Help with a price quote on a small tree line.

[Economy Landscaping]

My business is mostly lawn care, but i have a customer that wants a small tree line. Basically she sees a trailer on the back of her property and is sick of seeing it. So She wants me to put 6 to 8 trees to cover it up. Now, Emerald Green Arborvitaes could work, but she wants something that is going to grow fast and wide. The Emeralds dont get wide, so she would have to get many more do to the trick. I was thinking about putting some Green Giants, maybe 15 gallon 6-8 footers. Now these suckers are about 65 bucks plus tax and i still need potting soil so lets just say 75 per tree. What would be a good quote for her? Someone once told me to always price material then multiply it by 3 to get your price. that would mean 225 per tree in the ground, a total of 1800.00. Now that seems kind of high for me... But she would get what she wants. 6-8 footers that in a year or two will be 9-10 feet tall. I was thinking about multiplying it by 2.5 so that would be 1500.00. Do you guys think is fair or it should be lower? I dont want to over charger and i dont want to be too cheap. Thanks for the help D.

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Last edited by Economy Landscaping; 05-13-2009 at 07:03 AM.

[Economy Landscaping]

Lawn care business tips

8 views no reply c'mon guys share the love!

__________________
"Life's a garden dig it" - Joe Dirt


JD - Z-Trak 717 - 48", 19 HP Kawasaki
JD - 48" Power Flow Bagger - Dual bag
JD - WB - 48", 14 HP Kawasaki - coming soon
TB - 21", 675 Briggs EZ starter, SP FWD
TB - Hand Blower
TB - 4 Cycle Trimmer

[CHEESE2009]

The price is good, stick with it.

What's wrong with Cedars, though?

Is this the customers backyard neighbor? Do they have a fence etc?

[Steve]

I think this is the kinda of job that can really be underbid due to the amount of time it will take to install them. How are you going to dig the holes for these trees?
What are you going to do if you start hitting some rocks or roots and you are manually digging?
There are plenty of members on here who can tell you how they underestimated jobs and were kicking themselves for days because the job ballooned into a real big problem.

You are ultimately charging $150 per hole to be dug. That could be $75 an hour for 2 hours but who knows, one hole manually could turn into an all day project.

[Economy Landscaping]

Originally Posted by BREEZE2009

The price is good, stick with it.

What's wrong with Cedars, though?

Is this the customers backyard neighbor? Do they have a fence etc?

yeah its the customers backyard and the neighbor doesnt take care of the property. No Fence also. That's why she is looking for trees (a bit cheaper).

[Economy Landscaping]

Originally Posted by Steve

I think this is the kinda of job that can really be underbid due to the amount of time it will take to install them. How are you going to dig the holes for these trees?
What are you going to do if you start hitting some rocks or roots and you are manually digging?
There are plenty of members on here who can tell you how they underestimated jobs and were kicking themselves for days because the job ballooned into a real big problem.

You are ultimately charging $150 per hole to be dug. That could be $75 an hour for 2 hours but who knows, one hole manually could turn into an all day project.

Im digging them by hand... I have done 30 arborvitaes, 15 rheingolds, 3 Crapemyrtle, and 1 japanese maple by myself at my own house about 6 weeks ago... But these were for me... holes took a few mins to dig... But it did take the whole day, but c'mon... it was a $#it load of trees! LOL ...

The ground shouldnt be too bad... Since its mosly sand... I do have to call in to get the property mark, just in case there are any power lines. "Call before you Dig!" LOL

D.

[Steve]

Oh you did a great job with that landscape project! It looks fantastic!

[Economy Landscaping]

Originally Posted by Steve

Oh you did a great job with that landscape project! It looks fantastic!

thanks, im still not finish. Still needs mulch all the way down. I have to kill the grass and weeds, put down the mainbrain and then the mulch. But i need to dig a 2-3 inch trench so the mulch doesnt wash down.