How much does landscaping cost?

If you’re a homeowner with a front yard or backyard, you’ll probably want to get the most out of your outdoor living space. Owning an outdoor garden haven with plants and a gorgeous landscape design is achievable, but takes a little work.

Don’t know the first thing about curb appeal for your freshly mown lawn? How about setting up a pergola in the right way? If you’re unsure, it’s a good idea to look into what your outdoor project needs are and how a landscaping company can help you.

Whether you want to design a functional walkway or a raised garden bed full of beautiful plants, there are plenty landscaping projects to get started with.

The first step is finding a landscaper to assess your outdoor area and review your gardening needs. They can provide a cost estimate, depending on your project. Some landscaping specialists can also use Google maps to view yards and provide landscaping pricing.

For simple maintenance, like mowing or planting a garden, all that’s needed is your contact information and a square foot estimate of the yard. You can even have it sprayed to keep weeds away.

Depending on your garden space, there may be a need for grading, grinding, mulching, and planting. Typical tasks like these involve leveling the ground, removing tree stumps, adding wood chips to soil, and more. For grinding, heavy equipment is brought on site to start haling and grinding the soil. Grading is particularly important in landscaping maintenance because this can help avoid drainage problems.

Builds, like creating a brand new landscape design for your garden, would be a dream project for most homeowners, but how do you know if it’ll be a good investment? Whether you’re designing a luxurious new outdoor area, adding a shrub or two to your garden space, or looking to install a new sprinkler or irrigation system, the price of landscaping can vary a lot.

How much? It depends on what landscaping idea you have in mind. Want a backyard flower bed? Need new shrubs and plants? Or are you looking for a paver to fix up the patio? It all comes down to what maintenance is needed.

Mowing, spraying, and fertilizing are generally considered a low-maintenance landscaping projects, though costing “depends on square footage… Typically it’s best to look at the yard before providing pricing since people don’t know how much grass they have.” When it comes to things like tree work and mulching, prices can can start at $25 an hour.

Looking to do a large renovation? With heavy machinery, that can start around $1,000. The use of machinery has become much more common with landscaping nowadays. Along with labor, having new or well-maintained equipment is included in the costs. For example, hardscaping is expensive because it’s very labor intensive. “Equipment costs a lot of money and that will be factored in… Small projects are about $1,200 and a large project would be between $7,500–10,000 like a complete renovation,” one landscaping company said. Other expensive services include bigger builds, like the construction of a large outdoor space. Landscaping lakes and ponds can range from $1,000/acre to close to $1 million.

Don’t be afraid to be your own gardener or planter! Even if you have a grander design in mind, you can still beautify your space with even just a plant or two. Try a simple landscaping idea at first. One landscaping specialist says buying your own plants “can save around 50%.” In essence, anything that you can can complete on your own “will lower their cost.”

Need another tip? “Pick local plants to save money” and create garden beds “that are able to get water from water run-offs,” says another landscaping specialist. “Take advantage of the natural shape of your property rather than try to make it into something it’s not. Don’t try to put in lawns on your own since that requires a lot of subgrade prep—you should go to the pros.”