Many owners want to take full advantage of their homes during the warm weather, and they dream of sprucing up their back yard or lawn by renovating their patio, adding shrubs or flowers or even designing a water garden.
However, landscaping is physically demanding work that takes a lot of time and sometimes requires certain technical skills. For this reason, many people decide to give over the task to a professional landscaper who will provide unique results.
This describes you, and you don’t know where to start? Here are five tips that will help you to choose a landscaper able to make your outdoor dreams come true.
1. Define your needs
First, think about the kind of landscaping you want for your property. Do you wish to plant a new tree, replace all your turf, create an ecological yard or attract pollinating insects? Do you want to build a small stone wall or a patio? Would you like a custom pergola or pavilion? What’s your budget for the entire project?
Certain landscapers provide turn-key services, while others specialize in specific areas. That’s why it’s essential to identify all the services you will need for your landscaping and make sure that the contractors on your short list actually offer them.
2. Look at contractors’ portfolios
When you’re searching on the Internet, examine projects that the landscapers on your list have carried out. Does their style match your tastes? Note, for example, the materials they’ve used, the type of plants offered, the landscape design, and the landscape contractor’s work philosophy and experience, as stated in the description of the firm. This will help you decide whether you see yourself in their work methods.
You can also read online reviews and consider any awards that the landscaper has won.
3. Take a walk through your neighbourhood
Contractors often leave a sign on properties that they’ve just worked on, giving you a chance to assess their results in person.
But the best way to take the pulse of a landscaper’s work is to ask your neighbours who have recently done business with this type of specialist. Are they satisfied with the landscape contractor’s work methods? Did they respect the budget on the bid? How did they manage any unexpected problems? Did they give their client good advice and offer solutions that met the client’s needs? Did staff seem to be qualified?
This will tell you what you need to know about a landscaper’s services.
4. Request several bids
To ensure that you get a reasonable price for all the work that needs to be done on your landscaping project, ask for bids from several landscapers. Once you have all the bids, you can compare them and sometimes even negotiate. Don’t hesitate to ask questions about how the project will be carried out.
Don’t forget to ask whether the work is guaranteed and to get an estimate of when the project will start.
5. Ask your favourite garden centre
Many garden centres offer professional landscaping services. It’s an opportunity for them to provide services that complement their products, which you may already have bought. If you liked the service you received at your garden centre, find out about their landscaping services. Some of them can lay turf, plant a tree or maintain your outdoor plants.
Naturally, all this takes a bit of time, but in the long run you’ll gain in efficiency and you’ll end up with landscaping that matches your needs perfectly.
Happy searching!
