Moon Insurance Managers, Inc. · TDI license #5595

Landscaping and Lawn Care Insurance in Texas

For a landscaper or lawn crew, the insurance question usually comes from someone else’s contract: an HOA’s, a county’s, a school district’s. The exception is spraying for hire, where Texas sets its own numbers. This page sets out both, and says where we found no rule.

What’s required: for mowing, trimming and planting, we found no Texas license or insurance rule; the trigger is the contract. Spraying pesticide for hire takes a state license, and that license can carry an insurance floor.

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Mowing, trimming, planting

Do you have to have insurance to mow lawns in Texas?

We found no state rule that makes a mowing, trimming or planting business carry general liability. That is a finding from looking, not a statute saying “none”. If a site tells you Texas sets a minimum for landscapers, ask to see the rule.

That does not settle whether you will be asked. Public bodies publish insurance terms for this work, as the next section shows, and a homeowner or HOA can ask too.

Forming an LLC is not buying a policy, and nothing we read treats one as a substitute. What an LLC does for you is a question for your attorney.

Starting with a few cash jobs? Do not assume your homeowners policy follows you to a customer’s yard. Our general liability page explains the form and why homeowners forms limit business liability.

Published Texas examples

What a county, town or school district actually asks for

Limits differ by contract. These three published Texas examples show what those documents said, not what yours will say.

Insurance asked for by three published Texas contracts
Criterion	Fort Bend County	Town of Prosper	Comal ISD
The document	Addendum for mowing at county sites, proposal dated 9/30/2019	General services on town property, which names “Landscape”	All vendors and sub-contractors at all tiers; landscaping is not named
General liability	$1,000,000 each occurrence, $2,000,000 annual aggregate	$500,000 per occurrence, $1,000,000 aggregate	$1,000,000 per occurrence, $2,000,000 general aggregate
Other asks	Auto $1,000,000 combined single limit (owned, non-owned, hired); workers’ compensation, with “substitutes” not allowed; employer’s liability $1,000,000 / $1,000,000 / $1,000,000; additional insured; waiver of subrogation; 30 days’ notice of cancellation; carrier rated A/VII or better	Workers’ compensation, with employer’s liability $100,000 / $300,000 / $100,000; auto $500,000 combined single limit if vehicles are used; additional insured	Proof of workers’ compensation; 30 days’ notice of cancellation or non-renewal; carrier rated A- or better

Sources: Fort Bend County addendum; Town of Prosper insurance requirements; Comal ISD insurance requirements. Verified 30 October 2026.

Two of the three ask for $1,000,000 per occurrence, and Prosper’s is lower, so no single number is the answer. A certificate may not be the only ask: Fort Bend also wanted to be named on the policy and a waiver of subrogation. If your policy is with us, you can request a certificate here, and the contractors page covers additional insureds and waivers.

HOAs and property managers. We found no published Texas HOA limit, so we give none. One Texas association manager tells boards to have vendors name the association and the manager as additional insureds, to see the certificate and declarations page, to match the contract name to the policy name, and to check for exclusions. The limit is in that association’s contract.

Source: FirstService Residential Texas, Oct. 27, 2017 (one firm’s advice, not a law). Verified 30 October 2026.

Where Texas sets the number

Spraying weeds for hire: the license and the two insurance floors

The Texas Department of Agriculture says applicators who apply any pesticide, “regardless of classification and including general-use”, to ornamental plants, trees, lawns or weeds for hire must be licensed by TDA. Applicators who apply only fertilizer do not need a TDA license.

TDA gives two routes. An Agricultural Pesticide license certifies in 3A Landscape Maintenance and/or 5 Vegetation Management. A Structural Pest Control Service license certifies in Lawn and Ornamental and/or Weed Control. TDA says the category depends on what and where you apply.

We did not find TDA addressing a product that mixes fertilizer with weed killer. If you use one, ask TDA.

Source: TDA — Licensing to Apply Pesticides to Ornamentals, Trees, Lawns, or Weeds. Verified 30 October 2026.

The two routes carry very different numbers.

