Here we present 12 key points which your Landscape Plan should include before you buy landscaping services

 

Imagine your house has been built and now the landscaping needs to be done. Usually, the builder does not include landscaping as the requirement and preferences are very different from person to person and prices can vary from a few thousand dollars to more than 100K depending upon the work needed.

Let’s go through the points to remember:

• Start looking for a landscaper and start getting quotes at least 2 months before the handover of the house so that you have sufficient time to plan and the chosen landscaper can fit your work into their schedule.
• Based on the discussion, start making a rough diagram of how the landscaping will look like.
• Does it need grass, plants, a retaining wall, garden beds (brick or timber), trees, and pavers?
• Once the rough diagram is made, start writing down the following points on a paper so that you have a requirements and scope document and you can get quotes and do apple-to-apple comparisons:
  1. A rough diagram of the landscape.
  2. What type of topsoil will be put on the land?
  3. What type of grass will be put – grass price can vary from 5 dollars per meter to 20 dollars per meter.
  4. How many trees will be put up – is it a council or estate requirement to put up trees? Who will buy it and how much will that cost?
  5. What type of plants will be put – is there a greenery requirement? Who will buy the plants and how much will that cost?
  6. What about pavers and stepping stones, what size and how many pavers will be put?
  7. What type of letterbox will be put, and who will buy it? Whether the landscaper will install it.
  8. What clothesline will be put and who will buy it? Whether the landscaper will install it.
  9. What about drainage? How will rainwater drain through the property, especially from the backyard? How many rainwater drainage pits/grates be put in? Does the landscaper have the experience to install it?
  10. What about the sides of the house? Will it be cemented or will it be pebbles and pavers? Who will cement it? What quality of pebbles will be put in if not cemented? Pebble prices vary a lot from river pebbles to white pebbles.
  11. What color of pavers be put?
  12. Has the quote accounted for the council grass area in front of the property?
  13. Will a skip bin be required? Who will pay for it? The rental cost of a skip bin is roughly 1000 dollars. For how many weeks, the skip bin rental be required? Does the landscaper have any contact for the cheap and best skip bin company?
  14. What material of garden beds be made of? Will it be brick or timber?
  15. Is any pine bark or chip mulch required?
  16. Weed mats and weed pins. What quality? How many are required? Who will pay for it?
  17. Say the house address is Number 12, Ramesh Nagar. Then who will buy the number 12 and will the landscaper screw it to the letterbox.

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• Once the above requirement document is made, write it down, print it out, and explain it line by line to the landscaping trade.
• Try to get quotes from multiple providers of landscape solutions and do an apple-to-apple comparison.
• Ask for the payment terms. How much advance and what are the payment terms?
• It may be worth checking the landscaper license with fair trading.
• Ask for references and pictures of past jobs.
• Ask for the duration of the whole work.
• Think once the house is built and the grass is laid, then the grass will need water every day. Buy a cheap water timer from bunnings and put the timers and the pipe to water the grass at least 2 times a day. Pls, check the council restrictions on the watering of the lawns. If left unwatered, then the grass will be dry by the time someone comes to live in the house and the grass will have to be replaced.
• The cheapest landscaping services may not be usually the best.

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Disclaimer: Articles in this blog are just the author’s or authors’ personal opinions.
It may or may not be correct. Please do your own due diligence and seek professional advice according to your own personal circumstances. The author or authors cannot be held responsible/liable for any content in this blog.