Marketing plan · Escondido

Landscaping direct mail in Escondido:
a neighborhood-by-neighborhood plan

By Best Direct Mail, San Marcos · Numbers from USPS and the US Census Bureau

Escondido sits in a valley ringed by hills, and it is hotter and drier in summer than the coast. That makes water the first thing on many owners' minds. The city also has a historic core with century-old homes, large postwar neighborhoods, gated golf communities, and groves and canyons on every edge.

Escondido has more renters than most of North County, so choosing where to mail matters as much as what to mail. Below is our plan, starting with the public numbers for each ZIP Code: how many homes there are, how many are houses with yards, and who owns them.

Escondido by ZIP Code

ZIP Code	Homes (routes)	Single-family houses	Owner-occupied	Median home value	New movers a month (average)
92025 Downtown, Old Escondido and south Escondido	16,798 (25)	48%	43%	$827,900	about 141
92026 North Escondido	18,923 (25)	57%	63%	$714,300	about 156
92027 East Escondido	17,374 (23)	62%	64%	$691,000	about 134
92029 West Escondido, Harmony Grove and Elfin Forest	8,013 (14)	67%	73%	$985,500	about 70

What the columns tell you:

Single-family houses: the share of homes that are detached houses, most with a yard to care for. The higher it is, the fewer EDDM® cards go to apartments and condos, where the HOA or the landlord hires the landscaper.
Owner-occupied: owners decide on clean-ups, new plants and turf replacement. Renters usually don't.
Median home value: higher values point to design, installation and full-service maintenance. Elsewhere, clear flat prices for mowing and clean-ups work best.

These figures cover whole ZIP Codes, and single routes inside them can be quite different. Our EDDM® route planner shows homes, income and homeownership for every route before you choose.

Homes and carrier routes are from the USPS EDDM® route map. Single-family houses, homeownership and home value are US Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates for the ZIP Code area. New movers are a US Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimate: residents who moved into a different home in the past year, turned into households and divided by 12.

New movers: on average about 500 households move to a new home in these ZIP Codes every month. A new owner often wants to make the yard their own and doesn't have a gardener yet.

What a mailing costs: $2,721 for 5,000 homes with our recommended 8.5 × 11 EDDM® postcard, including printing and postage. See our EDDM® prices for other quantities.

What to mail in each neighborhood

Old Escondido (92025)

The historic district just south and west of downtown has Victorian, Craftsman and bungalow homes from the late 1800s to the 1930s, with mature trees, porches and front yards that people walk past and notice.

Garden design that suits an older house: cottage gardens, picket-fence planting and water-wise yards that still look traditional.
Tree care for large, old street and yard trees.
Turf replacement, with the rebate from the SoCal WaterSmart program, shown with a photo of a finished yard that fits the neighborhood.

Central and south Escondido (92025 and 92027)

Much of central, south and east Escondido was built from the 1950s through the 70s: small tract houses, duplexes and many apartments. Lots are modest and many front lawns have already gone brown.

Flat-price mowing and yard clean-ups, with the price on the card.
Simple front yard makeovers: gravel, mulch, drought-tolerant plants and drip.
Use a homeowner list rather than whole routes, since many homes here are rentals. Apartment owners and managers are commercial prospects for a business list.

North Escondido (92026)

North of downtown, owner-occupied neighborhoods from the 1960s through the 90s climb toward the hills, many without large HOAs. Owners here take care of everything themselves, from the front lawn to the back slope.

Monthly maintenance routes on the owner-occupied streets.
Irrigation repair, smart controllers and drip conversions for systems that are decades old.
Turf replacement for lawns that cost a lot to keep green in an inland summer.

Rancho San Pasqual and Eureka Springs (92027)

On the east side, Rancho San Pasqual is a gated golf community from the late 1990s with large homes, and Eureka Springs, near Lake Dixon, is a newer HOA neighborhood. The associations handle the common areas; owners handle their own yards.

Design and installation: outdoor living areas, pool surrounds, lighting and full backyard redesigns.
Replanting yards from the 1990s and 2000s that have grown out of shape.
Premium monthly maintenance with a set crew and day.

Hidden Meadows and the grove country (92026)

East of Interstate 15, Hidden Meadows and the hills around it have homes on larger lots, many with old avocado and citrus groves, surrounded by natural brush. Some owners are letting groves go as water costs climb, which leaves dead trees and dry brush to deal with.

