Lawn Care and Landscaping in Santa Cruz, California: Costs, Licensed Companies, and When to Hire
We list 19 lawn care and landscaping companies serving Santa Cruz. Mowing here typically runs $47 to $72 a visit and crews bill about $62 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 Santa Cruz
Bands rather than averages, because a real quote depends on lot size, slope, and how far the crew drives.
| Service | Typical price | Unit | What drives the price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lawn mowing | $47 to $72 | per visit | Weekly through the growing season on an average quarter-acre lot. |
| Edging and trimming | $14 to $22 | per visit | Usually bundled into a mowing visit rather than billed alone. |
| Fertilizer application | $15 to $23 | per 1,000 sq ft | Slow-release blend, three to five rounds a year. |
| Weed control | $11 to $17 | per 1,000 sq ft | Pre-emergent in spring, post-emergent as broadleaf weeds show. |
| Core aeration | $14 to $22 | per 1,000 sq ft | Once a year, priced higher on compacted clay soil. |
| Overseeding | $23 to $35 | per 1,000 sq ft | Nearly always quoted together with aeration. |
| Grub and insect control | $13 to $20 | per 1,000 sq ft | One preventive round covers most of the season. |
| Dethatching | $12 to $18 | per 1,000 sq ft | Only needed when thatch is over half an inch thick. |
Priced for a city of 62,956 in Santa Cruz County, outside the major metros.
Compare against national lawn care costs or price your own lawn on the lawn cost estimator.
Services in Santa Cruz
Lawn care companies in Santa Cruz
14 companies match these filters
Chavez Landscape Inc.
5.0on Google (2)Santa Cruz, CA
Chavez Landscape Inc. works on properties in Santa Cruz, California, handling lawn care and landscaping, with Google reviews going back to 2020, and a published phone number.
Landscaping(831) 426-1501Deva Gardens Landscaping
5.0on Google (3)Santa Cruz, CA
Deva Gardens Landscaping is a lawn care company in Santa Cruz, California, offering lawn care and landscaping, with Google reviews going back to 2025, and a published phone number and website.
Marcelo Ruiz Handyman & Landscaping Service
4.8on Google (40)Santa Cruz, CA
Marcelo Ruiz Handyman & Landscaping Service is a lawn care company in Santa Cruz, California, offering lawn care and landscaping, rated 4.8 by 40 Google reviewers, with Google reviews going back to 2023, and a published phone number.
Landscaping(831) 332-7598Emerald City Landscaping
4.7on Google (25)Santa Cruz, CA
A Santa Cruz lawn care company, Emerald City Landscaping lists lawn care and landscaping, rated 4.7 by 25 Google reviewers, with Google reviews going back to 2022, and a published phone number and website.
The Landscape Company
4.7on Google (20)Capitola, CA
Listed in Capitola, California, The Landscape Company offers lawn care and landscaping, rated 4.7 by 20 Google reviewers, with Google reviews going back to 2023, and a published phone number and website.
Prime Landscape Services
4.5on Google (2)Santa Cruz, CA
Prime Landscape Services serves Santa Cruz and the surrounding California area with lawn care and landscaping, with Google reviews going back to 2020, and a published phone number and website.
Cazares landscaping
4.4on Google (7)Santa Cruz, CA
A Santa Cruz lawn care company, Cazares landscaping lists lawn care and landscaping, with Google reviews going back to 2024, Saturday hours listed, and a published phone number and website.
La Selva Tree & Landscape
4.4on Google (14)Santa Cruz, CA
Listed in Santa Cruz, California, La Selva Tree & Landscape offers lawn care, landscaping and tree service, rated 4.4 by 14 Google reviewers, with Google reviews going back to 2025, and a published phone number and website.
Centeno's Landscaping
4.0on Google (8)Santa Cruz, CA
Centeno's Landscaping works on properties in Santa Cruz, California, handling lawn care and landscaping, with Google reviews going back to 2025, Saturday hours listed, and a published phone number and website.
Paradise Landscape Inc.
1.5on Google (8)Santa Cruz, CA
Paradise Landscape Inc. is a lawn care company in Santa Cruz, California, offering lawn care and landscaping, with Google reviews going back to 2009, and a published phone number.
Landscaping(831) 475-1714isaiah payne landscaping
Santa Cruz, CA
Isaiah Payne Landscaping works on properties in Santa Cruz, California, handling lawn care and landscaping, with Saturday hours listed, and a published phone number.
Landscaping(831) 334-4995Perez gardening and landscaping
Santa Cruz, CA
Perez Gardening And Landscaping works on properties in Santa Cruz, California, handling lawn care and landscaping, with Saturday hours listed, and a published phone number.
Landscaping(831) 430-8639Summit Landscape LLC
Santa Cruz, CA
A Santa Cruz lawn care company, Summit Landscape LLC lists lawn care and landscaping, with Saturday hours listed, and a published phone number.
Landscaping(408) 893-7372Tresala, LLC
Santa Cruz, CA
Listed in Santa Cruz, California, Tresala, LLC offers lawn care and landscaping, with Saturday hours listed, and a published phone number.
Landscaping(831) 331-1200
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Where these companies are
When to do the work in Santa Cruz
Santa Cruz 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
| Task | Local window | Why then |
|---|---|---|
| Seed or overseed | September to October | Mild autumns give the longest establishment window of the year. |
| Fertilize | March, May, September, and November | Feed lightly and often rather than heavily twice a year. |
| Core aerate | September to October | Autumn rain does the softening for you. |
| Pre-emergent for crabgrass | January 15 - February 28 | Go 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
Lawn care in Santa Cruz: common questions
How much does lawn care cost in Santa Cruz?
A single mowing visit in Santa Cruz typically runs $47 to $72 for an average quarter-acre lot, and crews bill around $62 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 Santa Cruz 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 Santa Cruz?
Book before the season starts rather than during it. Santa Cruz 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 Santa Cruz?
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 Santa Cruz split it, mowing themselves and buying the treatment rounds.