Three ways customers hand you a garden

A hedge before summer, a lawn every other week, an overgrown lot: each request comes in through its own door.
One-off jobMaintenance contractQuote visit
How the customer comes in Books a slot in the appNo booking: asks for a contract through a form Books the visit in the app
DurationHalf a day for a hedge, 90 minutes for a lawn mowWhatever the contract sets30 minutes on site
FrequencyOnce, or once a seasonEvery other week in season, monthly in winterOnce, before the quote
ConfirmationEmail to the customer and to you on bookingYour visit schedule, handed over at signingEmail on booking, your quote afterward
What the form asksHedge length and height, access, yard wasteLot size, work expected, preferred frequencySame form as a trim: address and work to price
Payment in the appNo: after the job, as usualNo: under the contract's termsNo, neither for the visit nor for the quote

A hedge trim, booked as a half-day

Length, height, trailer access: the day before, you know what to load

The "Hedge trimming" section offers half-day slots; the customer picks a free June morning. The booking form asks for the hedge's length and height in feet, whether the trailer can get into the yard, and whether you should haul the clippings away or leave them in a pile. You know whether to bring the ladder or the lift, and how many runs to the yard waste drop-off to plan. The confirmation lands at once in their inbox and yours, with every answer; the job goes into your Google Calendar, description included. Since this form also serves mowing and quote visits, keep those fields optional.

Hours that follow the garden's seasons

Wide from April to October, 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. in July, narrow in winter

From April to October, open your sections Monday to Saturday, mornings and afternoons, keeping your contract customers' hours closed. In July, cut your hours back to 7 a.m. to 1 p.m.: nobody mows or trims in the midday heat. In winter, keep a few half-days for pruning fruit trees and the last leaves. These changes don't happen on their own: rework your hours at each turn of the season. Your vacation days and holidays are closed ahead of time, and the booking window stops a customer from grabbing a July slot in March.

The garden calendar, one article a month

March: prune the roses

Roses and summer-flowering shrubs get pruned now, and the lawn gets its first mow with the blade set high; the article also announces your spring slots.

May: plant after the last frost

Once the last frost has passed, annual flowers and summer vegetables go in; the grass grows fast and needs mowing more often.

July: water late, mow high

Watering at the end of the day, grass left longer so it doesn't scorch, and no hard pruning during heat waves.

October: leaves and bulbs

Raking leaves, planting spring bulbs and shrubs, the last mow of the year: the right time to book a fall cleanup.

December: frost protection

Frost cloth over tender plants, mulch around the beds, fruit trees pruned on frost-free days.

How much does a gardening service app cost?

For a gardener's app your customers can download on iPhone and Android, plan on the Premium plan. The garden calendar, the map of your area, the Form and notifications add nothing to that. Only booking for trims, mowing and visits costs extra on Premium; the Pro plan already includes it.
Premium · iOS and Android apps for your customers$55 /month, billed annually
On Premium, the booking add-on (trims, mowing, visits)$15 /month
Pro · trims, mowing and visits bookable$105 /month, billed annually
On top of that come your two developer accounts, one with Apple and one with Google, paid directly to each store.

Gardening service app: questions that keep coming up

Do my contract customers have to book every visit?

No. Their visit every other week, Tuesday morning for example, is set with them when the contract is signed and doesn't go through the app. So that no other customer takes those hours, don't open them in your time ranges. Booking stays for one-off jobs and quote visits.

How do I keep all of July from being booked in March?

With the booking window, which decides how far ahead the calendar can be browsed. Set it to three weeks in spring: a customer who opens the app on March 10 sees no further than the 31st. Lengthen it as your contracts settle and the season takes shape.

It's raining: how do I reschedule a mow?

No mow reschedules itself. Call the customer, agree on another day, then cancel their slot from the back office: they get a cancellation email, and the hour opens up again. They then book the day you agreed on. A full day of rain in the forecast? Close that day in your sections: mows already booked are canceled in one go, each with its email to the customer.

Can customers tell me whether to haul away the clippings?

Yes: add the question to your booking form, "yard waste: haul away or leave in a pile?" Their answer shows in the email confirmation and in the Google Calendar event, so the day before, you decide whether to hitch the trailer. If hauling costs extra, say so on your rates page, which customers read before booking.

I work with an employee: two calendars?

Yes, if you each go out on your own: each of you gets your own sections, tied to your own Google Calendar, and the customer chooses who comes. If you always work together, one calendar is enough. And to offer two durations for the same person, a half-day hedge trim and a 90-minute mow, connect both sections to a single Google Calendar: once a mow is booked, the half-day that covers it disappears from the other section.

Can customers pay for the job in the app?

No: no job, no visit and no advance gets paid in the app. You collect payment as you do today, when the job is done or under the contract.

How do I find new customers in my area?

The app won't bring you customers on its own. On the stores, it carries your business name, the one customers type in to find it: put it on your truck and your quotes. A notification can target a neighborhood, a subdivision where you've just signed a contract for example, but only reaches app users who have allowed location access.
Extension Store
Appointment booking handles trims, mowing and visits: it's a Premium add-on, included in Pro. Everything else is free: CMS Articles for the garden calendar, with each article sent out as a notification by Automatic push, CMS Map for your service area, the Form for contract requests, Push notifications for one-off messages.