Frost protection

[Tri-City Outdoors]

Frost protection seems to have a small market.
Anyone have a good way to figure how much time is takes to cover the plants. Do you just take a educated guesstimate and invoice according to time or sqft?

With frost protection you are "on call" should the price reflect or should It be viewed as "busy" work for good employees in the slow time of year?

Do you have the H.O. purchase and/or store the frost cloth?

Do you invoice for 1 service (cover & remove) or 2 times for for each service.

Should shutting off irrigation be included as part of the service?

I know what I have been doing but some other opinions would be great. I want to make sure I'm not leaving anything on the table

[Florida Gardener]

Originally Posted by Tri-City Outdoors

Frost protection seems to have a small market.
Anyone have a good way to figure how much time is takes to cover the plants. Do you just take a educated guesstimate and invoice according to time or sqft?

With frost protection you are "on call" should the price reflect or should It be viewed as "busy" work for good employees in the slow time of year?

Do you have the H.O. purchase and/or store the frost cloth?

Do you invoice for 1 service (cover & remove) or 2 times for for each service.

Should shutting off irrigation be included as part of the service?

I know what I have been doing but some other opinions would be great. I want to make sure I'm not leaving anything on the table

I'm at all but 2 properties every week year round. Some are multiple times per week. Those I wouldn't charge extra as I'm already there. Obviously is charge for materials. If it was a lot of plants, yes, I'd bill for extra time. But for a couple of plants nah. Now, if you don't visit your properties every week in the winter, yes bill for everything.
Posted via Mobile Device

[Landscape Poet]

Let the plants fry - install new plants better suited for the environment for the customer and get paid to do so. and then remind them - Right plant, right place

[williams lcm]

Everything I plant on my property has got to be cold hardy. I use to plant the nice tender plants but that has ended with these cold winters. Sometimes even covering them up does not help. Especially if temps are below freezing for 8 or more hours. I tell my customers just to plant cold hardy landscape.

[Tri-City Outdoors]

Right plant in the right place has keeps us very busy over the years. But this is why it is a small market. Some high end residential could WANT a tropical landscape around the pool as a example. The right client understands you pay to play.

Yes, I have to agree freezing temps for several hours damage will still occur even with frost cloth.

If One of my customers wanted a little plant covered when I was already on-site. No problem

Of course the HO pays for the materials. But professionally I would think the company providing the frost protection service would purchase and store materials and bring the right "tools" for the job and bill accordingly.
However, for a small market we have been having the HO pay for materials and store them on site. Making it a simple for us.

[Keith]

I still have two or three long term customers that I do this for...at no charge. They're close by and elderly, so it's not a big deal. And we're just talking a few plants.

I lost about 10 blankets when I left them with a customer one year. The next year he claimed he didn't have them. Hopefully he found them, because he has to do it on his own now. I now retrieve and store all my covers.