Landscaping cost

Landscaping costs $3,000 to $25,000 for a typical suburban yard, typically around $8,000. A tidy-up with mulch, edging and new planting is $1,500 to $4,000. A full design and build with hardscaping is $20,000 to $80,000.

A common guideline is 5 to 15% of the house's value, and the useful version of that rule is what it implies: above the top of the range, landscaping stops adding value and starts reading as maintenance.

What it costs

Where the money actually goes

Hardscaping, meaning anything that is not a plant. Walls, paths, patios, steps and lighting are typically 60 to 80% of a full landscaping budget. Plants are cheap by comparison and they get all the attention in the conversation.

Access and disposal. A yard a machine cannot reach is done by wheelbarrow, and that is labor. Removing an old landscape costs more than people expect.

Grading and drainage. Unglamorous, invisible when done, and the reason a yard works or floods. Money spent here before planting is never wasted.

Mature plants. A 15 foot tree costs eight times a 6 foot one of the same species and is in the same place in eight years. Buying small is the single largest saving available in planting, and it requires patience.

The mistakes that cost the most later

Planting for the pot size rather than the mature size. Foundation shrubs planted at two feet reach eight to twelve in a decade, block the windows, hold moisture against the siding and cost $200 to $900 to remove. Check the mature dimensions and plant nothing closer to the wall than half its mature width.

Trees too close to the house. Roots, gutters, roof damage and eventually a $2,000 removal. The rule of thumb is half the mature canopy width from any structure, and further for the large species.

Landscape fabric under mulch in planting beds. It works for a few years, then mulch decomposes on top of it into a growing medium and weeds root through it, and now the fabric is a permanent nuisance under everything. It belongs under gravel, not under mulch in a bed you intend to plant into.

Mulch volcanoes. Mulch piled against a trunk holds moisture against the bark and kills the tree slowly. Mulch goes two to three inches deep and stops short of the trunk.

Grading toward the house, which is how a landscaping project becomes a basement waterproofing project.

Doing it in phases

A full landscape is a large single expense and it does not have to be one.

A workable sequence:

1. Drainage and grading, first, always, before anything is planted on top of it
2. Hardscaping: paths, walls, patios, while access for machines is still open
3. Trees, because they take the longest to mature
4. Irrigation, before planting beds are full
5. Shrubs and beds
6. Lawn
7. Lighting, which can be added at any point if conduit is left in place

Getting a design at $500 to $3,000 first, and building it over three years, costs the same and spreads it. Building without a plan and changing your mind costs more.

Go deeper

Planning and hardscape

• Landscape design cost, a designer against a landscape architect
• Retaining wall cost, and why four feet is the line
• Paver walkway cost, and why a path costs more per foot than a patio
• Landscape lighting cost, fixture by fixture
• Yard grading cost, leveling the lawn and fixing low spots
• Land clearing cost by the acre

Lawns

• Sod installation cost, sod against seed
• Hydroseeding cost, the middle option
• Lawn replacement cost, and what to replace it with
• Artificial turf cost, and the base that decides it
• Xeriscaping cost, converting a lawn that drinks too much

Planting

• Garden bed cost, per square foot and per raised bed
• Mulch delivery cost, and how many yards you need
• Fence line landscaping cost, screens and borders

Water

• Sprinkler system cost, and why zones are set by pressure
• Irrigation repair cost, and when to replace instead

Trees and hedges

• Tree removal cost, and checking the insurance first
• Tree trimming cost, by height and type of cut
• Stump grinding cost, per stump and per inch
• Hedge trimming cost, by the hour and by the hedge

Lawn care

• Lawn care cost, what a year of service adds up to
• Lawn mowing service cost, per visit and per season
• Lawn fertilization cost, per application
• Lawn aeration cost, core against spike

Frequently asked questions

Does landscaping add value?

Basic tidiness returns very well: mulch, edging, trimming, removing dead material. A well-designed mature landscape is generally reckoned to return 100 to 150% at sale. Elaborate and high-maintenance landscaping returns poorly, because buyers price the work it will need.

Do I need a designer?

For anything involving levels, drainage or hardscaping, a plan is worth its fee. For refreshing planting beds, a good nursery will help for free. The cost of building the wrong thing is much higher than the design fee.

When is the best time to plant?

Fall in most of the country: soil is warm, air is cool, and roots establish before summer. Spring is the second best. Summer planting works and needs constant watering.

How much maintenance will it need?

That is a design decision. Native and drought-adapted planting, generous bed sizes and fewer species means less. Clipped hedging, annual bedding and a large lawn means more. Say which you want before the design, not after.

What is the cheapest thing that makes a yard look better?

Edging the beds crisply, fresh mulch, and cutting back overgrown shrubs. Under $1,000 in most yards and it does more than several thousand of new planting.