Materials by quantity, crew hours, and disposal — the three things landscaping estimates get wrong. Structure below, plus a generator.
Describe the job in plain words. No email needed to see your first estimate — about fifteen seconds for a small job, a little longer for a big one.
A complete estimate you can send to the customer, built from the rate you enter:
| Description | Qty | Unit | Unit price | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labor — itemized by task | hrs | hour | your rate | — |
| Materials — with your markup applied | qty | ea / sq ft | cost + markup | — |
| Permits, disposal, access | — | — | — | — |
Plus a plain-English scope summary, assumptions (what had to be guessed), exclusions (what you are not doing — the section that prevents most change-order arguments), and a validity period. Printable, or send the link.
Every figure comes from the rate and markup you supply. We never fill in a market price for you.
An estimating spreadsheet that opens in Excel, Numbers or Google Sheets, or prints to PDF. Pre-filled with the line items a landscaping estimate should contain, plus a checklist of what landscaping estimating most often leaves out — so you price it before you send, not after.
Landscaping is bid by area for planting and turf, by linear foot for edging and beds, and by the yard for material delivered. The thing that moves the number is access: a backyard reachable only through a narrow gate turns every yard of soil or mulch into barrow trips. Disposal of spoil and green waste is its own line and is easy to give away.
$19.27/hour — US median wage for grounds maintenance workers, May 2025 ($40,080/year).
That is a wage, not your billing rate. It excludes payroll burden, insurance, the hours you spend driving and quoting, overhead and profit. Billing at or near it means working the job for free once those land — which is where underpricing starts. What your multiplier should be depends on your business, so put the rate you actually bill into the generator and every line prices from your number.
Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook — national median, May 2025. Wages vary widely by metro.
Generic AI quotes national averages. BidWand builds a price book from every estimate you send and every rate you correct, so by the fifth bid it prices like you do — your labor rate, your markup, your exclusions.
lawn care · snow removal · sod installation · cabinet painting · gutter installation
handyman · cleaning · general contracting · concrete · drywall · flooring · fencing · tree service
How to write a contractor estimate · Estimate vs quote vs bid — and which one you should send · What to include in a contractor estimate · How to price a job as a contractor · Should you charge for estimates? · How to follow up on an estimate · How to handle change orders · Estimate vs invoice: what's the difference? · How to raise your prices as a contractor