Best apps for gardening and yard work for spring 2019. App for lawn mowing

Best apps for gardening and yard work for spring 2019

Use these gardening and landscaping apps to keep your lawn healthy, figure out the right stuff to plant and get alerts so your hard work doesn’t go to waste.

Katie is a writer covering all things how-to at CNET, with a FOCUS on Social Security and notable events. When she’s not writing, she enjoys playing in golf scrambles, practicing yoga and spending time on the lake.

Not everyone has a green thumb or an eye for landscaping. Some people don’t even get to try because they’re so busy. Others watch HGTV over and over again and still never achieve the yard of their dreams because it’s easy to forget most of what you learned by the time you get outside.

But since you can take your phone with you when you walk out into the yard, there are now some digital tools that can make you a more effective gardener. We’ve gathered together some gardening and landscaping apps that can walk you through how to take care of your plants and keep your yard looking fabulous.

My Lawn: A Guide to Lawn Care

My Lawn (download for iOS or Android) makes lawn maintenance understandable and creates an easy-to-follow care plan so you know which products to use and when.

Recommendations are based on your lawn size, location and climate. You’ll get an alert when it’s time to feed, seed and water your lawn, so you will never have to guess. You can also create a custom lawn care plan.

Monitor the amount of water your yard gets each week from rain, hoses or sprinklers. Keep track of the specific needs of different parts of your yard, like the parts that are mostly shaded versus the parts that are always in the sun.

GrowIt!

Share your garden and connect with others through the GrowIt! app (download for iOS or Android). Share photos of your plants and ask the community for help identifying them. The GrowIt! community is a valuable resource if you’ve just moved to a new area. If you’ve got a pest that’s eating your tomatoes, for example, others on the app might be able to help.

See what the people around you are planting to get some inspiration. If you find a plant you like, tap on the information tab to find out how to grow it. The information tab tells you how big the plant can get, how often to water and feed it, and when it will bloom.

GrowIt! teaches you how to properly prepare your soil for anything you plant, grow larger vegetables, and what you should and shouldn’t plant based on your location.

iScape

Design your outdoor living area with iScape (download for iOS). Use the design tools to make your project come to life. Snap a photo of an area that needs landscaping and virtually add flowerbeds, trees and shrubs to get an idea of what your yard will look like before you begin.

iScape offers 2D and 3D designs so you can see what your physical outdoor area looks like with virtual plants. Once you have a landscape layout, you can share with your spouse or a landscape pro and get your project started.

The app offers a free lite version, but to gain full access, you will need to subscribe to a monthly pro subscription for 20, or a yearly pro subscription for 200.

FlowerChecker

If you’ve ever wondered about an unknown plant in your garden, then you need FlowerChecker (download for iOS or Android). This app has a team of experts who can help you identify plants, moss, lichen and fungi.

To find out about your unknown plant, snap a few pictures of it and upload them to the app. Try to capture the different parts of the plant like the flower, leaves and stem. The typical response time for an expert to identify the plant can take a few minutes or a few hours. So far, the team of experts has been able to correctly identify an average of 90 percent of plants.

Identification costs 1 per plant uploaded. If the team can’t confirm what your plant is, you won’t have to pay anything. You’ll also have to purchase the app for a one-time cost of 1.

Garden Answers

Identify plants easily with Garden Answers (download for iOS or Android). Unlike Flower Checker, this app uses advanced image recognition technology to identify plants instead of an expert. Simply snap a picture and submit it to instantly get detailed information about a plant.

To learn if your plants have pests or diseases, use the keyword search feature to ask Garden Answers a question. If you need more advice on gardening, ask the experts for more specific questions and recommendations.

Access any of your previous plant questions and answers within the app.

SmartPlant

Learn about healthy planting year-round with SmartPlant (download for iOS or Android). Watch videos, view images and learn more about how to care for your plants in the app library.

Identify your plants and any pests that are preventing their growth. Scan plant barcodes in stores to receive monthly care tip notifications.

The app has a free version that offers occasional access to premium features. If you subscribe to premium, you will have access to expert assistance. Premium costs 4 monthly, 10 quarterly or 35 annually.

Gardening Companion

Make your garden immaculate with the help of Gardening Companion (download for iOS or Android). This app acts as your garden assistant to help you care for your plants. Browse through thousands of articles on horticulture to take the best care of your garden.

Track your garden’s growth by storing photos and notes in the app’s journal. The app records the weather in your location and you can compare how your garden did this year compared with last year.

Set up notifications to remind you to water and fertilize your garden. Gardening Companion can also alert you when the time is right to plant your vegetables.

Gardenate

Learn what you can grow in your area with Gardenate (download for iOS or Android). The app uses your location to show what is best for you to plant each month. Access plant descriptions and growing tips to become a pro.

In the app, record planting dates, harvest dates and notes about your plants. Save the details in the My Garden section. The app will send calendar reminders when it’s time to harvest your produce.

Access detailed information about your plants like when they germinate and at what temperatures, how far apart to space your plants and the amount of time it takes for them to harvest.

How To Create On-Demand Lawn Mowing App like Uber and Start A Lawn Mowing Business?

As Harvard Business Review states, about 22.4 million users annually start using on-demand services, and they spend over USD 57.6 billion on these services. It means the on-demand economy grows and prospers. New apps are created, new niches are revealed.

In regions like North America, lawn mowing apps occupy the market, and they become a good startup idea if you want to create something new. We will show you how to start a lawn mowing business and what your app should contain.

In this article, we want to present a concept of a lawn mowing app that can be your potential product. Cadabra Studio’s design team created it, using catchy icons and navigating illustrations to show how your future lawn mowing app may look. Read on to see more examples below.

What Is An On-Demand Lawn Mowing App?

We think the purpose of lawn mowing apps is quite clear. Many people have their lawns in front of their dwellings or the backyard. And they need to take care of them, mow in summer, and do snow shoveling in winter. However, it takes a lot of time, owners can be very busy, and the neglected lawns will look poor and make the area look abandoned.

