11 Landscaping Marketing Ideas To Book More Projects

Most landscaping companies grow on word of mouth until it stops being enough. The ones that keep growing add a few reliable ways to get found online, show off finished yards and keep crews busy outside the spring rush. This guide covers 11 landscaping marketing ideas for design-build and maintenance companies, with what to do first for each one.

I've marketed contractors for more than five years, and landscaping is the trade where splitting your services matters most. The ideas that work best are rarely the flashiest: Kiwi Custom Construction, a Kelowna pool builder that also does concrete and hardscaping, saw 80% more website traffic in its first three months after we gave each service its own page.³

A quick note on how people find a landscaper now: BrightLocal's 2026 survey found 97% of consumers read reviews for local businesses² and 45% have used AI tools like ChatGPT to find one. Being visible and well reviewed online is no longer optional.

1. Get Your Website Ranking Locally

Your website is the base for everything else. When someone searches "patio installation in [your city]", local SEO decides whether they find you or a competitor.

What to do:

Claim your Google Business Profile: it's free and decides whether you show up on the map. Fill in every field and add photos of your own yards. (More on this in idea 8.)

Split design-build from maintenance: a homeowner pricing a new backyard and one looking for weekly mowing want different things. 57% of landscaping websites mention design services: 72% of the top quarter, 31% of the bottom¹.

Give each service its own page: patios, retaining walls, planting, lighting and irrigation, each with your own photos.

Show reviews on the home page: 91% of the top quarter do, against 34% of the bottom quarter¹.

Put your phone number where a thumb can reach it: only half of landscaping websites show a phone number in the first screen on a phone¹.

Make the site fast on phones: compress photos and use good hosting. Big garden photos are the usual reason a site is slow.

Three trade websites that rank

All three are sites we built. Each has a page for every service and every area it wants work in, and the phone number where a thumb can reach it.

2. Ask for a Review at Every Walkthrough

Reviews decide who shows up on the map. The top 3 landscaping companies on Google Maps had a median of 54 reviews across 21 Canadian markets¹.

• Ask on the final walkthrough: then text your direct review link the day you finish⁵.
• Ask everyone: not just the happy ones, and never offer a discount for a review. Google prohibits both⁶.
• Ask again in spring: a photo of the yard once the plants have filled in makes the best review.

3. Put a Sign on Every Install

Neighbours watch a backyard come together for weeks. A sign turns that attention into calls.

• Yard sign: up on the first day and left a week after the job, with the owner’s permission.
• Door hangers: on the houses around each install.
• Wrap the trucks and trailers: your name, phone number and what you do.

4. Take Before and After Photos from the Ground and the Air

A patio or a new grade is best seen from above, and a finished yard photographs beautifully.

• Same angle before and after: and again a season later, when the planting has filled in.
• Drone shots: show the whole yard and how it fits the house.
• Use them everywhere: service pages, your Google profile, social media and your ads.

5. Offer a Design Consult, Credited to the Build

HomeStars puts design services at $1,500 to $8,000 or more, hardscaping at $15 to $60 a square foot and full installations at $10,000 to $40,000 and up⁷. A design fee credited to the build is a real reason to choose you.

• Charge for the design: then credit it if they book the install.
• Show price ranges: only 4% of landscaping websites show prices¹. "Most interlocking patios we build run $X to $Y a square foot" screens out people who would never pay it.

6. Put a Warranty on Plants and Hardscape

Homeowners worry about paying thousands for plants that die. Only 25% of landscaping websites state a warranty or guarantee: 53% of the top quarter and 3% of the bottom¹.

• Put it in writing: "plants replaced for one season, hardscape guaranteed for X years."
• Say you call before you dig: in BC, BC 1 Call takes free locate requests⁸. It tells homeowners you do it properly.

7. Sell Maintenance, Irrigation and Snow Contracts

Installs come in waves; recurring work smooths them out. 36% of landscaping websites mention snow removal, but only 8% mention a maintenance plan¹.

• A first-year care plan: offered to every install customer.
• Seasonal reminders: spring cleanups, irrigation start-ups and fall blowouts, texted to past customers two weeks before each season. 31% of landscaping websites mention irrigation¹.
• Strata and commercial contracts: priced per visit and put in writing.

8. Set Up Your Google Business Profile

Your Google Business Profile is the most important free marketing tool a landscaper has. It decides whether you show up in the map results.

