How much does it cost to landscape backyard and front of a house?
Amit Gupta asked:
The total backyard and front area is roughly 2000 sq-ft. It had grass earlier but was vacant for more than 6 months and I think the solution is to re-landscape it. How much does it generally cost? Also, what would be the cost if I make the backyard concrete instead of grass? Any other options for backyard (instead of grass and concrete).
The total backyard and front area is roughly 2000 sq-ft. It had grass earlier but was vacant for more than 6 months and I think the solution is to re-landscape it. How much does it generally cost? Also, what would be the cost if I make the backyard concrete instead of grass? Any other options for backyard (instead of grass and concrete).
Thanks you very much.
3 Responses to “How much does it cost to landscape backyard and front of a house?”
Landscaping is such a vague term, as how many trees, shrubs, flower beds are you wanting, and yes you can use pebbles, rocks, paving tiles, bark mulches etc instead of concrete
If you are considering starting from scratch the rule of thumb is that you will spend approx. 40% of the cost of your home for landscaping. This includes hardscape (paver walkway, cement driveway & walkway around house, backyard patio slab). It will vary with how elaborate your plans are. My very best advice to you is to consider hiring a professional landscape designer to help you make a plan for your front. Working with a pro. will give you a good sense of what to do first, second and so on for your backyard. Also, you will learn SO much from them! AND you can cut costs by installing all the plant material yourself.
Make sure your grade is correct. Even though our new home passed all inspections, our front was graded towards the house and we found out the hard way when the wall in the basement had a waterfall we didn’t expect. Luckily, we hadn’t done any landscaping yet!!
For your backyard, why not consider large beds (not just a frame around your yard) for interest that can be mulched. (Too much concrete weighs heavily visually and makes it very difficult to balance out with green areas and plant material. Be careful.) We planted three spruce trees in a large bed. Initially the trees looked dwarfed in the huge bed, but within 5 years they were gorgeous and filled in nicely.
A good tip for tree planting: Look out your windows and guesstimate where you’d like to see a tree planted. Then go out and pound a stake of some sort (I just used a pitch fork and plunged it into the ground.) and then go back inside and look at that spot through all your windows, upstairs and down and from different corners of your yard. If you are doing this in your front yard, NEVER place a large tree smack in front of your front door. It is not good curb appeal. And walk across the street and down your street checking out the location. Remember, a tree will be there long after you’re gone. It’s best to make it right in the first place.
Whatever you do, it will be a big job. Here is a plan to go by. Do your sprinkler system first, then you can concrete or dry scape, which is using rocks and drought tolerant plants. Plant your trees and bushes next, then put in your mulch or wood chips. Finally lay your sod, once your sod is down you cannot walk on it for a couple of weeks. That includes mowing, you want it to get a good root system. Keep it watered often, maybe 10-15 minutes 3-4 times a day. Depending how hot it is. The cost of putting in a yard can range from 10,000 to 50,000. Depending on what you want and if you do it yourself.