Modern technologies allow managing entire buildings and factories, so the issue of a well-kept lawn shouldn’t be a problem. And anyone thinking about how to start a mowing business can use process automation to improve customer service. The main question is how to combine simple daily activities with the benefits of advanced technology.

That is where on-demand lawn mowing apps come to the rescue. Lawn owners or moving business owners download it, find a lawnmower who can go and tidy up the lawn. No wonder that lawn care apps are also called “Uber for lawn mowing.” Lawn care apps can also provide additional services, but it depends on the app.

This article may be interesting for you: Uber-like App Development (Taxi app)

Why Does It Become Trendy?

As noted above, yard work is not the favorite thing people strive to do after a tiring week. Previously, it was much more challenging to find a lawnmower. Newspapers ads — that is everything lawn owners could rely on. But times are changing, and digital technologies run the show. And on-demand mowing app development was just a matter of time.

Where there’s demand, there’s supply, you know. Today people are ready to pay for making their lawns clean and good-looking. Other people are willing to mow lawns and get money for it. Lawn care apps help connect both parties. So starting a lawn mowing business is far from being a bad idea.

How Does An App For Lawn Care Business Work?

If you plan to create an app for a lawn care business, you need to know the functionality principle and understand how it works. Usually, lawn mowing apps perform three simple steps as follows:

• Post lawn information. Lawn owners need to post the info about their lawn, indicate the address and photo. It will take a few minutes, and then they can proceed to the next step.
• List and find a lawnmower. There is a list of lawnmowers, and users can check their ratings, read reviews about them, and even check their equipment. Also, some apps allow users to compare to find the best quote.
• Schedule and pay. Once you chose a lawnmower, you schedule a mowing time, make a booking, and then pay. Funds will be reserved, and service providers will get them only when the work is completed.

It is also worth paying attention to the target audience’s needs. This directly affects the software logic. Lawn care business apps created specifically for work with large customers (office buildings, sports complexes, etc.) require more advanced and expanded functionality, special industrial scale equipment and multiple-steps control. At the same time, software for household use has somewhat simpler functionality and a less loaded service-payment system.

Benefits Of Lawn Mowing Apps

Although you already know that apps for the lawn care business are beneficial for both parties, we would like to list the primary advantages substantively.

Don’t have time to read the article? Then contact us directly and share the info about your upcoming project.

• Easy scheduling. Users can schedule time for lawn care using their mobile devices. over, the time can be changed or canceled if necessary, with a few clicks.
• Status tracking. Most lawn care apps make it possible to monitor work progress and even track it in real-time mode.
• Convenient communication. Users may chat with service providers via an integrated chat system or use a phone to call them directly.
• Processes automation. Once users fill out the required forms, they can schedule and book lawn care faster with a few clicks. Also, it is possible to create a template and make automated bookings monthly/yearly. No human errors or time slips: everything is simple and fast.
• Lowerbusiness expenses. As you can see, automation of business processes is a must in today’s competitive world. A quality app allows you to significantly reduce costs for personnel, planning, quality control, etc. This software also makes concluding a lawn care “agreement” extremely fast, significantly reducing time spent.
• Contribution to customer satisfaction and fruitful cooperation. Customers can write down all crucial information concerning lawn care and related processes, so service providers can check it and keep up with it. The better the work is done, the more chances the customer will contact the same specialist again.

So, the lawn mowing app is a convenient tool for improving business processes, reducing costs, automating interaction with clients and customer support. In fact, such software allows you to free yourself from running routine tasks and concentrate on more important things.

Top Examples Of On-Demand Lawn Mowing Apps

What is unique about existing lawn care apps? Lawnmower on-demand application development implies that you need to use competitors’ apps and delve deeper into their functionality.

Lawn Buddy

Lawn Buddy app is targeted at lawn care professionals teams where a team manager can communicate with customers and manage their team of lawnmowers and relevant specialists. When the job is completed, the manager sends an invoice to customers. Lawn Buddy has route optimization for getting the fastest way to do the job, crew tracking feature, and even marketing tools to attract more customers.

PlowzMowz

The app was created in the USA in 2013. It works all over the US and Canada regions, and it allows users to find lawn and landscaping services nearby. The app provides a wide range of services like snow plowing, gardening, lawn mowing, mulch delivery, trimming, fertilization, etc. A rich user interface and thought-out UX made the PlowzWowz app one of the most popular ones.

LawnGuru

Another app for US-based citizens. LawnGuru makes it possible for users to enter their addresses and use automated measuring tools to get instant pricing. The same as PlowzWowz, the range of services of LawnGuru is not limited to lawn mowing only. Users can find all services related to yard improvement.

As we can see, all these products are united by a wide but relatively concise functionality aimed at a specific target audience. Also, every successful app for lawn care business is about communicating effectively with customers and responding quickly to their inquiries. All this together provided by a professional interface design that takes into account the tiniest details and possible user wishes.

How Can You Monetize A Lawn Care App Like Uber?

Gaining a profit is the primary goal of any app development. Lawn mowing apps like Uber let you monetize them in two ways, and you can even choose both of them.

• In-app advertisement. This is a widespread monetization practice in the majority of apps. That is why you can start integrating ads into your app. Remember that advertising in your app must be unobtrusive since it will make customers abandon your app and find something better.
• Fixed fee. When users pay for hired services, a fixed percentage of the amount will be transferred to you as an app owner. The percentage can be changed if the number of users is growing.
• Hourly-based payments. You can set hourly for the services you offer. This payment method may be more convenient for some customers because they know exactly what they are paying for.

Don’t forget that part of your app’s monetization and bottom line of successful lawn care business profitability is the unique proposition to users. The software should provide an unforgettable user experience combined with essential features.

