Most homeowners love landscaping not only because of the investment it brings but the beauty it brings to the home‘s surroundings—landscaping increase the home’s resale value as much as 14% without spending as much as 5% of the home’s value to bring in an ROI upwards of 150%. The amount of landscaping ideas and projects in the U.S alone is higher than any other work that is done to a home, just over half of homeowners are budgeting $10,000 or more on current or upcoming professional projects (56%), but two-thirds spend this amount on recent projects. Because of its popularity, landscaping services are readily available to provide homeowners with their ideal vision of how their landscape should look.
What To Look For In A Landscaper
When employing a landscaping service, it’s typically best to start your search as ‘landscaping near me’ to determine if there are any quality landscaping companies around you before widening your searches. It’s also important to an inquiry about their landscaping business to determine if they’re a good match for your project.
1. How long have you operated? Be sure the contractor you hire has the ability to handle your project. Although the number of years doesn’t tell you much about how good they are, it does provide a consistent running track for previous clients that have worked with them. Don’t be wary of asking for references, as a customer you deserve to know their assurance to quality and professionalism. If there is a long-standing company, typically they should have an office, website, or business card on hand, if not review your searches once more for “landscaping near me”.
2. Is your company fully insured? Although this may sound strange, it’s important to understand the longevity of the project—what if there were an accident? What would happen? To avoid these types of what-ifs, it’s best to directly ask the contractor if they’re insured before bringing them to your home.
3. Does your company have industry specialists? Even though it isn’t a requirement to have a specialist on staff, it does help bring in business. Customers entrust their project to professional contractors; it’s important to understand all the logistics before they transform your yard. Certain specialists can be a great assistance in different areas of landscaping—staff that is able to deal with trees and placing plants can deal with details of landscaping designs. Planting one tree can remove 26 pounds of CO2 from the atmosphere, which equates to roughly 11,000 miles of car emissions. Similarly, landscaping plants can remove smoke, dust, and other harsh pollutants from the air.
4. Are you guaranteed to stay on my project until completion? Although this seems like an odd question to ask, some landscaping companies aren’t able to keep their promise of seeing a project, like retaining wall, to completion because they have other clients with large projects. Don’t just assume a company will stick beside you, make sure to get a clear outline of the plan so you’ll rest assured your project will get completed.
5. What installation process will be used? This typically varies depending on the region, if you’re searching for “landscaping near me” versus landscapers further out, you’ll see the differences in their installation process. However, landscaping companies should have a standard practice for some building and construction details that’ll generally outline how they would go about a particular project.
Make sure to look closely at the type of services provided; there is a significant difference between residential and commercial landscape contractors and the kind of work they do. This commonly happens with other areas of contracting too, such as general contractors and landscape subcontractors, and independent versus backyard maintenance contractors. If you don’t know, it doesn’t hurt to ask.
How Frequently Will I Need A Landscaper?
Landscaping means maintenance has to be involved, be sure to discuss the length of time your project will need general upkeep and maintenance depending on the type of project it is. If your contractor isn’t able to follow-up with conservation, be sure to get recommendations from them for other contractors, you don’t want to stray too far outside of original contractor, if there are no references look up “landscaping near me” for more options.
