A landscaping production manager turns sold landscape installs and enhancements into finished yards. They plan each job's crew hours and materials, schedule the work around weather and planting seasons, check quality on site, and compare the hours used with the hours the job was sold for.
By the HireBus team · Updated · Pay data: BLS, May 2025
Responsible for planning and managing landscaping jobs from inception to completion, ensuring high-quality execution and adherence to deadlines. Oversees crews and coordinates resources to maintain efficiency and customer satisfaction. Plays a pivotal role in driving operational excellence within the landscaping division.
2. Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Develop detailed project plans and schedules for landscaping jobs.
Monitor and enforce quality standards across all job sites.
Ensure crews meet established deadlines and complete projects within budget.
Collaborate with vendors and subcontractors to secure timely supply of materials.
3. Key Tasks / Daily Activities
Coordinate daily work schedules for landscaping crews.
Conduct on-site inspections to verify compliance with project specifications.
Communicate with clients to provide updates and gather feedback.
Troubleshoot operational issues and implement quick corrective actions.
4. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Project completion rate: 95% on-time delivery.
Customer Satisfaction Rating: >4.8 stars.
Quality Assurance Score: 98% compliance with standards.
Crew productivity: Achieve a minimum of $150 revenue per hour.
5. Required Qualifications and Skills
Bachelor’s degree in Business, Construction Management, or related field.
Minimum of 3 years’ experience in production or operations management in the home services industry.
Strong leadership and team management skills.
Excellent organizational, problem-solving, and communication abilities.
6. Preferred Experience
Prior experience managing landscaping or outdoor home services projects.
Familiarity with project management software and scheduling tools.
Proven track record of meeting strict deadlines in a fast-paced environment.
Experience in quality control and safety compliance within the landscaping industry.
7. Physical Requirements
Ability to lift up to 50 lbs.
Regular exposure to varying outdoor weather conditions.
Ability to conduct site inspections over uneven terrain.
Stamina to handle prolonged periods of standing and walking on job sites.
8. Work Environment and Schedule
Typical work hours: Monday to Friday, 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM.
Occasional extended hours may be required during peak project periods.
Minimal travel to various job sites within the region.
On-call duties may be required during urgent project issues or weather-related disruptions.
9. Compensation and Benefits
Salary Range: $65,000 - $85,000 per year based on experience.
Performance-based bonus opportunities.
Comprehensive Health, Dental, and Vision coverage.
401k plan and additional fringe benefits.
10. Company Culture and Overview
We are a forward-thinking company committed to excellence, innovation, and sustainable practices in the landscaping industry.
Our culture fosters continuous improvement, collaboration, and respect for every team member.
We celebrate growth and provide ample opportunities for personal and professional development.
Join an inclusive, supportive team that drives impactful change in our 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
What makes landscaping production management different
Any production manager's job is to deliver what sales sold. In residential landscaping, the work is soil and living plants, the budget is counted in crew hours, and the weather sets the calendar.
Every job is sold in crew hours
Installs and enhancements are usually priced from an estimate of crew hours plus materials. The production manager breaks that budget down for the crew leader, checks hours used against hours sold as the job goes, and steps in when it starts running over. When it's done, they tell the estimator what took longer than planned.
The plan meets the real yard
Designs and plant lists come from sales or a landscape designer. On site, the crew finds a buried stump, a drainage problem, or a homeowner who wants a different shrub. The production manager walks the site before work starts, settles changes with the homeowner in writing, and adds the hours and materials so the extra work gets paid for.
Licenses depend on the state and the work
States regulate this work in different ways. California's Contractors State License Board licenses landscape contractors under its C-27 class, which covers building, installing, maintaining and grading landscapes. In Texas, selling, designing, installing or repairing an irrigation system takes a TCEQ license, with some exemptions. The production manager checks that each job has a licensed person on it where the law asks for one. Source: Texas Commission on Environmental Quality: Irrigator, irrigation technician and inspector licenses.
Plant guarantees come back as work
If you guarantee new plants, a shrub that dies in July becomes a free return trip with a new plant. The production manager protects that promise with careful planting, clear watering instructions for the homeowner, and a follow-up visit. They also track plant losses by crew and job, since repeat losses usually point to a planting habit.
Planting seasons squeeze the schedule
Demand for installs piles up in spring and again in fall. Frozen ground, soggy soil and summer heat each stall different jobs. The production manager slots patio and wall work into weeks when planting can't happen, keeps sod and plant deliveries close to install day, and leaves room in each crew's week for rain.
Residential vs. commercial landscaping production
Both jobs turn sold work into finished grounds. The customer, the paperwork and the pace change.