How To Start Up A Lawn Care Business And Must-Have Features To Include

If you want to build an on-demand mowing app wisely and avoid failures, we recommend following a specific algorithm of actions. We have prepared steps for you to consider and a list of features for your lawn care app.

Research Comes First

The process of starting a lawn mowing business is no different from starting any other product: each option requires a deep and comprehensive research of the environment. Your target market is the battleground for customers and their loyalty.

So, know your competitor. And know your user. It is an established truth to remember. You should analyze competitor’s apps and spell everything out to make your app better than they did. Also, you need to FOCUS on apps that people in your region use. If you enter the market with a new proposition, you must understand the target audience’s demand and the value your app brings.

Diversify Categories Of Lawn Care

If you want to stand out among competitors, your app should provide additional services apart from lawn mowing. At least, gardening and snow shoveling as well. The more services your app offers, the more users and services providers it has. And it directly impacts profit and accessibility.

Besides, add a rewards-based payment system with gamification. That is, users may be rewarded for cashless payments, for example. Or the gamified payment process may be an additional source of bonuses and discounts. Don’t be afraid to experiment with your app.

Hire A Customer Care Team

Do you remember that almost all on-demand apps like Uber have customer support features? In case of disputes or controversies between user and service provider, the team helps resolve all problems encountered. That is what your app should have — a support team.

The number of employees will depend on the app size. But you must keep in mind that users don’t like to wait — they want to get the assistance right away. Thus, ensure instant help to your audience in case it needs one.

Let Users Navigate Through Your App Easily

Design is what all users will pay attention to first. High usability of user interface and simple navigation — users want your app to be accessible and transparent. On-demand lawn mowing services are predominantly created using green and white colors (associated with grass), you can do the same. However, designers can add unique UI and special features to make your app stand out.

Also, your lawn business app should provide an exceptional, ultimate user experience. It’s about a convenient, joyful and straightforward journey leading clients to the services they need. That is why UI/UX design is so important: it is the main guide for the customer.

As you can see in the picture of our lawn mowing concept, it doesn’t contain redundant elements. Our designers strove to make the onboarding process more intuitive — a large thematic icon, call to action, and button to start. This is what your app must be — encourage customers to start using your app.

Find A Development Team

You need to hire software developers who will build your app. As a rule, development companies provide all-in-one services — UI/UX design, software development, quality assurance. The Cadabra Studio team often creates products from scratch, and we know how this process works.

Another advantage of cooperation with a development company is that designers and developers communicate tightly, so your product is created in a close-knit team where all processes are well-established.

As for the development platform, we recommend starting with a landing page that will contain basic info about your product and a call-to-action button to download the mobile app. For a start, it can be an iOS app only. When the app gains momentum, you can order the development of the Android version additionally.

App Store Optimization (ASO)

When the app is released, it is not the end. You must optimize your app for the app store to provide it with a higher rank. ASO, or App Store Optimization, is the set of activities that lets you promote your app in Google Play and App Store, depending on the software platform.

ASO includes text and graphic optimization. Text optimization means that you will use relevant keywords so that users can find your app. Graphic optimization implies the use of icons, video, screenshots to capture the attention of users. If you do everything right, your app will beat the competition in search results.

However, for efficient ASO, you must not forget that your app should be unique and it isn’t a clone of existing competitors. And if you use templates and app builders for lawn mowing app development, you won’t get custom functionality and a wide range of features. That is why we recommend you cooperating with software developers like Cadabra Studio to create an exceptional and outstanding product from scratch.

How much will it cost to build your lawn mowing app? Get in touch with Cadabra Studio to get a detailed estimate.

Must-Have Features For Your Lawn Care App

Lawn mowing services must be created in two versions — for users and mowers. However, their features won’t be too different. We will list all general basic features for the lawnmower on-demand application development you may be interested in.

• Lawn info. You need to add more information about your lawn — address, amount of acres, photos, etc. You can see the example created by Cadabra Studio in the picture below. Our designers’ intention was to make a UX as simple as possible to optimize the interaction between the user and the app.
• Search. Let users find lawn care service providers nearby. You can also add a mapping feature to locate specialists right on the map in real-time mode. Search is the essential feature any app must include.
• Filter. If your app provides a few services, add a filter that will help users sort them by category, price, location, etc. The filter example is in Cadabra Studio’s concept below. Users can select the type of work they need at the moment. With the help of simple but comprehensible illustrations, this process becomes interactive and convenient.
• Customer support. Interaction with the customer support team is an integral part of your service. Apart from communication with humans, you can also add an AI-based chatbot to answer frequently asked questions. It will be a more expensive option, but it will reduce the number of recurrent questions.
• Push notifications. The app will inform users or service providers about all activities. It prevents both parties from opening the app every minute and checking the feedback/status/update.
• Scheduling. Users can schedule lawn care at the time suitable for them. In turn, service providers may accept or reject the appointment. For lawn care services. the correct scheduling without overlaps is critical because it’s an element of customer satisfaction.
• Payment. Customers should be able to send payments, while specialists can receive payments when the job is done and the customer confirms it. Payments processing must be performed via reliable payment gateways like Braintree, Stripe, PayPal.
• Status update. The update of status notifies users on what stage their order is. A new order, in progress, or completed — it is much more convenient rather than spending time for permanent visual inspection of lawn condition.
• Chat. Text or video chat is required for communication between users and lawn care specialists or customer care employees.
• Ratings/reviews. Once the job is completed, the user can rate a specialist and leave a review. The rating system helps other users find the best professional. Such a feature will help you get closer to the user, understand his needs, preferences and requirements.
• Social login. The app will contain a personal profile for each user and lawn care service provider, so they need to sign up and create their accounts. The authorization process will become faster if social media profiles are used. Let both parties log in using their /Google/ accounts.
• Admin panel. This feature will be helpful for you as an app owner. The admin panel will be available in the web version as a CMS (content management system). Admin functions let you edit the app, change pricing, services, manage all users, etc. Such functionality is indispensable for fast changes management, which is crucial for most lawn care businesses

Note! We have presented our concept design for a few features only, but our goal was to show you the example of your future lawn mowing app. If you need one, we can implement the app according to your needs, and the feature list can be extended.

