What Does Landscaping Cost? A Realistic Landscaping Budget Guide

1 day ago
5 min read

Cozy front yard patio with two woven chairs, potted plants, and a large tree beside a modern coastal white house.

You probably have a pretty good idea of what you want your yard to look like—but do you know what it actually costs to build it?

Before we start designing, we need to talk about one not-so-fun (but really important) thing: your landscaping budget.

Knowing what you’re comfortable spending helps us create a landscape design that’s realistic for your goals. It also helps us prioritize the wish list and figure out where it makes sense to save or splurge.

So, what does a landscaping project actually cost? Let’s break down what different budget ranges can realistically look like—and stick around because I’ll also show you where I think it’s worth saving and where I’d spend the extra money.

Quick disclaimer: Every yard is different, so these aren't package prices—just a general guide to what different landscape budgets can look like.

What Your Budget Can Get You: Price Range Breakdown

The Refresh ($15k and under)

A landscape refresh focuses on essential elements like mulch, small plantings, and irrigation. There won’t be any major hardscaping features, but you can still make your yard look neat and functional. This range is great for simple garden updates and low-maintenance designs. Think drought-tolerant plants, fresh mulch, gravel pathways and a more efficient irrigation system that helps you conserve water while keeping your plants healthy.

Our Softscape Design + Install service is perfect for projects in this range. If your existing hardscape is staying and you're ready to completely rethink the planting, irrigation and finishing materials, this is a great way to transform the look and feel of your yard without starting from scratch.

Modern beige house with an arched entryway and steps, surrounded by desert landscaping with rocks and succulents. Clear blue sky. — Budget-friendly design with drought-tolerant plants, rock mulch, and boulders for lasting impact—simple, functional, and low-maintenance.

Two white Adirondack chairs sit in a garden with green plants and rocks, near a house with a tiled roof and large windows. Sunny atmosphere. — Simple, budget-friendly front yard with a gravel seating area, impactful plants, boulders for interest, and low-maintenance Korean grass ground cover—easy on the wallet and no mowing needed!

The Upgrade ($15k - $50k)

With more room in the budget, you have a lot more flexibility to upgrade your landscape. You can start incorporating a full planting design, new irrigation, outdoor lighting, finish materials and some hardscaping depending on the size and scope of the yard. This is also where creative material choices can really stretch your budget. Gravel, flagstone and landscape ties can create beautiful patios and pathways without putting all of your money into custom concrete.

Modern house exterior with stone accents, lush garden, and palm trees. Stone path leads to patio with chairs and fire pit. Cloudy sky. — At our Host by the Coast Project, we used chipseal and landscape ties to create a budget-friendly raised patio. If you're working within **The Upgrade** range, concrete isn't your only option—there are plenty of creative ways to design unique seating areas and walkways that bring personality and a wow factor, far beyond what concrete can offer.

Modern house entrance with a stone pillar, beige siding, and dark patio chairs. Lush landscaping features rocks and green plants. — A store-bought propane fire bowl finishes off this seating area without the cost of a custom built-in feature. Still cozy, still a focal point, and a great place to save.

Gravel path with wooden steps leading to a dark green door. Hanging wicker chair with cushions, lush plants, and grass create a cozy vibe. — Landscape ties and gravel for the win at our Cottage Garden Project—an affordable, charming alternative to concrete that adds way more character and warmth.

Outdoor patio with wicker chairs, table, and metal fireplace. Stacked logs in background. Green grass and trees create a cozy garden vibe. — A gravel seating area and store-bought chiminea kept this little hangout at our Cottage Garden Project simple, charming and affordable. Proof that not every corner of the yard needs a big-ticket feature to feel special.

The Transformation ($50k - $100k)

As the budget increases, you can start looking at a more complete transformation. There’s room for extensive planting, irrigation and lighting along with more substantial hardscaping like patios, walkways, walls and other built features. You can absolutely incorporate custom features and splurge-worthy details at this level, but you may not be able to do everything on the wish list. This is where prioritizing what will make the biggest impact really matters. The more hardscape and specialty features you add, the faster that budget can disappear.

Front view of a white house with a tree, wooden fence, and neatly landscaped yard. Stone path leads to entrance. Number 347 visible. Tranquil setting. — At our Casa Project, we splurged on new concrete walkway, a custom cedar fence and a new deck area—but still kept the overall project within **The Transformation** range. A good example of how you can work in some bigger-ticket features without going full send.

Modern front yard patio with wooden chairs around a fire pit, surrounded by trees, rocks, and desert plants. — And here’s where we saved at the Casa Project. A prefab fire pit, Ikea (shhh) Adirondack chairs and chipseal instead of more concrete gave us another outdoor living area without blowing the budget. Splurge on the deck and fence, save here. It’s all about balance.

The Full Send ($100k+)

At this level, the possibilities really start to open up for a complete dream yard transformation. With more room in the budget, you can combine extensive hardscaping, premium materials, mature trees and multiple custom features throughout the property. Features like pools, custom outdoor kitchens, fire pits, fencing, pergolas and other specialty work can push the overall project investment well beyond $100k. If you're looking to completely transform your property, this is a much more realistic place to start the conversation.

Poolside chairs and a stone fireplace sit amidst lush greenery and trees. The serene outdoor setting features a sleek design and tranquil ambiance. — Our Minimalist Luxe Project is definitely a Full Send. A pool, custom stonework, freestanding stone fireplace and larger hedge material for instant privacy and a more mature look—this is where we chose to splurge for impact from day one.

Tree in a landscaped patio with stone tiles, bordered by dark wooden fencing. Cloudy sky and hills visible in the background, creating a serene mood. — More custom stonework, a mature olive tree and elevation changes throughout the hardscape take this one even further. When you’re going Full Send, it’s these layers that make the whole yard feel truly custom.

How We Design With Your Landscaping Budget in Mind

Talking about budget isn't the fun part of designing your yard, but it's an important one. We want to know what you want to accomplish, what matters most to you and what you're realistically comfortable spending before we start designing.

At your initial design meeting, we'll talk through your wish list and help you understand what's realistic within that range. Sometimes that means deciding where it makes sense to save and where something is worth the splurge. We have a whole post on where to save vs. splurge in your landscape if you want to dig into that a little more.

Landscaper in a Fredrickson shirt walks through a sunny plant nursery lined with rows of potted succulents and cacti.

From there, we create your first draft with that budget in mind. But the first draft is also where things start to get real. During your revision meeting, we'll walk through the design together and use our Budget Estimator to see where the project is landing based on the materials and features we've selected.

Too high? We can look at what to change, simplify or save for another phase.

Have a little more room? Maybe we bring something from the wish list back in.

We can make those decisions together before finalizing the plan.

The goal isn't to design your dream yard and then surprise you with what it costs. It's to create a plan you love that's also grounded in what you're actually comfortable spending.

Your landscape plan is the first investment in getting there—giving you a clear direction before the much bigger investment of actually building it.

Ready to start planning your yard? Book a discovery call and let's talk about what you have in mind.