Landscaping and tree care look like one industry from the road and price like two very different ones on paper. Ground-level work — mowing, planting, beds, sod, irrigation — generally falls to a landscape gardening class such as 0042. Tree pruning, spraying, repairing and trimming by a tree care operation generally falls to a separate class such as 0106, and climbing and removal work rates far higher, because the injuries are of a different kind entirely.
Everything else in this trade follows from getting that split right: what your audit looks like, what your experience mod does to you, and whether a serious claim gets asked awkward questions about how the operation was described.
Within a hundred miles of Statesboro this is a dense, seasonal, hard-working trade: lawn maintenance and grounds companies serving Statesboro, Savannah, Pooler, Richmond Hill and Augusta; tree services that live on storm work; landscape installers on new residential and commercial construction; irrigation contractors; nursery and tree farm operations around Vidalia, Metter and Martinez; and municipal, school and HOA maintenance contracts across the region.
Most of these are owner-run businesses with real equipment, real payroll and thin margins. Many of them are also carrying a policy written for what the company did five years ago — and a chipper, a stump grinder and two trailers that nobody has re-valued since.
| Driver | Why it moves the premium | What you can do about it |
|---|---|---|
| Classification (0042 vs 0106) | The single biggest variable — climbing rates multiples of mowing | Report honestly; keep payroll records that support any split |
| Experience mod | Multiplies the entire comp premium in either direction | Close claims, run light duty, verify the payroll behind it |
| Climbing vs ground | Falls and struck-by are the severity claims | Aerial rescue training, documented climbing standards, PPE |
| Crane / bucket use | Lifting exposure sits partly outside standard GL | Rigging practice, operator qualification, riggers coverage |
| Chemical application | Drift and misapplication touch the pollution exclusion | Licensing, label compliance, application records |
| Equipment values | Chippers, grinders, mowers, trailers — often undervalued | Re-schedule at replacement cost annually |
| Fleet and MVRs | Trucks towing loaded trailers, young seasonal drivers | Written driver standard, MVRs pulled on a schedule |
| Subcontracted crews | Uninsured sub payroll is charged back at your rate | Certificates collected before the crew starts |
Landscape gardening (commonly 0042) generally covers ground-level work: lawn maintenance, mowing, planting, bed work, mulching, sod, irrigation and general grounds care, including drivers.
Tree pruning, spraying, repairing and trimming (commonly 0106) generally covers tree care operations including climbing and aerial work. It rates substantially higher because the injury profile is different in kind, not degree: falls from height, chainsaw injuries, struck-by falling limbs, chipper and grinder contact, and electrical contact near conductors.
Additional classes can apply to stump grinding, hauling, nursery and greenhouse operations, and logging or timber work, which is a separate world again.
The trap is drift. A lawn maintenance company takes a removal job for a good customer, then another. A tree company puts climbing crews on the landscaping line because that is where the rate is lower. Both create the same problem:
Our class code lookup guide covers the mechanics and the Georgia contractor comp page covers how the rate is built. Class assignment is determined by the carrier and auditor on the facts, under the rules of the applicable rating authority.
This is the severity claim, and the answer lives in provisions almost nobody reads before the fact. Damage to the customer's house, car, fence, pool or the neighbor's property from a limb or trunk that didn't drop where it was supposed to is third-party property damage — generally the type of loss general liability addresses, subject to policy terms. Four things can change that:
The controls underwriters ask about are concrete and cheap: rigging practice, drop-zone control, notifying the customer and the neighbors, photographs before and after, and a written contract that defines scope, access and what happens to the stump. The photos are the part contractors skip and the part that settles the claim.
If you apply anything — herbicide, pesticide, fertilizer, growth regulator — this belongs on the checklist. The exposures general liability may address only partially, or not at all, depending on the pollution exclusion:
Some carriers offer limited herbicide and pesticide applicator coverage by endorsement, sometimes with a sublimit; some exposures are better addressed through contractors pollution or a dedicated applicator policy. Two non-insurance points carry equal weight. Applicator licensing, certification, recordkeeping and label compliance requirements are set by federal and state authority and are amended — confirm current obligations with the applicable authorities. And the label is the legal document: records showing product, rate, date, weather conditions and applicator are what separate a defensible claim from an indefensible one.
Coverage for the things you drive and the things you tow sits in different places, which is where gaps live:
Two gaps to check by name: equipment in transit on a trailer, where the answer depends on how the floater and the auto policy interact; and theft of trailers and mowers from a yard or overnight from a job, which is a frequency problem in this trade, not a remote scenario. Re-value the schedule at replacement cost every year — equipment prices have moved, and an old schedule leaves real money uninsured.
