Affordable Landscaping Projects To Consider For 2020

Everyone wants their home to be surrounded by a well-planned out and beautiful looking landscape.  The problem for most homeowners in Newark is they don’t have an unlimited supply of money so they need landscaping ideas and solutions that make can make a big visual impact on their property, without making a deep dent in the bank account.

Landscaping your property almost always offers an excellent return on investment (contributing as much as 20% of a properties overall value!) but what if your budget for landscaping is only $10,000 or less?

When making small investments into your landscaping you want to make sure that your choices are going to make a BIG contribution to the overall appeal and value of your property, so where you spend that money can make a HUGE difference!

Here are a few Landscaping ideas for homeowners looking to spend less than $10,000 but still want to make a very meaningful transformation to their landscape.

#1.  Power Washing The Hardscapes On Your Property

This is a very fast and affordable way to make a big visual improvement on your property.  If you’ve just purchased a home in an established neighborhood in then it’s likely a 20-40+ year old home and the surrounding hardscapes would benefit greatly from a good cleaning.

Driveways, decks, patios and other concrete, brick or cement surfaces can get dirty and covered in algae, moss, dirt and grime over long periods of time or especially in areas with many trees surrounding the property.  Power washing these surfaces will revitalize their appearance to an almost like new surface and it’s not going to take a long time or cost a lot of money.

Surfaces That Can Be Power Washed:

• Exposed aggregate
• Concrete and cement
• Retaining walls
• Brick patios w/polymeric sand
• Driveways
• Walkways
• Pool decks

Power washing the hardscape surfaces on a typical property in the Newark area are generally billed by the square foot.

If you have a long, heavily soiled driveway and a patio that you’d like washed then you could expect to pay anywhere from $200 – $1000 to have a power washing company come and get your hard surfaces looking like new.  The cost for your particular power washing project will depend on site accessibility, the surface area to be cleaned and how soiled the surface is.

If your hardscape surface is interlocking brick or paving stones then in addition to power washing you’ll also need to consider the application of polymeric sand to ensure the bricks are protected from movement and it will prevent weed and moss growth in between the joints.

#2.  A Thorough Property Clean Up Will Make a Huge Difference

Sometimes it’s the little things that make the most difference.  There is no sense spending a bunch of money on your landscaping until you know exactly what you’re working with.  For many properties (especially if it’s been a rental or neglected) this means a total yard clean up.

Getting trees and shrubs pruned up and uniform and preventing them from touching your house, cleaning out the garden beds of all the debris, collecting and removing all the fallen leaves, mowing and re-edging the lawn, there is no end to the amount of property maintenance that most homeowners in Ohio face.  Often times the work starts to get away on us which just makes the problem even worse as the weeks and months go by.

Yard and Property Clean Ups Could Include:

• Leaf collection and removal
• Garden bed clean outs
• Spreading fresh mulch
• Mowing grassy areas
• Establishing new garden edges
• Restoring a rough looking lawn
• Aerating and overseeding

Property clean ups usually involve a small crew with a truck, dump trailer or in some cases a roll-off yard waste dumpster (for bigger clean ups) some basic lawn and garden power and hand tools.  A good property clean up cost can vary but they are usually in the $300 – $2000+ dollar range.  The deciding factor is how big your property is.  If you have an acre of landscaped backyard you’re going to pay more then someone on a small city lot.  One thing is certain though, when we’re done with your property clean up you’re going to be really happy with how your property looks.

#3.  What About a New Patio?

We’re blessed with beautiful weather in the spring and summer and there is no better way to relax in the summer breeze than on your own backyard patio.  Patios are a great low maintenance landscaping solution for a homeowner that doesn’t like the idea of having to paint their deck every few years or deal with insects and rotting wood.  A properly built brick paver patio needs nothing but a power washing every year or so and will look good for as long as you live in your home.

A New Patio Could Include:

• A firepit or outdoor cooking area
• Landscape lighting
• Garden beds
• Water features

The cost to build a new patio will vary greatly depending on what materials you’ve chosen, the terrain it’s going to be built on, how big the structure will be and more but generally $5000 – $10,000 is a good ball park estimate to build a nice patio for an average sized single family home property.

#4.  Have You Considered a Privacy Hedge or Fence?

Increasing privacy usually increases the value of your property too.  Hedges make an excellent investment into any residential landscape and they continue to increase your property value as they mature and fill out, offering the looks (and privacy) that make them desirable in a landscape.