It’s not enough to own a lawn care business ; you’ll have to manage it successfully, which means adapting your services to your customer’s needs and constantly updating your app.

Ideas For Future Or How To Achieve With Your App

You always need to update your app and provide users with more exciting features. Besides, the app should keep up with modern trends. However, it doesn’t mean that all innovative technologies must be integrated into your app right now. One or two technologies may be enough if they are correctly applied.

• Artificial intelligence. AI remains one of the most popular technologies in recent years. And lawn mowing app can use AI for voice recognition, automated photo classification (for example, the system can identify what type of service your lawn needs). Besides, machine learning algorithms can be applied in chatbots to reduce the customer support team’s workload.
• Augmented reality. Remember Pokemon Go fever? Many people ran around the city to catch a rare pokemon with their smartphone and app. It is not so popular today, but augmented reality technology still remains. With AR tech, your lawn mowing app can show customers how their lawn will be cleaned, what tools can be used, etc. AR is not used for gaming only anymore.
• Scalability. If you ever decide to integrate any tech mentioned above (or any other), your app must be scalable. That is, it must be flexible enough to add new features faster, and developers won’t need to rebuild the whole app.
• Web app. You also need to consider web application development — “lawn mowing services” is a popular request in Google search engine. You can build a progressive web app that doesn’t require installation. So users can order mowing services via the web app. Check more info about the benefits of PWA and how it differs from native apps.

The landscaping business is as competitive as any other. And implementing the right technologies gives you very important trumps that dramatically change the game. The assistance of skilled developers will be mandatory if you don’t want to fail. That is why you should contact Cadabra Studio to make your project right. You also can find out about our experience in app development here.

The Cost Of Starting A Lawn Care Business

Even when you know how to start up a lawn mowing business, you might be interested in the final cost of lawn care service development. Its cost will depend on the number of additional features, the user interface’s complexity like animated design, number of platforms, etc.

If you need a rough estimate, you can look at the info below.

The average hourly rate at Cadabra Studio is 35-50 per hour. UI/UX design creation may take 70 hours minimum and 150 hours maximum. Thus, the design cost will be 2.4-3.5K (minimum) and 5.2-7.5K (maximum).

The development process will include the features we listed above, and the total cost of an essential MVP development of the lawn mowing app (including design cost) may be within the 28-35K range.

However, note again that the estimate is rough, and it is impossible to calculate the cost of your app until you provide us with detailed project requirements.

So we need to calculate the cost of your Uber for lawn care app development when we have all your requirements and expectations. Our business development managers will provide you with all the required information on cost, timelines, tech stack and answer all your questions. Contact us at any time!

Lawn Maintenance Routing Software to use in 2023 – List, Features, Pros Cons

With the ever-increasing demand for lawn care businesses in residential neighborhoods, planning routes for every single stop can be a daunting task. This is why such a business might want to use lawn care routing software to do all the heavy lifting.

The lawn care business industry holds high potential as only around 40% of Americans with a yard employ lawn care professionals. This is an excellent opportunity for existing lawn care companies to optimize their current process to capture the market early.

Finding the best routing software can be a time-consuming and difficult process due to the sheer amount of options present in the market. Therefore, we have compiled this clear list of all the best lawn maintenance routing software to refine your judgment and make the best choice.

Best Lawn Care Routing Software

This list of the 11 best lawn care routing software was made with the intention of giving you software that is very reputed, offers a bunch of features, comes in at an affordable price, and is highly reliable.

That is exactly why we will start this list by looking at the best lawn care software for getting the most efficient routes in the fastest way possible.

Upper Route Planner

Upper is the ideal lawn care business software to get the best route planning ability for your service trips. It encompasses all the features that a lawn care business could ask for to reduce operational costs, deliver better customer service and boost operational speed.

Suitable for all lawn care companies from both the residential and commercial sectors, Upper enables you to craft the most optimized service routes and dispatch them instantly within seconds. This coupled with other features such as proof of delivery, excel import, and more make Upper unbeatable as a route planner.

The ease of use and efficiency delivered by Upper make it a breeze for you and your team to surpass your competitors. Schedule routes in advance by importing all of your addresses in a flash, collect photos/eSignatures for proof of delivery, and more features all at once.

Ability to dispatch service routes in one click

Schedule routes for months in advance

Increases the efficiency of operations

Provides performance reports and analytics insights

Do Lawn Care Route Planning Effortlessly

Optimized routes for your lawn care service trips are just a few clicks away. Hop on to the automated routing process and attain your clients on time.

Jobber

Jobber is an app that is best suited for the lawn care company that wants a complete package offering everything from route scheduling to payment processing. It boasts a simple and user-friendly interface that makes app navigation a simple process.

It is not software that is built specifically for a landscaping business but given its set of features, it can very well be used by such businesses. The features offered by jobber serve a wide variety of purposes from customer satisfaction to improved operational performance.

Limited features in the lite version

Difficult assigning replacement staff

ServiceTitan

One of the best-known and respected apps in the world of field service is ServiceTitan. While they are not exclusively lawn care management software they are still very handy for all the regular activities of any lawn care business.

This is because they have everything from GPS routing capabilities to invoicing abilities. This makes it a fine option for landscaping businesses that are looking for a one-stop solution that optimizes almost all of their processes in some manner.

Pricing: Undisclosed, custom quote depending on requirements

Service Autopilot

Service Autopilot is a software solution that aims to automate the process that is usually done on paper and automate them instead. This includes creating lawn care invoices, getting optimized routes, and streamlining crew management.

One advantage of using service autopilot for small lawn care businesses is that it is the cheapest option of its kind on the market. However, you must keep in mind that cheaper software programs will usually give you lesser features.

