A landscaping general manager runs one yard as its own business: the maintenance and install crews, the salespeople and office team. Through rain and breakdowns the GM keeps the week on schedule, makes the call on customer complaints, and answers for that yard's revenue, margin and safety record.
By the HireBus team · Updated · Pay data: BLS, May 2025
Responsible for leading the Landscaping department by guiding teams, setting strategic goals, and ensuring operational excellence that contributes to the overall success of the company.
2. Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Lead and manage the landscaping operations to ensure departmental success and high-quality service delivery.
Set clear performance goals and monitor team achievements consistently.
Develop and implement strategies to improve operational efficiency and customer satisfaction.
Coordinate with cross-functional teams to align departmental efforts with broader business objectives.
Continuously assess and refine operational processes to meet evolving customer needs.
3. Key Tasks / Daily Activities
Oversee daily landscaping operations and ensure all projects meet quality and performance standards.
Conduct regular team meetings to review progress, address issues, and update strategies.
Monitor performance metrics and adjust processes to optimize operational efficiency.
Interact with customers to resolve concerns and provide timely project updates.
Ensure compliance with company policies and safety regulations on all job sites.
4. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Revenue per Hour: $150.
Customer Satisfaction Rating: >4.8 stars.
Callback Rate: <5%.
Gross Margin: >35%.
5. Required Qualifications and Skills
Bachelor’s degree in Business Management, Operations, or a related field.
Minimum of 5 years of general management experience in a service-oriented environment.
Expertise in setting, monitoring, and analyzing performance metrics.
Excellent leadership, communication, and problem-solving skills.
6. Preferred Experience
Prior experience in the landscaping or home services industry.
Demonstrated success in managing multi-disciplinary teams.
Familiarity with operational software and project management tools.
Experience working with customer relationship management systems.
7. Physical Requirements
Ability to occasionally lift up to 25 pounds.
Frequent visits to job sites involving outdoor work in varying weather conditions.
Occasional exposure to landscaping machinery and tools.
Sufficient mobility to navigate diverse worksite environments.
8. Work Environment and Schedule
Typical work hours: 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM with occasional overtime.
Regular travel between multiple job sites.
Occasional weekend work may be required.
On-call duties as needed for urgent operational issues.
9. Compensation and Benefits
Salary range: $90,000 - $110,000 USD per year.
Eligibility for performance-based bonuses.
Comprehensive health, dental, and vision insurance.
Robust 401k retirement plan with employer matching.
Additional fringe benefits including paid time off and professional development opportunities.
10. Company Culture and Overview
At [INSERT COMPANY NAME HERE], we believe in fostering a culture of innovation, collaboration, and continuous growth. Our dedicated team is empowered to drive change and deliver superior customer service in the home services industry. We offer a supportive environment where your ideas are valued and your professional growth is our priority. Join us in our mission to transform landscapes and enhance communities.
11. How to Apply
If you meet the above criteria and want to be part of a growth-oriented company focused on customer satisfaction, please send your resume to [INSERT EMAIL HERE] or apply online at [INSERT WEBSITE LINK HERE].
Need help filling this role? HireBus posts the ad, Iris interviews every applicant by phone before you do, and you decide who to hire. Start hiring now
A landscaping branch sells the same visits week after week, so most of the GM's work is keeping that promise: the right crew on the right day, and a property left looking right.
The yard has to run without the GM
Crews leave early, and every late truck costs stops. The GM builds the morning routine that gets them out: a yard lead who checks fuel, trailers and loads, a dispatcher who fills open seats, and a plan for the mower that won't start. Then the GM reviews what slipped and fixes the cause, not just the day.
Rain moves the whole week
Weekly mowing customers count on a set day, so one rainy Tuesday pushes every route behind it. The GM picks the fix: run Saturday, double up crews, skip a cut, or move install crews onto maintenance. Overtime, quality and goodwill pull in different directions, and the yard's numbers show which way the GM went.
In this trade, a callback is a return trip. It might be a missed strip of lawn, a shrub that died under warranty, a sprinkler head a mower clipped, or a messy bed. The GM tracks why each one happened, decides whether the crew, the plant guarantee or the customer covers it, and goes after the cause: crew training, plant choice or a rushed route.
Spring staffing happens in weeks
A branch may add several crews between late winter and May, then shrink after leaf season. The GM decides how many crews to field, when to start new hires so they're trained before the rush, and which crew leaders to keep through winter. Too few crews means missed visits. Too many means idle labor in a rainy week.
Residential vs. commercial landscaping branches
Both run crews out of a yard and answer for a profit. Who the customers are changes the GM's week.
