Lawn care is the perennial side gig of students in suburbs all around. But it hasn’t always been that way. Modern suburbs came into fashion after World War II. A man named Abraham Levitt started the lawn craze in the 1940s by developing new suburbs where each house had its own little plot of grass in the front. In the 50s, millions of people started moving out to newly developed suburbs all across the country, and most of the houses came with lawns.
Today, it’s rare to see a house without a lawn in a suburb. It just looks right. But all those lawns take maintenance, and with work and school taking up so much time, many people prefer to outsource that task. As a freelance landscaper, you can keep regular clients and make some decent side cash keeping their lawns in great shape. There’s a big demand for this service in the summer and in areas with a warm climate especially. You can charge by the hour or by the project. Just research what lawn maintenance businesses charge and charge your clients a little less than that. This hustle is almost too simple, and that’s why it’s on our Side Hustle Master List.

Concept | |
category | Maintenance |
Takeaways | Businesses offering more complex landscaping will profit more. |
complexity lowhigh ![]() | Capital Required lowhigh ![]() |
skill required lowhigh ![]() | time required lowhigh ![]() |
return potential lowhigh ![]() |
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Business Models
Take some time to figure out what you want to offer. You could specialize in just lawn mowing, or you could take care of edging and fertilization too. See what the people in your area are looking for. If you have a knack for organization and knowledge of plants, you could also offer landscaping services and prune old bushes or spread bark dust or gravel. Lawns keep growing, so if you make some good client relationships you can plan for a steady income stream year round. Take a look at the links below to learn more.