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Lawn Care and Landscaping in San Rafael, California: Costs, Licensed Companies, and When to Hire

We list 11 lawn care and landscaping companies serving San Rafael. Mowing here typically runs $48 to $73 a visit and crews bill about $63 an hour for everything else, on a mixed-season calendar that puts seeding and aeration in a narrow window each year.

What lawn care costs in San Rafael

Bands rather than averages, because a real quote depends on lot size, slope, and how far the crew drives.

Typical lawn care service prices in San Rafael, California
ServiceTypical priceUnitWhat drives the price
Lawn mowing$48 to $73per visitWeekly through the growing season on an average quarter-acre lot.
Edging and trimming$15 to $23per visitUsually bundled into a mowing visit rather than billed alone.
Fertilizer application$16 to $24per 1,000 sq ftSlow-release blend, three to five rounds a year.
Weed control$11 to $17per 1,000 sq ftPre-emergent in spring, post-emergent as broadleaf weeds show.
Core aeration$15 to $23per 1,000 sq ftOnce a year, priced higher on compacted clay soil.
Overseeding$23 to $36per 1,000 sq ftNearly always quoted together with aeration.
Grub and insect control$13 to $20per 1,000 sq ftOne preventive round covers most of the season.
Dethatching$12 to $19per 1,000 sq ftOnly needed when thatch is over half an inch thick.

Priced for a city of 61,271 in the Oakland metro.

Compare against national lawn care costs or price your own lawn on the lawn cost estimator.

Services in San Rafael

Lawn care companies in San Rafael

11 companies match these filters

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Where these companies are

When to do the work in San Rafael

San Rafael sits in the California climate region, which runs mixed-season lawns. Last frost usually falls January 15-March 1 (many coastal areas frost-free) and first frost November 15-December 15, and that pair sets every date below.

Grasses that do well here

  • Tall Fescue
  • Bermudagrass
  • St. Augustinegrass
  • Kentucky Bluegrass
Lawn care timing windows for San Rafael
TaskLocal windowWhy then
Seed or overseedSeptember to OctoberMild autumns give the longest establishment window of the year.
FertilizeMarch, May, September, and NovemberFeed lightly and often rather than heavily twice a year.
Core aerateSeptember to OctoberAutumn rain does the softening for you.
Pre-emergent for crabgrassJanuary 15 - February 28Go by soil temperature: apply before it holds 52 degrees.

Problems local crews deal with most: Drought and water restrictions, summer heat stress on cool-season lawns, billbugs.

Want the exact soil temperature before you book pre-emergent? Check your ZIP on the soil temperature tracker.

How we verify these companies

  • Ratings and review counts come from the platform named
  • Hours, ratings, and photos come from public listings and can go stale
How we verify

Lawn care in San Rafael: common questions

How much does lawn care cost in San Rafael?

A single mowing visit in San Rafael typically runs $48 to $73 for an average quarter-acre lot, and crews bill around $63 an hour for work outside a routine cut. Treatments are quoted per 1,000 square feet: fertilizer and weed control land in the single-digit to low-teens dollars, while core aeration and overseeding cost more because they are once-a-year jobs. Full-season contracts almost always beat per-visit pricing.

Which lawn care company in San Rafael should I hire?

Compare the attributed Google and Yelp ratings rather than any single score, check the company actually offers the service you need, and get two quotes for the same scope rather than one. For spray work, ask for the company's pesticide applicator licence number directly: California requires one for anyone applying herbicide or insecticide for payment, and we have no public register for this state to check it against for you.

Does a lawn care company need a licence in California?

Yes, for pesticide work. Applying herbicides, insecticides, or fungicides on someone else's property for payment requires a commercial pesticide applicator licence issued by California, and the licence carries a number and an expiry date. Plain mowing and trimming generally do not require that licence, so a company can be perfectly legitimate for mowing and still not be licensed to spray. Ask which one you are hiring for.

When should I hire a lawn care company in San Rafael?

Book before the season starts rather than during it. San Rafael runs mixed-season lawns, so the calendar that matters is the timing table on this page: pre-emergent goes down off soil temperature in spring, and the seeding and aeration window is the single busiest stretch of the year for local crews. Calling two to three weeks ahead of a window is the difference between getting your date and getting whatever is left.

Is a lawn care service worth it in San Rafael?

It depends on which jobs you hand over. Mowing is the easiest thing to do yourself and the most expensive thing to buy repeatedly. Pesticide application is the opposite: it is the job where a licensed applicator with calibrated equipment and the right product beats a homeowner with a hose-end sprayer. Many people in San Rafael split it, mowing themselves and buying the treatment rounds.

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