Free Landscaping Contract Template
Landscaping is the rare trade whose results keep changing for years after the crew leaves. Answer a few questions and the terms are clear before the first spade goes in.
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What Is a Landscaping Contract?
A landscaping contract sets terms between a property owner and the company doing the work. It covers the planting and building, what it costs, and who looks after it afterwards.
Two very different arrangements share the name. Design and installation is a project with an end date. Maintenance is a recurring service, and the two deserve separate documents.
Living material complicates everything. Plants can fail for reasons nobody controls, so the warranty terms need care that a patio never demands.
Groundwork carries the real risk. Digging brings buried utilities, drainage, and neighbouring properties into play, all of which cost far more than plants.
Write it before anything gets dug. Once a crew plants a bed or regrades a slope, undoing the work becomes its own project.
Scale changes the detail rather than the shape. A single border and a full redesign both need a landscaping contract. Each names the plants, the groundwork, and the warranty.
Design, Plants, and Materials
Specify the planting properly, since substitutions are where expectations diverge.
The Plan
Attach a drawing showing beds, hardscape, and levels. A conversation about the garden rarely survives to installation intact.
Plant Schedule
List species, quantities, and sizes at planting. A shrub supplied small takes years to look like the one you pictured.
When a Plant Is Unavailable
Nurseries run out. Agree that any substitution needs your approval, with an equivalent size and habit rather than whatever arrived.
Hardscape Materials
Name the paving, stone, timber, and edging, including finish and colour. Ask to see samples rather than photographs.
Soil and Mulch
Confirm topsoil quality and depth, and the mulch type. Poor soil undermines good planting immediately.
Lighting and Power
Where the design includes outdoor lighting or power, confirm who runs the cabling and who connects it. Electrical work outdoors needs a qualified trade.
Removing Spoil
Say who takes away excavated earth, turf, and old material. Volumes surprise people, and skips cost money.
Lawn and Turf
Where turf forms part of the job, name the type and whether it arrives as seed or laid turf. The two follow very different timelines.
Existing Plants and Trees
List anything to keep, and agree how the crew protects it. Roots suffer from machinery long before anyone notices.
Groundwork, Drainage, and Utilities
The work below ground carries more risk than anything above it.
Locating Buried Services
Before any digging, somebody must locate and mark buried gas, electric, water, and communication lines. Utility location services exist for this, and using one is standard practice rather than an optional extra. Confirm in writing who arranges it and that work waits until marking is complete.
Private Lines
Marking services usually cover public utilities rather than private runs to sheds, pools, or lighting. Tell the contractor about anything you know of, since these lines take the most damage.
Septic and Wells
Where the property has a septic field or a well, identify it clearly. Compaction and planting over a drainage field cause expensive damage.
Grading and Runoff
Changing levels moves water somewhere. Agree where it goes, and confirm the design does not push runoff onto a neighbouring property.
Drainage Solutions
Where drains, soakaways, or channels form part of the job, describe them and say what they connect to.
Irrigation
Confirm whether the job includes irrigation, how it zones, and who winterises it.
Warranties and Getting Plants Established
Plant guarantees are worth having and worth reading, because they carry conditions.
What the Warranty Covers
Say which plants the warranty covers, for how long, and whether the remedy runs to replacement or a credit.
Watering Responsibility
Most plant warranties depend on the owner watering correctly. Get the schedule in writing, and understand that failing to follow it usually voids cover.
Common Exclusions
Warranties commonly exclude drought, frost, pests, animals, and vandalism. Ask which apply rather than discovering it later.
Annuals and Transplants
Short-lived planting and relocated mature specimens often carry no guarantee at all. Confirm before assuming.
Hardscape Workmanship
Paving, walls, and steps should carry their own workmanship period. Settlement and drainage failures show up in the first year.
Aftercare Instructions
Ask for written aftercare covering watering, feeding, and first-year pruning. Most early plant losses trace back to guesswork here.
Making a Claim
Agree how to report a failed plant and within what window. Photographs and dates help.
Ongoing Maintenance Agreements
Recurring garden care needs different terms from an installation project.
Visit Frequency
State how often the crew attends and roughly which day. Weekly in summer and monthly in winter is a common shape.
What Each Visit Includes
List the tasks: mowing, edging, weeding, pruning, and clearing. Then say what counts as extra.
Seasonal Work
Agree the annual jobs separately, such as hedge cutting, leaf clearance, and bed preparation.
Green Waste
Confirm who removes clippings and prunings, and whether that costs extra.
Term and Renewal
Set the contract length, whether it renews automatically, and the notice each side gives.
Reporting Problems
Name a contact and a route for raising issues between visits. Gardens change quickly, and a photograph settles most questions.
Price Reviews
Say how and when prices change. Annual reviews are normal, and surprises are not.
Access, Chemicals, and Approvals
A few remaining items prevent most of the friction that follows.
Access and Gates
Confirm how the crew reaches the garden, whether they need a key or code, and who closes gates behind them. Pets escape through gates left open.
Machinery and Surfaces
Heavy equipment marks lawns and drives. Agree route, protection, and who repairs damage.
Herbicides and Pesticides
Where the crew applies chemicals, ask what, where, and when. Request advance notice so children and pets stay off treated areas, and confirm how long that takes.
Tree Work
Removing or heavily pruning trees may need permission, and protection covers some trees entirely. Check with your local authority before agreeing anything. Confirm the contractor holds the qualifications and insurance tree work requires.
Association and Local Approvals
Where a homeowners association or local rules govern planting, fences, or hard surfaces, confirm who obtains approval.
Insurance and Records
Ask for current liability cover, and keep the plan, plant list, and invoices together for later reference.
You buy a garden once and live with it for years. A landscaping contract template settles the specification while everything is still on paper.