Key features: lawn care billing software, GPS tracking, business reports, client history, QuickBooks integration

Verizon Connect Reveal

Verizon connect reveal, is a route planner for large enterprise applications which means that it comes at quite a hefty price tag. It comes with proprietary tracking hardware that can be installed on trucks to look out for potential engine problems or to simply check performance.

Because it offers such sophisticated features, you can choose to opt in or out of the features at your discretion. This means that you only have to pay for the features that you selected and will use in your business which reduces the cost dramatically.

Pricing: 45 standard price with additional charges

Key features: Fleet management, ELD compliance, maintenance scheduling, performance reports, live tracking

Some basic features are listed as optional

No support outside of weekdays and work hours

Workwave Service

Workwave service is an absolute veteran in the industry as they have been in the business of optimizing field operations for over 40 years. This has given them a great reputation and loyal customer base which can attest to their service quality.

They have their very own route optimization software along with a whole bunch of other software solutions for field services businesses. Though they are best known for their marketing tools that are used by countless businesses.

Pricing: No pricing information made publically available

Key features: Route optimization, marketing insights, field service management, sales chatbot, pest control software

Not a dedicated solution for lawn care

Greater FOCUS on marketing solutions

Yardbook

Yardbook is a rudimentary and simple bit of software for small lawn care operations that don’t have high requirements. This is because of the amazing fact that it is free of cost making it the ideal solution for businesses that are just getting into the industry and need an affordable solution.

It covers all the basic functions of route optimization, invoicing, and fleet management. Features such as dispatching are not integrated due to their complexity however you could still purchase additional functions such as QuickBooks integration for a small fee.

Key features: Invoicing, routing, GPS tracking, job scheduling, lead management, equipment maintenance scheduling.

Smart Service

Smart service is a dedicated lawn care scheduling software that is built specifically to cater to the industry, unlike other software programs. It hopes to replace the pen and paper-based operations that are conducted with digital programs.

It encapsulates almost all the features that are needed by lawn care businesses such as invoicing, scheduling, and dispatching. However, the main feature that carries their brand name through the minds of customers is QuickBooks integration.

Pricing: Quote given upon request

Key features: Quickbooks integration, dispatching, scheduling, customer management, routing, time tracking

Specialized for lawn care businesses

Badger Maps

Badger maps has been used extensively by workers in the field sales industry as it has been created for that very purpose. This is why it can be extremely useful to new businesses that are looking to conduct customer acquisition trips around neighborhoods.

It allows for quick sales route planning and optimization and allows you to swap and reassign those routes between your sales executives. This is especially beneficial in the lawn care industry as going on customer acquisition trips is very routine.

Key features: route planning, route optimization, scheduling, live team reports, CRM integration

Optimized for field sales operations

Lack of features for lawn care businesses

LawnPro

If you are the type that would like to use a free version with limited features of any given software, then you should check out LawnPro. As the name suggests it is a dedicated solution for lawn care professionals as it encompasses almost everything that they might need.

This software solution combines the marketing, operation, and management features that are seen in other apps and makes it available all at once with different packages. You could get started for the low price of free and upgrade it as you move along in your business journey.

Pricing: Basic version is free

Key features: Invoicing, bulk emailing, employee tracking, and inbuilt calculators for lawn care applications.

Combines a lot of features from dedicated apps

Customized calculator for lawn care applications

RazorSync

RazorSync is a multi-functional tool that helps lawn care businesses boost their operational awareness and efficiency. It does this by incorporating many field management and customer engagement features that allow it to shine when compared to other apps.

Though these features are not readily made available to you as the software gives you tiers to choose from. Your list of features will mainly depend on the tier that you opt for. These tiers can get expensive making it an unfeasible option for smaller businesses.

Key features: personalized app training, route optimization, Inventory management, job tracking, QuickBooks integration.

Tiered options for added flexibility

Customer support is only available on weekdays

Things to Consider While Opting for a Lawn Care Route Planner

Going with a bad routing solution can have devastating effects on your team’s efficiency, whereas good routing software can be your business’s companion for years. To give your business the best chances is why it is advised to be as diligent as possible when choosing the best software for yourself by evaluating any routing software with the following metrics.

Features

In this crowded world of routing solutions, there are many that prefer to offer basic features at high and others that bombard you with features for the sake of it. Such companies make it difficult to navigate the market as they all claim to be the best solution.

One thing that you can do to improve your process of getting the best routing solution is to analyze your needs and only go with options that fulfill those needs, eliminating options that do not meet your standards. Doing this gives you a clearer view of all the potential options that are best for you.

Return on investment

Some tools are just too expensive for some businesses and just do not deliver enough value to justify their cost. For a routing tool to be good for you it either has to help you save money on gas or accelerate the speed of your operations.

If it does not improve your operations then it should at least be packed with features that allow you to offer new services or improve existing ones so that you get to charge a greater amount. If a routing software is unable to meet any of the above-mentioned requirements, then you must abandon it and understand that it is bad at delivering a good return on your investment.

Customer support

If there is ever an incident where you need help with your routing software, then it is pretty normal to expect timely service. After all, it is standard practice to have a dedicated team of customer service executives to tend to any customer queries.

Unfortunately, there are still companies that will outright deny resolving your queries if it is not within their fixed times of operation. To avoid facing a major backlog because of technical issues it is ideal to go with a routing solution that is known for its robust customer service practices.

Opt-In to the Best Routing Software For Lawn Care Today

Choose a routing software that is perfect for your business. Upper gives you all of the best routing features in the industry and more to enhance your business’s performance.

FAQs

The skills required in the lawn care industry are very diverse and demand a high degree of conscious effort to master. Some of these skills are as follows:

• Industry expertise
• Equipment safety
• Timekeeping
• Marketing
• Landscaping
• Botanical knowledge
• Physical strength

The cost of lawn care software would primarily depend on the number of features that you opt for. That being said, typically you should be able to snag a nifty lawn care software for your business for under 100 per month if you are just starting out.

