Costs and Attributes of Different Materials
Most of the time, when you Google, “How much does it cost to landscape my yard?”, there’s all sorts of wild, outdated and inaccurate information all over the web. A lot of the time, it’ll be some blog from ten years ago, where some landscape architect in Georgia gives some info about “what you should expect to pay.” In almost every single case, this pricing info is going to be arbitrary and farfetched, and it doesn’t take into account all sorts of pricing aspects involved with a professional company that are going to give an above-and-beyond product. This is just a general warning if you’re going into your first landscaping or contracting project with a professional: it’s probably going to cost more than you’d think.
That being said, here’s a general pricing list you can start with, which covers all softscape/hardscape options from lowest to highest cost:
Mulch/Bark/Wood Chips
Sod/Grass
Gravel/Crushed Granite
Rubber/Bagged Mulch
Bulk-bought Pebbles
Stabilized Decomposed Granite (DG)
Mexican Beach Pebbles
Artificial Turf
Standard Poured Concrete
Polished Pebbles
Flagstone with Softscape Between
Poured Concrete Pavers with Softscape Between
Premium Interlocking Pavers
Flagstone/Brick/Tile with Mortar Between
Standard Cedar/Redwood Decking
Composite/Premium Hardwood Decking
And here are the good points and bad points for each type of ground cover/hardscape material:
1. Mulch/Bark/Wood Chips
Good for drainage, helping plants grow, it gives a planting space a natural look, a shredded mulch is one of the only non-plant ground covers for slopes over 45 degrees and is good for beneath trees that shed a lot (as the leaves blend and can decompose into it). It can be bad because it can bring in termites, you need to refresh it from time to time due to sun bleach/decomposition (more money in the long run than something like gravel due to this), and it can sometimes be a bit messy. We like to use mulch/bark/chips (if we have to) more often in contained planting areas against the house or other structures (where it might not sun bleach so much or you wouldn’t have to replace such a huge amount) or on hillside slopes. In most cases not on a slope, we’d recommend using a colored gravel/crushed granite instead, due to its color options and longevity, but some people might simply like the more “natural” look of mulch, which is totally fine; it'll just usually be a bit more maintenance and money in the long run.
2. Sod/Grass
Good for kids/dogs to run around on and a soft, cool yard. Artificial turf could arguably be a little better in some cases, due to lack of maintenance and watering, but one issue is that artificial turf can get a little hot to the touch on a hot day and it costs somewhat dramatically more (but not in the long run, due to the maintenance/watering needed for grass). Sod can't really be used as a patio either, like artificial turf can, because the sprinklers would get any furniture on it wet, and any furniture would shade and damage the grass. Main issue with sod in LA is the water, time and money needed for regular maintenance and to help it survive through droughts. We still do sod projects here and there, but we try to deter people from using it unnecessarily or in front yards when it's not really needed if we can. Luckily, some sods are more drought-resistant than others, and we can recommend good options if we need to use it.
We LOVE gravel. There are so many different colors to choose from, and we can match or nicely contrast it with pretty much any style of home. It’s great for drainage in planter areas, it works in that useless dirt space on the side of your house that’s collecting water and damaging your foundation, it's great for xeriscaped front yards, and it's even great for a cheaper backyard/courtyard patio when you use a smaller sized stone. We're going to recommend this in a great many situations. A couple of the very few downsides to using gravel would be if you used it on a heavy hillside where it could slide and roll down if walked on, or if you used it underneath a messy tree where it might be a hassle to clean leaves/debris out of it. It also shouldn't really be used in a main backyard area for kids and dogs to run around on - too messy and hazardous. Other than those things, we want to put it all over the place in a lot of cases for drainage and style in a xeriscape yard, Spanish/French style patio, etc. We'll always recommend using a high-quality weed fabric beneath gravels and mulches to heavily suppress weeds and to keep maintenance down. It’s not necessarily poor for the environment/soil, and it’s especially not even close to as bad as regularly using weed killer, which has been proven to cause cancer and other horrible problems.
4. Rubber/Bagged Mulch
A good item to use for a sectioned-off play area for kids, or for small, insignificant planter areas that need some filler. Not super aesthetically pleasing in most larger planter areas. Another good alternative for play areas are rubber tiles and things like that. Grass won't really grow well in an area with play structures and nonstop foot traffic, so this kind of mulch could be a good option. Artificial turf would also be a solid choice, and natural playground wood chips can be bought in bulk.