Brush clearance and grove removal, mailed in spring before fire season. Homes in high fire hazard areas will also have to follow California's new rules for the 5 feet around the house once they take effect.
Irrigation for acreage and conversions to lower-water planting.

Harmony Grove, Elfin Forest and west Escondido (92029)

West of the city, Harmony Grove and Elfin Forest are canyons and hillsides with horse properties and custom homes, next to the newer HOA neighborhoods of Harmony Grove Village. This area has been threatened by wildfires before.

Fire-safe landscaping and defensible space for the canyon properties.
Large clean-ups, hauling and tree work on acreage.
First backyard installations and maintenance plans in the newer neighborhoods.

Homes in the canyons are far apart, so a homeowner list reaches them more precisely than whole routes.

A first Escondido mailing plan

Build a route in north Escondido. Mail an 8.5 × 11 EDDM® postcard with a maintenance plan or irrigation offer to the owner-occupied routes. Pick them in our EDDM® route planner for 92026.
Design and installation to the east side. Mail Rancho San Pasqual and Eureka Springs by EDDM® in 92027.
Fire-safe yards to the canyons in spring, with a 6 × 11 postcard to a homeowner list of larger lots in Harmony Grove, Elfin Forest (92029) and Hidden Meadows.
Flat-price mowing and turf replacement in the center. Use a homeowner list in Old Escondido and the central neighborhoods, or pick only the house streets in 92025.

Mail each group at least three times, a few weeks apart. Use a different offer code on each card so you can see which neighborhood and which service brings the calls.

EDDM® or a mailing list in Escondido?

Which one is better depends on the neighborhood. Escondido has a higher share of renters than most North County cities, especially in the central, south and east parts of town, and renters rarely hire a landscaper. There, a homeowner list wastes far fewer cards. In north Escondido, Rancho San Pasqual and Eureka Springs, where most homes are owner-occupied houses with yards, EDDM® reaches nearly the same people for less. Compare the single-family and homeowner numbers in the table above, and tell us the areas you want and we'll recommend the right mix.

What to put on an Escondido postcard

Say you're local. "Serving Escondido, from Old Escondido to Hidden Meadows" tells people you can keep a regular schedule here.
Lead with the water bill. In an inland city, "cut your water use" is a stronger hook for turf replacement and drip than looks alone.
Before and after photos of Escondido yards you have done.
Your C-27 license number if you do installation work, plus "licensed and insured".

For the full list of services, offers and a 12-month calendar, see our landscaping direct mail guide.

Landscaping postcard designs

Start from one of our ready-made landscaping postcards. We add your logo, offer, license number and photos, send you a proof, then print and mail it. Need a custom design, or have your own? Just let us know.

Landscaping marketing plans in other cities

Escondido at a glance

Homes and mail routes: About 61,100 homes on 87 routes
New movers: About 500 households a month
Best areas: Maintenance routes and irrigation: north Escondido. Design and installation: Rancho San Pasqual and Eureka Springs. Brush clearance and fire-safe yards: Harmony Grove, Elfin Forest and Hidden Meadows. Turf replacement: Old Escondido and the central neighborhoods.
What it costs: $2,721 to mail 5,000 homes by EDDM®
Where to start: EDDM® with a maintenance or irrigation offer to the owner-occupied routes in north Escondido.

Frequently asked questions

How many homes are there to mail in Escondido?

The table above shows the homes and carrier routes in each Escondido ZIP Code, straight from the USPS EDDM® route map. Most landscapers don't mail the whole city at once: they pick 2,500 to 5,000 homes on the routes around their current customers or in the neighborhoods that fit the service they want to sell.

Which Escondido neighborhoods are best for landscaping postcards?

Neighborhoods made up mostly of owner-occupied houses with yards, like north Escondido, Rancho San Pasqual and Eureka Springs. The table shows the share of single-family houses and owner-occupied homes in each ZIP Code.

When should an Escondido landscaper mail?

Late winter for spring clean-ups and maintenance plans, spring for turf replacement and brush clearance before fire season, early summer for irrigation when water bills climb, and early fall for planting.

Do you mail in Escondido?

Yes. Our print shop is in San Marcos, just west of Escondido, so we print your postcards there and take EDDM® mailings to the Post Offices that deliver your Escondido routes.

Get a quote for your Escondido mailing

Tell us which neighborhoods and services you want to focus on. We'll reply with a price for printing and mailing, and the routes or list we recommend.

Landscaping direct mail in Escondido:a neighborhood-by-neighborhood plan