How to Tell if a Landscaping Quote Is Fair
There is no published rate card for landscape work, and any number you find online is describing a different property than yours. A quote is fair or unfair relative to what is actually being done, on your site, with your access, in your soil.
So the useful question is not “what should this cost.” It is “do I understand what I am being quoted for, and can I compare these two proposals on the same terms.” That is answerable, and this page is about how.
Apex Landscaping has designed and built across Chicagoland since 1991, and has been on both sides of this conversation many times.
What actually drives the number
Two quotes for what looks like the same patio can differ substantially and both be honest. These are the variables doing the work.
Scope and scale. Total area, and how many distinct elements are involved. A patio, a seat wall, steps, and a fire feature are four scopes, not one.
Site access. One of the largest single factors and the one homeowners least expect. If machinery can reach the work area, excavation and material handling are efficient. If the only route is a narrow side gate, every cubic yard in and every cubic yard out moves by hand or by conveyor. The same patio can carry very different labor depending on whether a skid steer can get to it.
Existing conditions. Removing an old surface, working around mature trees and protecting their root zones, unknown fill, buried utilities, or a slope that has to be cut and retained.
Grading and drainage. What has to happen before anything visible is built. On flat, clay-heavy Chicagoland lots this is often the largest hidden portion of a project. See the importance of proper drainage in landscaping.
Base preparation. Excavation depth, aggregate quantity, and compaction. Invisible in the finished work and decisive for whether it is still level in ten years. This is also the most common place a cheaper quote is cheaper.
Material selection. Manufactured pavers, clay brick, natural stone, and specialty units differ in both material and the labor to install them. Natural stone varies in thickness piece to piece, which is slower to lay.
Structural elements and engineering. Retaining walls above certain heights need engineering and often municipal review. Requirements vary by village.
Permits and municipal review. Where they apply, they take time as well as fees.
Utilities. Gas, water, or power for lighting, irrigation, kitchens, or fire features, which must be run before hardscape.
Season and schedule. Compressed timelines and peak-season scheduling both carry cost.
Plant size at installation. Mature stock costs more and needs more equipment to place. It also delivers the intended effect immediately rather than in five years, which is a legitimate choice either way.
How to compare two quotes on equal terms
Most quote comparisons are unfair to one of the two contractors, because the scopes are not the same document.
Line the scopes up side by side. Not the totals. The scopes. Identify anything one includes that the other omits or treats as an extra.
Look for what is missing rather than what is listed. The usual omissions are demolition and disposal, base depth, drainage provision, edge restraint, soil amendment, final grading, and lawn restoration where machinery ran.
Check the base and drainage specification. These should be stated. A quote that does not say how deep the excavation goes or what happens to water is not a quote you can evaluate, and it is where a low number usually comes from.
Check the material specification. Named product and unit, not “pavers.”
Check quantities. Square footage, wall face area, plant counts and sizes.
Understand allowances. An allowance is a placeholder, and if the selection exceeds it the price moves. Several allowances in one quote means the number is provisional.
Ask both to price the same scope. The single most useful move available. Write down the scope you want, send it to both, and ask each to price it. Differences then mean something.
Read the exclusions. Often the most informative paragraph in the document.
Warning signs
A single number with no scope. The most common source of disputes, and it makes the quote impossible to evaluate or enforce.
A quote produced without a site visit. Access, grade, soil, and existing conditions cannot be assessed from an address.
Pressure and expiry dates. A price that disappears if you do not sign this week is a sales tactic, not a schedule constraint.
A large deposit before anything is ordered or scheduled. Some deposit is normal, particularly where materials are being ordered. A disproportionate one is worth questioning.
Cash-only, or a reluctance to put things in writing.
No verifiable insurance. Certificates should come from the insurer, not as a forwarded copy. General liability and workers’ compensation both matter.
No permits, on work that needs them. A contractor proposing to skip a required permit is proposing to leave the exposure with the property owner.
Vagueness about who does the work. Whether the crews are employees or subcontracted changes accountability.
