Do you tip landscapers for spring cleanup? Or is it customary that you should tip landscapers for a one-time job? This can be a bit confusing for you to decide, right? That is why you need to read this article.
When it comes to the matters of restaurants and cafes, the ideal practice of tipping is easy to figure out. But tipping the people like landscape crews who work on your property should be carefully taken into consideration each time you make a decision.
What Does A Landscaper Do?
Before digging deeper, let’s take a look at what a landscaper has to do. Landscapers basically work with your existing garden layouts. They work to improve the appearance of outdoor spaces and elevate them beautifully. By planting flowers, plants, and shrubs; manicuring lawns; and trimming hedges, they can make residential, commercial, and public spaces aesthetically pleasing.
Below are some of the typical responsibilities of landscapers –
Building maintenance duties & performing groundskeeping
Mowing lawns usually with a push mower or riding lawn mower
Applying effective pesticides to remove harmful insects like mosquitoes, wasps, and ticks
Cleaning walkways and fixing fountains for general maintenance
Trimming and edging around walks, flower beds, and walls
Planting decorative bushes, flowers, and shrubs
Preserving the health and natural beauty of the plants by removing weeds and dead plants
Trimming overgrown limbs, hedges, and leaves for an appealing look
When You Should or Should Not Tip the Landscaper?
Tipping landscapers seems appropriate if you receive ongoing services from them instead of a one-time job. However, if you prefer one-time landscaping on a seasonal basis and see the same landscaper coming for your service and you are also satisfied with the work, a seasonal tip is always appreciated in this case. Because this tipping is a great way to express your encouragement for their constant and amazing work. If the landscaping crew is allowed to accept tips, this can be a good practice to keep up the excellent work they do.
You’re not supposed to tip your landscaper when you see dome landscaping companies may have a “no tipping” policy. So if you still choose to tip landscapers from those companies, you can ask the responsible manager if their staff can accept tips. Other than this case, you are free to tip the landscapers if you choose to.
If you have ongoing seasonal services with a landscaping crew, you don’t need to tip every time they visit you. A seasonal tip or a holiday tip would just be more appreciated.
However, some companies send out a crew based on who is available for only one-time landscaping service. In that case, you don’t have to worry much about tipping as there is a chance you won’t get the same team or worker all the time.
How Much to Tip the Landscapers for their One-Time Job?
As discussed, tipping for landscaping is often different from the regular industry practice, and the decision needs to be taken carefully. I have looked into some popular discussion forums like Reddit, Quora, etc., and brought this suggestion to you.
Remember, landscaping is expensive – be it a one-off project or a seasonal one. So, the price range also can vary typically between $1,000 to even $20,000 depending on what the project entails and what materials need to be used.
As a general practice, you should tip the landscaping crew about $10 to $20, and this amount can be a consistent per crew member for one-off jobs. However, if the landscaping crew are regulars on your property, you can offer a monthly to seasonal tip of $20 to $50 per crew member to show your appreciation.
It has to be considered that getting the number right while tipping can be a challenge. However, as a general rule, never tip less than $10 per person on the landscaping team.
Again, tipping landscapers especially for their one-time job is merely an option, not an expectation. Because landscaping companies generally pay their crew well. The tipping amount that you choose to provide is entirely up to you.
read also
How Much Should You Tip A Carpet Cleaner?
How Do You Tip A Landscaper?
If you are likely to tip your landscaper, you can do it in a few different ways.
Hand them the amount in cash
Write them a cheque
Transfer the tipping amount via a payment app
Add the tip to your bill
Give them a gift card or voucher for a local business
Hand them a 12-pack of beer at the end of the job
Situations When You Should Consider Some Extra Tips
Since the main talk here is about the one-time landscaping job, there can be some situations when an extra tip is required. Let us take a closer look at those cases.
