Does transforming an overgrown, weed-filled yard into a nicely manicured lawn with perfectly mulched trees, flowers and plants make your high-performing landscape technicians bloom with pride?
Help your techs deliver an awesome customer experience by using the best lawn equipment for a perfect mowing and mulching job every time.
» Want to grow your lawn care business? Click here to get a demo.
Here’s a lawn care equipment checklist with 23 lawn tools your landscaping techs need in 2020 to provide the most professional customer experience.
Essential Lawn Care Tools and Equipment
1. Trailer for lawn care equipment
Besides owning a sturdy and reliable vehicle, your landscaping company’s commercial lawn care equipment should include a heavy-duty, flatbed trailer for hauling lawn care equipment, with a ramp gate for easy loading and removal.
We also recommend mounting a locking toolbox onto the flatbed to store other equipment and extra supplies, as well as investing in locking tie-downs to keep lawn mowing equipment secure when traveling from one job site to another.
2. Riding mowers and push mowers
Your lawn care techs need a variety of mowers at their disposal, so include riding lawn mowers and push mowers as must-haves on your lawn care equipment list.
Many commercial power riding mowers come with self-propelling features, as well as other useful attachments such as mulchers and side catchers, to make the job easier. Your knowledgeable techs know how much mulched grass clippings help to feed the lawn.
Before purchasing commercial mowing equipment, determine how many acres of grass your company mows on average and what type of terrain or obstacles your techs must manage. You want sturdy and reliable lawn mowing tools your techs can depend on, no matter how difficult the job.
A standard push mower comes in handy on smaller jobs and yards with hills; just make sure to get a mower with a floating deck for better hill navigation. For customers seeking non-polluting alternatives for lawn care, some companies may also keep a reel mower (manually operated with a set of laterally mounted blades that scissor against a bedknife as the wheels turn) on hand, or an electric mower that plugs in.
3. String trimmer
A string trimmer, one of several basic lawn care tools, operates with a nylon string (or plastic blades) whipping at high speed to cut off grass in areas too small for a lawn mower, such as around trees, mailboxes, fences, and other yard borders.
Techs use trimmers—also called weed eaters or weed wackers—to give a nice, polished look to customers’ yards. Choose from a wide variety on the market, including battery-powered lawn care equipment, gasoline-powered, and even electric.
4. Edger
Power edgers represent another piece of essential lawn cutting equipment for keeping customers’ lawns looking fabulous.
Edgers use a circular metal blade and cutting edge to trim off the edges of grass that grow along sidewalks, stone and rock pathways, fences, and other areas with border edging. Keep a battery-powered, walk-forward edger among your professional lawn equipment for best results.
Some string trimmers also convert to edging tools by simply rotating the head, so the string trims in a vertical direction. Gas-powered and electric edgers are also available.
5. Drop spreader or broadcast spreader
Lawns need to be seeded and fertilized, so be sure to include a drop spreader or broadcast spreader in your lawn care & equipment arsenal.
Landscapers use lawn care machines like broadcast spreaders to distribute fertilizers, lawn seed, and pesticides across the lawn. This tool uses a spinning arm that scatters materials in a circular manner as you manually push it across the lawn, or mechanically when a landscaper deploys a power spreader to make a large job easier.
Drop spreaders release the same materials in a more controlled manner through a line of openings in the bottom of the spreader. These typically cost less and are available at any home improvement store.
6. Hedge trimmer
Nothing makes a nice lawn look more sloppy than overgrown hedges. Keep hedge trimmers handy in your lawn service equipment toolbox to help put the finishing touches on a professionally manicured landscape.
7. Power blower
Landscapers use power blowers to blow leaves and other debris out of garden beds and off lawns, patios, and decks. Those tools are also great for blowing a few grass trimmings back onto the lawn to help feed it.
Operated by gas, battery, or electric, power blowers come in a variety of sizes, as well as corded and cordless versions.
The #1 newsletter for the trades.
Bonus: Lawn care equipment package deals
Do your research online before making any major investments in lawn care equipment. Many major manufacturers offer commercial lawn care equipment packages, which can save landscaping companies thousands of dollars when buying multiple pieces of lawn care equipment all at once. Ask a lawn care equipment company if they offer package deals or lawn care equipment bundles.
Lawn Tools for Safety
8. Ear muffs/plugs
Professional lawn care tools include industrial-strength ear muffs or ear plugs to protect your ears. Using power tools for long periods of time and in close proximity can damage your hearing.
According to OSHA, hearing damage can occur with limited exposure to sound levels in the 85- to 90-decibel range, and lawn equipment can operate at up to 95 decibels.