The two TDA insurance floors for spraying for hire
Criterion	Structural Pest Control Service business license	Agricultural applicator business
Floor	At least $500,000 bodily injury and property damage, with a minimum total aggregate of $1,000,000 for all occurrences	Not less than $100,000 per occurrence property damage and $100,000 per occurrence bodily injury, “or a general aggregate at a minimum of $200,000 for each occurrence”
Who the rule names	Business license applicants	A business applying state-limited-use or restricted-use pesticide or regulated herbicide to another’s land for pay, that is or employs a licensed commercial applicator
How it is shown	TDA Form ALS-1101, certificate of insurance	Certification on the applicator business registration
Worth knowing	TDA says the “care, custody and control exclusion” must be deleted from the policy	The state’s proof “is not required to apply to damages or injury to agricultural crops, plants, or land being worked on”

Sources: TDA — SPCS Insurance Requirements; TDA Form ALS-1101, revised 11/01/2023; 4 TAC § 7.123 (Cornell LII mirror); Tex. Agric. Code § 76.111; TDA — PAB-300 instructions. Verified 30 October 2026.

You may see $200,000 and $300,000. Occupations Code §1951.312 still prints those amounts and lets the department set different ones by rule. An older PDF on TDA’s site prints them too. TDA’s current page and its current form say $500,000 and $1,000,000.

The agricultural rule is written around certain products. TDA’s license language reaches general-use product, while §76.111 is written around restricted-use, state-limited-use and regulated herbicide. We could not establish whether the $100,000 floor reaches someone applying only general-use product. Ask TDA. The number on the department’s form is (877) 542-2474.

Source: Tex. Occ. Code §§ 1951.003, .053, .312. Verified 30 October 2026.

Before you buy

A policy can satisfy the state and still leave out the customer’s lawn

Look again at §76.111(d). The state’s agricultural floor does not have to apply to damage to the plants or land being worked on.

In a 2017 Illinois appellate decision, a lawn care business’s employee mixed glyphosate instead of a selective broadleaf herbicide and severely damaged 26 customers’ lawns. The policy had a limited pesticide or herbicide applicator endorsement. The insurer denied the claim, relying on exclusions for the part of real property being worked on and for work incorrectly performed, and the court affirmed dismissal of the business’s suit. That is Illinois law and one policy, not a forecast for a Texas policy. It does show that an endorsement’s name does not answer the question.

One Missouri insurer’s published endorsement shows two more things to look for. Its schedule describes pre-bagged granular product with “no mixing or liquid application”, and its pollution relief applies only if operations meet applicable statute, regulation or license requirements. Your form may differ, so ask to see it.

Deleting the care, custody and control exclusion is a separate matter from the two exclusions in the Illinois case. We found nothing saying one fixes the other.

Questions to put to any agent:

Does this policy have a pollution exclusion, and what changes it for pesticide or herbicide work?
If I apply the wrong product, is the customer’s own lawn covered, or only their neighbor’s?
Is drift onto a neighbor’s property covered? Runoff?
What about someone who says a treated lawn made them or their pet sick?
Does it treat liquid and granular differently?
Does coverage depend on my TDA license being current?

Sources: DeMeester’s Flower Shop v. Florists’ Mutual, 2017 Ill. App. (2d) 161001; Missouri Farm Bureau endorsement FBBP 07 08; Tex. Agric. Code § 76.111(d). Verified 30 October 2026.

Irrigation

Sprinklers: no state insurance rule, but a license, and Houston lists proof of insurance

State. We read Occupations Code ch. 1903 and Water Code ch. 37 and keyword-searched 32 sections of 30 TAC ch. 344 on 2026-10-30, and found no insurance requirement for irrigators. A keyword search is not a legal reading, and no agency page we read says “no insurance required”. TCEQ does warn property managers that people doing irrigation work without a license “often lack insurance”, which can leave “you and your company liable”.

Houston. The city says landscape irrigators must register their license to obtain permits. Its permit page lists “proof of insurance” for first-time registration and for renewal, and prints no limit. The registration form itself (CE-1390, revised January 2026) asks for the license and ID and does not mention insurance. Ask Houston Public Works what it accepts: 832-394-8870. We did not establish other cities’ rules, so check locally.

The license is what matters to a mow crew. §1903.251 requires a license to sell, design, install, maintain, alter, repair or service an irrigation system. The exemption that names a contract gardener or lawn caretaker is for work “on land owned by the person”. Another covers someone under the direct supervision of a licensed irrigator. On our reading, fixing a customer’s broken sprinkler for pay falls inside the license rule unless an exemption applies. That is not TCEQ’s statement, so confirm with TCEQ at 512-239-5296. Installing a system without a license is a Class C misdemeanor.

Breaking a head by accident is a different question. One insurer’s write-up lists flooding from a mower hitting a sprinkler head among common landscaping claims. Tell your agent if your crew does repairs.

