Desert Landscaping/Cost (how much, house, buy)

yellowsnow · 12-08-2009, 02:45 PM

How much did you pay?

I have a small front yard and I want to convert it to desert landscaping. It's 1000sf MOL. Nothing elaborate because I plan to use part of it as a patio at some future time. I want a few plants and the appropriate watering system. Maybe some lantanas and a few cactus/desert plants. I want the rocks and low maintenance. I love it that yard maintenance is a couple gallons of roundup!

There has been an irrigation system at one time but it doesn't work now. There is water in the front yard but I'm assuming everything else will need to be replaced. I've gotten a few estimates and I think they are high. I'm hoping 6K for 1000sf is ridiculous. Hope I'm right.

MediocreButArrogant · 12-08-2009, 06:30 PM

$5800 for 1600 sq ft from VIP Landscaping for me, and that included a flagstone path that added at least $800 to the cost. I highly recommend VIP Landscaping - very satisfied with their work. I'll send you a DM with links to pics later. Google their name, I am just one of many satisfied clients.

airics · 12-08-2009, 09:14 PM

do you have grass in the front yard?

yellowsnow · 12-08-2009, 09:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by airics

do you have grass in the front yard?

I have dead, long dead, and used to be grass in the front yard. No, I can't get the money from the water people.

airics · 12-08-2009, 09:37 PM

you could always do most of it yourself.... get the rock at star nursery, have it dumped.. put an ad on craigs list for $10hr to spread the rock...buy your trees, bushes at moonvalley, negotiate, have them plant it... no big deal.. we did our front AND backyard.... 17 fruit trees, 3 bushes, about 18 tons of rock.. total cost around 2500 done.

Kaiminani · 12-08-2009, 10:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by yellowsnow

I have dead, long dead, and used to be grass in the front yard. No, I can't get the money from the water people.

Have you tried watering it for a couple of weeks?

Grass can be surprisingly resilient, going into a kind of hibernation that looks dead brown when water gets low and then 'magically' coming back to life when water comes back.

Not that it is the right season to try it now, but just saying.

MediocreButArrogant · 12-09-2009, 12:53 AM

$6 a square foot is ridiculous. The only way I know of to hit that figure is by incorporating some expensive trees (craning in a full-grown palm tree), or include some fancy concrete/rock/tile work. If you're just talking demolition, rock, irrigation, plants, and common trees, it's way out of line.

The $5800 for my yard included demolition, which was four trees, a huge tree stump (still can't believe they got it out, they worked almost one whole day on it) and cutting out and removing the sod. Irrigation was included of course, and what they did there was completely cut out my four valve manifold, and replace it with a single pressure-reducing valve for the drip. They control the amount of water by the number of emitters they place around each plant, so just a single zone and run-time works for everything.

Originally I was going to do just 1200 square feet. Wes, the owner at VIP Landscaping, told me $3500 would get me something very basic and $4500 would get me something nice. He mentioned the flagstone path and told me to check out pictures on their web site, and I liked it, so that bumped the price up to around $5300. Then I added 400 square feet more to convert another area, but that area is pretty basic, it's the side of the house where all the utilities enter, so that was only another $500.

One of the most important things I got by having a landscape contractor do the work was the service of their designer. I would never have thought to incorporate the features they did, and they came up with something I could never have designed or even imagined on my own.

orca17 · 12-09-2009, 09:32 AM

Quote:

you could always do most of it yourself.... get the rock at star nursery, have it dumped.

This is what I did. I got two tons of 3/4" rock delivered from Star Nursery for just over $68. I moved it all myself.

SoHoVe · 12-09-2009, 11:09 PM

Seriously, buy a couple books on what you want done and how to do it. Buy your materials and then head to the home Depot on N Rainbow (near Charleston) Pick up some of the older Mexicans who speak English. I had very good luck with these people working VERY hard and efficently just pay them a fair wage and be done with it. They can def take care of your demo work and laying rock ect...you would probably need to do your homework when it comes to the planting to make sure they are doing it properly. Some of these guys are awesome.

yellowsnow · 12-10-2009, 11:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SoHoVe

Seriously, buy a couple books on what you want done and how to do it. Buy your materials and then head to the home Depot on N Rainbow (near Charleston) Pick up some of the older Mexicans who speak English. I had very good luck with these people working VERY hard and efficently just pay them a fair wage and be done with it. They can def take care of your demo work and laying rock ect...you would probably need to do your homework when it comes to the planting to make sure they are doing it properly. Some of these guys are awesome.

Thanks! How do you know how much to pay? Or what's fair?