Once you’ve made the choice to hire a landscape maintenance company you probably won’t go back to doing it yourself. When you’re enjoying the luxury of having someone else care for your landscape and outdoor living spaces you might be wondering what else you can automate in your life. Getting all that time back while knowing a team of experienced professionals is doing the work is an incredible relief. They trim, blow the clippings off your walkways, do the edging, prune the shrubs and trees, and so on. So you want to show your appreciation, and now you find yourself wondering do you tip landscapers?
Do You Tip Landscapers?
When choosing whether or not to tip your landscapers you need to understand the people who are working out there. These guys work incredibly hard for their pay each day. They’re out there in the heat, the cold, and usually they don’t take nearly as many breaks as you’d expect them to. Unlike landscape designers, are usually paid hourly but sometimes they’re paid by each project they complete This means they need to work fast, but also need to do a good job so you’ll keep them coming back. They don’t get paid nearly what you might expect they would so whatever you do, tip your landscapers.
When Do You Tip Landscapers?
It’s a good idea to come up with some milestones for when you tip the landscaping team. If you live in an area where you do a spring and a fall cleanup, those are good milestones. Tipping twice a year is a good place to start. We’d also recommend providing a 4th of July tip the week before the 4th as a thank you for keeping your yard looking awesome in the summer heat.
How Much Should You Tip Landscapers?
The answer to do you tip landscapers is a resounding yes in our opinion. So how do you do it? In most places, landscaping follows a year-round calendar. Well a good place to start is in the spring when they come out to do the first cleanup, give an envelope to each of the employees when they show up. Hand it to them directly. Tell them it’s a little something to thank them for coming out and taking such good care of your yard. One good rule of thumb is to always use cash. If you can afford it, put anything from a $20 to a $100 in each envelope. Anything is appreciated.
How Do You Give Landscapers A Tip?
Once the spring cleanup ends and the routine maintenance begins, pay attention to the process they take. This way you’ll be able to predict when they will be done so you can meet them on the way out to give them their 4th of July bonus. Alternately, just walk out and greet them when they pull in. In this setting you can hand out the envelopes to each employee and thank them profusely for their hard work and for all they do to make your property beautiful. Once again at fall cleanup, tip them again. You can always forego the envelopes and be less formal about it. Do whatever you feel comfortable doing, but do it.
It’ll cost you an additional few hundred dollars per year for your yard maintenance, but you will reap that and then some from the added quality of workmanship. After all, whose yard will they take extra care to make perfect. But the best part is knowing you are giving directly to the people who do the hard work. You can make their day special with your generosity.
If you live in an area where you don’t do spring and fall cleanups, you can always tip at holidays. Thanksgiving, Christmas, or both. I like to tip the week after Thanksgiving. I prefer this because oftentimes the guys who do your yard all year will not be working around Christmas. If they’re seasoned employees they may take the time to be with their families. But tipping the guy working the week before Christmas is not a bad idea either!
Do You Tip Landscapers Summary
Many homeowners ask every year, do you tip landscapers? Ultimately, that’s a question for you to answer. We absolutely recommend a small but kind gesture during a milestone or holiday. Generosity reaps more than you can imagine. Thanking those who beautify your environment directly is a great way to show your appreciation.