In landscaping, summer is your moment to shine—but it’s also when the pressure hits hardest. Crews are maxed out in the field, while the office is scrambling to estimate change orders, design fall installs, and bid on winter prep jobs.
It’s a season of opportunity—but also burnout. The smartest landscaping contractors are keeping pace by turning to technology that accelerates takeoffs, reduces scope guesswork, and keeps their teams sharp when deadlines stack up.
Summer Is High Gear for the Whole Team
From June to August, landscaping firms face a perfect storm of peak demand and tight timelines:
- Homeowners and developers rushing to complete curb appeal projects
- Commercial clients planning fall planting or irrigation installs
- Municipal bids with quick turnaround and strict spec requirements
- Change orders piling up from active jobs
- Late-season storm damage or rework requests
STACK Pro Tip:Use STACK’s autoname and smart search tools to quickly find plant legends, irrigation details, and hardscape specs—even in massive plan sets. You’ll never waste time hunting for one line item again.
Estimating Headaches, Multiplied
Landscaping estimating in the summer means juggling unpredictable project types, each with unique challenges:
- Multi-phase installs with limited site access
- Detailed planting plans with tight material specs
- Lead times for pavers, lighting, and specialty trees
- Scheduling around irrigation shutdown windows or soil remediation
- HOA requirements, zoning ordinances, and weather risks
When the bid pile grows but your team doesn’t, manual takeoffs and spreadsheet chaos just won’t cut it.
Variety, Volume, and No Time to Waste
One moment you’re bidding a backyard overhaul. The next, you’re pricing out a bioswale for a hospital or prepping a snow removal contract for winter. Every scope is different. Every bid is urgent. And your margins depend on getting every measurement and material right. With STACK you can:
✅ Quickly measure for sod, mulch, stone, and paver areas
✅ Easily layer irrigation zones, planting beds, and lighting lines
✅ Use prebuilt landscaping Items & Assemblies to automate common scopes
STACK Pro Tip: STACK’s smart formulas let you build in mulch depth, soil prep costs, and even equipment rentals—so every bid reflects true production cost, not just ballpark figures.
Material Price Jumps? No Problem.
Landscaping costs are anything but predictable—especially during peak season. Plants, aggregates, and pavers fluctuate weekly. If you’re not adjusting your bids accordingly, you’re risking your profit.
STACK’s customizable estimating tools let you:
✅ Update supplier pricing instantly across templates
✅ Build in cost buffers and change order variables
✅ Quote materials and labor in real time—no spreadsheet acrobatics needed
STACK Pro Tip: STACK’s item catalog lets you update material costs and automatically tie them to your estimates, or leverage STACK’s real-time cost database integration with 1build to update pricing.
Stop Chasing Every RFP
You don’t have to bid everything that hits your inbox. The best estimators protect their time and profits by focusing on:
✅ Trusted GC partners
✅ Efficient scopes with high win rates
✅ Projects that align with your crew availability and equipment resources
STACK Pro Tip: Organize projects in STACK by region, scope, or client type to surface data for smarter Go/No-Go decisions fast.
Work Smarter This Summer
STACK was built to help landscape contractors like you thrive under pressure. Whether you’re pushing bids out fast or looking to standardize workflows before fall, STACK’s Takeoff & Estimating platform delivers:
✅ Fast, accurate takeoffs for landscape, irrigation, and hardscape
✅ Customizable templates and assemblies to match your process
✅ Cloud-based access to your bids anytime, anywhere
✅ Real-time team collaboration
Don’t let the summer rush bury your estimating team. With STACK, you’re not just keeping up—you’re staying ahead. Check out a demo today.
