One of the biggest questions we get asked is “what is the cost of landscaping a new home?”. When you are building a new home it can be a costly investment and most probably your biggest life investment. As a general rule the average landscaping of your property should be between 5 and 10 percent of the value of the property. For example is your house is valued at $500,000 you should set aside between $25,000 to $50,000 to cover all your landscaping needs for front and backyards. The types of landscaping covered in this budget may include retaining walls, decks, driveways and any other hard landscaping. If you are looking at a lower budget of less then 5 percent you may only get a basic driveway, small gardens and turf.

If you are looking to install a swimming pool or a pergola this would be an added cost not included in the in your general landscaping budget. 

Investment In Your Landscaping

Building or renovating is a costly investment for your future but one of the most common misconceptions we face in the landscaping industry is the budget that our clients leave for the landscaping. We understand landscaping is the last thing to happen when building and its often forgotten. You may have had a few extra costs added to your building budget that was expected however allowing enough budget for landscaping will completely finish off your home. Landscaping should be high on the budget when building or renovating because a recent university study* found homeowners achieved 109% return on every landscaping dollar spent compared to other home improvements, thus proving it pays to invest in your landscaping!

“Price Guide”

South Coast Landscapes is a Wollongong landscape company specialising in structural landscaping for clients in the Illawarra region of NSW. Given our years of experience in the landscaping industry, we have put together a general price guide for landscaping costs:

• Garden Designs = $800 starting at a basic design
• 3D Garden Designs = $3,000 + would generally include 3D digital design and layouts
• An experienced, qualified landscaper hourly charge per person can range from $55 to $80.
• Decking, expect to pay approximately $280 to $320 per square meter of Merbau decking with supply and install.
• Driveways, expect to pay $90 per square meter for a plain concrete driveway and $130 to $160 per square meter for a more complex exposed aggregate driveway. 
• Paving can range from the complexity of the area and what style of paving has been requested. A general guide is from $280 to $350 per square meter include pavers. 
• Retaining walls vary in price per square meter. The cost depends on the type of material used (Masonry Blocks or Timber Sleepers) and the complexity of the job. As an estimate: Timber retaining wall can be $600 a square meter and a reinforced concrete Besser Block wall can be $1,0000 a square meter. 
• Turfing can be from $25 to $35 per square meter depending of the type of turf selected. 

Anything you buy does differ in price points for similar items depending on who and where you buy from. It is no different when engaging a landscaper. People often receive a few quotes when engaging any tradesman to avoid being ripped off and getting a fair price. It is important to understand how these tradesman arrived at this price point. Are you comparing apples with oranges? 

Source* Department of Horticulture, Michigan State University

The post Cost of Landscaping appeared first on South Coast Landscapes.