I was thinking of doing this to, and was cautioned not to by a more experienced landlord who said that she's never had a tenant actually follow through with doing their part of this deal. Think about the problems it will create for you if they start doing a poor job, as opposed to how easy it is to deal with a hired landscaping company. You can just fire them and get another company.

I agree with Bill.I to have known several landlords that indeed used this practice in there leases.

I have tried this and have not had a great time with it. Now I have all the work done and have just made sure to add my cost into the renatl agreement.

As a renter and as a landlord I know that I would rather have someone professional take care of the lawn maintenance and just add that into the costs.

As a renter, I know that i'm terrible at lawn maintenance, and would much rather have some of the costs of landscaping come out of my rent or whatever.

As a landlord, I'm not sure I'd trust the renter to do a decent job, unless they themselves happen to be professional lawn care people by trade.