1. Picking a landscaper
When choosing a landscaper, especially for substantial work on your land, make sure to get quotes from three or more businesses to get a variety of costs and ranges of work. Be careful not to fall for the cheapest option, though. Make sure the company is more than a nice website or popular name. Some smaller business can offer the same quality service at a competitive price. Look at reviews online to see how well other customers have been satisfied by the business’ service. Also, browse the business’ type of work to see if it aligns with your taste. They may have done a great job with an extravagant backyard, but the skill may not translate well onto a smaller workspace and more modest budget. Landscaping is an art and you may not like every landscaper’s plans and ideas.
2. Buying your own landscaping additions
While getting additions to your lawn from a landscaper is the easiest way, they might not always offer the cheapest prices. Going to your local garden supply or home improvement store will allow you to browse the different options for plants, bird baths, lights, stones, etc. and to buy what you want for more affordable prices. The downside to this is that the quality of these products may not necessarily be the best. Also, if you buy lights, for example, and you have a landscaper install them but they malfunction, there may be some disagreements about who should pay to buy replacements. Finally, if a landscaper is not familiar with the brand of lights or water pump, etc., they may not install it correctly and might waste some time (and your money) trying to figure out how to do so. Thus, while it may be cheaper to buy the items yourself, there could be complications along the way.
3. Reducing the cost of a landscaper.
If you take the time and effort to do a few things on your own, you’ll be able to greatly reduce the cost of hiring a landscaper. Buying your own items, as mentioned above, is a good start. Many requests for landscapers deal with putting in plants, but if you get rid of weeds and put in some small plants by yourself, you would only need a landscaper for larger plants, such as trees, if you are even interested in having them. Requests also deal with the need for putting in items like stepping stones, lights and fences, though putting those in yourself is much more difficult. If you are able to do so, you won’t even need a landscaper at all, though this would require multiple weeks and most likely the help of an assistant or two which is not available to everyone.
If you feel lost, or even if you feel comfortable about your landscaping options but simply wish to talk to a professional before you begin any projects to get as much information as possible, use TalkLocal to locate a landscaper who is available in your area.
