Dmitri Solano-Achebe Landscape Crew Leader, Commercial Maintenance and Snow Grand Rapids, 49503, United States [email protected] · (616) 555-0173
11 September 2026
Ms. Chidinma Okonkwo Branch Manager Thornapple Landscape Services Grand Rapids, United States
Application for Commercial Crew Leader, Thornapple Landscape Services
Dear Ms. Okonkwo,
I am applying for the Commercial Crew Leader post at Thornapple Landscape Services. I currently run a 38-property commercial maintenance route covering 62 acres with a crew of 4, I hold Michigan commercial applicator certification in Core, 3A ornamental and 3B turf, and I tow a 24-foot gooseneck on a CDL Class B.
The part of the job I would bring with me is the route itself. When I took it over it was 31 stops a crew day and running eleven hours. I rebuilt the sequence around drive time rather than geography, moved two early properties to a different crew and took it to 38 stops in a 9.5-hour day with no dropped visits. I also carry the fertilizer and broadleaf rounds for the whole book under 3A and 3B, so this route has not needed a separate spray truck in four seasons, and I run spring start-up and winterization on the 240 irrigation systems attached to it.
Your commercial book is mostly office parks and medical properties on the northeast side, which is the same stock and the same turf mix I have been maintaining since 2019. I am also available for the full winter: I have led a 2-truck snow and ice crew on 19 commercial lots for six seasons, 34 events last year, with per-site logs kept for every push and application.
My applicator certification runs through 31 December 2027 and I hold the ISA Certified Arborist credential and a Landscape Industry Certified Technician qualification in turf maintenance. I can start the week of 30 March. Thank you for your time.
Sincerely, Dmitri Solano-Achebe
Summary
A landscaping cover letter tells a branch manager what equipment you can run unsupervised, what pesticide categories you are licensed to apply, and how much route you can carry in a day. This guide gives you a full adaptable letter, the openings that work, and how to write seasonality and winter work as strengths rather than gaps.
Landscaping cover letter examples by experience level
A landscaping cover letter is a one-page letter written for someone staffing a season. It should say what machines you can take out unsupervised, what pesticide categories you are certified in, how much route you can carry in a day, and what you do between December and March.
Most letters in this industry say the applicant is hardworking and enjoys being outside. A branch manager reading forty applications in February already assumes that. What they do not know, and cannot schedule without, is whether you can run the 72-inch zero-turn, pull the gooseneck, and spray a commercial property legally.
Guide to a landscaping cover letter
This guide and the corresponding landscaping cover letter example will cover:
- How to structure the letter, paragraph by paragraph
- Why the equipment and license answer belongs in the first two sentences
- How to write route density, crew size and acreage as evidence
- How to present seasonality and H-2B seasons as strengths
- The winter paragraph that separates a serious applicant from a summer hire
How to write a landscaping cover letter
| Paragraph | Its job | Length |
|---|---|---|
| Opening | The post, your side of the business, and what you run and apply | 2 to 3 sentences |
| Evidence | Route numbers, crew size, acreage, and one thing that improved | 4 to 5 sentences |
| Fit | Something specific about their accounts, plus your winter availability | 3 to 4 sentences |
| Close | Certifications with categories and expiry, start date, thank you | 2 sentences |
Write the first line for a February schedule board
Hiring in this industry happens against a start date, not a job description. The manager is building crews for the first week of April and counting how many people can legally spray, legally tow and legally drive.
So open with the three answers at once: "I run a 38-property commercial route with a crew of 4, hold Michigan commercial applicator certification in Core, 3A and 3B, and tow a 24-foot gooseneck on a CDL Class B."
That sentence moves your file from the maybe pile to the call pile, because it removes three separate uncertainties in one line. Nothing else you write in the letter will do as much work.
A landscaping cover letter example you can adapt
Dear Ms. Okonkwo,
I am applying for the Commercial Crew Leader post at Thornapple Landscape Services. I currently run a 38-property commercial maintenance route covering 62 acres with a crew of 4, I hold Michigan commercial applicator certification in Core, 3A ornamental and 3B turf, and I tow a 24-foot gooseneck on a CDL Class B.
The part of the job I would bring with me is the route itself. When I took it over it was 31 stops a crew day and running eleven hours. I rebuilt the sequence around drive time rather than geography, moved two early properties to a different crew and took it to 38 stops in a 9.5-hour day with no dropped visits. I also carry the fertilizer and broadleaf rounds for the whole book under 3A and 3B, so this route has not needed a separate spray truck in four seasons, and I run spring start-up and winterization on the 240 irrigation systems attached to it.
Your commercial book is mostly office parks and medical properties on the northeast side, which is the same stock and the same turf mix I have been maintaining since 2019. I am also available for the full winter: I have led a 2-truck snow and ice crew on 19 commercial lots for six seasons, 34 events last year, with per-site logs kept for every push and application.
My applicator certification runs through 31 December 2027 and I hold the ISA Certified Arborist credential and a Landscape Industry Certified Technician qualification in turf maintenance. I can start the week of 30 March. Thank you for your time.
