Marketing plan · Lemon Grove

Landscaping direct mail in Lemon Grove:
a neighborhood-by-neighborhood plan

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

Lemon Grove grew out of citrus groves, and many of its homes still sit on the larger lots that came with that history: wide front yards, long driveways and deep back yards, some with an old fruit tree or two. Most houses went up from the 1940s through the 60s, so the lawns, hedges and trees are as old as the homes. For a landscaper, that means more yard per stop than in most cities this close to San Diego.

The city is compact and shares one ZIP Code, 91945, which also covers some nearby San Diego and unincorporated streets. Below is what we'd mail where, starting with the public numbers for 91945.

Lemon Grove by ZIP Code

ZIP Code	Single-family houses	Owner-occupied	Median home value	New movers a month (average)
91945 Lemon Grove, plus nearby San Diego and unincorporated areas	61%	52%	$704,900	about 59

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.

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 60 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

The postwar streets south of Broadway (91945)

South of downtown, most homes are modest houses from the 1940s and 50s on wide lots with big back yards. Many owners have been here for decades, and plenty of them would rather pay someone to keep up a yard this size.

Flat-price mowing and monthly maintenance. A clear price for a standard lot, with a note that larger lots are quoted, keeps the card simple.
Turf replacement. Wide front lawns are expensive to water, and the rebate from the SoCal WaterSmart program helps pay for the change.
Big back yard clean-ups and hauling, mailed in late winter.

The hills toward La Mesa and Mount Helix (91945)

On the north and east sides of the city, toward La Mesa, Mount Helix and Spring Valley, the streets climb into the hills, with larger houses, some with views, on bigger and often sloping lots. Most are owner-occupied.

Design and installation: terraced planting, retaining walls, patios and outdoor lighting that make a sloped back yard usable.
Slope clean-ups and brush clearance where yards back onto hillsides. 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 slopes, where runoff and dry spots are common.

Deep lots and new ADUs (91945)

Lemon Grove's deep lots are spread across the city, and many owners are adding a granny flat or converting a garage. Every new unit leaves a torn-up yard behind it: new paths, a small private patio, planting to separate the two homes and irrigation that has to be moved or rebuilt.

"Finish your ADU yard" as a card of its own, or partner with local ADU builders who need a landscaper at the end of each job.
Privacy screening with hedges and trees between the main house and the new unit.

Downtown and the Broadway corridor (91945)

Around the Big Lemon, Broadway and the Lemon Grove Depot trolley station, older houses mix with duplexes, small apartment buildings and businesses, and many homes are rented. EDDM® here spends much of the mailing on renters, who rarely hire a landscaper.

Use a homeowner list to reach the owners, including landlords who live elsewhere, with a card for monthly rental yard care and clean-ups between tenants. Businesses along Broadway are worth their own card if you do commercial maintenance.

Around the Massachusetts Avenue trolley station (91945)

On the west side of the city, older single-family homes sit next to small multi-unit buildings and newer infill, and the routes mix owners and renters. Mail the owners with a homeowner list, with a front yard refresh or a low-water makeover for older houses. On the newer infill homes with small shared yards, check whether an HOA handles the landscaping before you mail them.

A first Lemon Grove mailing plan

Maintenance and turf replacement to the house streets. Mail an 8.5 × 11 EDDM® postcard to the routes south of Broadway and in the hills. Pick them in our EDDM® route planner for 91945. Mail in late winter and spring.
Hillside projects and slope clean-ups. A second EDDM® card on the hillside routes, with a design offer, in spring before fire season.
Rental owners around downtown. Mail a 6 × 11 postcard to a homeowner list, so every card goes to an owner, not a tenant.
New movers every month. New owners of older homes often want the yard redone and don't have a gardener yet.

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 Lemon Grove?

Which one is better depends on the neighborhood. In the hills and on the single-family streets south of Broadway, most homes are owner-occupied houses with yards, so EDDM® reaches nearly the same people as a list for less. Around downtown and the trolley stations, where many homes are rentals, a homeowner list wastes fewer cards. 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 a Lemon Grove postcard

Say you're local. "Serving Lemon Grove and East County" tells people you can get there and keep a regular schedule.
Show a big yard. Before and after photos of a wide Lemon Grove lot you have done tell owners you can handle theirs.
One service and one offer per card, matched to the neighborhood above.
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

Lemon Grove at a glance

New movers: About 60 households a month
Best areas: Maintenance, mowing and turf replacement: the streets south of Broadway. Hillside design and slope clean-ups: the hills toward La Mesa and Mount Helix. ADU yards: deep lots across the city.
What it costs: $2,721 to mail 5,000 homes by EDDM®
Where to start: EDDM® with a maintenance or turf replacement offer to the house routes south of Broadway and in the hills, plus new movers.

Frequently asked questions

How many homes are there to mail in Lemon Grove?

The table above shows the homes and carrier routes in 91945, straight from the USPS EDDM® route map. That ZIP Code also covers some nearby San Diego and unincorporated streets, so it reaches more homes than the city alone.

Is ADU landscaping a good message for Lemon Grove?

Yes. Many Lemon Grove homes sit on deep lots with room for a granny flat or a garage conversion, and each one leaves a yard that needs new paths, planting and irrigation.

How do I reach landlords in Lemon Grove?

Use a homeowner list. It sends your postcard to the owner's mailing address, even when they live somewhere else, so the person who pays for the yard gets your card instead of the tenant.

Do you mail in Lemon Grove?

Yes. Our print shop is in San Marcos, so we print your postcards there and take EDDM® mailings to the Post Office that delivers your Lemon Grove routes.

Get a quote for your Lemon Grove 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 Lemon Grove:a neighborhood-by-neighborhood plan