What published prices say for a mowing visit
No one publishes a verified price list for lawn service in Polk County, so this guide lays out what national and Florida cost sites say and shows where they agree. All of the figures below are third-party estimates from pages we opened, not quotes and not a Polk County price survey. For a quarter-acre lot on a recurring weekly schedule, Housecall Pro lists $45 to $85 a visit, Mammotion lists $45 to $65 for a standard quarter-acre yard, and Lawn by Season lists $45 to $72 for a standard lot of 5,000 to 10,000 square feet. For Orlando and Tampa specifically, Lawn by Season gives $45 to $65 a visit.
An Orlando cost guide on recommended.app lists $55 as a typical weekly quarter-acre price, with a range of $35 to $75. A fifth source, HomeAdvisor, is reported to put the national average at about $123 a visit. We saw that figure only in a search summary, could not open the HomeAdvisor page (it returned an access error), and have not verified it. It is far above every other source, so treat it as an unconfirmed outlier.
How the sites differ, and the $35 to $75 figure on this site
The sites differ because they define the job differently. Housecall Pro's numbers are national and cover a wide mix of lots. Mammotion sells robotic mowers, so its figures may not be neutral. Lawn by Season splits Florida into regions and lot sizes. None of them is a survey of Polk County companies.
The Lawn Care cost page on this site says weekly mowing is about $35 to $75 a visit for a quarter-acre lot in Polk County. That is a typical-range figure, not a verified Polk price. It is the same span that the Orlando guide on recommended.app lists, and it is wider than the area where most published ranges overlap, which is why the planning range below is narrower. A low-end visit under $45 is plausible on a small or simple lot, but a quarter-acre with beds, fencing and trees will usually land higher.
Per-month and per-year figures
Many companies bill weekly service as a flat monthly amount instead of a per-visit price. The sources we opened do not publish monthly prices, so the numbers here are arithmetic on their per-visit figures. Four weekly visits at $45 is $180, and four at $65 is $260. A month with five Saturdays would add a visit, and companies handle that differently, so ask whether the monthly price is fixed.
Lawn by Season estimates annual mowing for a standard lot at $1,500 to $3,200, based on 45 to 52 visits a year. Mammotion lists weekly mowing at $900 to $2,600 a year, biweekly at $600 to $1,700 and monthly at $350 to $900, assuming a 30 to 40 week growing season. The two annual figures are built on different season lengths, which is one reason they do not line up. Florida grass grows through the winter, so a full-year schedule is closer to the Lawn by Season assumption than to a 30 to 40 week season.
What a mowing visit usually includes
Housecall Pro describes a typical visit as mowing, edging, trimming and blowing clippings off hard surfaces. Lawn by Season lists mowing, edging, trimming and clippings cleanup as included, and treats fertilization, aeration and other treatments as separate. Mammotion says basic mowing usually means cutting the grass and sometimes blowing clippings off hard surfaces, and it lists edging sidewalks and driveways at $10 to $25, string trimming at $10 to $20 and bagging clippings at $10 to $40 as add-ons when they are not part of the base price.
Because companies bundle differently, a low quote may simply leave out edging or blowing. Housecall Pro lists a first cut on an overgrown lawn at $70 to $150 or more, and says grass over 10 inches can add $20 to $60. Mammotion mentions a long-grass fee of $10 to $50. Ask whether the first visit is priced differently.
Fertilizing, weed and pest programs
Treatments are usually a separate program, not part of the mowing price. Lawn by Season estimates fertilization at $300 to $600 across a season and pre-emergent and weed control at $150 to $400, and adds that a full-service budget runs about 1.6 to 2.0 times the mowing-only figure. The Orlando guide on recommended.app lists St. Augustine fertilization at about $110 an application (range $65 to $165) with 5 to 7 applications a year, and an annual fertilization program at $595 (range $395 to $895). It also says chinch bug prevention is usually included in annual fertilization programs, while a chinch bug treatment on its own is about $195 an application. See our guide Chinch Bugs in Florida Lawns: How to Spot and Stop Them for what that problem looks like.