The downside to a privacy hedge is that they aren’t an “instant fix” it can take a few years for your hedge to reach a desirable size that offers the privacy you seek.    Hedges also need to be watered regularly (usually with an irrigation system) and trimmed and pruned annually or they will not grow thick and healthy.  Hedges can be acquired relatively inexpensively but it’s the labor required for their installation that is more costly.  A privacy hedge installation is usually between $1000 – $5000 depending on how large the hedges are, how much soil must be brought in, if there is land that needs clearing, irrigation, etc.

For home and property owners that don’t want to invest the time into their privacy then fences are another solution.  A decorative wood fence enclosing your backyard or as a divider between two properties can be built relatively quickly and depending on your property size, fairly inexpensively too.

Decorative wood privacy fences are usually billed by the linear foot with special items (such as gates or clearing brush) adding to the cost.  Depending on your property size and the materials you’ve chosen most small to mid sized properties in the Newark area could expect to spend somewhere between $3000-$10,000 to have a nice, custom wood fence constructed or much more if you’ve got extravagant tastes and a very large property!

#5.  What About Fixing a Failed Retaining Wall?

Retaining walls are all over the place and many of them have been built very poorly.  If you have a failing or damaged retaining wall at the front of your property it would make an instant improvement in curb appeal if the wall was replaced.  Retaining walls fail for a variety of reasons but they almost always point back to the original installation of the wall.  If you have a wall that is collapsing, or bowing in the middle, we can help you fix it.

We can remove the old material and dispose of it, excavate and install a proper base material for the wall, use geo-grid where appropriate for stability and strength, and we can build the wall using a variety of different materials to really make your property stand out.

So long as the retaining walls are under 4 feet in height and do not require the services of an engineer they can usually be built for less than $10,000.  Most simple retaining wall projects come in the $3000-$7000 range and can go up considerably depending on access, complexity, and length/height of the wall.

#6. Restoring Or Replacing Your Front or Back Lawn

Does your lawn look patchy and brown while your neighbors property looks fantastic?  Restoring an old, dead section of your lawn, replacing the entire thing or even installing a new lawn where you never had one before is all possible with the budget we’ve outlined above.

For many average sized properties in the Newark area it’s often surprising to the homeowners how affordable it is to have a new lawn installed.  Sod is the most popular option because it’s affordable and literally gives you beautiful, lush, green grass in a matter of days!  After your property is graded for proper drainage, a lawn soil mix (referred to as “loam”) is spread down and then we’re ready to roll out your new grass!

The cost for your sod installation is estimated based on the square footage of the property and the amount of prep work and labor required to prepare your lawn area and in finally roll out your new sod.  If you’re working with a budget of $10,000 or less then a front and back lawn might not be as far out of your reach as you thought!

#7.  Consider Installing An Irrigation System

If you’re going to invest some money into a lawn and gardens or something like a privacy hedge then proper irrigation is critical to the long-term success of your landscape design.  Many homeowners think because they have a small property or “they’ll stay on top of the watering” that they won’t need an irrigation system in place.  The result is usually dead lawns, gardens and privacy hedges!

An irrigation system takes the guess work (and the hassle) out of your watering schedule.  Let’s face it… Life get’s in the way.  You’re dealing with work, kids, hobbies and other more important tasks and often the watering can go unnoticed or forgotten, the problem is that your lawn and garden isn’t that forgiving when you don’t water it!

We’ve had irrigation systems installed on client properties for as little as $2000 -/+ all the way up to $10,000+.  The size of your property, frequency of watering and the volume required will determine the cost of your irrigation.  If you’re going to be spending a few thousand dollars on a new lawn or a hedge for example an irrigation system will ensure it survives!

Why Choose Natural Image Lawn Care LLC?

When you Natural Image Lawn Care you are partnering with a small, locally owned and owner/operated company.  We are insured to work on properties such as yours and are licensed to conduct business throughout all of the municipalities that make up Franklin and Licking Counties in Ohio.

Our staff are properly trained and will always be friendly and courteous.  By choosing Natural Image you’ll have the peace of mind knowing that your property is in excellent hands.

If you’d like to schedule a time for us to provide you with an estimate on any of the above landscaping projects please give us a call (740) 403-8063 or fill out our online contact form and someone will be getting right back to you.