5. Bulk-bought Pebbles
We can get a smoother stone than a gravel in bulk with a few different color options. If you want to spend a bit more and don't like a more jagged gravel for your planter areas or patios, or if your property style calls for it, there are some options in this category if you don't want to go all the way up to the next highest rock cost of bagged pebbles for your xeriscape or softscape patio.
6. Stabilized Decomposed Granite (DG)
Some companies out there will put DG all over the place. We generally recommend against that for a few reasons. DG brings a bright beige color to your yard and a flat surface, so it can seem nice and clean, but there are some issues. There is always a thin layer of small rock/sand on top of it that can easily get stuck in your shoes, so it’s best not to have it directly adjacent to your house where you'll bring it in often and potentially scratch/dirty up your floors, etc. Also, due to the resin built into stabilized DG, it doesn't drain very well (not great for heavy rains or plants). Water will absorb into it a bit, but it’ll mostly act like concrete during a heavy rain, pushing the water all over the place across the surface instead of spreading it out throughout the yard and into the earth (like rocks would do). Heavier rains falling off your roof and nearby sprinkler runoff can also create divots/small rivers in your DG over time, which can be a bit of a maintenance nuisance, as well as create minor cracking here and there. In most cases, we’d rather use gravel or something similar to provide for better drainage or upgrade to a hardscape for a patio. If you love DG, and some people do, we recommend using it in more confined pathways and smaller fire pit type patios away from the house, along with an edging bordering it, and with gravel/mulch in other areas around it to help with drainage. It’s nice to get different textures/colors on a property and we are ALL for that. A back yard can be awesome with a DG fire pit patio at the back, a hedge surrounding the yard with mulch at the base of it, some gravel areas surrounding the DG with drought plants, a grass or artificial turf main yard area, and an interlocking paver patio just at the rear of the house. With so many colors and textures, this can make for a brilliant back yard. We just want you to know the potential downsides that come along with every option. We’ll put DG everywhere if that’s what you want! And that’s totally fine, at least it’s a xeriscape. We’ll just have to grade it properly and you should be ready for some maintenance and a potentially messy floor in your home.
7. Mexican Beach Pebbles
A popular item for the Contemporary, Spanish and Craftsman styles, Mexican Beach Pebbles are a great option. They come with a bit of a price (as they are generally bought bagged, not in bulk), but the look could be well worth it. Wouldn't really recommend doing a huge yard with them as a xeriscape option, mainly due to cost, but it’s definitely a solid option for contained planter areas against the house, in an Asian style courtyard, against walls/fences with a nice hedge, etc.
8. Artificial Turf
Great option for a yard, as explained in the sod section above. Good for drainage with the sand base beneath. Great for an very low-maintenance option between concrete pavers. A good choice for a front yard if you love the grass look with little to no maintenance/water/continual costs. Artificial turf style and texture has come a LONG way. It used to all look like a flat football field, fake and plastic-like. There are many great options these days that look natural and are super cozy to walk on, and there are also solid options for dogs.
9. Standard Poured Concrete
Not recommended entirely too often. Useful for a low-price hardscape patio, but not exactly the most aesthetically pleasing option in most cases. Issues are: even though we reinforce it with rebar and joint lines, it’s still prone to at least hairline cracking over time due to the nonstop minor earthquakes and soil shifting in Los Angeles. If it’s stained by something, that is basically forever. An upgrade to an interlocking paver option is almost always worth it in our opinion.
10. Polished Pebbles
Same deal as the Mexican Beach Pebbles; just another upgrade from there. This is a very costly item for a rock ground cover, so it’s not used entirely too often. If used, it’s mainly placed in skinny planter areas, pots, etc. You’ll very rarely see these in an entire yard. Can be very nice, but a bit over the top and unnecessary in a lot of cases. Great for a fish tank!
11. Standard Interlocking Pavers
Another item that we can't recommend enough, just like gravel. Belgard and Angelus are two paver companies we use quite often (we highly recommend Belgard in most cases). There are so many color and style options and we can easily find a paver for any type of property, from contemporary to Spanish to Craftsman, etc. A great option for driveways as well. Maintenance is extremely minimal and simple, stains go unnoticed most of the time, they can be cut and laid out on a curve if needed, they don't crack like concrete, etc. If we could use gravel, drought-resistant plants with drip irrigation, interlocking pavers and artificial turf on every property, we would be in heaven (and so would you, because the maintenance and stress factors would be so low, it’d be almost impossible to get upset about your property ever again).
