The Level Green Landscaping Blog

What Services Do We Subcontract (And What Services Do We Provide In-house?)

Written by Douglass Delano | Jan 23, 2018 4:13:30 PM

If it’s related to your green and growing property, Level Green Landscaping can take care of it.

But, let’s face it, we’re not Superman.

 

While we handle most landscaping services in-house with our own skilled crews, we’re not experts in everything. Sometimes, we need a bit of help.

That’s where subcontractors come in. When customers need a landscaping-related service we don’t offer in-house, we hire an expert company in that field to tackle the job.

Level Green Landscaping account manager Joey Schneider tells about the process — and why subcontractors are a good thing.


What Services Do We Subcontract?


— Irrigation

Keeping your lawn and landscaping well watered is crucial to its good health. So we bring in the experts.

— Tree Work

Large tree removal is specialized work. In Maryland, anyone doing tree trimming higher than 12 feet from the ground has to have special licensing and insurance. So while Level Green crews tackle small trimming below 12 feet, we rely on the pros for the bigger stuff.


— Snow Removal

Level Green has a comprehensive fleet of snow removal equipment. But we also have scads of clients spread over several states and counties. And when customers have slick, snow-covered parking lots, driveways and sidewalks, they need that snow and ice gone fast.

So we bring in subcontractors with big equipment to help, allowing us to get the job done both well and fast.

“When you’re mowing grass, you have seven or eight days to get to all your clients’ properties,” Schneider says. “With snow removal, you have one night. We need extra plows and skid steers to get the job done.”


— Fence Work

We’re not skilled carpenters, but we know some really great ones. If you need a fence built or repaired, we’ll set you up.


— Concrete And Asphalt

“If you need one piece of concrete sidewalk repaired, our crews can do that,” Schneider says. “But if you need an entire parking lot repaved, we call on an exert subcontractor.”


What Jobs Do We Handle In-house?


Everything else. Lawn mowing. Fertilizing. Landscape design. Seasonal color rotation. Weed control. Trimming. Fall and spring clean-up. Retaining walls. Enhancements to boost your property’s appeal.

 

Who Are These Subcontractors?


They’re our trusted partners, Schneider says.

“Many of our subcontractors have worked with us for several years,” he says. “Most have had relationships with our owners, Doug and Bill, that started years ago.

“We trust them and they trust us,” Schneider says. “It’s a partnership. They’re just another part of the Level Green family.

“When I send one of our subcontractors to a site, I know our customer will get the same kind of quality service as if we were sending a Level Green truck.”


We’re Super Picky


If we do need to bring on a new subcontractor, we only hire the best.

“We don’t just send subcontractors out and say, ‘Hope they do a good job,’” Schneider says. “We meet with the company, see examples of their work, make sure their pricing is in line. We check their licensing and insurance. We go on site with them the first time to make the work is done right.”

All things you’d have to do, if you hired a company on your own. And, trust us — we’re probably even pickier than you are.


Subcontracting: Easy On The Customer


Level Green customers are welcome to hire an irrigation company, fence builder or tree trimming business on their own, Schneider says. But most don’t want the hassle.

“They say, ‘We already know you. You handle it.’ They already have a relationship with us. They know we can take care of it. Then, they can avoid the whole vetting and bidding process. We’ll do all of that.”

Level Green stands behind the work of all its subcontractors, Schneider says.

“I’ve been using my tree guy for three years,” Schneider says. “I let the customer know exactly what’s happening and when, and I make sure the work is done right. It’s one less thing they have to worry about.”


What Customers Worry About — And Why They Shouldn’t


“The biggest concern customers have about subcontractors is price,” Schneider says. “They worry if we subcontract out the work it will be more expensive than if they hire someone directly.”

In fact, he says, it’s often cheaper.

“We do a volume of work with our subcontractors that’s larger than any one client would do, so we can keep the prices competitive,” Schneider says. “A client may have a $1,000 job, but we might do $100,000 worth of work with that subcontractor over a year. So the price our customer pays is at — or often below — what they’d pay if they hired that company themselves.”


Quality? You Bet


“Customers will say, ‘But, it’s not you guys. Will the work be the same quality?’” Schneider says.

Absolutely.

“Our subcontractors are our partners,” Schneider says. “We stand behind their work.”

And, it’s in the subcontractors’ best interest to do top-notch work, Schneider says.

“If they don’t do quality work,” he says, “we won’t hire them.”


You’ll Always Have Experts On The Job


“This is all specialized work,” Schneider says, so whether you get lawn care from Level Green crews or irrigation from one of our trusted subcontractors, you’ll always have skilled experts on the job.

“All the irrigation company does is irrigation,” Schneider says. “That’s their specialty. You wouldn’t have a tree company come cut your lawn. You hire us to do that. We spend hours on training and learning best practices. And each of our subcontractors is expert in their own field, too.”


Trust All Your Landscaping To Level Green


Once you hire Level Green Landscaping to care for your commercial property, you leave everything to us.

Whether we send our trained crews over to mow your lawn or send our trusted irrigation subcontractor to give your sprinkler system a tune-up, you get quality work.

You have our word.

We provide commercial property maintenance for properties throughout Washington DC, Maryland and parts of Virginia. Level Green Landscaping services commercial properties like office buildings, homeowner associations (HOAs), mixed use, condominiums, retail, institutions and government entities.

Contact us today at 202-544-0968 or by filling out our form online to see how we can transform your landscape into a beautiful, sustainable space. You can also schedule a free consultation with one of our team members.

We’d love to hear from you.