Input costs remain high

Landscaping companies are raising prices in 2026, and fertilizer markets are still expensive enough that treatment and plant-care budgets may stay under pressure into 2027. (argusleader.com) A new U.S. landscaping cost report said it drew on data from more than 800 contractors and tied higher quotes to labor shortages, rising material bills and supply-chain disruption. The same report described landscaping as a roughly $200 billion industry, which means even small cost increases spread across a large base of residential and commercial work. (argusleader.com) The labor problem is not new, but it is still shaping bids this year. Brittram Wood, chief executive of the National Association of Landscape Professionals, said in January that wage pressure and the H-2B visa program remain critical variables for seasonal employers in 2026. (prolandscapermagazine.com) Fertilizer is a separate input, but it lands on the same budget line when contractors price lawn treatments, plant feeding and broader grounds care. AgTechNavigator reported on April 14 that analysts see fertilizer prices staying high into 2027, extending pressure beyond this season’s purchasing cycle. (agtechnavigator.com) That warning follows a year in which global fertilizer markets eased from earlier spikes without returning to normal. The World Bank said in December that fertilizer prices were still about 17 percent higher than a year earlier and would remain well above the 2015-2019 average even if they moderated in 2026 and 2027. (worldbank.org) The pressure is uneven across products. Fitch Ratings said on March 13 that it raised its 2026 assumptions for ammonia and urea, kept phosphate rock unchanged, and lifted diammonium phosphate assumptions for both 2026 and 2027 because China’s export restrictions and a global sulfur shortage are keeping phosphate markets tight. (fitchratings.com) Energy and shipping are part of that story because nitrogen fertilizer is made from natural gas and a large share of ammonia and urea exports moves through Middle East trade routes. Fitch said about a third of global fertilizer exports pass through the Strait of Hormuz, while roughly 30 percent of ammonia exports and 35 percent to 40 percent of urea exports depend on the Middle East. (fitchratings.com) Commercial landscapers are already planning around that kind of cost volatility. Aspire’s 2026 industry report, based on a survey of more than 1,000 U.S. commercial landscaping professionals, said contractors are focusing on efficiency, client retention and margin protection as labor and input costs stay high. (youraspire.com) For property owners, the result is straightforward: routine mowing and maintenance may hold up better than discretionary upgrades, but treatments, hardscaping and plant-heavy work are still exposed to the same labor, material and fertilizer squeeze that pushed prices higher in the first place. (prolandscapermagazine.com, argusleader.com)