The Crews Did Some Extra Landscape Work:
There are some cases when the crews willingly can do some additional work that is actually not included in the overall landscaping task. If they do such work you didn’t ask them to do and you feel really happy that they have done it, you could show them appreciation with an additional tip. This case is especially true if they do some significant work and never ask for extra money. Now how much additional you want to tip in this case will entirely depend on your judgment.
They fix something not related to landscaping:
For example, they may sometimes fix up your fence gate, leaky water tap, broken fence post, or something similar along with their landscaping tasks. This sort of gesture definitely requires some additional tip to add.
Do you tip landscapers for spring cleanup?
Tipping for services like landscaping is optional, but it is a common practice in the USA to show appreciation for good work. If you are satisfied with the spring cleanup work done by your landscaper, a tip in the range of $20 to $50 is a good starting point, but the amount can vary depending on the complexity and size of the job, and your personal financial situation. Ultimately, the decision to tip and the amount to give is up to you.
Do you tip landscapers at Christmas?
Christmas is seen as a time to show appreciation and give back to those who have made a positive impact in our lives, including service providers such as landscapers. Tipping landscapers at Christmas is a common practice in the USA, it can be a nice way to show appreciation for their work throughout the year. If you decide to tip, a monetary amount or a small gift such as a gift card or a food basket can be a suitable option. It is important to note that the amount you choose to tip should reflect your satisfaction with their work and your personal financial situation.
What Else Can You Offer the Landscapers?
In most cases, landscaping can be quite labor-intensive. The overall duties can include removing trees, mowing lawns, and weed-whacking. And you may often find companies who have company policies that are against tipping the crew members. In such cases, you can offer a few other things to your landscapers.
- The crew member or the contractor would appreciate something cold to drink. If it is a hot day for tiresome work like landscaping, you can offer cold water, lemonade, soda, or iced tea to the people who are working on the landscaping team. These drinks will work magically to combat the heat and increase their level of performance.
- Provide them with some snacks or food. If the crew members have been working for hours, you can provide them with Chips, fruit, or a small meal like sandwiches that would be much appreciated by your landscapers. Working for long hours for the one-off landscaping job can surely make them hungry.
- You can offer them access to a shaded area. While they will be on break, offering them a shaded place away from the sun or scorching heat allows them to sit and enjoy their food. Working continuously under the sun can be very tiring, so it is always a good thing to show some humanity by offering them a shaded or cool place to relax for a while.
- Give them a favorable review. If the company has a website and they have provided you with a great service, don’t hesitate to thank them by giving a good review for the work they have done for you. Positive word-of-mouth can be another option. You can recommend their landscaping services to family, friends, or colleagues.
Things You Should Not Do When Tipping Your Landscaper
I have discussed so far how and when you should tip the landscapers for their one-time job. Now lets talk about the things that you should not be doing while tipping them. Let us look at the following discussion points for this –
- Tip unfairly to everyone. While tipping, don’t give each landscaper a different amount. Follow the practice of giving everyone the same amount. Because tipping some workers more than others can cause a sense of discrimination and arise problems for you and the landscaping crew.
- If tipping is against the company policy, don’t consider giving it. You certainly should not offer tips if you know there is a company policy that clearly forbids any tipping to its crew. Besides, if you provide a tip to any crew member who works for one of those companies, it will put the crew in an awkward position and they will have to refuse that to save their job. Do not make them fall into the possibility of losing their job because this may happen if the manager finds out about illegal tipping.
- Do not inform the crew of tipping them. This often happens when the landscapers find out beforehand that they will be receiving tips at the end of their job. This somehow defeats the purpose of a tip being encouragement and praise for good work. And above all, this may even bring down their quality of work at the end of the day.
In Shorts
Now you know that you should be tipping your landscape crew unless the same crew works regularly on your property and they have completed routine work. Tipping the landscape crew for their good work is important for maintaining a solid working relationship and ensuring that your landscape is kept in a pristine condition. Moreover, tipping helps your landscape workers make a fair living and enjoy a great day at work.
