Cost of hiring landscaper

[MrEVILdrPorkchop2u]

Looking for just a general idea on what it would cost to hire a landscaper to put in new flower beds in the front of our house. We have always done our own landscaping, but we are considering hiring someone. We have just moved into our new home and the flower beds are just OK. DW and I are not talented when it comes to landscaping. Not looking to put in pavers. Bushes, flowers and mulch basically. We live in SC.

 

[SC Minnie]

Depends on how large of an area they would need to do and how expensive the plants are you want. It would probably be a couple hundred $ to a thousand depending on everything.

 

[hlg22]

Looking for just a general idea on what it would cost to hire a landscaper to put in new flower beds in the front of our house. We have always done our own landscaping, but we are considering hiring someone. We have just moved into our new home and the flower beds are just OK. DW and I are not talented when it comes to landscaping. Not looking to put in pavers. Bushes, flowers and mulch basically. We live in SC.

In my experience, it is difficult to give a ballpark $ amount because it would be completely dependent on your local market, the size of your yard, the size of the bushes you want to put in, whether there are any large plants that need to be ripped out, etc. I would get a couple of recommendations (from neighbors, yelp, or local listservs) and get estimates. That said, I live in a major metro area and when I was about to put my old townhouse on the market (small front and side yard), I wanted to do something similar. I ended up selling before even doing the yard clean up, but my landscaper gave me an estimate of $400 for a yard cleanup, mulching and the planting of some pansies and mums.

 

[MrEVILdrPorkchop2u]

Thank you for your replies. I was guessing a thousand....but that was a total guess! There would be 2 flower beds and around a tree that I would want done. Flower beds are a small to medium size. Is it bormal to have them pull out existing shrubs or for us to pull things out?

 

[crisi]

They'll certainly pull out shrubs for you.

Our first stab at landscaping was $16k - but we started with a newly built house and no sod, and landscaping included a retaining wall, sod, a sprinkler system - it was also sixteen years ago.

A few years ago we did some work on the retaining wall, had it replanted, added a flower bed and some trelliswork under the deck - it was around $5k.

Both of these jobs involved retaining walls, and that was where most of the money went.

I've had a hard time finding anyone who will come out for "just" a flower bed. I've discovered that if I co-op that work with my girlfriends (we plant a different house every weekend in the Spring) that's the best plan.

 

[GoogleyBear]

You really shouldn't put anything under/around a tree. Not even grass. Just mulch 3" away from trunk out to the drip line of the tree. Any plant material under tree competes for nutrients and water. Anything piled against the trunk will hold moisture and promote rot and insects. The flare or base of tree is one of most sensitive areas and too many ppl make this mistake.

 

[MrEVILdrPorkchop2u]

You really shouldn't put anything under/around a tree. Not even grass. Just mulch 3" away from trunk out to the drip line of the tree. Any plant material under tree competes for nutrients and water. Anything piled against the trunk will hold moisture and promote rot and insects. The flare or base of tree is one of most sensitive areas and too many ppl make this mistake.

ThAnk you for the info. I didn't know that!

 

[MrEVILdrPorkchop2u]

We already have a sprinkler system in place and retaining walls on the sides of the house between each neighbor. I'm really hoping I can find someone who will be willing to come in. Otherwise, my wife is going to be on Pinterest figuring out how we can do it.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

Do you have a neighborhood Facebook page? I get referrals for our properties for various services through ours.

 

[hlg22]

We already have a sprinkler system in place and retaining walls on the sides of the house between each neighbor. I'm really hoping I can find someone who will be willing to come in. Otherwise, my wife is going to be on Pinterest figuring out how we can do it.

Unless you are in a really rural area, I'm sure you'll find someone who will be happy to do this. In my area, this wouldn't so much be a job for one of the large landscape design firms as it would be for the smaller type operations in your neighborhood that will fit your job in around their regular mowing & maintenance clients. I've had friends who have called my regular landscaper for small one-off projects, and I know of several other companies that would do something like this as well - our neighborhood listserv often has people looking for recommendations for this sort of thing.

