How to Tell if Your Landscaping Company Is Giving You a Fair Price

How to Tell if Your Landscaping Company Is Giving You a Fair Price

Whether you’re receiving lawn care treatments, mowing, or other professional landscaping services, you will want to know how much a given company charges. You’ll also want to know how their landscaping prices compare to that of other landscaping companies in your area. When investing in a professional landscaping service, you deserve to receive both the customer service and the results that you deserve. In this article, we’ll discuss how to tell if your landscaping company is giving you a fair price, including the average landscaping costs for different services, so you can effectively find and receive fair pricing for your landscaping.

 

Using a Professional Landscaping Company

As an umbrella term, landscaping can include planning your land use, designing, preparing the land, and installing or planting your desired additions. However, unless you have specific landscaping design experience, these projects are best left to knowledgeable professionals. Using a knowledgeable landscaping professional also comes with the added benefits of saving time, not having to buy your own materials, having less disorder and fewer problems, receiving good project planning and management, getting the right plants, receiving expert advice, and effectively accomplishing your landscaping budget.

 

How Much Does Landscaping Cost?

Landscaping your outdoor spaces can increase your home’s value and greatly improve its curb appeal. Beautiful professional landscaping also has other impactful physical, mental, and emotional benefits to the given owners, guests, and passersby alike. However, landscaping prices can differ based on the scope and size of the job. According to Forbes, landscaping costs for smaller jobs, such as basic lawn maintenance and care, can sometimes be as low as $50, while other more labor-intensive work, including complex design work, can raise prices to $7,000. Forbes reports the average as around $700.

 

Per square foot, landscaping prices reportedly cost an average of $4 to $12 per square foot for basic and intermediate services. A full outdoor makeover, including landscaping remodeling and design, can cost upwards of $40 per square foot. Services considered basic to intermediate can include planting flowers or grass, thatching, and lawn care. Remodeling typically involves a more complete exterior design in addition to re-grading the area and demolition. Other sources, however, report the national average for large and small landscaping as around $12,000 with a cost range between $4,000 and $20,000 as landscaping varies by services, time, and materials.

 

Landscaping Costs Per Hour

Per-hour landscaping prices can also vary based on the size of the job. The size of the job can often determine exactly how many landscapers you need. For smaller jobs, such as tree service or standard lawn care, you can usually expect to pay around $50 to $100 per hour. For larger landscaping projects, such as landscaping installations, you could expect to pay more of a per-foot cost. Labor is among the top considerations when determining, planning, and budgeting for your landscaping projects, as labor is usually a certain percentage of your overall costs. Per crew member, labor can cost $25-$50 per hour.

 

Standard lawn care, for example, usually requires only a couple of crew members to complete. Crew members typically complete this type of lawn care in around 30 minutes to 1 hour on average. Labor typically costs around 80% of total landscaping prices. As the number of required crew members increases, so will the cost of overall services. As another cost consideration, landscape designers may cost more, as they usually have more advanced expertise than regular landscapers. Landscaping designers can cost around $200 per hour for landscape planning and design, depending on your needs and desires for the area.

 

New Landscaping Installation Costs

For landscape planning and design, much depends on the care required by your outdoor spaces and your specific desires for those spaces. Your outdoor spaces may require some initial updating, clearing, and leveling before your landscaping company can achieve your outdoor aspirations. While you won’t need a landscape designer for the various types of routine landscaping work, you will likely need to hire a designer if you want to install a unique decoration or another landscaping aspect from scratch. The price to landscape a new house can range from $3,000 to $15,000, depending on the size of the yard or garden space.

 

If you are landscaping from scratch, you could expect to pay more than you might for other one-time projects. New installations will typically require around four or more landscaping crew members, with the time to complete the project typically being several weeks on average, with an average price of $200 per hour. More extensive landscaping includes aspects such as professional designs, xeriscaping, a pergola, a fire pit, a gazebo, a backyard walkway, shrubs in the front yard, a retaining wall, water features, or a patio. Landscaping is an investment that has some upfront costs but also has some long-term returns to consider.

 

Landscaping Costs Per Area

Another aspect that can affect the price of your landscaping is the area. Costs can differ depending on whether the landscaping is in the front yard, backyard, or garden. Landscaping a front yard can cost between $4,000 and $6,000, but this landscaping has a huge impact on the curb appeal and value of the property. Backyard landscaping can cost between $8,000 and $10,000 and is more for personal enjoyment. Garden landscaping can cost between $8,000 and $20,000 as it can require more professional layouts and planning.

 

Getting a Fair Price From Your Landscaping Company

Various landscaping aspects can influence its cost. When you want to know how to tell if your landscaping company is giving you a fair price, consider the extent of the work, compare prices, and be aware of some of the national averages for different landscaping. For more clarity on landscaping prices, and the landscaping available in the Chicago area to add beauty and value to your outdoor spaces, connect with Apex Landscaping for a consultation today.