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Guide · Virginia · 7 min read

How to Win Government Landscaping and Grounds Contracts in Virginia

By the XL Eagle bid team · Updated November 2, 2026 · Built from our live bid database and USAspending.gov

Landscaping contracts in Virginia cover mowing, trimming, mulching, tree care and keeping large campuses neat. A small crew with a few trucks can handle many of them, and public buyers need the work done on a schedule every year.

Buyers include state agencies and colleges on eVA, cities and counties, the Virginia Department of Transportation, and federal sites on SAM.gov. Virginia has many bases and federal campuses, and each one has grounds to keep up.

This guide explains the license rules that catch new bidders, how seasons change your price, and how to bid without your own SAM.gov account. Read it once, then use it as a checklist each time a new bid comes up.

Landscaping contracts in Virginia at a glance

  • 14 open landscaping bids in Virginia on XL Eagle today. See them all.
  • 32 landscaping solicitations in Virginia in the last 12 months that we tracked (18 federal, 14 state and local).
  • Federal agencies made 216 contract awards worth $122.2 million for work performed in Virginia under NAICS 561730 in FY2025 (Oct 2024 - Sep 2025).
  • Top federal buyers that year: Department of State ($81.7 million); Department of Defense ($36.2 million); Department of Veterans Affairs ($2.8 million).
  • Agencies posting this work most often in our data: Mvendor.cgieva.com, Defense Logistics Agency, National Park Service, Federal Aviation Administration.
  • Where these jobs get posted: OpenGov, procurement.opengov.com.

Bid counts from the XL Eagle bid database as of November 2, 2026. Award totals from USAspending.gov.

Who buys landscaping work in Virginia

  • State agencies and public universities buying grounds care through eVA.
  • The Virginia Department of Transportation, which lists contractor and goods and services opportunities on its business page.
  • Fort Belvoir, Marine Corps Base Quantico and Fort Lee, large installations with many acres of lawn, fields and roadsides.
  • Naval Station Norfolk and Joint Base Langley-Eustis, with shoreline, flightline edges and housing areas.
  • The Richmond VA Medical Center and other federal campuses, which want year-round grounds care.

Open landscaping bids in Virginia right now

All open landscaping bids in Virginia →

Licenses you need in Virginia

Virginia treats landscape work as contracting. The Board for Contractors lists Landscape Service Contracting (LSC) and Landscape Irrigation Contracting (ISC) as specialty services, and a contractor license is needed to engage in contracting work in the state. For landscape irrigation, the statute requires a license regardless of the contract amount. If you apply pesticides or herbicides, VDACS certifies commercial applicators, and ornamental and turf work falls under Category 3. Ask DPOR whether your jobs need a license before you bid.

Register to bid in Virginia

State and local jobs in Virginia are posted on these sites:

  • eVA (Virginia's electronic procurement system): The Commonwealth's purchasing system, where suppliers register and where state agencies, colleges and many local governments buy.
  • Virginia Business Opportunities (VBO): The list inside eVA that shows open opportunities, with a separate Open Construction list for construction bids.
  • VDOT Business Opportunities and Bid Express: The Virginia Department of Transportation's page for contractor, goods and services, and snow contractor opportunities, with Bid Express listed as a bidding tool.
  • SAM.gov: The federal site where jobs at Virginia bases and federal offices are posted, and where a business registers to bid as a prime.
  1. Go to the eVA Register Now page and start the supplier registration.
  2. Read the New Supplier Registration Guide and look up your commodity codes with the NIGP code lookup tool.
  3. Finish the registration form with your business details and the codes for what you sell.
  4. Log in, then upload a signed Commonwealth of Virginia Substitute W-9 under Documents and Certs. eVA says registration is not complete without it.
  5. Apply for SWaM certification through the Virginia Department of Small Business and Supplier Diversity if you qualify. It is optional.
  6. Check VBO and the eVA construction list every week, and read each posting for the buyer's own rules.

The eVA registration page lists no sign-up fee, but eVA suppliers pay a 1 percent transaction fee on orders, capped at $500 per order for SBSD-certified small businesses and $1,500 for others, so confirm the current schedule on eVA's billing page.

