Snow Removal & Ice Management for Chester County & the Main Line

JHL clears snow and manages ice through the winter for residential and commercial properties across Chester County, Delaware County, and the Main Line. Seasonal contracts are set before winter so your property is on the route when the first storm lands, and because the same company maintains your landscape the rest of the year, we plow knowing where your beds, edges, irrigation heads and lighting fixtures actually are.

Book Before the Season, Not During It

Snow work is contracted ahead of winter. Routes are built by geography so crews are not crossing the county mid-storm, which means the number of properties we can take in each area is limited and set before the season starts. Calling during the first real storm is the one time we usually cannot help.

Contracts are written per property after a site walk, when there is no snow on the ground and we can see the surfaces, grades and where cleared snow can actually be stacked.

What a Seasonal Contract Covers

Driveway, parking area and access clearing
Walkways, entries and steps cleared and treated
Ice control on hard surfaces through freeze-thaw cycles
Snow stacked where it will drain away from the building and off planted areas
Return visits through multi-day and drifting events
A defined trigger depth and scope agreed in writing before the season

We Will Match Your Current Snow Contract

If you already have a snow contractor, bring us the contract. We will match the terms and the price — trigger depth, service window, what is included, and how ice control is billed — and then hold ourselves to it. There is no advantage to us in quoting a structure you have to relearn, and it makes the comparison honest.

Most snow contracts in this region are written around a small number of standard terms, so a match is usually straightforward:

The Standard Terms We Match

A trigger depth that starts service automatically — two inches is the common standard across our region, and we will write yours to whatever your current contract specifies
Seasonal contracts at a fixed price for the winter, or per-event billing, whichever your current agreement uses
Ice control either included in the seasonal rate or billed per application, matched to how you are billed today
Defined service windows, with commercial sites cleared ahead of opening rather than to a depth alone
Walkways, steps and entries specified separately from drives and lots, as most contracts treat them
Return visits through multi-day events written into the agreement rather than charged as extras

What we will not do is match a promise a contractor cannot keep. If your current agreement guarantees a clearing time that nobody in this region can hold through a serious event, we will tell you that rather than sign up to it and miss it in February.

Plowing Without Wrecking the Landscape

Most of the landscape damage we get called to repair in April was done by a plow in January. Blades catching paver edges and lifting them, bed edges shaved off, boxwoods and foundation plantings crushed under stacked snow, irrigation heads and low-voltage lighting fixtures sheared at the driveway margin, and salt burn along the whole run of a front walk.

We stake the margins before the first storm so operators know where the hard edge is under snow. Where we also maintain the property, we already know where the fixtures and heads sit. Snow gets stacked where meltwater will run off to somewhere sensible rather than back across the walk you just cleared, or onto plantings that will not survive being buried in salted snow until March.

Salt and Freeze-Thaw

Rock salt is hard on concrete, on plantings, and on the soil alongside a treated surface. It is also the reason a strip of lawn along the front walk comes back thin and brown every spring. We use ice control material appropriate to the surface and the temperature, and keep it on the surface it is meant to treat rather than broadcasting it across beds and turf.

Commercial and Property Management

We take commercial snow work: office and professional buildings, retail and mixed-use lots, HOA and townhome communities, and properties managed on behalf of an owner. Commercial contracts are written around access requirements, opening times and liability documentation rather than the residential model.

Commercial Scope

Lot clearing with defined trigger depths and service windows
Sidewalk, entry and ADA-access route clearing and ice control
Service records for each event
Coordination with property managers across multiple sites
Seasonal or per-event contract structures

For managed portfolios we can hold the landscape maintenance and the snow contract on the same agreement, which usually reduces the coordination overhead on the manager's side more than it changes the price.

One Contractor, Twelve Months

Snow pairs naturally with the property maintenance program. The same crews that mow, mulch and clean up the property in season clear it in winter, on one agreement and one invoice, with one company accountable for how the property looks and functions all year.

It also closes the loop on damage. When the company that plows your driveway is the company that has to repair the bed edge in April, the bed edge tends to survive January.

Frequently Asked Questions

When do I need to book snow removal? Before the season. Routes are built by geography and capacity in each area is set before winter starts, so contracts are written in the fall. Call (610) 422-3474 to have your property assessed and added while there is still room on the route.

Will you match my current snow contractor's price? Yes. Bring us your current contract and we will match the terms and the price — trigger depth, service window, inclusions and how ice control is billed. We would rather match a structure you already understand than ask you to compare two different formats.

What trigger depth do you use? Two inches is the common standard across our region and it is what most contracts here are written to. If your current agreement specifies something different, we will write yours to match it.

Do you take commercial and HOA properties? Yes. We service office and professional buildings, retail and mixed-use lots, HOA and townhome communities, and properties held by management companies. Commercial contracts are structured around access requirements, service windows and event records.

Will plowing damage my driveway edges and plantings? That is the main risk in snow work and the reason we stake margins before the first storm. On properties we also maintain, we already know where paver edges, irrigation heads and lighting fixtures sit. Snow is stacked where meltwater drains sensibly and off planted areas rather than onto them.

What do you use for ice control? Material appropriate to the surface and the temperature, applied to the surface it is meant to treat. Rock salt broadcast across everything is what produces the thin brown strip along a front walk every spring, and it is hard on concrete as well as plants.

Can I combine snow with landscape maintenance? Yes, and most clients do. Snow sits alongside the property maintenance program on one annual agreement, so the same company is accountable for the property in January and in July.

What areas do you plow? Chester County towns from our West Chester studio, and Delaware County and the Main Line from Newtown Square. Routes are geographic, so coverage in any given town depends on how the route is built that season. Call (610) 422-3474 to confirm your address.

Snow Removal by Town

Areas We Serve

West Chester, PA — Chester County routes run from our studio at 701 S Franklin St
Newtown Square & the Main Line — Delaware County and Main Line routes run from our Newtown Square office
Malvern, Exton, Downingtown, Wayne, Villanova, Havertown, Broomall — served towns

Ready to start? Request a consultation or call (610) 422-3474.

About JHL Landscape Design

JHL Landscape Design is a design-build landscape company serving Chester County, Delaware County and the Main Line from West Chester (701 S Franklin St). We design, install, and care for complete landscapes — landscape design and 3D rendering, hardscape and patios, drainage and grading, and plantings — with every project grounded in a plan you approve before work begins.

PA HIC #PA035784 | ICPI Certified | HBA Member — Chester & Delaware Counties | BBB A+ | 20+ Years Chester County

JHL Landscape Design | PA HIC #PA035784 | ICPI Certified | Licensed & Insured 701 S Franklin St, West Chester, PA 19382 (610) 422-3474

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