Seasonal Color Pricing?

[AllieLawn]

What would you suggest as to the price to put out a flat of seasonal color flowers?

[Scaper-S2k]

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$35 per flat installed. Any extra soil ammending is an additional cost.

Fancy jobs? Tack on at least $5 per flat.

[AllieLawn]

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At any point do you give a break on price? Like install 10 get the 11th one free? Something of that nature.

[Scaper-S2k]

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We don't. Because you are pricing by the unit, giving them that type of a discount would be like giving the 11th lawn cut for free. You surely would not do that.

If we have mass plantings in one area and they do not have to be planted at perfect spacing, then we MAY lower it a bit. But not often. It would have to be something that when fully grown, spacing was not as noticable. Such as petunias.

[Bobby D]

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Scaper, how much do you pay per flat and what size are they. Also, what is your opinion on size of pots per flat. Let me explain.

you can get flats of impatiens or pansies with 36, 24, 15 flowers per flat, etc. The size of the root ball now determines that and so the size of the flower changes as well. I think the flat with 4inch flowers, like 15 per flat are the best b/c the root base is much bigger and stronger and will outlast the smaller ones in tough conditions. Also, the flowers are bigger, stand out more, and you can cover more area with one flower as you could with two or three smaller 1-2inch ones. I can get the 4inch pots, 15 to a flat for about $15 and they look unbelievable. But I want to hear your opinion of the size issue.

Does size matter?[][][]

[landdawg]

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4 inch is the way to go (more initial roots for less than ideal conditions). $35 is good average for pansies/begonias, higher for lantana, verbena, etc.

[Scaper-S2k]

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I can get flats for $8 or $9, but I don't. I know a local nursery that really puts out a good plant. We spend about $11 per flat, but they are great flowers. That is why I said we usually charge more then $35 per flat.

In reality, the difference of a 15 flat and a 24 flat is only about 1.5 weeks growth once planted properly. Assuming that you are planting in the Spring, they should both do fine.

Having said that, we usually use the 24 plant flats for most types of flowers. Some plants like ageratum or alyssum come in the 36 size flats. We will many times put 2 alyssum in each hole.

Things like geraniums, get at least the 4" pot size. Mums of course get the 6"-8" pot.

Now when we do mass plantings and they want full coverage, it depends on what's going in and what they choose. Wave petunias are bought in the 4" size and spaced out.

What we have found that helps is as follows. That local nursery I spoke of starts those wave petunias early. They will plant 3-4 in each hanging basket. Well, I can buy a hanging basket for about $13. When we buy them, they are hanging down about 2' already!!
After planting, that's a 4 foot circle of full grown flowers. We then space them out and plant them like shrubs!! The planting goes very fast compared to flats. And you have instant color. We use a post hole digger for the holes and it usually takes one guy holding the flower, while the other pulls off the pot. But it is still faster, and looks better in the end. I space them out to where there is about 10" between the farthest "runner" of the plant.

We still charge the same total, but save ALOT on labor which makes it more profittable. It doesn't take long to plant 30 hanging baskets, but it does take long to plant 360 individual flowers in perfect rows.

[AllieLawn]

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So then it would be agreed that the 15 piece flat should still generate $35. What is a good way to know if your getting a good flower or not?

[LawnRanger]

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I've never offered seasonal color. Never had any requests either. After reading this, it seems like this is fairly popular. I'm gathering that the 15 or 24 plant flat is the way to go. I saw that someone pays about $11/flat. Is that a common price? $35/flat installed Is that a good price? Also, what are the most poular flowers for seasonal color?

[LawnRanger]

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another question. On average, what is the spacing between flowers? How do you know how many flowers you will need to cover one bed? Do you get a sf measurement and base it on that?

[Scaper-S2k]

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Allie, as long as you weren't spending more $$$ on those larger plants, yes, keep it around $35 per flat. But then again, if you are paying $11 per flat, you may want to up the price by a couple bucks. My clients that get floral designs usually get charged much higher.

The $35 per flat is a usual price for floral installs. If you check my site, you'll see one place that gets a good deal of flowers and a nice design. They pay more than $40 per flat. But that is one client that never complains over price, they just want perfection.

I never have problems using the 24 flat though. Many flowers only come in 24 flats, or even 36 flats. But as mentioned, if they are in the 36, I will often put 2 per dug hole.

Good way to tell if you have a nice plant? Well, that depends on the flower type. But in general, you don't want excessive height. You want to install shorter stubby plants. Taller ones may look better in the flat, but look horrible in the ground. So stick with the shorter ones that are filled in good and healthy. Decent blooms or buds of course. Going to different nurseries, you'll see the difference. Usually, if you find a few varieties that look better at Nursery #2, stick with that nursery, most of the stuff they offer will be properly cared for. Ya just gotta know what you're looking for.

Lawn Ranger, the type of flowers is going to vary per part of the country. Around here, we mostly use begonias, petunias, marigolds, alyssum, ageratum, periwinkle, impatients, and geraniums. Mums, asters and pansies go in during the fall.

Spacing? Well check the directions on the flower. Usually, about 6"-8" apart. But it also depends on the look you want later.

[AllieLawn]

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Thanx Scaper. Youve been quite helpful. Now all I have to do is remember all of it.

[ohreallythanks]

$35 per flat installed. Any extra soil ammending is an additional cost.

Fancy jobs? Tack on at least $5 per flat.

is this price still the same?? $35 per flat of 36 pansies?

[SOMM]

$25 per quarter hour includes onload and installation of all soil media and/or mulch (or rennovation of existing), plantstock, weed preventative and/or fertilizer granules.

[Scaper-S2k]

is this price still the same?? $35 per flat of 36 pansies?

I'm not sure if I have ever seen 36 pansies in a flat. I wouldn't use them if they were. On pansies, we buy flats that have 18 in each. The pots are about 2.5" - 3" across or so. The flowers are much better looking and larger. So you don't need as many to get the nice effect. Of course, that also speeds up planting.

I can possibly see using flats with 24 flowers, but at 36, I would think they were awefully small? That would take extra time for them to look nice.

The ones we use are about 6" - 8" tall and flowered out pretty nice already. It gives that instant color most want.





I also wanted to point out....as I stated in my post a few above, that price is for an easy job where it's a vary basic spacing job. Soil additives are additional, and fancy jobs are at least $40 per flat. Flats of 18-24 go in fast with the proper equipment, and a good installer that knows what the finished design should look like.