Landscape Design
When you plan on redesigning your back yard or landscape design, be prepared to open your wallet. If you have a professional landscaper come out to design and complete the job, it will cost you much more than attempting it yourself. Landscaping is one of those jobs that are more laborious than cerebral. So get your shovel and garden tools and let’s get started. Living in New Jersey, some of your soil will be filled with clay and therefore will be harder to dig in. If you live further down south, the soil tends to have more sand in it.
Take a ride in your car to see what the newer homes have planted or what designs in planting beds there are. The flowering plants are beautiful but always are more expensive. When using a professional landscaper in NJ, he has to get his materials from another vendor. He doesn’t grow his own trees or make his own concrete edging. What I am trying to say is, go to a nursery and look at all the trees they have. They will also have prices on them and vary greatly. Pick the ones you like and make arrangements to have them delivered to your home. The more mature a species is, the more you will pay for it. A five foot tree may be three times as much so try to buy your vegetation small. Make sure it is healthy though. You can usually tag a tree at a nursery and they will hold it for you. This gives you the opportunity to visit other nurseries and price compare. Don’t rule out going to Home Depot or Lowes to buy you plants and trees. They won’t have as big a variety to choose from and their prices fluctuate. It’s another choice but the health of the vegetation won’t be as good as the nurseries you previously visited.
Landscape Supply Dealer
Take a ride to a local landscape supply center. They usually have a showroom of finished walls, waterfalls, flower beds, etc. that use the materials they sell. It’s a great place for ideas and also will give you an idea of the complexity of the job. You can get the materials you need to do ANY landscape job at a well-stocked landscape vendor. Not everyone has a truck to come pick up the products you order…so for an additional fee you can have them delivered. Their delivery charge won’t be much. Often if you live in the same township as the delivery, you may pay between $30 and $45. This is a drop in the bucket compared to having a professional come to complete the job.
Curbing
You can outline your planting and mulch beds with concrete yourself. Dig a 4 inch trough around your beds then mix up some powdered concrete mix that can be bought at any hardware store. Trowel in the mixed concrete finishing it at a 45 degree angle from the top of the yard (where grass grows) into the trough. The 45 degree angle will prevent mulch or rock from straying away from where you want it to stay.
Build a Flower Bed from Brick
The climate in New Jersey will allow you to pick a variety of plants and flowers that grow well in that temperature zone. Buy cement pavers (either square or 45 degree cut ones. Bury a course of brick underground on a well tamped surface that will withstand water drainage. If you are working on an undulating surface, you may have one brick showing above ground on one side and 2 showing on the opposite side. This is because you need to make the entire surface flat and level.
So remember to buy your plant stock and hardscape materials yourself. It just takes a little effort on your part to make the trips to visit these vendors but the price offset will more than justify it. You may never hire a professional landscaper again when you see what you can save in money. The end result always looks better when you know you did it yourself.
Home Remodeling Blog 