Sincerely, Dmitri Solano-Achebe
Openings that work
| Instead of | Use |
|---|---|
| I am writing to apply for the landscaping position advertised on your website | I run a 38-property commercial route covering 62 acres with a crew of 4 |
| I am a hard worker who enjoys working outdoors | I hold Michigan commercial applicator certification in Core, 3A ornamental and 3B turf |
| I have experience operating a variety of landscaping equipment | I tow a 24-foot gooseneck on a CDL Class B and run a skid steer, mini excavator and stump grinder |
| I am available to start immediately | I am available for the full winter: 19 commercial lots, 34 events last season |
Route numbers are the evidence
Landscaping work resists the usual achievement sentence, because the output is a property that looks the way it is supposed to look. Use production numbers instead.
| Kind of evidence | What it looks like in a sentence |
|---|---|
| Route density | Took the route from 31 to 38 stops a crew day in a 9.5-hour day with no dropped visits |
| Scale | 38 commercial properties, 62 acres, crew of 4 |
| Licensed coverage | Carry all fertilizer and broadleaf rounds under 3A and 3B; no separate spray truck needed on this book |
| Irrigation | Spring start-up and winterization on 240 zone-controlled systems, plus in-season repair |
| Winter | 19 commercial lots, 34 events last season, per-site service logs |
| People | Trained 6 seasonal hires on mowing standards, trailer loading and daily equipment inspection |
| Retention | Returned to the same employer for seven consecutive seasons |
Why a licensed, equipped applicant is worth more than the wage gap suggests
Grounds maintenance workers had a median wage of $19.27 an hour as of May 2025, but the specialisms inside the group pay very differently: first-line supervisors of landscaping, lawn service and groundskeeping workers at $28.09 an hour, tree trimmers and pruners at $24.50, and pesticide handlers, sprayers and applicators at $22.28, against $18.82 for landscaping and groundskeeping workers (BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook and Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025).
The labor supply is also capped at the seasonal end. The H-2B program has a statutory annual cap of 66,000 visas split evenly across the fiscal year, with up to an additional 64,716 supplemental visas made available for fiscal year 2026, and six sectors including administrative and landscaping services requested nearly 95 percent of all H-2B labor certification applications in fiscal year 2025 (Federal Register, 3 February 2026).
An employer working inside those constraints values a certified, licensed, equipment-qualified applicant far above the hourly difference, because that person removes a scheduling problem rather than filling a seat. The letter's job is to make that obvious in two sentences.
Seasonality, winter work and returning seasons
Say plainly that you are available for the full winter and what you have run: sites, events, equipment, contract type. State how many consecutive seasons you returned to the same employer, because that is a retention record in an industry with a hiring problem. If you have worked H-2B seasons, write them as employment with the employer and the season dates. Name the turf mix, the property type or the neighborhood their accounts sit in, taken from their own site.
Do not write "licensed to spray" without the state and the category codes, since it tells a scheduler nothing. Do not leave your winter availability out of a letter to a northern employer, because they read that silence as a summer-only hire. Do not claim machines you have only ridden on; you will be on one in week one. Do not apologize for seasonal gaps, and do not disguise them with a functional format. Do not send the letter without a start date in it.
Length, format and sending it
One page, four paragraphs, 250 to 400 words. PDF unless the application says otherwise, named for yourself and the post: dmitri-solano-achebe-crew-leader-cover-letter.pdf.
Address a person. In an industry of mostly small companies the owner or branch manager is usually named on the website, and using the name is a small signal that you looked.
Keep every figure the same as the one on your resume. Our landscaping resume example uses the same route numbers and certifications as the letter above.
Key takeaways
- Open with what you run, what you are licensed to apply, and what you can tow.
- Give the applicator certification with the state and the category codes, never just "licensed".
- Use route density, acreage and crew size as your evidence.
- Say you are available for the winter and what you have run in it.
- State how many consecutive seasons you returned to the same employer.
- Name one real thing about their accounts or their patch.
- Give a start date, because the whole hiring decision is built around one.
Write your landscaping cover letter in 10 minutes.
Landscaping cover letter questions, answered
How long should a landscaping cover letter be?
One page, four paragraphs, 250 to 400 words. Owners and branch managers read these themselves, usually in the weeks before the season starts, and length is not read as effort. Specific, checkable facts are.
Do I need a cover letter for a landscaping job?
Wherever there is a field for one, yes. Many applications in this industry are a form with no space for the equipment list, the category codes or the winter availability, and the letter is the only place you can put all three together in a way a scheduler can act on.
How do I explain gaps between seasons?
They are not gaps, they are the shape of the year. Label each entry "Seasonal, April to November" and put the winter role underneath. If you did not work in winter, say what you did: training, a certification, another job, family. A reader in this industry expects a seasonal pattern and only becomes suspicious when the dates are vague.
Should I mention my pesticide license in the cover letter?
Yes, in the first or second sentence, with the state, the type and the category codes. Restricted use pesticides may only be applied by a certified applicator or someone under their direct supervision (EPA, accessed September 2026), and many states require all commercial applicators to be certified whether or not they use restricted products (EPA, accessed September 2026). It is the single most schedulable fact about you.
What if I have no license and one season of experience?
Lead with the equipment and the record. Machines you can run unsupervised, your driver license class and whether you can tow, the number of stops you carried, and whether you returned to the same employer. Then say which certification you are working towards and when you are sitting the examination. An applicant with a date on that sentence reads very differently from one without.