This past weekend, I turned into a gardener and laborer. For context, my fiance has a vision and design for our backyard, and we finally have the resources (aka disposable income) to fully redo the backyard and make it an enjoyable space. However, while we have some disposable income for fixing up the backyard, that doesn’t extend to the labor part, hence my change from a writer into a gardener/laborer.
Initially, we thought we’d hire a landscaper to help us with the design and execution, but that was not to be the case. In the end, I discovered you can do many landscape projects yourself with a little creativity and sweat equity. Sure, you may have to buy some things, like plants, rocks, or brick, but you can save a lot of money on many outdoor projects.
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We didn’t immediately think to do the landscaping in our backyard ourselves. Although we did the landscaping in our front yard ourselves, for some reason we thought the backyard was tougher and required a professional.
Our backyard is very, very big, and while water is cheap in Phoenix (yes, go figure), grass is very hard to keep alive during scorching Phoenix summers. Our design was a combination of rock, a small patch of grass, surrounded by desert-hardy plants. The biggest issue was how much work was involved, given how big the backyard was.
Our first landscaper quoted us $900, which seemed like a good deal, but two weeks later changed the price up to $1,000, then disappeared from the face of the earth. The next landscaper we called initially quoted us $2,000. We changed some of the things in our design (mainly, leaving out the desert-hardy plants, which would leave our backyard barren), and the quote was reduced to $1,400.
After taking a serious look at the backyard, our simple vision for it, and our skills (namely, we’re both young and healthy enough to shovel rock, carry wheelbarrows, etc.), we decided we could save $1,000 doing it ourselves, because the bulk of the price quoted to us by the landscapers was labor (the $1,000 quoted to us by the first guy was only for labor – we would’ve still had to buy plants, rock, etc.)
Resources to Get Started
I’ll admit, I’m not one for backyard design. I know what a good backyard looks like, but if you told me to design a pretty and functional backyard, I’d be at a loss. Luckily, my fiance is good at making the backyard look good and be functional, but even if you’re not creative, there are resources and practical tools out there for you to copy.
Once you have the design down, it’s time to take stock of your backyard, your equipment, and the things you’ll need to buy. If you’re adding rock to your backyard, like we are, do you need a Bobcat, or can you use a wheelbarrow? Yes, a Bobcat will be faster, but occasionally it means you need to dismantle your fence, which adds more cost to your project. Your muscles, while important, are free to use.
Make a list of the equipment you’ll need, as well, and determine if it’s worth the investment to buy new tools. Tools can be very expensive, and if you don’t plan on maintaining your backyard, you might want to hire someone instead of doing it yourself. However, if you do plan on maintaining your yard and you like to do work outdoors, investing in tools is a great idea. You can always ask for tools for the holidays and your birthday, too!
When To Hire a Professional
There are, of course, times when it makes sense to hire a professional. Adding retaining walls, creating your own walkways, putting a giant tree in your backyard, installing a swimming pool, etc. are all things you should not do yourself. Anything involving cranes should also be avoided, too.
However, when it comes to many backyard projects, you might be surprised to learn what you can do on your own. If you’re healthy, careful, and do some planning ahead of time, you’ll likely find that a few weekend days spent working outside will save you a lot of money and add value to your house. Who knows – you might even enjoy it!
What outdoor projects have you done on your home, or do you prefer to hire someone to maintain your landscaping?
Sweat Equity is AWESOME!! I personally dislike people who don’t take on projects and just pay someone else to put it together for them.. So much can be gained with DIY. But on the same token I’ve worked in landscaping and have been the recipient of this $1000 of labor you speak of and well I appreciate in that regard folks willing to pay me to do the work for them.. Depending on the job most 90% of it is easy and does not require much knowledge, but putting in retaining walls and designing lay outs for water shedding and easy of maintenance is more of a skilled art that requires some practice to get the hang of it.
Nice work saving some cash and you will get the benefit of telling everyone that YOU actually did the planning and the work to put it in.
Got any pictures of the new backyard??
Cheers!!!
Haha, no pictures yet! It’s still a mess in the backyard – we probably have maybe two more Saturdays to go before we’re done with everything. In the end, you definitely spend more time doing it yourself than you would to pay a professional, so if your time is more valuable than your money, I definitely think hiring a professional is worth it! Like you said, those guys are pros at doing the tougher, more skilled work, and it’s so worth it to pay them for their skills.
It also depends on the house – our backyard is very low maintenance because we’ll be selling it, and don’t want to invest a lot of time for upkeep (assuming the people who buy our house want a low maintenance yard, too). Once we get to a home that we want to live in for a while, we’ll likely hire a landscaping company to do more work and have a more time-intensive yard, simply because we’ll be living in and enjoying that backyard for many years. DIY landscaping is certainly not for every situation. Thanks for your 2 cents! 🙂