Key takeaways:
- ‘Everyone’s hurting from it.’
- Fuel costs to run equipment are a significant driver of inflated costs.
If you’re looking to get some skilled work done on your property this summer, such as having a new park bed put in or even simple grass cutting, hope to pay more for it.
Fuel prices, an enormous cost for lawn care and landscaping firms, have nearly doubled. Nathan MacDonald of Twins Landscaping in Charlottetown said it doesn’t stop there.
“Salaries have gone up an average of 20 percent,” said MacDonald.
“Our repair and maintenance expenses have gone up closer to 20 to 25 percent, and all of our fabrics — from brick, aggregates such as stone and river gravel, mulch, topsoil, trucking, and freight charges, and also fertilizer — all of these costs have gone up 25 to 50 percent.”
MacDonald said he must pass those expenses along to consumers to stay in business.
During the 17 years he has been in business, MacDonald said his prices had gone up almost four percent. This year he’s charging 25 to 40 percent more.
‘Either that or not, carry on.
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Mark Tremere, owner-operator of Lawns and Beyond Landscape Solutions, said he has also put unusual price increases.
“We did, directly across the board, 10 percent at least, on all lawn customers,” said Tremere.
“We’ve never done that earlier. Either that or not, carry on.”
Shawn MacFadyen of Bob’s Lawn Care said inflation is so high it can be challenging to keep up with the price additions.
“You price a mattress that could cost you $1,000 a month back; at this point now, you’re up to 1,200 bucks,” said MacFadyen.
“Everyone’s hurting from it.”
Source – cbc.ca
