[NCSULandscaper]

I have already bid on this hotel maintenance job so im just wondering what others come up with.......

32 mowings.......15,000sq ft with about 5000 sq feet steep hills, ditches, etc, little trimming necessary, edge curbs and sidewalks(75 linear ft)

Aeration 2 times per year on above mentioned lawn

Overseed twice with seed, fert and lime

Prune 125 shrubs, carrisa hollies, crepe myrtles

Prune 12 small ornamental trees, remove low limbs, damaged limbs(mainly bradford pears)

Mulch beds, 32 cu. yrds mulch for 5226.64 sq ft of shrub beds, topdress with 2" mulch(triple shredded hardwood)

Edge all shrub beds
Pre-Emergent applied after mulch

12 month weed control for sidewalks and 6,000sq ft parking lot, mulch beds

Spring cleanup on entire property, roughly 1/2 acre

Fall cleanup

12 month(weekly) parking lot blowing

Need any other info just let me know.

[Lanelle]

Who is maintaining it now? Another company or hotel staff? What about color beds? If you can get them to let you install 6" annuals, they will be immensely impressed with how great the color beds look.

[Nebraska]

NCSULandscaper

To price 125 shrubs on one property may be entirely different for 125 shrubs on another property... Same holds true for lawn maintenance of 15,000 square feet; obviously 15,000 square feet of parking lot islands are much different than 15,000 square feet of wide open turf.

What are the production rates (all time for each item: including travel time, prep time, and dump fees / cleanup) you have figured for each one of these items?

In the end all we are selling is time which is directly related to the quality of work that you can provide.

[NCSULandscaper]

Originally posted by Lanelle
Who is maintaining it now? Another company or hotel staff? What about color beds? If you can get them to let you install 6" annuals, they will be immensely impressed with how great the color beds look.

Another company is maintaining it right now. But the owner of the hotel said he is not satisfied with them. Have no idea who it is and what they charge. They did talk about eventually installing some annual beds but that was not included with the maintenance contract bid.

[NCSULandscaper]

Originally posted by Nebraska
NCSULandscaper

To price 125 shrubs on one property may be entirely different for 125 shrubs on another property... Same holds true for lawn maintenance of 15,000 square feet; obviously 15,000 square feet of parking lot islands are much different than 15,000 square feet of wide open turf.

What are the production rates (all time for each item: including travel time, prep time, and dump fees / cleanup) you have figured for each one of these items?

In the end all we are selling is time which is directly related to the quality of work that you can provide.

All turf is open, no islands. Shrubs are roughly 2 to 3 ft high(hollies) crepe myrtles are 10 to 15 ft tall.

It doesnt matter what my time and costs would be. I want to hear figures at your costs and time roughly. Figure in your travel time of 10 minutes from office and what it would cost you for your dump fees.

[Nebraska]

I am in the middle of the country.. Who would have guessed?

Mowing range of $40 to $65 per mowing. We can mow and trim 15,000 SF in about 15 min with a two man crew. I would like to see $65 but is that practical in your area? Could be more depending upon the level of service that this client is demanding or expecting. For example we have one residential yard that is a total of 5600 square feet and we charge $65...they expect absolute perfection every time.

For example I here that guys out east get $11-$12 and more per 1000 on AVERAGE for aeration... We get at the most $9-$10 per 1000.. With that in mind though we use a pull behind aerator as often as possible but quote using a walk behind.

What kind of seed? Bluegrass?

What is your fertilizer program? # of steps and raw product cost per 1000 SF?

How many times a year are you going to trim the shrubs? What is a myrtle (thorns?)? Done at the same time as a mowing visit?

How many times are you going to prune the trees? Same time as a mowing visit?

Edge shrub beds? How many feet? Do you own an edger or rent one? How many times a season?

Weed control on sidewalks: You can sterilize once per year with Sahara if it will not leach into landscape.....or does it have to be monthly...i.e. roundup

Weed control in landscape is separate than concrete....You will want to use a combination of non selective post emergent, a pre-emergent like snap shot, and manual weed pulling.

You're right on with mulch quantity.. What is triple shredded hardwood and how much does it cost you per c.y.?

Spring and Fall cleanup....we charge an hourly rate. Too many variables and if they insist we quote a flat rate yet explain that this includes this many man hours. $45 per man hour plus a one hour dump fee is what we receive.

Parking lot blowing? Daily, Weekly, Monthly?? Just estimate your time.

[Slimber]

No irrigation maintenance or arbor care of larger trees?

[NCSULandscaper]

Nebraska,
Seed will be a tall fescue blend
Fert program is simple. They just wanted 2 applications of fert, lime and seed each year.
Shrubs and trees will be pruned 1 time per year at the same time along with the crepe myrtles(no thorns)
Edge roughly 200 linear ft of beds with just a spade, no bed edger once a year with mulching
Weed control will be done with all roundup aprox 4 times per year with 4 gals used each time
Triple shredded hardwood is mainly oak ground 3 times and is very fine.My cost is $12 a yard
Spring and fall cleanups will take aprox 3 hours each time
Blow parking lot weekly

[NCSULandscaper]

Originally posted by Slimber


No irrigation maintenance or arbor care of larger trees?

Site has irrigation but rarely ever used. No large trees on the property. Just 12 bradford pears that are 15 ft tall

[NCSULandscaper]

Like i said above i already placed a bid on this prop and with all the details involved in getting a bid on here with what i have mentioned already i put in a bid for $7,080 a year. Now i have no dump fees to worry about and its close to the house so travel time is low. When i handed the bid to the owners they about laughed at me. Apparantly the company doing it now is probably doing it for 2 to 3 k per year which is horrible. So i dont really care about getting this account.

[Slimber]

This is an issue that seems to get overlooked out here when companies bids and don't put down "Demand Work" on irrigation specs. Rather you bid there or elsewhere, have your price includes if they get a busted sprinkler head, break on lateral line of 1/2, 3/4, 1, 1-1/2, etc. Valve repair, vacuum breaker replacement/repair and all the other details that goes with it. You could also put in a trice a year preventive maintenance check up on the entire irrigation system to assure it's running smoothly. Anyway you have it, it's money to be made and good luck.

[Nebraska]

The owner says that they are not satisfied with them.......

Gee I wonder why?

On the VERY low end I came up quickly with $6480 per year.

If someone is doing it between $2-3k per year they are basically PAYING that hotel to do the work. i.e. loosing money.

Hope that gives you some piece of mind.


Obviously the hotel owner has no concept of how his landscape affects the bottom line of his business.

[jeff knitter]

I guest the hotel owner isn't doing his home work and shopping around for good companies with ref. work.
I came up wth a low cost of $6,430.00 and a high cost of $7,450.00 , I would work with the owner on what would be done for your price.

[NCSULandscaper]

Well obviously the owner never gave me a call back after i turned my bid in so i will give them a call back just for the heck of it. I dont think i would actually work for this guy anyhow. Just have the feelin he would make my life hell and never be satisfied.