Landscaping On A Budget

COMPARE COSTS AND VALUE

Some consumers only look at the price when they get different quotes on their landscaping project.  Then, after they have their landscaping done, they often see why they were charged so little. After a poorly installed job is done, you may have to re-install it yourself or hire another landscaper to do it properly. The costs can end up being substantially more than if you did it right in the first place.

Beware of low-ball landscape estimates

Does your landscape estimate look too good to be true? Then it probably is. We see a number of very low landscape estimates especially in spring. There are many landscapers who are hungry for work at the beginning of the season and therefore they give out a lot of low estimates in order to get the work. We often get calls in the middle of summer from people complaining that their landscaper never showed up in spring, and months later they are stuck trying to find a landscaper to do the job. More often than not, the estimates they were given are very low. It’s obvious the landscaper didn’t honor these low-ball estimates because he could not make any money off them and chose to work in greener pastures.

Quality, not quantity is always better

If you are on a tight budget, it is always better to do a good job of what you can first, rather than try to do it all and end up with a bad landscaping job.  If you can only afford trees and sod at first then choose them, and get them installed properly. Grading of your property is going to require some time and financial investment and that is a very important part of your landscaping.  Make sure you hire a company who is skilled at grading and knows how to do a proper job.  Drainage issues could become a costly problem down the road.  If you do choose to get only the grading, soil, sod and trees, then afterward, if you like, you can always cut out some sod and create some stone garden beds, paving stone walkways or patios.

Doing it all at once can save you money

If you can’t afford to do your landscaping all at once then don’t. However, if you can then you may find that it saves you money.  We reduce our prices for customers that have a larger project for us to install. It saves us time and money to stay longer at one work site rather than move around from small job to small job. Therefore, we pass that saving on to the customers by reducing each landscaping component. Another important consideration is landscaper availability. Many landscapers will choose to do one complete landscape at a time rather than a number of small jobs. So, you may find there is less landscaper available to do your jobs if you planned a step by step approach over several years. So, if you can afford it then you may find completing all your landscaping at once is a less expensive option than waiting.

Professionally installed landscapes increase your home’s value

There is no question that a landscape that has been designed and installed properly will add value to your property. There is also no question that a poorly designed and installed landscape will reduce the value of your property. This is a very important fact to consider when choosing how you will have your landscaping installed. It is best to try to complete all your landscaping at once but if you can’t afford to do this then there are options that will give you a comfortable landscape and also allow you to add to it in the future.

We always recommend planting the larger caliper trees -caliper meaning width across trunk in inches or mm- early on in your landscaping.  These large trees are very heavy and awkward and are nice to have in place as part of your landscaping essentials before you start to work on the rest of your landscaping.  Your yard and your family will benefit from the shade created by the trees, and the right trees also help to give you privacy in your yard and bring nature to your back door.  Open yards with nothing but grass can be somewhat plain and barren feeling, but of course, the choice is yours.

Sod for front and backyard lawn

installing sod to create a lawn in your front or back lawn would be the minimal landscaping you could choose.  You could choose this option if you had limited funds or if you are uncertain about what else you want for different landscaping components.  One advantage to this is you can always cut out portions of sod and create your landscaping in its place.  For example, in your backyard, you could cut out an area for a patio and fire pit.  Of course, you end up paying for sod you throw away, so it is best to try to install major landscaping projects at the start.

Natural edge flower beds.

To reduce costs you could choose a natural edge for your flower beds instead of using stack stone or natural stone.  A natural edge simply means the border would be edged down about 6 inches with an edge and there would be no stone, plastic or other material or border used as an edge. To read more about edging options visit or edging options page

To reduce costs, use less stone in your landscaping.

Although we highly recommend using a stone of some kind in your landscaping because it adds value, you could use less to reduce the costs. For flower beds you could reduce the height of your stone border, thereby reducing the overall stone used and this would lower the cost. Small patios and narrower walkways can also help reduce costs of stone and the labor to install it. You don’t have to have a large patio or walkway in the yard but make sure what you do install does serve its purpose. Otherwise, you may want to wait until you have enough in your budget to properly install your patios so they are to your liking they get utilized properly.

If you would like to discuss more landscaping options or request a free estimate call Chinook Landscaping Calgary at  403-452-8552