First off, what is a No Contract Lawn Service?

It’s basically what it sounds like. A no contract lawn service is offered to local residential clients (mostly) and gives clients the ability to hire the company for a one-time landscaping service which often includes mowing of the grass, weed eating and edging. More in-depth landscaping may also include bush trimming, pulling weeds and even tree trimming.

Do such ‘no-contract’ lawn care companies exist in Pinellas County, Florida?

The short answer; yes. However this comes with many caveats:

1) First off, in the sense of having lawn services performed at your residence one time without a monthly service contract in place, such services exist. However, any professional lawn company will still have you sign a liability waiver which would still be considered a ‘contract’ of sorts. You are contractually obligated to not hold the company liable in the event they damage your property. However, a proper company will also have insurance so in the event something is damaged, they will likely still help cover the repair costs.

2) ‘Once-off’ lawn services are generally very expensive. Expect to spend double the usual rate so if a lawn company generally charges $130 a month to keep your yard looking it’s best, that likely includes cutting twice a month (during an average year). Thus you may expect to spend $130 for your one-time single cut. The reasoning is quite simple. Lawn services generally set up routes where the travel in somewhat of a circle, hitting each lawn in a certain order on certain days. To come and cut grass outside this pattern is often a big inconvenience for the lawn service and thus, the price goes up.

3) Not all landscaping companies will take the job. Even with the price hike considered, many lawn services will decline a ‘once-off’ landscaping job as it’s just not worth the time it takes to do.

4) Lawn services tend to cut more corners when performing a ‘one-time’ job. As they have less incentive to keep the customer happy, landscapers are far more likely to skip an area of weed eating, perform shabby edging or even increase the height of the mower blades. Be sure to check the companies reviews. If they are already bad, you are likely to get a very poor landscaping job done as they are also not concerned for more bad reviews.

When ‘no-contract’ landscaping makes sense:

If you normally cut and maintain your yard on yourself, but maybe it’s gotten out of control due to your busy work life or family issues, it makes sense to pay the extra fee and hire a company willing to take the job.

Another scenario may involve the selling of a home wherein you want the landscaping to look its absolute best. If this is the case, be prepared to spend some extra bucks as in-depth, detailed landscaping can get expensive. In this situation it would also likely behoove you to hire not just a lawn service, but instead a professional landscaping company capable of properly trimming the bushes and trees. Plus, a professional landscaper can also assess the property, potentially requesting a removal of certain plants and the addition of others.

How to find a ‘no-contract’ lawn service in Pinellas

A google search is not very likely to yield any viable results so you’ll have to go the old fashion way. Call the companies in your area and see if they are willing to perform the job. To prepare for this call, it would help to know the square footage of the yard to be cut. You may also want to take some pictures with your phone of the front and back as they may request to see just how bad it’s become.
In the event you’re preparing a home for sale, be sure to include “landscaping” in your google search as the term “lawn care” more often than not will yield smaller lawn companies which specialize in fast, efficient yard maintenance.

Most importantly, check the company’s reviews on Google. If they do not have an official Google listing we would consider that a red-flag.