Start a landscaping business in Texas

Pick a name that includes "LLC" or "L.L.C." and isn't already taken. Check existing Texas entities free through the Comptroller's taxable entity search: enter your candidate in the "Entity Name" field and review what is already registered. The Secretary of State makes the final availability call at filing (its own SOSDirect search charges a $1.00 statutory fee per search), so a close match here is your signal to pick something more distinct.

Texas requires a registered agent with a physical street address in the state who is available during business hours. You can serve as your own agent, which puts your address on the public record. A commercial agent lists theirs instead and files the consent form for you.

Texas e-filing runs through SOSDirect, and the whole filing side sits behind a login: from the landing page you enter the site, create a session, choose "Domestic Limited Liability Company (Form 205)," enter your business name exactly as you researched it, and pay the $300 state fee by card. Most filings are approved in 5–10 business days.

Once the LLC is approved, apply for an Employer Identification Number on the IRS website. It is free, takes about ten minutes online, and you need it to open a bank account, hire, and file taxes. Ignore any site that charges for an EIN.

Texas doesn't require an operating agreement, but banks and partners often ask for one, and it settles ownership questions before they become disputes. A single-member LLC can use a short standard agreement; multi-member LLCs should spell out splits and exits.

Texas has no general statewide business license. Check your city and county for local permits before you take your first job. For landscaping specifically: Texas issues no landscape contractor license of any kind. Two separate state credentials catch the work instead, and which one applies depends on what the crew actually does. Any irrigation work, selling, designing, installing, maintaining, altering, repairing, servicing, or inspecting a system, or consulting on one, needs a TCEQ license under 30 TAC Chapter 344. Three license types cover it: Landscape Irrigator, Irrigation Technician (who works only under an irrigator's direct supervision), and Irrigation Inspector. The exam pass mark is 70%, the fee is $111 for both the initial license and each renewal, and the license runs a 3-year term with continuing education that ranges from 16 to 24 hours depending on license type. Applying any pesticide, of any classification, to plants, trees, shrubs, grass, or other horticultural plants for hire needs a separate Texas Department of Agriculture license in category 3A: commercial if restricted-use, state-limited-use, or regulated herbicides are involved, noncommercial if the products used are general-use only. It recertifies every year with 5 continuing education units. Applicator-business financial responsibility runs $100,000 property damage and $100,000 bodily injury per occurrence, or a $200,000 general aggregate. The license fee is set by license type, not by category: $200 a year commercial, $140 noncommercial, and $75 for a noncommercial business employed by a political subdivision or federal agency, so a 3A landscape-maintenance business pays whichever applies to what it actually sprays. Every vehicle the business uses in the landscape-maintenance subcategory of 3A must carry a TDA-issued vehicle identification decal.

Texas LLCs file an annual franchise tax report; most small businesses owe $0 under the no-tax-due threshold but must still file. Open a separate business bank account with your approved certificate and EIN to keep liability protection intact.