Most landscaping businesses generate 70-80% of their annual revenue between April and October. That leaves a 4-5 month window where revenue craters, fixed costs stay the same, and cash flow turns negative. If you're not building a winter revenue stream, you're running a business that breaks even at best -- and bleeds money at worst.

The Quick Answer: What Winter Services Pay

Here's what landscapers actually charge for winter services in 2026:

Snow removal (per push): $30-$75 for a standard driveway, $75-$150 for 2-3 car driveways
Seasonal snow contracts: $300-$1,000 per season, average around $700
Commercial snow removal: $100-$300+ per push, $50-$200/hr
Roof snow removal: $200-$500 per job
Holiday light installation: $2.50-$10/linear foot, average job around $432
Tree and shrub winterization: Priced as packages by yard size
Winter pruning: $50-$150/hr

The numbers add up fast. Thirty residential snow contracts at $150/month times four months equals $18,000 in pre-sold winter revenue before the first snowflake falls. Keep reading to see exactly how to build that income stream.

How Bad Is the Winter Revenue Drop?

Worse than most people realize. In northern markets, landscaping companies see a 60-90% drop in revenue during December through February. But here's the problem: your costs only fall 20-30%.

Payroll, vehicle payments, equipment storage, and insurance all keep running. About 49% of landscaping companies respond by laying off employees in the off-season. Then they spend spring rehiring and retraining -- which costs more money and slows ramp-up.

The math is brutal. Without winter revenue, many landscaping businesses run as net losses for 3-4 months every year. That's not a seasonal dip -- that's a structural problem that keeps you from growing.

Snow Removal: The Most Direct Fix

If you already own trucks and have a crew, adding snow removal is the fastest path to winter revenue. The equipment cost to get started is low: a plow attachment runs $3,000-$6,000. After that, your existing overhead does double duty.

Residential Snow Contracts

Sell seasonal contracts to your existing lawn care customers before winter hits. They already trust you. A pre-season quote sent in September or October converts at 30-40% within two weeks -- no cold outreach required.

Price per push: $30-$75 for a standard driveway, more for larger or longer setups. Most companies bundle a few pushes and de-icing into a monthly rate of $100-$175 or a seasonal flat rate of $300-$1,000. The average seasonal contract lands around $700.

Commercial Snow Removal

Commercial accounts pay more and require less per-customer effort. A single commercial lot at $200-$300 per push beats five residential driveways every time. Target property managers, retail strips, office parks, and apartment complexes.

Profit margins on commercial snow contracts run 30-50% -- some of the strongest in the green industry. A landscaping business running both winter and summer lines earns around $435,000 annually on average, versus far less for summer-only operators.

Holiday Light Installation: Underrated High-Margin Work

A lot of landscapers overlook this one. Holiday lighting installs in November and December, comes down in January, and pays $2.50-$10 per linear foot depending on whether you provide the lights. The average job generates about $432. Larger installations -- full roofline, trees, wraparound packages -- run $750-$5,000.

The best part: you're already building a relationship with homeowners who have money to spend on exterior appearances. These are your best pressure washing and spring cleanup customers too.

Wrapping individual outdoor trees with lights adds $60 (small tree) to $1,200 (large mature tree) per job. Shrubs add $10-$20 each.

Plant Winterization and Pruning

Late fall and winter are actually the best time to prune deciduous trees and shrubs. The plants are dormant, disease risk is low, and you can see the structure clearly without leaves in the way. Winter pruning reduces spring workload and prevents storm damage.

Most companies bundle winterization into a package: cut back perennials, pull final weeds, add winter mulch, and wrap sensitive shrubs in burlap. Sell it by yard size, not per-shrub, so the price is predictable for the customer and profitable for you.

Hourly rates for tree care work run $50-$150/hr. Sell it as a value-add to customers who already pay for regular maintenance -- not as a standalone cold pitch.

How to Sell Winter Services Without Starting from Scratch

The biggest mistake is waiting until November to start selling winter services. By then, customers have already made other arrangements.

Here's a timeline that works:

August-September: Identify your top 100 existing customers. These are the people most likely to say yes.
September-October: Send pre-season quotes via email or SMS. Offer an early-booking discount of 10-15% for customers who commit before October 31st.
October: Follow up once with non-responders. Not twice -- just once. If they're interested, one follow-up closes it.
November: Start locking in commercial accounts for the season. Commercial customers need longer lead time to approve budgets.

A landscaping business with 150 recurring customers sending pre-season quotes can expect 45-60 confirmed contracts in 2-3 weeks. That's real winter income secured before the season starts.

What to Charge: The Simple Framework

For snow removal, calculate your cost per push first. Factor in fuel, labor (typically $25-$40/hr), equipment wear, and your minimum job time including drive. Then mark up 30-50% for profit.

If you're new to snow removal, start residential and move to commercial as you build capacity. Residential lets you learn the routing and logistics without the insurance requirements of commercial work.

For other services like lighting and winterization, price as packages. Flat-rate packages are easier to sell, easier to schedule, and more predictable for your crew.

Bottom Line

A landscaping business that shuts down in November is a seasonal hustle, not a business. Snow removal, holiday lighting, pruning, and plant winterization can replace 50-80% of the summer revenue drop -- without hiring new staff or buying much new equipment.

The window to sell these services is September through October. Miss it and you're waiting another year.

If you want to start pricing winter services faster, try QuoteSnap for free. It lets you set up instant quotes for snow removal and other services right on your website, so customers can get a price any time -- even at 10pm in October when they're planning ahead.

Building a Winter Revenue Stream: Landscaping Snow and Landscape Services (2026)