Routing software has a wave of benefits for businesses that perform regular service trips, some of which are stated below.

• Faster operational speed
• Less gas spent because of poor routes
• Accurate arrival times
• Greater customer satisfaction levels
• Reduced vehicle wear

Conclusion

All-in-all finding the best lawn care routing software is indeed a stressful task when running your own business as you are looking for the best solution on the market. While most apps have the best interest of routing in mind for lawn care professionals, they fail to offer relevant features.

But going through the roster of features from all apps is a dreadful time-consuming process. This is why it is better to look at a list of all of the apps on the market in a blog such as the one you are reading. Such articles quickly communicate key information and save you hours of time.

Going through the entire article is not even necessary as the best solution for your business is already listed at the top which is Upper. The route planner from Upper does not disappoint in any regard as it has the best features on the market at your disposal 24×7. Try the true power of Upper for yourself with our 7-day free trial.

Rakesh Patel is the founder and CEO of Upper Route Planner, a route planning and optimization software. With 28 years of experience in the technology industry, Rakesh is a subject matter expert in building simple solutions for day-to-day problems. His ultimate goal with Upper Route Planner is to help delivery businesses eliminate on-field delivery challenges and simplify operations such as route planning, scheduling, dispatching, take a proof of delivery, manage drivers, real time tracking, customer notifications and more. He loves sharing his thoughts on eliminating delivery management challenges via blogs. Read more.

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The 10 Best Scheduling Apps for Landscaping Gardening Businesses: Free and Paid Tools to Shape Up Your Job Management

Scheduling is the bane of operations for so many service businesses, including gardening and landscaping companies. Today’s clients demand flexibility and accuracy in their service requests and expect you to be able to deliver it all in a timely and efficient manner. How many times have you had to check and re-check the schedule? What happens when everyone doesn’t sync their calendars? The nightmare of double-booking (or missing a job entirely) happens to even the best landscapers, but there is now a solution.

Thanks to digital technology, scheduling apps are changing the way that you manage your business. Everything from intake to maintenance scheduling and one-off projects will be integrated, streamlined, and managed in one place that offers an easy-to-use dashboard and rich scheduling and task management tools to take the unnecessary busy work off your hands. (You can also take your intake services and social media messaging duties off your plate by enlisting the assistance of the virtual receptionists at Smith.ai.)

These days, your tablet or smartphone can double as your most versatile tool for the management of your lawn care or landscaping business. With a proper scheduling app, you will be able to improve efficiency, manage and schedule appointments, and even handle inquiries and jobs in the field. Of course, with so many apps and tools available, how are you to choose?

The best scheduling tools will feature flexible scheduling solutions, omnichannel and automated communications and reminders, and a Cloud-based platform that can be scaled to the needs of your business. Anything less isn’t worth your time. And while several of the scheduling tools available today have similar features, they also have their differences to appreciate.

Since no two landscaping businesses are the same, it’s up to you to choose what’s going to be best for your company. We’ve taken it upon ourselves to help you get started with our guide to the Top 10 scheduling tools for landscapers, which you’ll find below, including all the details of each app and why it made the list.

When you’re ready, choose the scheduling tool that works for you and schedule a Live Chat consultation to see how the virtual receptionists at Smith.ai can enhance your operations even further.

Service Autopilot

Service Autopilot is a tool that is designed specifically for lawncare and landscaping businesses, as well as other service organizations and companies. The app offers solutions for businesses of every size, including tools for lead management, client management, mapping and routing, dispatching and field management, and more.

Service Autopilot includes an automatic invoicing feature, Cloud storage for scalability and remote data access, and custom dashboards, training, asset tracking, and more. There is an online knowledge base along with dedicated support, and users will find plenty of ways to customize and set their own scheduling rules. The Cloud-based app is secure and offers features like:

• Free option? No
• Price: 47 per month to start
• Client and job management
• Dispatching and routing
• Job scheduling
• Training and support
• Custom dashboards

Workwave

Workwave is a tool designed to help streamline operations and improve the scheduling and booking of lawn and landscaping companies. The app is designed to make job and crew management easy, provide integrated scheduling for clients, and offer real-time views of jobs in progress and bookings as they happen. You can even run your business on the go from the mobile apps for Android and iOS.

Workwave has been in business for almost 40 years, offering field service software solutions to help companies outpace the competition. From service delivery and appointment scheduling to marketing and sales, this tool will allow you to handle everything, including client booking, from one place. The key highlights of this platform include:

• Free option?
• Price:
• Real-time scheduling
• Dispatch and routing
• Dedicated home services solutions
• Automate scheduling and repeat jobs
• Payment integrations
• Customer booking and online support

Housecall Pro

Housecall Pro is designed specifically for home services, including landscapers and gardening businesses. With robust scheduling features, including real-time appointment booking and updated calendars that integrate with other platforms, there are several features to love. Housecall Pro even has integrations for payments and invoicing, marketing automation, and other tools.

Landscapers will appreciate that Housecall Pro can be used on the go with native Android and iOS apps, as well as that it offers an internal chat feature for businesses to keep in touch with their teams out in the field and keep everyone on the same page about jobs. This is not one of the cheaper options on the list, but at just 49 a month to start, it’s definitely worth the money.

The highlights of Housecall Pro include:

• Free option? No
• Price: Starts at 49 per month
• Full suite of products and tools for scheduling and management
• Cloud-based
• Customizable features
• Marketing automation features
• Pricing based on users and features
• Enterprise option includes a dedicated account manager

Service Fusion

Service Fusion is a Cloud-based management tool for home service contractors that need a dedicated scheduling and field management platform. This tool includes payment processing integrations, GPS fleet tracking, mobile apps, customer and job management, job creation, estimates, and more. You will enjoy access to several integrations and dedicated mobile apps for Android and iOS.