Where you install irrigation, lighting, fencing or hardscape, an installation floater covers materials in transit, in storage and installed-but-not-accepted — separate from any builders risk the GC or owner carries.
Both change the risk faster than the policy does. Emergency storm work after a hurricane or ice event puts crews on unfamiliar property, working long hours, near damaged structures and compromised service lines, sometimes across a state line. Three questions to settle before the storm, not during it:
Seasonal and temporary labor raises separate questions: whether workers hired through a staffing arrangement are covered and by whom, how subcontracted crews are documented, and whether certificates were collected before the crew started rather than at audit. Watch for a sub carrying a ghost policy — it satisfies a certificate request and covers none of his people, and at audit the payroll comes back to you. The 1099 subcontractor question is live in this trade specifically.
Two disciplines handle most of it: tell your agent before you work outside your normal territory or take on a materially different operation, and collect a certificate from every crew you hire out to, every time.
And the caution that applies everywhere: indemnity obligations broader than your insurance leave you promising something no carrier stands behind. Read that before signing the grounds contract, not after the claim.
Two more depending on operations: nursery, greenhouse or growing stock coverage where plants are held or grown, and cyber for the scheduling, billing and payment side — a funds-transfer fraud does not care how outdoor your business is.
Bettr Coverage is an independent commercial insurance agency serving Georgia and the wider Southeast, and this is a trade where the whole program turns on two or three decisions. On a landscaping or tree care review we check the classification against what the crews actually do this season, look at whether equipment values would rebuild the fleet at today's prices, read what your GL says about care, custody and control before a tree goes the wrong way, check whether spraying is covered anywhere, and confirm the umbrella satisfies the contracts you've already signed. One agency, one relationship, all of it read together — and a local number to call when something goes through a roof.
Send your declarations pages, your comp classification breakdown and your equipment schedule. We'll tell you whether the class split matches the work, whether your equipment values would actually replace the fleet, and what your policy does when a removal goes wrong.
Get a free coverage reviewNo single number. Comp is payroll × class rate × experience mod; GL is usually rated on receipts or payroll. Classification is the largest variable — climbing and removal rate far above ground-level maintenance. Mod, crane and bucket use, chemical application, equipment values, fleet, storm work and loss history do the rest.
0042 landscape gardening generally covers ground-level work — mowing, planting, beds, sod, irrigation, drivers. 0106 tree pruning, spraying, repairing and trimming generally covers tree care including climbing and aerial work, at a substantially higher rate. Stump grinding, hauling, nursery and logging can add further classes.
Damage to the house, car, fence or a neighbor's property is third-party property damage GL generally addresses, subject to policy terms. Care-custody-and-control language, damage to your own work, crane and lifting operations, and utility contact can all change the answer. Photos before and after, rigging practice and drop-zone control are what defend it.
If you spray, yes — drift, misapplication, crop and pasture damage, exposure allegations and waterway contamination sit inside or at the edge of the pollution exclusion. Some carriers endorse limited applicator coverage, sometimes sublimited; contractors pollution or a dedicated applicator policy may fit better. Keep application records; the label is the legal document.
Trucks and trailers on commercial auto; chippers, stump grinders, mowers, lifts and skid steers on an inland marine contractors equipment floater; rented units per the rental agreement. Check equipment-in-transit and yard theft specifically, and re-value the schedule at replacement cost every year.
Not automatically. Workers' comp state coverage, GL territory and operations restrictions, and the contracts you sign on-site all need to be settled before the storm, not during it. Tell your agent before you work outside your normal territory.
Realistic equipment values including in transit, hired and non-owned auto, an adequate umbrella, applicator or pollution coverage, employment practices liability, and rigging liability where a crane is used. Add nursery or growing stock coverage where plants are held, and cyber for the billing side.
For general information only. Not legal advice and not a quote or contract of insurance. Policy forms, endorsements, sublimits and exclusions vary by carrier and form edition — care, custody and control provisions, your-work and impaired-property provisions, pollution exclusions and any applicator endorsement, products-completed operations aggregates, additional insured endorsement scope on an ongoing versus completed operations basis, primary and non-contributory and waiver of subrogation wording, inland marine equipment terms including transit and theft, and umbrella scheduling must all be read as actually issued. Workers' compensation classifications, rates, experience rating and payroll rules are set by NCCI or the applicable state rating authority and by carrier filings, and are amended; class assignment is determined by the carrier and auditor on the facts of the operation. Pesticide and herbicide applicator licensing, certification, recordkeeping and label compliance, along with workplace safety and utility clearance requirements, are set by federal, state and local authority and are amended; confirm your obligations with the applicable authorities. Coverage subject to policy terms, conditions, exclusions and carrier appetite.