About
Hello and welcome to my website!
I'm a Cambridge-based gardener and landscaper with a love of living color, and I'm currently accepting new clients!
My name is Randy Morantes, and I've several years of experience in designing, installing, and maintaining gardens for my personal enjoyment. I've been working full-time as a self-employed landscaper since mid-summer of 2026, which I've enjoyed so much that I'm now in the process of founding a fine gardening and landscaping company! I also plan to explore carpentry during the off-season.
Projects
Here are some of my recent projects:
Services
I provide the following services:
- Fine gardening (planting, curating, designing, propagating, etc.)
- Weeding
- Mulching
- Edging
- Mowing & line trimming (would have to borrow your mower, working on that! 😅)
- Raking & blowing
- Snow shoveling
- Trimming & pruning (perennials, bushes, hedges, small trees)
- Brush clearing & small tree removal (including stumps, roots)
Things I've little to no professional experience with but am willing to try at half my standard rate:
- Simple carpentry (planters, trellises, raised beds, etc.)
- Light hardscaping (walkways, stepping stones, rock borders, short retaining walls, etc.)
- Small water features (ponds, fountains, bioretention systems, etc.)
- Sod installation
I'm open to both one-time projects and ongoing maintenance work.
I have a car, but not a truck, so my hauling capacity is limited to a few yard waste bags at a time. For disposing of large amounts, I recommend hiring a hauling company as this is likely faster and cheaper.
Availability
I'm available for new projects year-round, with peak season running from spring to fall. I prefer to work weekdays, but can occasionally work weekends. I'm usually available 11:30AM–10:30PM (I've got a work light), but can arrive earlier if you've a restroom I can use.
Service Area
Based in Cambridge, I serve the greater Boston area. The farther a project is from my home base, the higher its minimum on-site time, as I'd rather not drive an hour just to pull a single weed! Projects are grouped into four zones by typical round-trip travel time, and each community (a town or, in Boston, a neighborhood) belongs to exactly one zone.
Each zone has a minimum amount of on-site time (including packing, unpacking, and walkthroughs). If a project takes less time than the minimum, I bill the minimum, otherwise I bill the actual on-site time. Either way, travel time is billed in addition to on-site time at my standard rate. The minimums by zone are:
| Zone | Round-trip travel | On-site minimum | Communities |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Up to 30 min | 1 hr | Arlington, Belmont, Boston (Allston, Back Bay, Bay Village, Beacon Hill, Brighton, Charlestown, Chinatown, Downtown, Fenway, Kenmore, North End, Seaport, South End, West End), Brookline, Cambridge, Chelsea, Everett, Medford, Somerville, Watertown |
| 2 | 31–60 min | 2 hr | Boston (Dorchester, East Boston, Hyde Park, Jamaica Plain, Mattapan, Mission Hill, Roslindale, Roxbury, South Boston, West Roxbury), Dedham, Lexington, Malden, Melrose, Milton, Needham, Newton, Quincy, Revere, Waltham, Wellesley, Winchester, Woburn |
| 3 | 61–90 min | 3 hr | Braintree, Burlington, Concord, Lincoln, Lynn, Natick, Norwood, Peabody, Salem, Sudbury, Wayland |
| 4 | 91–120 min | 4 hr | Outlying communities roughly 45–60 minutes each way, such as Ipswich, Franklin, and Marlborough |
For example, a 30-minute job in zone 2 (2-hour minimum) with an hour of round-trip travel would be billed as 2 hours on-site plus 1 hour of travel, 3 hours total. A 4-hour job in the same zone would be billed as 4 hours on-site plus the hour of travel, 5 hours total.
If I'm traveling directly from one client's project to another's (rather than returning home), the travel time between them is split between the two projects.
Don't see your community, or farther than 2 hours round trip? Get in touch and I'll work it out with you!
Pricing
My standard rate is $40/hour, which includes on-site work as well as any requested errand runs such as shopping or hauling. If shopping, materials are billed at cost plus 20%. If hauling, any disposal fees are passed on to the client.
Time is billed from when I leave home until I return, with on-site time subject to the minimums described in Service Area, and with invoices issued daily for small projects and weekly for larger ones. I deduct time spent fixing my mistakes, learning new techniques or tools, and so on. My preferred payment method is Venmo, but I'm open to checks, cash, and other options.
Free quotes available upon request! Please include a brief description of the scope of work along with any photos or time constraints you may have.
Contact
If you're interested in my services or have any questions, just reach out to info@iridescentgardens.com!