Topic
Residential
Commercial
Typical job
A backyard install, patio or planting refresh, often done in days
Site work for offices, retail centers or HOAs, built to a landscape architect's plans
Who you answer to
The homeowner, and what the salesperson promised
The general contractor, property manager or owner's representative
How work is won
Design-build sales to homeowners
Bids against plans and written specifications
Paperwork
Design, contract, change orders and plant guarantee
Submittals, pay requests, change orders and closeout
Schedule
Set by your sales calendar and the weather
Tied to the building's construction schedule
How much landscaping production managers make
The closest BLS group for landscaping production managers is construction managers. Construction managers who work for landscaping companies earned a median of $96,280 a year ($46.29 an hour) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s below the $114,990 median for construction managers in all industries. About 1,510 of the 380,360 construction managers in that survey work for landscaping companies.
Salaried in most companies, with a bonus that rides on how many install jobs come in at or under their sold hours.
Landscaping companies
$96,280$96,280 median Middle half $75,300–$121,520 10th–90th $60,790–$141,200
All industries
$114,990$114,990 median Middle half $88,550–$151,640 10th–90th $69,690–$189,440
$25k$50k$75k$100k$125k$150k$175k$200k$225k
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
$60,790
$75,300
$96,280
$121,520
$141,200
All industries
$69,690
$88,550
$114,990
$151,640
$189,440
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 built plantings, patios or irrigation and run the crews that do them
Reads a site plan, grade notes and a plant list
Catches a job going over its hours by midweek, not at the end
Judges every finished site against a written punch list
Settles changes with homeowners before the work, not after
Teach these on the job
How your estimators build hours, and where job costing shows them
Your nurseries, plant sizes and guarantee rules
Your state's license rules for irrigation and install work
Your 811 request routine and digging rules
What design and sales hand over before a job is scheduled
Production managers in landscaping plan and cost jobs in software such as LMN or Aspire, work from landscape designs and material takeoffs, and check work with a laser level, a measuring wheel and the plans on a tablet.
Landscaping production 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.
Break these out by crew and by kind of job. A planting crew and a patio crew finish and earn at different rates, so base targets on each one's own finished jobs.
Project completion rate
Installs done by the finish date the homeowner was promised, out of all installs finished that month. Keep a reason on every late one, so you can tell a wet April from a planning problem.
Customer Satisfaction Rating
Send a short survey a week or two after each install, once the homeowner has lived with the yard. Average the scores by crew, and call anyone who rates low to find out why.
Quality Assurance Score
Items passed on your end-of-job checklist, such as grade, edging, plant spacing, sprinkler coverage and cleanup, out of all items checked. Score every job before the final walk with the homeowner.
Crew productivity
Take each finished job's revenue and divide it by the crew hours logged on it. Compare like with like, such as one wall job against another, and review every job that ran over.
Career path
LandscaperLearns planting, grading and hardscape on an install crew.
Crew leaderLays out each job with the crew and keeps it to its hours.
Field supervisorMoves between job sites, fixing problems before the homeowner sees them.
Production managerPlans and runs all install and enhancement work.
They plan and run the install side. That means scheduling sold jobs, ordering plants and materials, assigning crews, and walking sites before and during the work. Before the homeowner's walk-through, they do a final check of their own. They also handle return trips under the plant guarantee and step in when a crew leader is stuck.
How much does a landscaping production manager make?
Construction managers who work for landscaping companies earned a median of $96,280 a year ($46.29 an hour) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The middle half earned between $75,300 and $121,520 a year. Pay also depends on your local market, experience and bonus terms.
Is a landscaping production manager over maintenance or installs?
Titles differ. In many residential companies, production means installs and enhancements, while a separate manager runs the mowing routes. Others name a production manager for each division, maintenance included. Write the crews and services the role covers into the ad, so a maintenance lead doesn't apply for an install job by mistake.
How does a production manager work with the sales team?
Sales sells the job and production builds it, so the hand-off matters. Good production managers walk big jobs with the salesperson before they are signed, flag hours that look too low, and hold a short hand-off meeting before work starts. They also ask sales not to promise start dates the schedule can't keep.
Why do landscaping installs run over their hours?
Common causes are tight site access, digging that hits rock or roots, materials that arrive late or wrong, and homeowner changes that never got priced. Rain and new crew members add more. A production manager who logs the reason every time a job runs over can fix the estimate or the habit behind it.
Does a landscaping production manager need a license?
States license the work more often than the job title, so check yours. In Texas, for example, a licensed irrigation technician who connects a system to a water supply may do that only under a licensed irrigator's direct supervision. TCEQ licenses also run three years and need continuing education to renew. Keep those dates on the production calendar, along with any contractor license your state requires.
What should a landscaping production manager job ad include?
Describe a typical job, such as a backyard planting with a patio, and the range from small refreshes to full installs. Say how many crews and subcontractors the role schedules. The template's physical lines mention stamina; rewrite them as tasks, like walking job sites over uneven ground and lifting materials.
