Hiring the wrong crew for your yard is an expensive mistake. You end up paying twice: once for the bad job, once to fix it. The good news is that you can spot a solid contractor from a shaky one before you ever sign anything, just by asking the right questions and checking a few pieces of paper.
We run a family landscaping and irrigation business along the I-35 corridor between Austin and San Antonio, and we’ll level with you here. Some of these questions might disqualify us on a given day, and that’s fine. The point is to help you hire well. Here’s exactly what to ask and what to verify.
What should I ask before hiring a landscaper?
Ask for proof of insurance, a written itemized scope, and local references before anything else. Those three things separate a real business from someone working out of a truck for the weekend.
Beyond that, get specific about who actually does the work, what’s included, and what happens if something goes wrong. A vague “we’ll take care of it” is not an answer. You want details in writing so that six weeks from now nobody’s arguing about what was promised.
Here’s a short checklist you can screenshot and bring to the estimate:
- Are you licensed and insured, and can I see current certificates?
- Is this quote itemized, with materials and labor broken out?
- Will your own crew do the work, or subcontractors?
- Does the price include site prep, grading, and drainage?
- Is cleanup and haul-away of debris included?
- What warranty comes with the plants, sod, and any hardscape or irrigation?
- What’s the timeline, and how do you handle change orders?
- For sprinklers: what’s your TCEQ irrigator license number?
- Will you call 811 before digging?
If a contractor gets annoyed by these, that tells you something. The good ones expect them.
Should a landscaper be insured?
Yes. Any landscaper you hire should carry both general liability and workers’ compensation insurance, and you should see current certificates, not just hear “we’re covered.”
Here’s why it matters to you specifically. General liability covers damage to your property, a busted water line, a rock through a window, a fence a skid steer clips. Workers’ comp covers the crew if someone gets hurt on your property. Without it, an injured worker’s medical bills can land on your homeowner’s insurance, and a serious injury can turn into a lawsuit against you.
Don’t just take a photo of a certificate at face value. You can ask for the insurer’s contact and confirm the policy is active, and the Texas Department of Insurance has resources for homeowners who want to verify coverage or understand what a certificate should show. It takes ten minutes and it protects the biggest investment you own.
Does a landscaper or irrigator need a license in Texas?
Texas doesn’t license general landscapers, but it absolutely licenses irrigators, and that distinction matters more than most homeowners realize. Anyone installing, repairing, or maintaining a sprinkler system connected to your water supply must hold a licensed irrigator credential from the state.
That license comes from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. If someone offers to put in or fix your sprinkler system, ask for their license number and check it against the TCEQ Landscape Irrigator licensing program. A licensed irrigator has to follow the state’s design and installation rules, install a backflow preventer to keep irrigation water from contaminating your drinking water, and give you a signed design and warranty. An unlicensed handyman doing sprinkler work is breaking state law, and if they cross-connect your system wrong, you’ve got a health hazard and no recourse.
So the rule of thumb is simple. For mowing, planting, sod, mulch, cleanups, and hardscape, you’re mostly evaluating insurance and reputation. The moment sprinklers enter the conversation, you need a TCEQ-licensed irrigator, no exceptions.
How do I compare landscaping quotes fairly?
Compare quotes line by line, not by the number at the bottom. The cheapest total often hides everything the other bids included, so you’re not comparing the same job at all.
Get every quote itemized. When one bid is thousands less, it’s usually because it left something out: grading, proper soil prep, drainage, edging, or haul-away. A crew that skips drainage in Central Texas clay will save you money today and hand you a swampy yard and dying plants next spring. Ask each contractor to spell out:
- Materials, with quantities and grade or size
- Labor, separate from materials
- Site prep, grading, and drainage work
- Cleanup and debris haul-away
- Warranty terms and length
When all three bids show the same scope, the price comparison finally means something. If one leaves a whole category blank, that’s not a deal, it’s a gap you’ll pay for later.
A few other things worth confirming while you compare. Ask whether the crew doing your job works for the company or is subcontracted, since that affects accountability and quality control. Ask about the timeline and, just as important, how they handle change orders, because the price will move if you add a patio halfway through, and you want that process agreed on before it happens, not after. And always confirm they’ll call 811 or file at texas811.org to get utilities marked before anyone digs. It’s free, it’s required, and skipping it is how people cut fiber, gas, and irrigation lines.
What are the red flags of a bad contractor?
The biggest red flag is a contractor who won’t put the job in writing. If they resist an itemized written scope, everything else is a gamble.
The FTC’s guidance on avoiding home-improvement scams lines up with what we see in the field. Watch for these:
- Cash only, no paper trail. A real business gives you an invoice and takes normal payment. Cash-only with no receipt means no accountability and no warranty you can enforce.
- A large upfront deposit. Materials money is normal. Demanding half or more before work starts, or full payment upfront, is how homeowners get left with a hole in the yard and a disconnected phone.
- No written, itemized scope. “I’ll just handle it” is not a contract. Get the work, materials, price, and timeline in writing, signed.
- Door-to-door pressure and “today only” pricing. Reputable local crews are booked out, not roaming neighborhoods pressuring you to sign right now.
- No proof of insurance or, for sprinklers, no irrigator license. If they dodge these, walk.
- No local references or portfolio. A contractor working your area should be able to show you finished jobs and let you talk to past customers.
None of these alone proves someone’s dishonest, but two or three together is your cue to keep looking. Trust the pattern.
Hire the crew that answers straight
Good contractors don’t flinch at hard questions, they welcome them, because clear expectations make for happy customers and jobs they’re proud to point to. Take the checklist above to every estimate, insist on it all in writing, and verify the licensing and insurance yourself. Do that, and you’ll hire well whether you pick us or not.
If you’re anywhere along the I-35 corridor between Austin and San Antonio, we’d be glad to earn your trust the honest way. Learn what we do on our services page, see how we work around Austin, or read a little more about our family and crew.
Ready for a straight, itemized quote with no pressure? Request a free quote or call us at (737) 404-9343. Ask us every question on that list. We’ll answer all of them.