How do we hire a landscaping contractor for our HOA and write the scope?

By OurHOA · General information · Revised September 24, 2026

How an HOA board writes a landscaping scope: zone map, mowing heights, bed care, license checks for spraying and irrigation, exclusions and a monthly walk-through.

Part of the HOA board handbook: vendors, projects and upkeep.

The scope is the contract

Landscaping is often the largest service contract a small association signs, and owners see the results every day. Most of the complaints boards hear about it trace back to a scope that said 'weekly mowing and general maintenance' and left the rest to the crew. Hire well by writing down, zone by zone, what gets done, how often and to what standard, which licenses the work needs, what is excluded and priced separately, and how the board will inspect. Then bid that document. The mechanics of running a bid, holding a site walk and comparing prices side by side are in our guide on how to write an HOA request for proposal. This guide covers what belongs in a landscape scope and how to manage the contract once it is signed. State licensing rules differ, and your governing documents decide which areas the association maintains, so check both before you finalize anything.

Map the property into zones

Start with a site map, even a printed aerial photo marked up with a pen. Outline every area the association maintains and label it. Pull the maintenance responsibility chart first, because the most common scope error is paying to mow strips that belong to owners, or skipping a strip the association owns. Then give each area a service level. A typical three-level split works for most 26 to 150 home communities. Level A is the entrance, clubhouse and mailbox areas that everyone sees, with the tightest standards and seasonal color. Level B is ordinary common turf and parkways. Level C is natural areas, pond banks and drainage easements, cut a few times a season. Note the grass type in each turf zone, the square footage or acreage, the number of beds and the irrigation zones that serve them. Vendors price square footage and visit counts, so the more of this the map shows, the closer the bids will be to one another.

Mowing and turf standards with real numbers

Replace 'mow as needed' with a height, a rule and a visit count. Extension services publish the heights. Colorado State University Extension recommends 2.5 to 3 inches for all Colorado lawn species. Texas A&M AgriLife recommends 2 to 4 inches for St. Augustinegrass, with the mower set at its highest setting or one step below, and 1 to 2 inches for bermudagrass cut with a rotary mower. University of Florida IFAS lists 2.5 to 4 inches for St. Augustinegrass and 3 to 4 inches for bahiagrass. All three sources give the same one-third rule: never remove more than a third of the blade in one mowing. Write that rule into the scope, because it tells the crew to come more often in spring flush and less often in the heat, instead of mowing on a fixed day no matter what. State the season, such as weekly from April through October and every other week or as the one-third rule requires in the shoulder months, and the minimum number of mowing visits per year. Add string trimming around every obstacle, edging of curbs and walks each mowing visit, clippings left on the lawn unless they clump, and all clippings blown off walks and streets, never into storm drains.

Beds, weeds, fertilizer and the licenses behind them

List the beds by number from the map and say what each gets: weeding frequency, mulch depth and how often it is refreshed, shrub pruning by month, and how many seasonal color changes the entrance beds receive each year. Then put the chemical work in writing, because in all three focus states it takes a license. In Texas, Occupations Code section 1951.003 defines the business of structural pest control to include treating pests or diseases of trees, shrubs or other plantings next to a residence or street for pay, and section 1951.301 requires a structural pest control business license from the Texas Department of Agriculture. In Florida, section 482.1562 requires anyone applying commercial fertilizer to an urban landscape to hold a limited certification, and section 482.156 covers a limited certification for landscape crews spraying beds and hardscape that expressly does not authorize pesticide application to turf. In Colorado, anyone applying pesticides for hire needs a commercial applicator business license under section 35-10-105, and section 35-10-106 requires that business to carry at least $400,000 in liability insurance. Ask each bidder for license numbers, look them up, and if a subcontractor does the spraying, name that company in the contract. Specify the fertilizer rounds by month and product type rather than 'fertilize as needed.' In Florida, also ask whether your county or city restricts fertilizer during the summer rainy season, and write that into the calendar.

Irrigation duties

Say exactly what the landscaper does with the sprinklers, because 'irrigation included' means very different things. A workable scope includes a monthly check of every zone during the growing season, adjusting and unclogging heads, resetting controllers to the local watering schedule, spring start-up and fall winterization where freezes occur, and a written note of every repair. Price repairs from a unit list in the bid, such as the charge per spray head, rotor, valve and hour of labor, with written approval required above a set amount. In Texas, Occupations Code section 1903.251 requires a license to maintain, repair or service an irrigation system, so the person doing that work, or the person supervising it, needs a Texas irrigator license. There is a narrow exemption in section 1903.002(c)(6) for an association member working on association property under half an acre used for aesthetic or recreational purposes, which will not cover a paid contractor. Our guide on how to cut an HOA water bill with an irrigation audit covers the monthly zone walk and meter tracking the board can pair with this scope.

Exclusions and extra work

A clear exclusions list protects both sides. Name the work the base price does not cover: tree pruning above a stated height or on limbs over a stated diameter, tree removal, stump grinding, storm cleanup, pond and aquatic weed treatment, drainage repairs, snow removal, holiday lighting and replacement plants. Ask for unit prices on the likely ones, such as the hourly crew rate for storm cleanup or the price per installed shrub by pot size, so the board is not negotiating after a hailstorm. Tree work belongs with an arborist on its own plan; our guide on how to plan an HOA tree maintenance program covers that. Require a written work order signed by the board's designated contact before any extra work over an agreed amount, say $500, and say in the contract that unapproved extras will not be paid. Then settle insurance. Ask for general liability, auto and workers' compensation certificates naming the association as an additional insured where the policy allows it. In Texas, Labor Code section 406.002 makes workers' compensation elective for private employers, so ask each bidder directly whether it carries coverage and how an injured worker would be covered if it does not.

The monthly walk-through

Pick one board member or committee chair as the only person who gives the crew instructions, and set a standing walk-through with the account manager, such as the first Tuesday of each month. Walk with the scope and the map and grade each zone. A checklist that fits on one page: turf cut at the contract height with no scalping, edges crisp along curbs and walks, beds weeded with mulch at depth, shrubs pruned on schedule, no clippings on walks or in gutters, seasonal color alive and full, no dry spots or broken heads, dead plants flagged for warranty replacement, and trash picked up in natural areas. Send a written punch list with photos within 24 hours of the walk and ask for completion by a date. Keep every punch list in one folder. If the same items keep coming back, that folder becomes the record for a cure notice, as our guide on dealing with an HOA vendor who is not doing the work explains. Owner complaints should go to the one contact, not to the crew in the field.

Mistakes that make landscape contracts fail

Taking the lowest bid when it is priced on fewer visits than the others. Copying the old contract, including areas the association no longer maintains. Paying a flat monthly price with no stated visit count, so a dry summer means fewer visits for the same money. Letting several directors text the crew with conflicting instructions. Signing an auto-renewing multi-year contract with no termination for convenience; ask for 30 days' written notice by either side. Skipping license checks on the spraying and irrigation work because the company's truck looks professional. And never walking the property until owners complain. A signed scope, one contact and a monthly walk fix most of these at no extra cost.

Sources

These guides are general education for HOA boards and residents, not legal, tax, or financial advice. Rules vary by state and by your community's governing documents - check with a professional for your situation.

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