care]

Include your edge price with the service

Just to keep the noise down.

[beck]

I used to let the eges go until they got bad enough that I thought they had to be done again, usually once a month. For this the average yard was $20.
I then switched to weekly edging and charge $5/wk. It is the same $ but a lot less work for me, because after a month I usually had to spend more time cleaning up and sometimes removing the clippings.

[yardman1]

My price includes edging, mowing, trimming, blowing off debris and spraying herbicide when needed, it helps out because my clients pay the same 12 months out of the year, unless it is something different that is not in the contract. hope this helps out some. :blob2:

[cowman66]

This is a little old, but lawngodfather why dont you egde blacktop? i was just wondering..

Also,I include edging, trimming and mowing in my package

[TMlawncare]

We don't edge blacktop either it chips away to badly and the debris from it really hurts, it is almost like edging in gravel. We also include edging in the price of mowing, our customers think it is part of general trimming.

[LAWNGODFATHER]

Originally posted by cowman66
This is a little old, but lawngodfather why dont you egde blacktop? i was just wondering..

Most black top is not level with the ground. Either the asphault is above or below the grass line, this determens if we trim from the grass side or the black top side. IE: Black top higher than grass we trim from the grass side.

If the black top is level with the grass then we trim from the black top side.

All black top gets a beveled trim. Line at 45 degrees to the grass.

Also if you edge black top it eats it away and makes a big gap.

And
We don't edge blacktop either it chips away to badly and the debris from it really hurts, it is almost like edging in gravel.

KutnKru
The price that you give to a residential client IMHO should not reflect how long its going to take you to edge with a stick edger or line trimmer in addition to the routine trimming the job takes.

Why not Kris? Most res have more trimming and edging than commercial.

[cowman66]

thanx a million lawngodfather! again i was just curious about that:D

[kutnkru]

Mike

I do charge Residentials for the edging and trimming just like I would Commercial/Industrial accounts accounts with the exception that its not broken down for them to see.

Residentials will get a monthly price for bagging their lawns and a price for dispersing/mulching clippings which includes the trim, edge, and blow times.

When a potential client is asking for an estimate they could care less as to what Im charging for edging. They just want to know bottom line "What are you going to charge me to cut my lawn?" In their minds the price will include/reflect the trimming and edging so its not a decideing factor IMHO. They just want to know if it'll be $25, $35, $50 whatever!!!

Commercial/Industrial accounts I break it down for them to view, because I want them to compare apples to apples when they look at the various bids:
Backpack blowers are used at reduced levels except for heavy/wet accumulations to reduce noise levels, for edging they will be able to note that we use a dedicated edger, for beds/turf areas we use line trimmers, trash is removed prior to cutting, and so on ..., all variables that have an impact on the decision making process IMHO.

[KerryB]

I dont edge black top either. It makes a mess and will end up costing you in the long run.
Besides that crap hurts lol

[Tim Canavan]

Include it. It comes with basic service.
Only if it is for someone who hasn't done their edges in months, the you really hit them. They deserve it anyway.:cool: