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Landscaping Services

Transform your outside space into the garden you’ve always dreamed of.

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Lily Jones
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Whether you're in the market to transform your garden or you're starting from scratch, a well-designed garden requires careful planning, a clear vision and a specific set of skills to make it a reality.

If you're short on gardening expertise, calling in a landscaping professional will be a huge help to you. Our quick guide to landscaping services will tell you what you need to know before you hire one.

What's in this guide?

What is a landscaping service?

A landscaping service focuses on transforming outdoor spaces through creative and innovative design. A landscaper helps you to create a vision for your garden and brings that vision to life. The work can be done in a range of ways including:

  • Installing structural elements
  • Strategically placing earth and rock
  • Building eye-catching central features
  • Laying pathways
  • Planting trees and flowers
  • Building decking

What does a landscaping service do?

A landscaper can help you with almost any alteration that you want to make to your garden. A landscaping service can help you in the following areas:

Planning and design

Most landscapers have the skills and expertise to help you to design your garden. To do this, they'll talk to you extensively about what you want from your garden, before mapping it out on a piece of paper for you to see.

Building

Once you've settled on a design, a landscaper will often help with the construction of your garden too. For larger projects, they'll organise contractors or workers to come in to help them.

Maintenance

When your project is complete, your landscaper may provide weekly or monthly maintenance services to keep your garden looking its best. Some landscape gardeners may also offer gardening services throughout the year.

How do I hire a landscaping service?

One of the best ways to connect with local landscapers is by using the power of the Internet. Websites like Airtasker and Oneflare allow you to collect and compare quotes from countless landscaping services near you.

How much does a landscaping service cost?

Landscapers tend to charge per hour, and their rate depends on how much experience they have and how skilled they are. The minimum hourly rate you can expect to pay is around $25 an hour, but the most skilled landscapers will charge upwards of $80 an hour.

Some landscapers prefer to charge by the job. In this case, they will provide a quote before the job begins.

How do I compare landscaping services?

Choosing the right landscaping service for you is one of the most crucial decisions that you will make on your garden transformation journey. To make the right decision for your project, you should talk to as many landscapers as possible and collect plenty of quotes. This will help you to understand how much the project might cost and to compare local services.

How should I prepare for a landscaping service?

Before your landscaping service, you'll need to have a good idea of what type of garden design you're after. Some companies only provide certain types of landscaping services so you need to make sure you're speaking to a company that can offer everything that you need. Then, you can use our comparison tips above to compare landscaping services and make the right decision for you and your garden.

What to consider when hiring landscaping services

Before you hire a landscaping service, it's worth sitting down and writing out a list of what you would like to achieve and what you're expecting from your landscaper. Brainstorming a series of questions to ask each company you talk to will also help you to answer some of those all-important questions. A few questions you can ask include:

  • How long have you been working as a landscaper?
  • Do you have a portfolio of contracts that you've completed in the past?
  • Can you provide me with references?
  • What licenses or qualifications do you hold?
  • Can you provide a rough estimate of the price of the job? What happens if the cost exceeds the budget?
  • Are you and your employees insured to work on my property?
  • How long do you think the project will take?
  • When can you start working on my garden?

Do I need to be at home for a landscaping service?

Landscaping projects can go on for weeks, so it's impossible to be at home all of the time. It's best practice to organise several meetings with your landscaper before the work starts to specify the precise details of the project. This way, you'll be able to rest assured that the right work is taking place while you're away from your home.

Pros and cons of landscaping

Pros

  • Hiring a landscaping service saves you the time and effort of doing it yourself.
  • When you have a nicer garden, you're more likely to spend time in the great outdoors.
  • Considering the local wildlife during the construction of your garden can help to protect the natural environment.
  • A landscaped garden adds value to your home.

Cons

  • Landscaping can be a costly project.
  • Your garden will require frequent maintenance to keep up appearances.
  • Some types of landscaping can have an adverse effect on the local environment.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between landscaping and gardening?

Landscaping lays down the building blocks for a gardener to work his magic. A landscaper will mainly deal with the design and construction of gardens, whereas a gardener will undertake the maintenance of the lawns and the plants.

Saying this, the line is often blurred between the responsibilities and duties of a landscaper and a gardener, and it's not uncommon for landscapers to offer garden maintenance services too.

What skills does a landscaper have?

Landscapers often hold qualifications in a variety of skills such as paving, construction and design. A landscaper will also have a good knowledge of plants, trees and flowers, and will be able to use these in a way that complements each other. If a landscaper offers maintenance services as well, they'll be able to operate a series of maintenance equipment too.

Do landscapers need a licence?

License requirements for landscapers vary from state to state. Generally speaking, you will need a license of some sort to carry out large landscaping jobs.

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