Service Fusion offers product catalogs, sales and commissions reporting, integrated SMS and voice messaging reminders and communications, time tracking, customer email broadcasting, and other features. This is a total service suite that allows you to create your own scheduling rules and generate the booking solutions that your clients need.

• Free option? No
• Price: 149 per month
• No contracts or setup fees
• Personalized onboarding tools
• No-contact tools for improved safety

Jobber

Jobber is designed as a field service management tool specifically for home services and businesses like landscapers. It offers a tool to manage scheduling, field staff, and operations and is accessible through the mobile apps and the desktop website and dashboard interface. Jobber can provide solutions for over 50 industries, including landscapers, and offers an integrated CRM, real-time dispatching and scheduling, billing and invoicing, self-service client resources, and more.

You can use Jobber to schedule jobs, create a scalable booking system, generate automated reminders, and track time and job schedules. This can help improve job and project management, which means you’re getting more than just better scheduling. Jobber offers several integrations, and highlights like:

• Free option? No, but there is a trial
• Price: 29 per month to start
• File attachments
• Custom field creation
• Work history and billing integration
• Client approvals and scheduling tools
• Dedicated Android and iOS apps
• Calendar importing and exporting

SimplyBook.me

If you’re looking for a platform focused on delivering the best in booking solutions, SimplyBook.me should absolutely be on your list. This platform is dedicated to mobile scheduling and real-time appointment booking tools to optimize the schedule of your business. You can reduce the risk of no-shows and cancellations, integrate with payment processing tools, and more.

The SimplyBook.me platform offers online booking through Google, social media, and even your own custom branded app. Intake forms, templates, and other custom tools are available, and scheduling and appointment management are automated. You can even set your own rules and scale the app to suit your needs.

The highlights of this scheduling app include:

• Free option? Yes, for up to 50 bookings
• Price: Starts at 9.90 per month for paid plans
• Two months free with annual membership/payment
• Open API
• Email and SMS notifications and reminders
• Customized scheduling rules and availability
• Real-time scheduling

to8

10to8 is a scheduling and management app that was designed specifically for service businesses. This tool focuses on providing a simple, straightforward solution to scheduling so that your business runs more smoothly, and your clients are more satisfied. You can dictate exactly how the booking works, including requiring manual approval of appointments if you’d like.

There’s even a cool feature in 10to8 that can help identify appointments that may be likely to cancel or no-show, giving you the heads-up or perhaps even saving you the hassle of booking in the first place. The pricing is affordable and straightforward, with a free option for those who want to give it a try before they get too invested.

Check out the highlights of this app, including:

• Free option? Yes, for up to 100 appointments per month
• Price: 9.60 per month to start with branding capabilities
• Integrates with. WordPress, and more
• Tailored online booking system
• Increased client and team engagement
• Better outbound returns
• Integrates with Microsoft, Apple, Google, and other tools and software

Appointy

While it’s not dedicated to lawncare and landscaping, Appointy is dedicated to providing a robust scheduling and appointment management app that can provide flexibility for businesses across several industries. This platform is ideal for landscapers who want a flexible solution for appointment setting and who have a lot of customers with repeat business.

The simple nature of this platform is what it takes pride in, but it also offers impressive features like social media integrations, client notifications, and even integrations with Google calendar. Appointy even offers its own sub-domain solution for brands who need a dedicated booking page for their landscaping business. With four service tiers and a free option, there’s something for everyone here. The best features of Appointy include:

• Free option? Yes, for up to 100 monthly appointments
• Price: Starts at 19.99 per month for unlimited booking
• Social media integration
• Booking website available
• Repeat business-friendly
• Online scheduling for clients
• Manage appointments from anywhere

Calendly

Calendly is one of our favorites, and it’s a great choice for landscapers and small lawncare businesses that need a better way to manage their scheduling. This app allows you to set your availability preferences and share your Calendly link with anyone, anywhere. There are email and website embed links available, along with social media and Google calendar integrations.

The Calendly app offers total control over scheduling and several other integrations. It also detects time zones to prevent scheduling snafus and is scalable and flexible to grow and evolve as your lawn care business does. The flexible platform offers highlights like:

• Free option? Free for a single user and calendar
• Price: Starts at 8 per month for more than one calendar per user
• Integrates with several other calendar tools and apps
• Notifications
• Customizations available
• Group meetings and webinar hosting
• Team pages
• Centralized billing
• Robust reporting

Square Appointments

For landscapers using the Square platform, Square Appointments is a great integration. Of course, you can also opt to use just the booking and appointments feature of this platform, which offers impressive scalability and customization options, among other features. This app includes a free booking website specifically for appointment scheduling and automated reminders for clients and your team alike.

The Square Appointments app features plenty of options for cancellation fees or prepayment to ensure that you aren’t dealing with a ton of cancellations and no-shows, which allows you to guarantee that your time is not going to waste. You can get access for up to 10 users for just 90 per month, while the version for single users is free. The highlights of Square Appointments include:

The BEST software for Lawn Care & Landscaping Businesses | Jobber Review by Mullins Lawn Enforcement

• Free option? Yes
• Price: starts at 50 per month for up to 5 users
• Automated reminders
• Free website for appointment booking
• Integrated with payment solutions
• Includes customization options for scheduling
• Manage availability from the mobile app
• Invoicing options

Add more efficiency with the workflows from Smith.ai

Your business has a lot to handle, and you don’t have to do it alone. Modern scheduling apps are giving you the tools to take your landscaping or gardening business to the next level with service delivery on the booking and scheduling end. Why not carry on with the trend by integrating with the virtual receptionists at Smith.ai to handle lead intake, create dedicated and automated workflows, and provide 24/7 availability when your team can’t?

Lawn Care Apps Are The Key To Getting Customers!

We can provide several solutions for service businesses like yours, including full acceptance of all contact solutions, from live chat and social media queries to your call forwarding, seasonal call overflows, and more. Plus, we can also integrate with several of the scheduling apps above and other digital tools to enhance your software stack even further.

