My new home needs major landscaping...?

Question

...is this something I should leave to the professionals, while I watch, drink in hand, or should I attempt to do it myself? And if you suggest I do it myself...where do I even begin?

Answer 1

Landscaping can be expensive, especially if you have somebody else do it. If you do not have it in your budget to do all of it at once, try to figure out what you can afford and do sections of your estate at a time. Utilize the library and look at books on landscaping and gardens to at least get an idea of what look best suits your own home as well as your own tastes. If you have cable tv then watch HGTV's gardening shows to get some ideas. Don't feel like you have to have it all done this season. Hasty decisions can mean bad judgment which can mean an ugly garden. I have seen plenty of ugly gardens from people who went gung-ho and really did not know what they were doing. One huge mistake is trying to plant too many different plants in a small space. The smaller the plot of ground, the less different kinds of colors, textures and plants you want to use.

In the meantime, while you are trying to make a decision, keep your yard mowed and look for weeds, see if the shrubs need to be trimmed. Even professional gardeners like Ken Druse have waited a year after they moved into a new house to get a "feel" for their empty garden space, to try out ideas in their mind and draw up drafts of plans, and to watch and see what parts of the garden get the most daylight throughout the year, etc.

Answer 2

Absolutely leave it to the professionals, watching with your drink in hand! Major stuff takes lots of time and if you don't do it right you may end up spending more time and money than you expected. Just make sure you get a reputable landscaper!! Then once the major stuff is done you can concentrate on the little stuff...adding plants and flowers etc. Have fun! P.S. If you are in So. Cal/Inland Empire let me know...I have a great landscaper.

Answer 3

Did my own but it took several years and it continues to be a work in progress. Made several mistakes, but none too terrible.
Last summer took a week upstate to do my son's yard in one week.....that was challenging, just the two of us. We rented one of those small John Deere front end loaders to move around 20 ton of top soil. The best part was after 10 minutes of instruction on how to operate the loader, my son was able to tilt the machine so that it was laying on the bucket with wheels off the ground about 3 feet from the house. That certainly made for an exciting time. We did figure it out and all worked out well. Not a professional finish to the job, but substantial savings, and hell....grass is grass.

Answer 4

I just went through this myself and regret not leaving it to the professionals. I suppose it depends on how big of a job it is exactly. I have an acre of land that needed a major landscaping makeover. I ended up with a smashed foot from landscaping bricks and a squashed finger from moving boulders around....I decided I would save on rocks by driving to construction sites and *borrowing* theirs...I'm cheap. The end result is *okay* but I wish I would've went with a pro.

Answer 5

I did it myself and did not regret that a bit.

Watch a little HGTV, go to the nursery and get a yearly catalogue so you know what you like.

Rip out the sod where you want it sooner than later because it does take root and then it's a SOB to rip out

Dig the holes before trees come and slide the guy some coin to drop it in. Make sure to line with peat moss and fill with topsoil. It makes it grow much better. DOn't forget root stimulator.

Doing perennials--get them planted so you have bloom throughout the year--so read that catalogue on bloom times.

You know, if this sounds foreign to you, drink the beer and call some shrub dude. It's kind of my passion and well, it's a DIRTY JOB. You might want to soul search and call some other guy to do it.

Happy planting.

Answer 6

Monitor....if we left it to you, you would be hauled away for illegal possession and we'd never see you again. Let the professionals do it. Make sure they use hardy plants like boxwoods....maybe a holly or birch on the corner of the house. Leave about a foot and a half of bed in front of the shrubs so that you can plant flowers or hostas or monkey grass. Planting some annuals would be cool and give you opportunity to have some good blooming plants yearly. But go with what the pros tell ya.......they won't feed you manure.

Answer 7

No matter which way you go, figure out what you want to do first. Use graph paper to sketch out what you have now, including house, trees, walkways, etc. Set a scale to work by (1 square = 1 foot) so you get a rough idea of how big an area a flower bed might be (for border, mulch, that kind of stuff). You could also use sticks and string to lay out the shape and size of flowerbeds where you want them to go for a visual reference.
Things you should consider:
size of the adult plant; light, water, temperature and nutritional requirements of plant; how much time you have and are willing to spend caring for the plants; traits of the plants (are they climbers, invasive,toxic etc). Also think about colors and bloom times. If you let the pros do it, have an idea of what you want to do before you call.

Answer 8

If you could afford it, go with a professional but if you can't, try to do it yourself. Start of small such as moving any rocks and cut out the dead dry bushes and as you do more work, you would get an ideal of what you would like to do with your landscaping. More than likely all the houses in your nieghborhood look the same, so look around the houses in your neighborhood for ideals and inspiration.

Or

Hire an illegal like my freind Pedro and he would do it cheap... (JOKE)

Answer 9

call the pros its what they do. I'm not familar with your property so it is difficult for me to make suggestions. I always find less is more. I don't know how green your thumb is but you may want to inquire about some awesome low maintenence trees, bushes, etc. You mentioned several times the amount of time you spend in your bedroom each day *cough cough*.....perhaps something nice outside your window would be good. Once again, its hard to give advice without knowing the layout. Whatever you decide I'm sure it will be good. Best of luck to you, Monitor!

Answer 10

It depends on your level of expertise. If you can do it, do it. If you can't, and you don't mind sweaty shirtless guys doing manly stuff, let them do it, and watch. Make sure you put your hand down your pants (if you're wearing any) just to freak them out.

Hey, wait, there are topless maid services, why not topless female landscaping services? Oooooooh, that would be AWESOME!