Landscaping cost
Landscaping costs $3,000 to $25,000 for a typical suburban garden, typically $8,000. Hardscaping is 60 to 80% of a full budget; plants are cheap by comparison and get all the attention.
National average
$8,000
per project
On this page
Landscaping costs $3,000 to $25,000 for a typical suburban garden, 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
| Scope | Typical cost |
|---|---|
| Clean-up, mulch and edging | $800 to $2,500 |
| Refreshed planting beds | $1,500 to $5,000 |
| Front garden makeover | $3,000 to $12,000 |
| Whole garden, planting only | $5,000 to $20,000 |
| Full design and build with hardscaping | $20,000 to $80,000 |
| Item | Typical cost |
|---|---|
| Landscape design, plan only | $500 to $3,000 |
| Design by a landscape architect | $2,000 to $10,000 |
| Mulch, installed, per cubic yard | $60 to $130 |
| Topsoil, per cubic yard delivered | $25 to $60 |
| Shrubs, planted, each | $40 to $200 |
| Small tree, planted | $150 to $600 |
| Large tree, planted | $500 to $3,000 |
| Perennials, planted, each | $10 to $40 |
| Bed edging, per linear foot | $4 to $15 |
| Landscape fabric, per square foot | $0.30 to $1.00 |
| Retaining wall, per square foot of face | $20 to $55 |
| Paver path, per square foot | $12 to $30 |
| Landscape lighting, per fixture | $80 to $300 |
| Irrigation, per zone | $700 to $1,500 |
| Sod, per square foot | $1.00 to $2.50 |
| Removing an existing landscape | $1,000 to $5,000 |
| Annual maintenance contract | $1,500 to $6,000 a year |
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 garden a machine cannot reach is done by wheelbarrow, and that is labour. Removing an old landscape costs more than people expect.
Grading and drainage. Unglamorous, invisible when done, and the reason a garden 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:
- Drainage and grading, first, always, before anything is planted on top of it
- Hardscaping: paths, walls, patios, while access for machines is still open
- Trees, because they take the longest to mature
- Irrigation, before planting beds are full
- Shrubs and beds
- Lawn
- 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.
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?
Autumn 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 garden look better?
Edging the beds crisply, fresh mulch, and cutting back overgrown shrubs. Under $1,000 in most gardens and it does more than several thousand of new planting.
Read next
Sod installation cost$1 to $3per sq ftSod costs $1.00 to $2.50 a square foot installed against $0.10 to $0.30 for seed. Sod is an instant lawn at ten times the price, and whether that is worth it depends on erosion and timing.
Retaining wall cost$20 to $55per sq ftA retaining wall costs $20 to $55 per square foot of exposed face, typically $35. It is priced by length times height, not length, which is the measurement most people get wrong.
Tree removal cost$400 to $2,500per eachRemoving a tree costs $400 to $2,500, typically $1,000. The price is not about the tree. It is about what is under it and how the pieces get to the ground.
Sprinkler system cost$2,500 to $10,000per projectAn in-ground sprinkler system costs $2,500 to $8,000 for a suburban lot, or $700 to $1,500 a zone. The number of zones is decided by water pressure, not by garden size.
Paver patio cost$12 to $30per sq ftA paver patio costs $12 to $30 per square foot installed, typically $20. Everything that goes wrong with a paver patio is the base, and the base is invisible once it is finished.