To learn more about Live Chat and offering 24/7 solutions for your clients, schedule a Free consultation today. If you’re ready to step up your scheduling game, we’re ready to help at hello@smith.ai or by reaching out to (650) 727-6484.

Uber Apps for Lawn Care, Snow Plowing Outdoor Services

Following the heels of well-established home contractor sites, such as HomeAdvisor and Angie’s List, next generation startups with similar business models have been focusing on lawn care and outdoor services.

Though you can find lawn care professionals on broader, more established sites, newer sites have been inspired and motivated by the success of Uber’s easy-to-use app. We suspect that more than a few entrepreneurial founders of these apps have frustratingly asked themselves: “Why can’t I get someone to mow my lawn as easy as I can take an Uber?” or “How come I can’t book any of these snow plows that keep passing by my snow-drenched home?”.

While getting users to adopt new service apps is the top priority for these evolving apps, recruiting service providers and keeping them happy are just as crucial. In order for any service marketplace to flourish, this type of app needs to keep both the end clients and quality service partners happy.

The primary reason that these startups are going narrow is simply that they have identified a combination of unmet market needs and inefficiencies. The best providers will intuitively understand the core needs and frustrations of both the end-users (typically homeowners) and their service providers (lawn care professionals). Plus, “narrow” is not as inconsequential as you may believe:

Benefits to Homeowners

The primary benefits to homeowners for using an “Uber” lawn care app are:

• Vetted Service Providers

• Insurance; Background Checks; Licensing; Availability; Service Offerings

• Selection; Scheduling; and Payments

The highest quality marketplaces should always provide at least the following minimum benefits to homeowners:

• Free, timely quotes for a requested service from professionally vetted service providers
• Reviews and ratings of service providers
• Ability to ask questions and confirm details PRIOR to hiring the contractor
• Access to customer service to resolve any issues that may arise
• No payment required until AFTER confirming the service is completed to satisfaction

Benefits to Service Providers

These types of marketplaces need to serve as a valuable resource for vendors, as well, in order to attract and retain high quality service partners. Referral marketplaces can serve as highly efficient marketing channels for busy vendors, such that they have more availability for work, by reducing inefficient use of time returning calls, emails and texts that do not lead to booked jobs.

For example, some of these sites can help contractors grow a recurring customer base, while others make it convenient to pick up nearby, ad hoc projects that would otherwise be impractical to take on. The more contractors benefit from these marketplace apps, the better the experience for end users.

Caveat Emptor

Given that these apps and marketplaces are still nascent in their evolution, we strongly recommend checking reviews to judge the experience across these variables:

Keep in mind that certain review sites may attract a larger percentage of negative reviews, whereas reviews on app download pages (e.g. Google Play App Store) tend to have a higher percentage of positive reviews.

When and Why Should You Use an “Uber” Lawn Care App?

No matter how you find, vet and hire a contractor, there may always be a risk that you will be dissatisfied with the service rendered, e.g.: poor workmanship; higher than expected pricing; disagreement over the scope of work; and timeliness of availability and completion. However, by using a marketplace intermediary you have someone who can remedy issues and provide mediation between you and the service contractor.

That said, these apps are especially well suited to help you when you are in a bind, necessitating time-sensitive, urgent help, such as snow removal, tree and brush removal after a storm, or prepping your home for sale.

For example, we are especially intrigued with snow removal services, as a compelling driver of adoption, as apprehensions are considerably lower than when selecting contractors for more costly and complex projects. In short, you just need snow removed expediently at a fair price. Similar to an Uber experience, nothing compares with the convenience of getting quick, real-time bids within an on-demand, GPS-enabled app.

Leading “Uber” Lawn Care Apps

Here are several lawn care service apps to consider for your next outdoor project or chore.

GreenPal

GreenPal is a marketplace (website and app) for hiring recurring lawn maintenance services at affordable prices. Users can receive up to 5 bids for their listed property and service request. The company confidently states that it is possible for impatient homeowners to book either same day or next day lawn services.

Once you have signed up for a recurring service (either once per week or once per 2-weeks), you can easily add ad hoc service requests on an as-needed basis. If you are unhappy with the first contractor hired, you can cancel and hire a different lawn service provider.

GreenPal’s vetting of service providers include:

• Bank Checks
• Photos of Past Work
• Professional References
• Verification of Equipment Experience
• Acceptance of the GreenPal Quality of Standards

Once accepted into the platform, vendors must maintain an acceptable level of service and reputation. GreenPal’s geographic reach is extensive, with presence in over 80 markets throughout the United States.

Unique to GreenPal’s approach is their FOCUS and success at helping their service partners grow their lawn care businesses by streamlining marketing, scheduling, bidding and invoicing. The elimination of wasted time and unnecessary expenses will likely further strengthen the quality of their service partners. Additionally, these streamlined benefits are motivating their most successful lawn care providers to onboard ALL of their recurring customers to GreenPal’s system, which will drive more user adoption.

LawnStarter

LawnStarter. based in Austin, Texas, is a lawn care marketplace that helps homeowners hire professional landscapers for recurring maintenance and various types of projects involving: grass, weeds, pests, and flowerbeds. This marketplace is also primarily for recurring services and is not conducive for on demand projects. Their basic maintenance package includes: mowing, edging, and blowing. They use public real estate data to calculate the size of your lawn, which is then used to generate a personalized quote.

Once signed up for a recurring service, you can also order specialty one-time services like fertilization, aeration, overseeding, and leaf removal, for an add-on fee. Their lawn care providers are all licensed (as required by the state where applicable), insured, personally vetted by LawnStarter, and have on average of 12 years of experience in the industry. The company also requires that vendors maintain a minimum quality rating of at least 4.75 out of 5 stars to remain on their platform.

To get a sense for their customer service, we recommend browsing the reviews on Google Play to see how they have handled various issues encountered by their customers.