12. Flagstone with Softscape Between
Flagstone can be a bit costly, but it comes with a natural look. It's useful for Mediterranean style projects and some other styles. We would still love to use interlocking pavers instead, but if you want it, we can do it! There are many color options out there to choose from, some of which can get quite expensive. One issue with flagstone with softscape (gravel, decomposed granite, etc.) between is if you're using it for a patio, chair and table legs could get stuck between the stones when shifted. A bit better to use this option for aesthetic front and back yard pathways. If something heavy is dropped on a piece of flagstone, it also has the potentiality to crack, and that’s one expensive thing to crack. It's a good option for people who like it and when their home style really calls for it, but we’d just love to talk you into some stronger rectangles and squares instead most of the time.
13. Poured Concrete Pavers with Softscape Between
A great option for contemporary/mid-century style houses, this is a style that's getting more and more popular, and it's going nowhere. You can pour a square or rectangular concrete paver/slab any size you like. We like utilizing different sized rectangles in our concrete paver designs when it comes to patios and pathways for a very custom, natural look that compliments the surrounding area. You can use many different types of materials in the gaps between these kinds of pavers. DG is an okay option, as it looks flat and clean, but it can make the tops of the pavers a bit messy. Gravel would also get a bit messy, as it would get kicked up often. Usually, the most recommended options for between concrete pavers are a medium-sized gray Mexican Beach Pebble (1”-2”) or similar, or artificial turf. These provide the least amount of maintenance and mess, and also provide some drainage and a nice look. A lot of the time, the more contemporary styles of landscaping/hardscaping call for the lower maintenance, cleaner items. It’s a new age of efficiency and impatience, and we are ALL about that!
14. Premium Interlocking Pavers
This would be an upgrade to a stone, porcelain or other similarly-priced interlocking paver. It's not too often that people look to make this upgrade, as some of the standard paver options (especially with Belgard) are nicely priced and gorgeous, but they can be a beautiful option around pools, for upgraded patios, etc., if budget allows. If you want to look into some options like this, that's totally fine, but we'll need to see about costs.
15. Flagstone/Brick/Tile with Mortar Between
This is another high-cost type item that I'd rather talk you into interlocking pavers instead, but again, it’s something we can do if you really like it and have the budget for it. Issues with mortared flagstone/brick/tile: with all the shifting and minor earthquakes we get, the mortar can also shift and crack over time, making both the mortar and the material uneven. Replacing sections of mortar or flagstone/brick/tile after it’s already aged is not usually attractive. Tile is great, but there’s a ridiculous amount of unique options out there, that we'd rather have you locate your tile and have it shipped in for us to install. Some minor issues with tile in particular are that it’s fragile, the whole process is expensive, and it can be slippery. Flagstones and bricks are fragile too. If you drop something heavy on them, they can crack pretty easily (pavers win).
16. Standard Cedar/Redwood Decking
Decking is something we would love to do far more often, but material costs for items like this just keep on skyrocketing; labor-wise decking is just a high-cost item, so most people settle for interlocking pavers, etc. It is, however, a perfect option if your house is raised a couple feet above your back yard and you want to step directly out onto your back patio without stepping down some steps, as we can raise decks up with a solid framework. Cedar and Redwood are both long-lasting, termite-resistant options that last even longer when stained. Our decks also come with a pressure-treated wood framework for more longevity and termite-resistance. We love the look of a natural wood patio and we love the smell; it just comes with a high cost and some maintenance here and there (sanding, staining, etc.). If we could put decks in at every single property, we would, but it’s just not realistic so much of the time (and it’s also mean to our poor trees).
17. Composite/Premium Hardwood Decking
Another couple items we’d love to do far more often, because they’re honestly magnificent, but they’re some of the highest priced items in this entire industry. With all the framework and costly decking boards needed, along with all the labor involved, the cost just adds up higher and higher; but if you want to show off a bit to your friends and family with an amazing product and you have a solid budget to work with, this is absolutely an option for you. Composite wood decking would require little to no regular maintenance and they have some beautiful options (TimberTech and Trex are two good companies [TimberTech’s a bit more unique and diverse in our opinion]). A premium hardwood like Brazilian Ipe is one of the most aesthetically pleasing looks for a patio that exists. It requires more maintenance than the composite of course, but not as much as the Cedar/Redwood, being that it’s such a strong and massy wood that comes from the center of the tree. These are premium options for people who want to show the world that they have the best, and these options are well worth it for that purpose and to increase your property value.
We hope you take our advice and use it in your own way to create something absolutely breathtaking that lasts!
-Cody Simpson, Chief Landscape Consultant