A Landscaping Marketing Calendar for Every Season

Landscaping is a seasonal business, and that is both its biggest challenge and its biggest opportunity. The spring rush is insane. The summer keeps you hopping. The fall is cleanup season. And then winter hits, and for a lot of landscapers, the phone stops ringing and the crew is sitting around waiting for the thaw. The contractors who figure out how to smooth out that roller coaster are the ones who build a business that lasts. The ones who do not are the ones who make all their money in six months and stress for the other six.

The way to even it out is a marketing calendar. Not a complicated one. Just a plan for what to promote, when to send it, and who to send it to, mapped to the seasons your business already follows. Here is a month by month calendar you can adapt to your own market and services, so your crews stay busy from the first spring cleanup to the last snow of the year.

Late winter: book spring early

In late winter, your customers are not thinking about landscaping yet. Their yards are dormant, the snow is still on the ground in a lot of the country, and the last thing on their mind is mulch and flower beds. But that is exactly when you should be reaching out to past customers with a reminder to book their spring cleanup early. The goal is to fill your calendar before the rush starts, so when March hits and the calls pour in, you are already booked.

Send a campaign in late January or February to your past customers. Something simple like, Spring is around the corner. Book your spring cleanup now and get on the schedule before we fill up. The customers who reply in February are the ones who do not want to wait three weeks in April when everyone else is calling. You get them on the books early, and you start the season with a full calendar instead of scrambling to fill it.

This is also the time to line up any big projects for the year. If a customer talked about a patio install or a full yard renovation last fall, reach out in late winter and say, We are booking design consultations for spring. Want to get on the calendar? Hardscape projects have longer lead times, and the customers who plan in February are the ones whose projects actually get built. For more on how to build these campaigns, see our done-for-you campaigns page.

Spring: cleanups and new installs

Spring is your busiest season. The phone rings, the estimates pile up, and the crews are working six days a week. The marketing challenge in spring is not getting work. It is managing the volume and making sure you are booking the profitable jobs, not just the first ones that call. But spring is also when you should be promoting new installs. Mulch, flower beds, sod, and new plantings are all spring projects, and the customers who hire you for a cleanup are often the ones who decide to add a project while you are there.

Send a campaign in early spring about cleanups, and follow it up mid-spring with a push for new installs and fresh plantings. A message like, Time to wake up your yard. We are booking spring cleanups and new plantings this month. Want to get on the schedule? Keep it short and seasonal. The customers who respond are the ones who want their yard looking good before the summer parties start.

Ask for referrals in spring too. Your happy customers from last year are the best source of new ones, and a nudge in April that says, If your neighbors need help this year, we would love the introduction, goes a long way. People talk to their neighbors in spring when everyone is out in their yards for the first time. Be the landscaper they recommend. For more on the landscaping side of things, see our landscaping marketing page.

Summer: maintenance and upsells

Summer is when the emergency of spring turns into the routine of maintenance. The cleanups are done, the new installs are in, and now it is about keeping everything looking good through the heat. This is the season to promote weekly or biweekly maintenance packages. The customer who hired you for a spring cleanup is the perfect candidate for a summer maintenance plan, because they already trust you and they already see the value in keeping the yard up.

Send a campaign in early summer about maintenance packages. Something like, Keep your yard looking sharp all summer. We have a few maintenance spots opening up. Want to grab one? The customers who sign up for maintenance in June are the ones who stick with you through the fall, because by then it is just part of their routine.

Summer is also upsell season. A customer on a maintenance plan is a customer who trusts you, and that is the time to suggest the next project. A new flower bed, a small patio, a fire pit for fall. When you are there every week, you see the yard more than the homeowner does, and you spot the opportunities. A quick text that says, Noticed the corner by the fence would look great with a small bed. Want me to put together a quote? turns a maintenance visit into a bigger job without a cold call.

Fall: cleanups, aeration and next year

Fall is the second busiest season for landscapers, and it is where a lot of contractors leave money on the table. Leaf cleanup, aeration, winterizing irrigation, and putting the yard to bed for winter are all fall services that customers need but put off until the last minute. A reminder campaign in early fall fills your schedule before the first frost catches everyone off guard.

Send a campaign in September about fall cleanups and aeration. Something like, Do not wait until the first frost. Book your fall cleanup and aeration now so your yard is ready for winter. The customers who book in September are the ones whose yards survive the winter in good shape. The ones who wait until November are calling when you are already booked solid.

Fall is also when you book the big projects for next year. The customer who has been thinking about a patio all summer is the one who signs the contract in October so you can build it first thing in the spring. Reach out to anyone you gave a quote to earlier in the year and say, Still thinking about that patio? We are booking spring installs now, and the calendar is filling up. That follow up turns a maybe into a deposit.

Winter: snow, hardscape planning and reviews

Winter is the slow season for most landscapers, and it is where a calendar makes the biggest difference. If you offer snow removal, that is your winter revenue, and the time to sign up customers for seasonal snow contracts is in late fall, not after the first storm. A campaign in October that says, Secure your snow removal spot before the first storm. We have a few seasonal contracts left, fills your winter schedule before December.

If you do not do snow, winter is hardscape planning season. The customers who want a patio, a retaining wall, or a full yard renovation in the spring are the ones who plan it in the winter. Promote design consultations and early deposits. A message like, Thinking about a new patio for spring? Book a design consultation this winter and get on the build schedule early. That turns the slow months into booked spring projects instead of dead time.

Winter is also when you catch up on reviews. You have time, your customers are not in a rush, and the ones who were happy last summer will leave a review if you ask. Send a campaign to your past customers asking for reviews, and spend the slow months building the online presence that makes next spring's phone ring. Every review you collect in winter is one more reason a homeowner picks you over the competition when March comes back around. For a broader look at how this fits other trades, see our post on building a seasonal marketing calendar for contractors.

A landscaping business does not have to be a roller coaster. With a simple calendar that maps your campaigns to the seasons, you can keep crews busy in the slow months, book the profitable jobs before the rush, and turn one time cleanups into year round maintenance customers. The Job Machine runs the campaigns for you, so the spring push, the fall cleanup reminder, and the winter design consultation offer all go out on schedule without you having to remember to send them. If you want to see how it fits your landscaping business, we will walk you through it on a quick call.

Ryan Archibald

Avera Systems

Ryan helps contractors and home service businesses get more calls and booked jobs with websites, reviews, and follow-up built for the trades. He writes about what actually works when you are on the job all day and only have a few minutes to run your marketing.