9. Safety goggles
Lawn care professionals need safety goggles to protect their eyes from flying debris. A good lawn care pro is also a safe one. They always arrive at the scene with appropriate eyewear.
10. Work gloves
Work gloves are another must-have for your lawn tools list. Gloves not only protect your hands from thorny weeds and chemicals, they also give you a firmer grip on your equipment, whether you’re sweating in hot weather or working in water.
11. Steel-toe work boots
Your lawn service techs use a lot of dangerous power tools with fast-moving blades and often traverse various types of unlevel terrain. Make sure they’re equipped with a pair of heavy steel-toe work boots that won't slip and protect their feet from accidental injury.
12. Face mask
Many states now require landscapers to wear masks while working on job sites, and they’re especially helpful in protecting workers from harmful spraying chemicals or when stirring up allergens.
Miscellaneous Lawn Tools List
Other tools for lawn care needed for working in gardens, berms, flower beds, and other outdoor areas include:
13. Garden rake with sharp prongs
14. Leaf rake, fan-style
15. Rain gauge
16. Pruners, pruning saw or hedge shears
17. Commercial tool and blade sharpener
18. Pointed and square-edged shovels
19. Battery-powered sprayers
20. Power aerator
21. 30-gallon lawn bags
22. 5-gallon gas containers
23. Uniforms and hats for techs to increase branding
Digital Tools
24. Advantages of Landscaping Business Software
Landscapers work hard, so give them a tool that allows them to work smarter when it comes to administrative tasks with ServiceTitan’s field service software for landscapers.
Automate daily tasks, such as scheduling, dispatching, online booking, job estimating, and invoicing.
Use customized reporting to monitor call-tracking and technician productivity.
Integrate with QuickBooks or Intacct to automatically calculate timesheets, payroll, and taxes.
Show your customers good-better-best landscaping options with a mobile pricebook.
Landscaping business software completes your lawn care business equipment lineup, so your team can knock it out of the well-manicured park.
25. Business Valuation Calculator
Want to know the true value of your lawn care company? The free ServiceTitan Business Valuation Calculator can help you determine which key metrics to track for growth and profitability, or estimate how much your local lawn care business may be worth if you decide to sell it.
26. Invoice Generator
Provide your lawn care crew with a mobile tool to generate, save, and email or text invoices from the field using the free ServiceTitan Invoice Generator Tool. Eliminate paperwork, streamline invoicing, and give your lawn care customers a convenient digital invoice they can pay on the spot.
27. Labor Rate Calculator
See how much each worker truly costs your lawn care company to determine how much you should charge customers for hourly labor using the free interactive ServiceTitan Labor Rate Calculator. Plug in key metrics, such as overhead costs and ideal net profit, to tabulate the billable hourly labor rate required to cover your full cost of doing business and maximize overall profitability.
28. ROI Calculator
Feel confident your lawn care company will fully capitalize on all of the features ServiceTitan’s field management platform offers and yield a positive return on investment with our complimentary ServiceTitan ROI Calculator. Discover your profit potential by achieving higher average tickets and increasing daily calls, booked appointments, closed estimates, and jobs sold.
29. Service Business Grader
Track the performance of your lawn care company with ServiceTitan’s Service Business Grader Tool. In less than a minute, discover how your lawn care business measures up by evaluating average ticket sales, daily calls, booked jobs, and other key metrics.
30. Mobile App & Tablet
Make it easy for customers to order, buy, and pay for your company’s lawn care services with a simple tap-click-or-swipe on a mobile tablet. Using ServiceTitan’s Mobile App, techs build tiered estimates out in the field with vibrant photos, manufacturer videos, and detailed product information, so customers can browse and buy at their own pace—just like shopping online.
Give your electrical customers the mobile-driven service they prefer by adding ServiceTitan’s Mobile App to your techs’ arsenal of tools. Other key features include:
Data Access: Give techs access to all information collected by CSRs, such as customer names, addresses, contact information, outstanding estimates, job histories, property details, prior invoices, call recordings, notes, and more, with a few taps on their mobile tablet.
Customization: Upload your own forms and pricebooks, and manage pricing and product updates easily across the entire ServiceTitan cloud-based system.
Job Automation: Automatically trigger certain forms to appear as the job progresses, so techs know which steps to take at every stage—from diagnosis and repair to invoicing and asking for a review.
Mobile Payments: Get paid faster by capturing checks and credit cards via the mobile tablet camera, or add a credit-card swiper. If customers prefer to pay with cash, techs can accept that, too, and automatically document payment in the field.
ServiceTitan Lawn Care Software
