Estimating software for landscapers
Price the ground, not just the patio
Weather, ground conditions, access and spoil disposal decide whether a landscaping job makes money — long after the quote is signed. back-napkin starts every bid from a real landscaping Work Item tree and a risk checklist built for the job, so a fixed price already accounts for the things that usually eat the margin.
Landscaping quotes fail underground, not on the drawing
The paving units and the timber are the easy part to price. The risk sits in what a site visit can't fully rule out.
Weather owns the schedule
A week-long patio or decking job routinely loses one to three crew-days to weather, and it's near-certain on anything running through October to March. Fixed-price bids that don't budget for it eat the loss directly.
The ground is a guess until you dig
Clay, made ground, buried rubble or a high water table can add half a day to two full crew-days once excavation starts — plus extra aggregate and spoil loads that weren't in the original take-off.
Access changes the labour rate
Through-house carries and restricted rear access can push excavation effort up 1.5-2x against what a driveway-access job would take, and it's rarely priced as its own line.
Spoil disposal is its own budget
Excavated ground bulks 20-30% once it's out of the ground. Skip logistics, waste-carrier duty-of-care notes and permit costs are easy to under-count when a quote is built from materials and labour alone.
Built from real landscaping job types
Four Project Starters, each with its own Work Item tree, hidden-task checklist and risk checklist — not a generic construction template with the words swapped out.
Patio / paving
Full tree from setting-out and excavation through sub-base, laying course, jointing and lawn reinstatement — the spoil-removal and drainage steps included by default.
Driveway (paving)
Vehicle-grade dig and a thicker Type 1 sub-base, plus the permeability planning check most driveway quotes forget until the council asks.
Decking
Foundations, sub-frame, boards, balustrade and finish — with end-grain sealing and the height/coverage planning trigger built into the checklist.
Full garden build
One tree spanning groundworks, retaining walls, fencing, paving, decking, electrics, irrigation and soft landscaping for multi-week, multi-trade jobs.
The risk checklist is specific, not generic
Every Patio / paving job starts with these on the risk register — pulled straight from the pack, not written after the fact.
Weather stops work
1-3 lost crew-days per week-long job; almost certain for jobs over 1 week in Oct-Mar
Ground worse than assumed (soft spots, clay, made ground)
Effort +0.5-2 crew-days; extra aggregate + spoil loads
Buried services found
Reroute/hand-dig, +0.5-1 day
Quote your next landscaping job with the ground already priced in
- 3 active projects
- 25 AI assists/month
- No card