 

[TheRustyScupper]

We pay
. . . $75 per month for mowing, edging, headge trimming
. . . $10 per hour, plus materials, for special work (gardens, planting etc)

 

[FEmpire]

We pay
. . . $75 per month for mowing, edging, headge trimming
. . . $10 per hour, plus materials, for special work (gardens, planting etc)

That's a good price. We pay $40/wk for mowing and $5/wk for edging. I live in the greater Atlanta area.

 

[aprilgail2]

Thank you for your replies. I was guessing a thousand....but that was a total guess! There would be 2 flower beds and around a tree that I would want done. Flower beds are a small to medium size. Is it bormal to have them pull out existing shrubs or for us to pull things out?

I had my landscaper redo 2 beds for me- about 35 feet x 4 feet- he ripped out everything that was there, mulched, and replanted shrubs and flowers, most expensive was the Japanese maple but it cost me 1100.00 total which I though was a really good price!

That's a good price. We pay $40/wk for mowing and $5/wk for edging. I live in the greater Atlanta area.

Wow I pay 20.00 total a week for mowing and edging! My property is only 60x100 though.

 

[ceecee]

We paid $3600.00 and bought our own plants and had someone else remove the excess bushes. The guys we hired just re-etched our flower beds (large) and did three trees and mulched around 6 small pines. They used a truck load of mulch. Get several estimates that's the only way you will know. A lot depends on where you live and what you need done. Two year later we thought we'd do it ourselves and got a half load of mulch delivered. OMG! It was huge!!! I really thought we would never get it done. And we still ran out and had to buy 20 more bags at Lowes.

 

[CTdiznymom]

We just finished having landscaping done in our yard this week. We had very overgrown shrubbery in the front, and a new backyard privacy fence that we wanted to have landscaped. We went to our local nursery only to look around! We asked for some suggestions and the landscape designer came out and spent 3 hrs. with us at no charge. Of course he reeled us in hook line and sinker! And I'm glad he did. It wasn't as $$ as I thought. We told him what we wanted to spend and he chose the plants accordingly. Another plus is they are guaranteed for 2 years. They stuck to the budget, and it was done in a few hrs. We didn't lift a finger. I would have never thought we would have gotten such individual attention and learn so much in the process. We enjoyed working with someone, and he really took the fear out of chosing the right plant for the right location. My advice would be to visit the nearest local nursery and stay out of the big box store. Love our new look.

 

[GadgetTheInventor]

Just make sure that you get a knowledgeable landscaper...you often get what you pay for. I do a lot of walking for exercise and cringe at most of the landscaping I see because there was no 5,10,20 year plan and the plants are overgrown, overcrowded, or just out of place after the first few years. That, and invasives wreaking havoc...

You might want to think about having your home landscaped by someone who specializes in native plants. They can be just as colorful and aesthetically pleasing but without the need for copious amounts of fertilizer and watering.

 

[crisi]

Just make sure that you get a knowledgeable landscaper...you often get what you pay for. I do a lot of walking for exercise and cringe at most of the landscaping I see because there was no 5,10,20 year plan and the plants are overgrown, overcrowded, or just out of place after the first few years. That, and invasives wreaking havoc...

You might want to think about having your home landscaped by someone who specializes in native plants. They can be just as colorful and aesthetically pleasing but without the need for copious amounts of fertilizer and watering.

That is often as much an issue with maintenance as with the landscaper. Some landscapes take a lot of maintenance - you need to divide, pull things that spread, trim, weed, and replant.

A lot of my neighbors put in very nice landscapes when they moved in and then didn't maintain them - either they didn't, or the house has a new owner and the new owner doesn't.

If you are looking for low maintenance beds, specify that - and still have a talk with the landscaper about what needs to be done each year - low maintenance is not no maintenance.

 

[holden]

Basic beds/shrubs/trees/flowers around the front of the house where I live would run about $3000. I guess it depends on where you live/what you want.

 

[RSWA2]

OP, I can't tell what state you are in from my phone, but in CA, we recommend that if you hire anyone to do work on your property that costs over $500 (I think), you should ensure they are properly licensed from your state's license board.

Also it recommends that you only pay 10% up front and in percentages as the job progresses.