[Greenbaygirl]

I'm trying to get a price for landscaping. What I don't know is what is a good price or an over price. Can anyone tell me what the average cost of putting stones around a villa should be? We have grass and was told that we'd need approx. 10 yards of stone.

[l2ridehd]

That sounds like a lot of stone. 10 yards would cover an area about 800 square feet in 3 inches of stone. Get several prices.

I needed to landscape around the new bird cage when I installed our pool. I had very specific size and shrubs, size of shrubs and type of mulch and even an estimated amount of mulch and hours for install. I got 4 prices and all 4 came and looked at the job and said my estimates were close. Couple wanted to do a couple different things and the warranties were not all the same.

High price was $10,750 and low price was $2,275. Huge difference. I picked the lowest price after talking to them a second time and they did a great job. Would use them again.

[Mindijanosko]

l2ridehd: who did you use for your landscaping work?

[graciegirl]

Originally Posted by l2ridehd

That sounds like a lot of stone. 10 yards would cover an area about 800 square feet in 3 inches of stone. Get several prices.

I needed to landscape around the new bird cage when I installed our pool. I had very specific size and shrubs, size of shrubs and type of mulch and even an estimated amount of mulch and hours for install. I got 4 prices and all 4 came and looked at the job and said my estimates were close. Couple wanted to do a couple different things and the warranties were not all the same.

High price was $10,750 and low price was $2,275. Huge difference. I picked the lowest price after talking to them a second time and they did a great job. Would use them again.

Everyone should read this post. Print it an hang it on the Refrigerator and read it again. Do not rush into any landscaping contract. People are taken advantage of on landscaping every day here and one of the big things is that too much is removed of the good stuff the builder gives you. It is hardy and pretty if you let it grow.

[JerryP]

Just to give you an idea of rock cost. I just purchased and had delivered from Southern Aggregates on route 301, 1 yd of bark stone (small red stone) Cost $99. for the stone and $50. for delivery.

[Ozzello]

10 yards will cover anywhere from 800 sq ft to 2500, depending on size/type of stone. Smaller or flatter stone, covers more.

Make sure you are getting a commercial grade 'weed block' as that is what actually keeps the weeds at bay. also watch that the workers do a good clean looking job putting the mat down, not a patchwork hodgepodge look.

If you need to remove about 500 sq ft of sod (my guess ) and pinestraw, and spread 10 cy of stone, my charge would be around $3500. That is middle of the road pricing, and on the low end for those of us that actually have insurance, workers comp and not asking for cash or a check written to us personally.

Would seem like you could take your lowest bid and any yokel with a wheelbarrow will suffice, but I get about 1 call a month to REMOVE and replace weedy dirty stone that has been down a couple years with junk weed block (and other problems created by 'cheap' labor). That is a bit expensive when you already paid to have it done once.

Get a few bids, and pay a little extra for the guy you trust. He probably won't even be the highest bid.

[redwitch]

Ozzello gives good advice. One thing I’ve always tried to get my clients to do is wait to do landscaping until they know more about Florida plants and how quickly they grow here. Too often new homeowners pay thousands for landscaping and then spend thousands more a few years later to remove overgrown plants and plants that are wrong for this climate.

[l2ridehd]

Originally Posted by Mindijanosko

l2ridehd: who did you use for your landscaping work?

Sent you a PM with the name. It was a large professional, licensed landscape company used a lot by T&D pools.

[Choice Maintenance]

Ozello is right for the ten tons you said you’d need we also would be around $3,000-$3,500 for the full install. We too have done more rock removals this year alone then we have over the past 9 years we’ve been in business. Customers are disgusted with the look of their landscape after a bad installation becomes apparent a few years later.