Sources: Tex. Occ. Code ch. 1903; Tex. Water Code ch. 37; 30 TAC ch. 344 (Cornell LII mirror); TCEQ GI-632b (7/23); Houston Permitting Center; Houston Form CE-1390; Next Insurance blog. Verified 30 October 2026.

One line each

The rest of the mix

Rocks and small breakage. One insurer reports a riding mower throwing a rock through a second-floor window, at $626.03. Small claims raise their own question, whether to report or pay yourself, so ask how your deductible and reporting terms work.
Equipment. Mowers, blowers and trailers are a separate question from liability, usually called inland marine. Ask how it treats theft and gear left on a trailer overnight.
The truck and trailer. An auto question, and contracts ask about it separately. See our commercial auto page. How a policy treats a riding mower is a wording question, so ask.
A crew. Workers’ compensation is elective for most private Texas employers, though the contracts above ask for it. See our workers’ compensation page.
A contract above your limit. When a job asks for more than the policy carries, raise a commercial umbrella.
Tree work. Say so if you climb or take down trees. It may be treated differently, so ask. Tree work has its own page: tree service insurance.

Sources: Berxi — general liability claims examples for landscapers; Tex. Lab. Code § 406.002. Verified 30 October 2026.

Have these ready

What changes the price, and what to bring

Cost is the question owners ask most, and we do not print a figure. A quote rests on:

What you actually do: mowing, planting, hardscape, irrigation, spraying, tree work, snow or storm cleanup, and roughly what share of revenue each is.
Who you work for: homeowners, HOAs, commercial property or public jobs.
Whether you spray, which license you hold, and liquid or granular.
Revenue and people: owner-only or a crew, and paid how.
Any contract’s insurance clause, word for word.
Claims so far, and how long you have been running.
The equipment’s value and where it sits at night.
The vehicles and trailers, and who drives them.

No obligation

Bring the contract’s insurance clause

Moon Insurance is an independent agency on FM 1959 in southeast Houston. Send what you do, whether you spray, and any contract’s insurance clause, and the first call can start from the requirement rather than from guesswork. The phone is fastest: (281) 484-8320, or use the form below.

Moon places general liability for landscaping and lawn care. Which market, and on what terms, is answered on a submission, not on this page.

Monday to Thursday, 9:00 to 5:00; Friday, 9:00 to 4:00. Our Houston office is at 360 FM 1959, Houston, TX 77034.

Landscaping and lawn care insurance questions

Do landscapers need insurance in Texas?

We found no Texas rule requiring general liability for mowing, trimming or planting, so for that work the trigger is the contract. Spraying pesticide for hire is different: it takes a TDA license, and the license can carry an insurance floor.

Do I need insurance to start a lawn care business?

Not under any state rule we found for mowing, trimming or planting. Spraying for hire takes a TDA license, and that license can carry an insurance floor. In practice, an HOA, commercial property or public job can make it a term of the work, so read the contract before you bid.

Do I need a license to spray weeds in Texas?

Yes, if you do it for hire, according to TDA. Its page covers any pesticide, “regardless of classification and including general-use”, applied to ornamentals, trees, lawns or weeds. Fertilizer-only applicators do not need a TDA license.

How much insurance does a pesticide applicator need?

It depends on the route. A Structural Pest Control Service business license calls for at least $500,000 with a $1,000,000 total aggregate. The agricultural applicator business rule, written around restricted-use, state-limited-use and regulated herbicide, calls for $100,000 property damage and $100,000 bodily injury per occurrence, or the aggregate wording in §76.111(e). Ask TDA which applies to you.

Will my policy pay if I kill a customer’s lawn?

Do not assume it will. The Texas agricultural floor does not have to reach land being worked on, and an Illinois court upheld dismissal of a business’s suit over 26 lawns despite a herbicide endorsement. Ask for the answer in writing, from your own form.

Can my mow crew fix a customer’s sprinkler?

Possibly not without a license, on our reading of Occupations Code §1903.251, which covers repairing or servicing an irrigation system, unless an exemption applies. The contract-gardener exemption is limited to land the person owns. TCEQ can confirm at 512-239-5296.

Does an LLC replace liability insurance?

No. Forming an LLC is not buying a policy, and a contract asking for proof of insurance is asking for a policy. What an LLC protects is a question for your attorney.

Does my landscaper need insurance?

No state rule we found says so for mowing or planting, but you can ask to see a certificate and the declarations page, and check the name matches your contract. If they spray for hire, TDA requires a license. If they work on your sprinklers, TCEQ tells property managers to verify the irrigator’s license.

Sources: as cited in the sections above. Verified 30 October 2026.

From the library