Topic
Residential
Commercial
Where revenue comes from
Hundreds of small accounts, plus add-on work spotted on the route
Fewer annual contracts, plus extras the site manager approves
Losing an account
One weekly yard, refilled from spring leads
A large contract that can leave a crew without work
Complaints the GM hears
Missed cuts, open gates and dead shrubs, straight from the homeowner
Scope questions from a manager who answers to an owner or board
Crew setup
Small crews on dense routes with gate-width mowers
Bigger crews and wide-deck mowers on fewer, larger sites
Winter work
Cleanups, pruning and holiday lighting, or a slow stretch
Plowing and salting parking lots and walks in cold markets
How much landscaping general managers make
The closest BLS group for landscaping general managers is general and operations managers. General and operations managers who work for landscaping companies earned a median of $89,990 a year ($43.26 an hour) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s below the $105,770 median for general and operations managers in all industries. About 34,230 of the 3,503,020 general and operations managers in that survey work for landscaping companies.
A yearly salary and a bonus, commonly based on the yard's gross margin and paid once the season's numbers are final.
Landscaping companies
$89,990$89,990 median Middle half $62,400–$123,080 10th–90th $46,520–$164,110
All industries
$105,770$105,770 median Middle half $72,320–$167,280 10th–90th $50,090–$253,390
$0k$50k$100k$150k$200k$250k$300k
10th–90th percentileMiddle halfMedianAnnual pay, May 2025. Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics.
Annual pay by percentile
Group
10th
25th
Median
75th
90th
Landscaping companies
$46,520
$62,400
$89,990
$123,080
$164,110
All industries
$50,090
$72,320
$105,770
$167,280
$253,390
BLS reports residential and commercial landscaping companies together. Post a real range for your market in the ad.
The pay line in the template above is an example from our Role Blueprint. Set yours from these figures and what local companies pay.
Skills to hire for, and what you can teach
Hire for these
Has answered for the P&L of a branch or division
Rebuilds a rained-out week without blowing the overtime budget
Talks an upset homeowner down and settles what gets redone
Develops crew leaders into supervisors
Knows each crew's revenue per hour and why it moved
Teach these on the job
How your software reports job costs by crew
Local plants, turf types and watering rules
Your plant guarantee and redo policy
Which services need a licensed person on the job
Your estimating and enhancement pricing
The GM's working screens are the schedule, crew timecards and job costing in software like Jobber, LMN or Aspire, plus truck GPS and your review sites. Note in the ad which reports already exist and which the GM would have to build.
Landscaping general manager interview questions
They have their own page: 6 questions that test this job, what strong and weak answers sound like, and a work exercise to run with your finalists.
Post the yard's real targets where crew leaders can see them. Base them on what this yard did last season, and review the gaps every Monday.
Revenue per Hour
Revenue divided by labor hours on the job, by crew and service line, from timecards and invoices. Decide whether you count crew hours or each worker's hours, and stick with it.
Customer Satisfaction Rating
The yard's average online rating, read next to monthly maintenance cancellations. A customer who cancels without leaving a review is still a bad score.
Callback Rate
Return trips to fix a problem, divided by all visits or jobs, each month. Tag every return trip with the crew and a reason, for example a skipped strip, a dead plant or a leaking zone.
Gross Margin
What's left of revenue after crew labor, plants and materials, fuel and equipment, read each month for every service line and crew. A healthy total can hide one service that loses money.
Career path
Crew leaderRuns a crew and learns the work property by property.
Most of the GM's week goes to four jobs. Get crews out on time with the right gear. Replan when rain or a dead machine wrecks the plan. Handle the complaints the office can't settle. Check labor hours and margin by crew. The GM also coaches the sales and office leads and walks a few jobs each week to check quality in person.
How much does a landscaping general manager make?
General and operations managers who work for landscaping companies earned a median of $89,990 a year ($43.26 an hour) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The middle half earned between $62,400 and $123,080 a year. Pay also depends on your local market, experience and bonus terms.
Are branch managers and general managers the same job in landscaping?
Often, yes. Plenty of landscaping companies call the person running a yard a branch manager. Look at what the job owns: if it covers selling, the office and the yard's profit, it's a general manager job whatever you call it. If it covers only crews and scheduling, it's closer to a production or operations manager, and the ad should describe that job.
How does a landscaping GM spend the winter?
In cold climates, winter is when the GM gets ahead: reviewing last season's job costs by crew, repricing routes that lost money, getting equipment serviced, planning spring hiring and training returning crew leaders. If the yard plows snow, the GM also staffs the storm roster and checks that trucks, plows and salt are ready before the first storm.
Should a landscaping GM job require a college degree?
The template's education line is a bachelor's in business management, operations or a similar field. Many owners care more about a record of running crews and a P&L. Some drop the degree line for a former crew leader or production manager who has done both. If you keep it, add "or equivalent experience" so you don't rule out the person already running your best crews.
What goes in a landscaping general manager job ad?
Will the GM own sales or only production? That one line decides who applies, so put it near the top. Then describe the yard, including its services, crews and the managers who report in, the real hours from spring cleanups to leaf season, and whether winter means snow duty.