Federal jobs in Virginia use SAM.gov, which is free. What SAM.gov is and how to register.

Small business certifications in Virginia

  • SWaM certification (small, women-owned, minority-owned): A business at least 51 percent owned by U.S. citizens or legal resident aliens who run it, with 250 or fewer employees or average yearly receipts of $10 million or less over three years for the small business category.
  • Micro business add-on: A certified small business with no more than 25 employees and no more than $3 million in average yearly revenue over the three years before certification.
  • Service-disabled veteran designation: A business certified as service-disabled veteran owned by the Virginia Department of Veterans Services, which then shows in its SWaM profile.

Wage rules on public jobs

Virginia has a prevailing wage law for public works, Code of Virginia section 2.2-4321.3, in effect since May 1, 2021. It covers state public works contracts over $250,000, and a city, county or school division only if it has adopted its own ordinance. The 2026 General Assembly amended this law (Chapters 1014 and 1060 of the 2026 Acts), with some changes phasing in through July 2027, so read the wage terms in each bid. On federal jobs, Davis-Bacon covers construction over $2,000 and the Service Contract Act covers service contracts over $2,500.

What landscaping jobs look like in Virginia

  • Read the mowing cycle. Weekly cuts from spring to fall are priced differently from cuts every two weeks.
  • Virginia has a long growing season and a cold winter. Ask what work the buyer wants from November to March.
  • Federal grounds work is a service contract, so Service Contract Act wages usually apply when the contract is over $2,500.
  • Large bases and hospital campuses have gates and checks. Add time for access and escorts.
  • Tree trimming, mulch, seasonal planting and leaf removal are often separate lines. Do not bury them in the mowing price.
  • Roadside work for the state follows set rules, so your equipment list and safety plan need to be clear.
  • Ask who owns and fixes the irrigation. If the scope says only to turn it on and off, you may not need an irrigation license, but the bid will tell you.
  • Storms matter in Virginia. Wind and ice can bring down limbs, so ask whether cleanup is in the base price or billed on its own.

Pricing landscaping work for Virginia public buyers

  • Price per acre or per visit from real cut time and travel, not a guess.
  • Add fuel, blades, trimmer line, disposal and equipment replacement.
  • Build a winter rate. Mowing stops, and buyers often pay less per month in those months.
  • Set a separate rate for storm cleanup and extra trimming so surprise work is paid.
  • Count insurance and workers compensation. Grounds work has real injury risk.
  • Quote a unit price for extras such as aeration, overseeding and leaf removal. A buyer can then add them without a new bid.
  • Walk the site and measure the real acreage. Hills, ditches and fences slow a mower more than a flat map suggests.

Mistakes that lose these bids

  • Offering irrigation repair without the contractor license for it.
  • Spraying herbicide without a VDACS certified applicator.
  • Pricing from satellite photos instead of walking the site.
  • Averaging the price badly across summer and winter.
  • Bidding the whole year at a summer rate and losing money in the slow months.

The fastest way to bid: send us your price

You can register and bid on your own using the steps above. If you would rather not, send XL Eagle your price on any landscaping job in Virginia. We write and submit the bid as the prime contractor under our registrations. If it wins, you do the work and get paid. You do not need your own SAM.gov registration to work this way.

Pick a Virginia landscaping job or read the national guide to government landscaping contracts.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a license to mow for the government in Virginia?

Virginia lists landscape service as a contractor specialty, so check with the Board for Contractors for your job size. Landscape irrigation work needs a license no matter the contract amount. Ask DPOR before you quote work that is not plain mowing.

Who certifies pesticide applicators in Virginia?

The Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services certifies commercial applicators and registered technicians. Ornamental and turf pest control is Category 3.

Does VDOT hire small landscapers?

VDOT lists business opportunities for contractors and for goods and services on its site. Check there and on eVA for current postings. VDOT also runs its own bidding tools, so read each posting for the steps.

Can I bid on base grounds work without SAM.gov?

Not as the prime. If you send XL Eagle your price, it submits the bid as the prime and you do the grounds work if it wins.

Sources

Have a price for a government job?

Send it to us. XL Eagle writes and submits the bid under our registrations, free to you. If we win, you do the work at your price.

Find a job and send your price →