Is this reasonable? (Landscaping costs)

[jlaspoq]

We want to have some work done on our front yard. Let me preface this by saying we are NOT lawn people, but would like something pretty and pretty hardy.

We just got a quote for the plan we saw last week. The plan is designed with our limitations in mind. It includes:

completely regrading the front yard (has lots of whole, lumps and bumps from 8 pine trees we took out last spring). We are not going with fescue, but rather with the native bermuda grass plus some ryegrass for winter color. excess dirt will be hauled to our back yard to fill some holes back there.

8 trees:

2 willow oaks
2 crape myrtles
1 japanese maple - mulched bed with other shrubs
1 katsura tree - mulched bed with other stuff
2 others I'm not thinking of right now

lots of shrubs - 5 mulched beds total - 2 are existing and need to be pruned and redone

relocating 8-10 azaleas and about 5-6 gardenias to other parts of the yard

All of this is about $8000 - I don't have it in front of me right now.

Are we crazy or is this about right?

Thanks! Lori


ETA: the lawn part is $3000 and the trees / shrubs / beds part is $5000.

 

[disneygals]

We had some trees cut, my dh rented a machine and pulled the stumps himself, then we had grass planted. This is a small portion of our backyard...about $3000! Yikes, it is expensive.

 

[mickeyfan2]

It really depends on how much dirt is move, how big the trees are, how much mulch. IMHO it is about right.

 

[QT Pooh]

I can't tell you if that's a good estimate or not (you do not include the size of your lawn or the size of the trees/shrubs you're getting). I will encourage you to get 3 or 4 estimates. That's the only real way you're going to know if the estimate you currently have is approximately right.

Good luck! I'm sure it will look beautiful when it's complete!

 

[Tigger_Magic]

Given what you are doing (resodding the lawn, moving existing material, regrading, new trees) this seems reasonable. Trees and shrubs are not cheap, especially if you want some that are somewhat mature.

 

[jlaspoq]

The front yard is maybe 120 feet wide by 50 feet deep - driveway goes through that.

The other two trees are service berries. All of the trees are starting off good sized, not little bitty things.

 

[WeirdEyes]

Landscaping is expensive. I'd get another estimate....or two, but it does sound about right even though I think it is high. We had our backyard done about 3 years ago and paid $3600 for a boat load of plants (shrubs, flowers, Crape Myrtles, etc.) and relocation of two trees. We just paid $375 to have our front yard sanded to fill in the holes.

Also, our first quote (same landscaper) was for around $6000; however, this included more mature trees & shrubs. I told them that they can mature in my yard. They gave me the smaller plants and it cut the cost by almost half. Think about that option if you can.

 

[malibuconlee]

I can't tell you if that's a good estimate or not (you do not include the size of your lawn or the size of the trees/shrubs you're getting). I will encourage you to get 3 or 4 estimates. That's the only real way you're going to know if the estimate you currently have is approximately right.

Good luck! I'm sure it will look beautiful when it's complete!

Exactly. In the construction world, you try for at least three bids on things.

If one is WAY low take a good look at it. They might be missing something. Write a scope of work letting them know what you want to have done and make sure everyone prices the same thing so you know you're comparing apples to apples.

 

[mickeyfan2]

When we were doing our landscape, DH wanted them to bring a big oak type tree. The tree would have only been about $500, but the truck to dig the plug, drop it a the nursery and bring the tree was a few thousand. Thankfully he accepted a smaller tree.

 

[christinou]

That actually seems about right, trees are expensive, and it seems that you are getting quite a few things done.

 

[Bob Slydell]

Off-hand, it sounds pretty reasonable. I mean, that's probably a good day's worth of work for a decent sized crew and that alone can be expensive, materials aside.

 

[jlaspoq]

Thank you all for your feedback and suggestions. I'll have to talk to DH tonight. I was prepared for $6-7k, but I also figured on fewer trees, so maybe this is in the ballpark. The lawn came in $500 higher than we thought, but that was because of relocating the dirt to our back yard. So our backyard benefits from that and from the relocated azaleas and gardenias, when originally we weren't planning on doing anything back there. THe quote includes the relocation - he didn't like how I'd planted the azaleas I already have back there! I really have a brown thumb.

 

[grlpwrd]

I'm kind-of late in responding, but I am curious to know what area of Virginia?

I'm on the Peninsula and just had our acre regraded and seeded, sprinkler system installed, and some other major stuff like stump grinding and clearing. The price was about $11,000. Labor and supplies are very costly. We also had 3 other estimates and I called from different parts - Yorktown, Hampton, Chesapeake, etc. just to compare because I thought some companies would have low overhead which would translate into a better price for us.

Last year and the year prior we did have some trees "downed" which cost around $200 each. I am a gardener, too, and I know mature trees and shrubs are very pricey. Yes, check if you can get younger one's established.

Looking at your numbers the trees/shrubs/flower beds looks somewhat high, but I agree that labor is a big expense so it makes sense in that respect. Also, try to get a manifest/invoice of supplies. Our landscaper was charging us 3 times the cost of regular hay for our lawn and that didn't sit well with me at all. I looked at ways to cut costs and looking at a manifest/invoice helped.

If you want to save some $$$ would it be possible for you to piece out the work, such as they do the major prelandscaping labor and you do the planting? I must say that we had the crew do all the work because they guaranteed the job and I didn't want to have to re-do something because of what I did initially. For perspective our neighbor has had to re-do his lawn about 5 times (!!!) so far. I am just glad I went with the professionals.

GL!