Florida law requires a pest control license or certification from the state Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services for anyone applying pesticides for hire, which the department says includes weed-and-feed products. Its limited landscape maintenance certificate covers plant beds and ornamental plants only, not lawns or turfgrass. If a company offers weed or insect treatments for your turf, ask who holds the license. On fertilizer, Polk County's ordinance restricts fertilizer near water and before heavy rain; some cities and nearby counties add a summer ban, so check your city. Our guide Florida Fertilizer Ban: What Polk County Allows goes into the detail.
How lot size and frequency change the price
Lot size moves the price, but not in a straight line. Housecall Pro lists weekly mowing at $30 to $40 for an eighth of an acre, $45 to $85 for a quarter acre, $50 to $100 for a half acre and $60 to $150 for an acre. Lawn by Season shows weekly prices of $30 to $45 for lots under 5,000 square feet, $45 to $72 for 5,000 to 10,000, $65 to $110 for 10,000 to 20,000 and $105 to $200 for an acre or more. Setup, travel and trimming take about the same time on any lot, so small lots cost more per square foot.
Frequency changes the price per visit. Mammotion lists weekly visits at $30 to $65, biweekly at $40 to $85 and monthly at $70 to $120. Lawn by Season lists biweekly standard lots at $56 to $90, against $45 to $72 weekly. Longer gaps mean taller grass and more work each time, so the visit costs more even though there are fewer of them. Slopes, fences, gates, trees and beds slow a crew, and tight access can rule out a larger mower.
Mowing frequency in Central Florida
Central Florida lawns grow for most of the year. Lawn by Season's statewide schedule is weekly mowing from April through October and biweekly from November through March, and it says Florida effectively has no dormant season. The Orlando guide on recommended.app treats biweekly as the slower-growth winter schedule and says growth slows from December through February but does not stop. The two sources draw the winter line a little differently, and neither is specific to Polk County, so ask a company how it schedules winter visits.
A schedule that drops visits in winter changes the yearly total more than the per-visit price. If a company bills a flat monthly amount all year, find out whether the winter months are priced at the same level as summer. Some HOAs set a minimum mowing height or frequency, which can override a company's usual schedule.
Our rough planning range and how to compare quotes
Our rough reading of the published figures, not a quote and not a Polk County price survey: for weekly mowing of a quarter-acre lot, the opened sources overlap at about $45 to $65 a visit. $45 is the bottom of the Housecall Pro, Mammotion and Lawn by Season ranges, and $65 falls inside each of them. Four weekly visits at those prices is $180 to $260 a month for mowing alone. For biweekly service, the ranges from Lawn by Season ($56 to $90) and Mammotion ($40 to $85) overlap at about $56 to $85 a visit, or two visits for $112 to $170 a month. Adding the Lawn by Season fertilization ($300 to $600) and weed control ($150 to $400) estimates gives roughly $450 to $1,000 a year for treatments.
Ask each company for a written quote that states the lot size it measured, the visit frequency, whether the price is per visit or monthly, and exactly what each visit includes: mowing, edging, trimming, blowing, clippings. For treatments, ask how many applications, which products and who holds the state license. Compare the same list across quotes, since a lower number often covers less. Our related guide How Much Does Sod Installation Cost in Florida? covers the price of replacing a lawn that has failed.
Sources
- Housecall Pro: How much to charge for lawn mowing (price tables by lot size)
- Lawn by Season: Lawn mowing cost in Florida
- Mammotion: Lawn mowing cost
- recommended.app: Orlando lawn care cost guide
- Florida Dept. of Agriculture and Consumer Services: Certification requirements for commercial landscape maintenance operators (PDF)
Written by the Polk County Landscaping editorial team. Rules and prices change, so check the linked agency before you act. Spotted a mistake? Send a correction.
