Gardening business year planner, season by season

In short

Winter is for fixing the round, prices and contracts before anyone needs a lawn cut.
Spring is for protecting your regulars from a diary full of one-offs.
Autumn is when next year's round is decided, so ask clients about winter visits early.

The lawns have stopped and the phone is quiet, so this is when the admin gets done.

Go through every regular client and drop the ones that don't pay their way or sit miles off your routes. Fieldfare shows each client's last visit date and flags anyone you haven't been to for a while, so the lapsed ones are easy to find.
Set this year's prices and give clients notice of any rise.
Check contracts due for renewal and update the terms.
Book hedge work, pruning and clearances now. The main bird nesting season runs from about March to August, and active nests are protected by law.
Contact seasonal staff so they are free from March, and book any training or certificates they need.
If your clients are in a spreadsheet, import it into Fieldfare from Excel or CSV and set the round up as recurring jobs, so March's visits are on the calendar before the grass starts.

Growth picks up and so do enquiries. The risk is filling the diary with one-offs and letting good regular clients slip.

Switch monthly winter visits back to fortnightly or weekly before the first cut.
Slot the regular round in first. Fit one-off work around it.
Chase open quotes within a few days, while the client still wants the work. Our spring checklist goes into this in detail.
Give new enquiries your real next free date, even if it's three weeks away.
Check van MOT, tax, insurance and service dates before the busy months.

Fieldfare

Get next season's round on the calendar now

The plan is set by now. The work in summer is spotting where it slips while everyone is flat out.

Watch for days that keep finishing late and routes that have drifted.
In dry spells, lawns need less, while watering, weeding and hedges need more. Change visit durations to match.
Check the holiday calendar a few weeks ahead. Fieldfare puts everyone's booked days off and the bank holidays for your region (England and Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland) on one calendar, so two people off the same August week shows up before their round is booked.
Keep RAMS and COSHH sign-offs and spray records up to date while spraying is at its busiest.

Autumn brings leaf clearance, hedge cutting after nesting season, and planting. It is also when next year's round gets decided.

Ask regular clients whether they want winter visits before they cancel on you.
Offer monthly winter tidy-ups, leaf clearance and pruning to keep income steadier.
Look at which clients and areas made money this year, and which didn't.
Note what to reprice, reshape or stop, so January's clean-up is quick.

When is the quietest time for a gardening business?

Usually December to February, when grass growth stops and many clients pause visits. Pruning, hedge work and clearances fill some of the gap.

When should I put my prices up?

Once a year, set in winter and starting in spring. Clients get notice and the new price lines up with the busy season.

How do I keep income steadier over winter?

Sell winter visits such as monthly tidy-ups and leaf clearance, and consider spreading annual maintenance into equal monthly payments.