A price well below the others. Not automatically wrong, and worth understanding. Usually it resolves to a shallower base, no drainage, thinner material, or an excluded scope, all of which surface later.
Where cost is legitimately reduced
Several ways to spend less that do not degrade the result.
Phase the work. Build against one master plan in stages across budget cycles. The design stays coherent and the spend spreads.
Adjust material rather than scope. A different paver in the same layout usually saves more than shrinking the patio, and keeps the space usable.
Plant smaller. Younger stock costs less and catches up. On fast-establishing species the difference disappears in a few seasons.
Use native and regionally adapted species. Better suited to local soil and rainfall, so less replacement and less intervention. The Morton Arboretum in Lisle, the Chicago Botanic Garden, and University of Illinois Extension all publish regional guidance on species suited to Chicagoland conditions.
Schedule outside peak. Shoulder-season scheduling is often easier and more flexible.
Simplify the geometry. Curves, multiple levels, and intricate patterns all add cutting and labor. A cleaner layout can look more considered and cost less.
Do the finish work yourself. Some clients handle final planting or mulch. Worth agreeing explicitly so responsibility is clear.
What is generally not worth reducing: base depth, drainage, and edge restraint. Those are the parts that decide whether the work survives, and they are the cheapest things to do correctly the first time.
Mistakes that make a project cost more
Starting without a plan. Piecemeal work gets undone. A patio built before drainage is addressed is a patio that comes up again.
Skipping the site analysis. Discovering a drainage problem after installation means rebuilding.
Sequencing wrong. Utilities after paving, planting before grading, hardscape before drainage.
Underestimating access. Not a design choice, but it should be understood before budgeting.
Choosing on price alone. The cheapest quote is often the narrowest scope, and the gap reappears as change orders.
Ignoring maturity. Planting spaced for today is planting that gets removed in five years.
Changing scope mid-build. Change orders during construction cost more than the same decision made during design.
What a good proposal contains
A proposal you can act on will have most of the following:
- Scope by area, in specific terms
- Materials by name and specification
- Quantities
- Excavation depth, base build-up, and compaction approach
- Drainage provisions
- What happens to spoil and demolition material
- Site protection, including tree protection
- Restoration of areas affected by access
- Schedule, including approximate start and duration
- Payment schedule tied to milestones
- Change-order process, priced and approved before work proceeds
- Exclusions
- Insurance certificates
- Warranty terms, including plant establishment
Frequently asked questions
Why won’t contractors publish prices?
Because the same visible result can involve very different work depending on access, grade, soil, and existing conditions. A published rate would be wrong for most properties in both directions.
How do I know if I am being overcharged?
Compare on scope rather than on total. Ask two or three contractors to price the same written scope. If one is much higher on identical scope, ask what it includes that the others do not, and the answer is often base depth or drainage.
Should I always take the lowest quote?
No, and not always the highest either. Take the one where you understand what is being done and by whom. The lowest is frequently the narrowest.
Is a deposit normal?
Yes, particularly where materials are ordered in advance. It should be proportionate and tied to something specific.
What if the price changes during the project?
That should only happen through a written, approved change order, either because you changed something or because a genuine unknown was uncovered. Both should be documented before the work proceeds.
How much should I expect to invest in landscaping?
There is no useful general answer, because it depends entirely on scope and site. The more productive approach is to define what you want the space to do, get it designed properly, and then decide what to build now and what to phase.
Do I need a permit?
Sometimes, and it varies by municipality. Retaining walls above certain heights, structures, and work affecting drainage or impervious surface commonly require review. Your contractor should know and should pull them.
Working with Apex Landscaping
Apex Landscaping has designed and built landscapes across Chicagoland’s north and northwest suburbs and the North Shore since 1991. We work as a design and build team, which means the scope you are quoted is the scope the people installing it wrote. We are licensed and insured, and our team includes ISA-Certified Arborists.
If you are comparing proposals, our landscape design page explains how we scope a project, and the benefits of hiring a professional landscaper covers contractor selection more broadly. You can view completed work in our landscape gallery or start a conversation about your site.