• Fill in everything: business name, phone, website, hours, service area, categories and a clear description of the landscaping work you do. "Landscaper" was the primary category on 75% of the top 3 listings¹.
• Add photos often: finished jobs, work in progress and your crew. Fresh photos keep the profile active.
• Get steady reviews: BrightLocal found 74% of consumers look for reviews from the last three months². Ask every customer, reply to every review, and never offer anything in exchange; Google prohibits it⁶.
• Post updates: finished jobs, seasonal offers and news. Google says posts show on your profile in Search and Maps⁹.
• Know what changed: Google removed the Q&A section and replaced it with "Ask Maps", which answers questions from your profile, reviews, photos and website. The more complete your information, the better those answers are.
• Check your performance report: see how people found you and whether they called, visited your site or asked for directions.

9. Build Referrals with Pool Builders, Home Builders and Realtors

These people meet homeowners right before they need a yard.

• Pool builders: every new pool needs a patio, fencing and planting.
• Home builders: new homes need a yard, often on a deadline.
• Realtors: curb appeal before a listing, and new owners after a sale.
• Other trades: fencing, concrete and irrigation companies trade referrals.

10. Run Google Search Ads for Design-Build

Search ads catch the homeowner who is ready to plan a yard. A landscaping lead from Google typically costs about $123 CAD¹⁰.

• One campaign per service: bid on "patio installation [town]" and "backyard design", and send each to its own page.
• Track the calls: only 23% of landscaping websites carry a Google Ads tag and 4% use call tracking¹.
• Local Services Ads are for lawn care only: in Canada, the category covers lawn care services, not design or installs¹¹.
• Read the setup: our contractor Google Ads guide covers the campaigns.

11. Run Local Facebook and Instagram Ads

Homeowners plan their yards in late winter. Facebook reaches them before they search.

Why Facebook and Instagram ads work for landscapers

1. Reach: more than 3.5 billion people use Meta’s apps every day¹², including most homeowners in your area.
2. Local targeting: show ads only in the neighbourhoods and towns you serve.
3. Cheaper leads: a contractor lead typically costs about $61 on Facebook^13–16, against about $123 for a landscaping lead on Google search.
4. Built for visuals: a before and after backyard is exactly what stops the scroll.

1. Pick your campaign objective

• Leads: collect contact details with an instant form or on your website. The best place to start.
• Traffic: sends people to your service pages, but you pay for visits rather than leads.
• Awareness: useful for staying known in your area once lead campaigns are working.

2. Set up targeting the 2026 way

Meta's Advantage+ audience is now the default for lead campaigns, and many detailed interest options were merged or removed, with the old ones switched off on January 15, 2026¹⁷. What still matters:

• Location: set it tightly to your service area. This is still a hard limit.
• Age: a minimum like 25+ helps focus on people likely to own a home.
• Your own data: past customer lists and website visitors make strong custom audiences.
• The ad itself: the photo and the offer now do most of the targeting.

3. Make ads worth stopping for

• Real photos and video: of your own yards, not stock images.
• Before and after: the same yard from the same angle, or from the air.
• Short, clear text: what you build, where, and a next step like "Book a design consult".
• A reason to act now: spring start dates booking up, or a design credit.

4. Choose a format

• Carousel: several jobs, or before and after shots, in one ad.
• Video: a 15 to 30 second time-lapse or walkthrough.
• Single image: one great photo with a clear offer is often enough.

5. Set your budget

• Start in late winter: $15 to $30 a day from February to April, for one service area.
• Test: try two or three ads and keep the one with the lowest cost per real lead.

6. Track the right numbers

• Click-through rate: are people interested in the ad?
• Cost per lead: what each inquiry costs.
• Booked jobs: the number that actually matters. Call every lead back within minutes: in a study of 5.7 million leads, the ones called that fast converted eight times as often¹⁸.

Where to start

You don't need all 11 ideas at once. Most landscaping companies get the best results by doing a few things well:

1. Get found: separate design-build and maintenance pages, a complete Google Business Profile and a sign on every install.
2. Get trusted: a review at every walkthrough, before and after photos and a warranty in writing.
3. Stay busy: maintenance, irrigation and snow contracts, with seasonal reminders.
4. Add fuel when you need it: Google search ads for design-build and Facebook ads in late winter.

Start with the first two, measure where your projects come from, and add more once they’re working.