Landscaping contract template
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Between
Customer name
Scope of work
Describe exactly what is included — and what is not.
Price and payment
Total: $0.00
Deposit (50%): $0.00 before work begins
Balance: $0.00 on completion
Terms
Payment
A deposit is due before work begins. The balance is due on completion. Invoices unpaid after 14 days may carry a late fee of 1.5% per month.
Changes to the work
Anything outside the scope above is a change order, priced and agreed in writing before that work starts. Verbal changes are not binding on either of us.
Access
The client agrees to provide access to the property, water and power where needed, on the agreed dates. If we cannot access the site on a scheduled day, a return visit may be charged.
Weather and delays
Work may be rescheduled for weather or conditions that make it unsafe or would affect quality. We will give as much notice as we can. Neither party is liable for delays outside their control.
Existing condition
We are not responsible for pre-existing damage or for defects revealed by the work. Where we find something unexpected, we will stop and tell you before continuing.
Insurance
The contractor carries liability insurance and will provide a certificate on request.
Cancellation
Either party may cancel in writing before work begins. Deposits cover materials already ordered and scheduling held for you, and may be non-refundable to that extent.
This is a starting point written for small home service work, not legal advice. Contract law varies by state, and some states require specific notices, licence numbers or cancellation language on residential contracts. Have a local attorney read it once before you use it for everything.
What to put in the scope
The scope is the whole contract. Almost every landscaping dispute is a disagreement about what was included, and almost every one of those could have been prevented by two more sentences in this box.
Write what you are doing, where, and what you are not doing:
Install 40 linear feet of dry-stacked retaining wall to the rear boundary at 112 Ridge Road, to a maximum height of 900mm, including excavation, base preparation and backfill drainage. Supply and plant 12 shrubs to the bed above the wall. Excludes irrigation, lighting, turf reinstatement beyond the working strip, and removal of the existing fence.
That last line does more work than the rest of the document. “Excludes” is the word that ends arguments before they start.
What to put in the price
Break the total into stages if the job runs more than a few days. A deposit before you order plants or stone, a progress payment at a visible milestone, and the balance on completion. Landscaping ties up material money faster than most trades, and a job that is profitable on paper can still empty your account in week two.
State the deposit as a dollar figure, not just a percentage. People argue with percentages.
The terms that actually get used
Of the clauses in the builder above, three earn their place on nearly every landscaping job:
Changes to the work. Landscaping scope creeps more than any other trade — “while you’re here, could you just…” is how a three-day job becomes five unpaid ones. A written change order clause gives you a polite way to say yes and charge for it.
Access. Gates, dogs, cars in the driveway, and whether you can get a machine down the side. If you cannot access the site on a scheduled day you have paid a crew to stand still, and this clause is what lets you charge for the return visit.
Weather. You will move days. Say so up front and it is a scheduling note rather than a broken promise.
What this does not cover
Some states require specific language on residential improvement contracts — three-day cancellation notices, licence numbers, or a mechanic’s lien warning. Those vary and they change. This template does not include state-specific notices, and you should get a local attorney to read it once before it becomes the document you use on every job.
That is a one-off cost of a couple of hundred dollars against a document you will use for years.
If you are sending more than a few of these a week
At that point the bottleneck stops being the document and starts being the process — getting it out the same day, chasing the signature, and turning the signed contract into a scheduled job and an invoice without retyping anything.
That is what field service software does. QuoteIQ starts at $29.99/mo and includes e-signatures on its Beginner plan, so the contract goes out and comes back signed without printing anything. Jobber at $49/mo has the better-looking customer-facing document and a client hub where the customer can approve on their phone. Housecall Pro is the one to look at once you are five people, because five seats are included at $189/mo.
None of them write your scope for you. That part is still on you, and it is still the part that matters.
Questions operators actually ask
What should a landscaping contract include?
The parties, the property address, a specific scope of work, the price and payment schedule, a start date, and terms covering changes, access, weather delays and cancellation. The scope is the part that matters — most landscaping disputes are about what was included, not about money.
Do I need a written contract for small landscaping jobs?
For a one-off mow, no. For anything with a deposit, materials you are fronting, or work spanning more than a day, yes. Many states also require a written contract above a dollar threshold for home improvement work, and some require specific cancellation language — check your state before relying on any template, including this one.
How much deposit should I take?
Enough to cover materials plus the schedule slot you are holding. For install work with plants, stone or timber, 30% to 50% is normal. For maintenance there is usually no deposit. Never front a large material order on a job you have taken no deposit for.
Can I use this for a maintenance agreement?
Yes, with one change: describe the visit frequency and what each visit includes in the scope, and set the price as a monthly figure rather than a project total. The terms below cover access and weather, which are the two things that go wrong on maintenance rounds.
Is this legally binding?
A signed agreement between two parties generally is, but this is a starting point written for small home service work, not legal advice. Contract law varies by state and some states require specific notices on residential contracts. Have a local attorney read it once.