Updated · Make This Useful
Lawn care contract template
A lawn care contract has to settle two things that cause most arguments: what the customer pays when weeks get skipped, and what a mow includes, so leaf cleanup, bagging and aeration are never assumed to be free. Then cover rain days, the overgrown first cut, gates and pets, sprinkler heads, payment and notice to cancel. Most of all, nothing outside the listed visit gets done until it has a price and a written yes.
Write your lawn contract
Fill in the blanks, and in the billing clause keep only the sentence that matches how you charge: per mow, monthly or by the season. Delete any extra you don’t offer and add your own terms before you print.
Lawn care service agreement
Between ____________ (____________) and ____________, ____________.
- Services included: ____________
- Price: ____________
- Schedule: ____________
- Start date: ____________
- Payment terms: ____________
- What each mow includes. Each visit includes mowing, trimming along fences, beds and trees, edging the driveway and walks, and blowing clippings off hard surfaces. We mulch clippings back into the lawn unless bagging is listed above. Bed weeding, hedges and leaves are not part of a mow.
- Per mow, monthly or season. A per-mow price is billed only for the mows we make. A monthly or season price covers about ____ mows from ____ to ____, and it stays the same in a dry spell when the grass stops growing and we skip a week.
- Rain and skipped visits. If rain or soft ground stops us mowing, we come on the next dry day we can and go back to the usual day after that. To skip a visit, tell us by ____ the day before. When ____ weeks or more pass between mows, the next one is $____ for the longer grass.
- The first cut. If the grass is long when we start, the first cut is $____. Long grass needs a high pass, a second pass at the normal height, and the heavy clippings raked or bagged. Your regular price applies from the second visit on.
- Gates, pets and access. On mowing days, leave gates unlocked or give us the code: ____. Keep dogs inside while we work and pick up after them in the areas we mow. If a locked gate or a loose dog stops us mowing, the visit is $____.
- Sprinkler heads and hidden things. Please flag sprinkler heads, path lights, buried pet-fence wire and anything else hidden in the grass, and clear toys and hoses before we come. Damage we cause to anything you showed us, or anything in plain view, we repair or pay for. If we hit something hidden that nobody pointed out, we tell you, and the repair is yours.
- Leaf cleanup and other extras. Leaf cleanup, aeration, overseeding, bagging, bed weeding and hedge trimming are extras with their own prices. We quote each one first and start only after you say yes in writing, by text or email. Extras are added to the next bill.
- Late payment. Bills are due within ____ days. If a bill is more than ____ days late, we add a $____ late fee and may pause visits until it is paid; we will tell you before we do.
- End of season and cancelling. Mowing ends for the season on ____, or sooner if the grass stops growing, and we will tell you which mow is the last. Either of us can end this agreement earlier with ____ days’ notice in writing. If you paid a season price, mows already made are charged at $____ each and we refund the rest.
____________: signature ____________ date ____________
____________: signature ____________ date ____________
How should a lawn care contract handle skipped weeks?
Tie it to how you bill. On a per-mow price it’s easy: no mow, no charge, so the contract only needs a cut-off time for skip requests. A monthly or season price needs one more line, saying how many mows it assumes and that a dry spell doesn’t change the payment. Without that line, a customer paying the same in August as in May feels short-changed the first week the mower doesn’t come.
Say you mow weekly at $50 from April through October and expect 28 visits. That’s $1,400 for the season, or $200 a month over seven months. If a dry July and August cost four mows, the customer still paid $200 in each of those months. Either price the season at 24 mows ($1,200, about $171 a month) and hold it there, or keep 28 and credit the skipped mows at the end.
Who pays when the mower hits a sprinkler head?
The person who knew it was there. A sprinkler head sunk in the thatch, a path light lost in long grass or buried pet-fence wire is the customer’s to point out, and the contract should say so. Anything in plain view, or anything they showed you, is yours to avoid and yours to fix if you hit it. Walk the lawn together before the first cut and flag every head they show you.
The other damage call is a stone the mower or trimmer throws into a window, a car or a sliding door. Pick up sticks and stones before you mow, keep the discharge chute pointed away from glass and parked cars, and trim with the guard on. The contract can ask the customer to clear toys and hoses on mowing day, but a rock you could see is still your repair.
How much notice should a lawn care contract require?
As much as one billing period, and no more. On per-mow billing, notice before the next visit is enough, because nothing is paid ahead. On monthly billing, notice given during one month should end the agreement at the end of the next, so nobody is left holding half a paid month. On a season price paid up front, write the refund rule: mows made at the per-mow rate, the rest back.
Tell the customer which mow is the last one, too. A contract that only says the season ends when the grass stops growing leaves them wondering in November whether the truck is still coming. Put an end date in it, send a short note before the final visit, and quote the leaf cleanup in the same message.
Frequently asked questions
What should a mow include in a lawn care contract?
Write the whole visit out, because “mowing” means different things to different customers. Southbound, which mows around Memphis and DeSoto County, charges $45–$65 to cut a 5,000–11,000 sq ft lawn and spells out what that buys: mowing, trimming, edging and blowing off hard surfaces (checked October 2026). Then say what a mow leaves out, such as beds, hedges and leaves, so those get priced when asked for.
Should a yearly lawn care contract renew on its own?
It can, if the new season’s price reaches the customer first. A line saying the agreement carries into next season unless either side says otherwise by a set date keeps your route together over winter. Send the spring price and start date in writing well before that date, so the new price is agreed before anyone mows.
Do I need a lawyer for a lawn care contract?
Not for ordinary residential mowing. The agreement’s job is to get you and the customer agreeing on the same visit, price and notice before the season, and plain sentences do that better than legal language. If you start bidding commercial properties, expect them to send their own contract, and read that one closely before you sign.