Everyone wants their home to be surrounded by a well-planned out and beautiful looking landscape. The problem for most homeowners from Victoria to Sidney 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? With real estate prices currently hovering around $500,000 for an average household with enough property to even landscape to begin with; a budget of $10,000 or less would only amount to 2% of the total value of the property.
So…. 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
Exposed Aggregate After Cleaning
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 Greater Victoria 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 Greater Victoria area (including Sidney) 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 edging the lawn, there is no end to the amount of property maintenance that most homeowners on Vancouver Island 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
- Gutter cleaning and brightening
Property clean ups usually involve a small crew with a truck, dump trailer or one of our roll-off yard waste dumpster bins (for bigger clean ups) some basic lawn and garden power and hand tools. Property clean ups are usually in the $500 – $1500+ dollar range but it really depends on how much work is going to be involved and how big the property we’re cleaning up is.
#3. What About a New Deck or Patio?
New Exposed Aggregate Patio
We’re blessed with beautiful weather most of the year and there is no better way to relax in the cool summer breeze than on your own backyard deck or patio. Decks can be built out of materials like pressure treated lumber or cedar for a more decorative appearance.
A well built deck could typically last 10-15 years or even more if it’s cared for and painted/stained every few years. If you have an existing deck that’s just a little old and weathered you can even consider refacing or refinishing it.
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 concrete or 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.
The cost to build a deck or a 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 deck or patio for an average sized property.
#4. What About an Outdoor Cooking Area?
If you’re considering the addition of a patio or a new deck then it would be perfect timing to consider a beautiful new outdoor cooking area. Maybe you’d like to have a covered area to BBQ in your backyard ? Or maybe you’d like to have a nice river rock fire pit surrounded by benches for those outdoor get togethers. If you enjoy entertaining guests then an outdoor cooking area is like an extension of your kitchen and when the weather is nice, you know where you’d rather be!
#5. Have You Considered a Privacy Hedge or Fence?
A Mature Hedge Contributes To Property Value.
Increasing privacy usually increases the value of your property too. Hedges make an excellent investment into any residential landscape and they 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.
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 Greater Victoria 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!
#6. What About Garden Structures?
Gazebos, pergolas and arbors make fantastic additions to any outdoor landscape and can offer a beautiful spot to sit and relax for a cup of tea or to read the morning newspaper. There is no shortage of dilapidated gazebos and other garden structures that were poorly built (like the kits you buy from a store) or have been neglected and many homeowners are looking to rebuild them and enjoy them once again.
You probably already know that you can buy garden structures like these from any big box home improvement store. You just might not be happy with the quality or longevity of your new garden structure. When you hire a company like Island Pro to build your garden structure you’ll be getting a custom one-off structure built for your property using premium materials and quality craftsmanship that will have your neighbors saying “wow!”.
#7. Restoring Or Replacing Your Front or Back Lawn
New Lawn & Irrigation System.
Is a beautiful, lush, green lawn in your plans for your dream landscaping? 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 Greater Victoria area it’s often surprising to the homeowners how affordable it is to have a new lawn installed. Turf or 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, a lawn soil mix is spread down and we’re ready to roll out your new grass!
Turf is estimated based on the square footage of the property and the amount of prep work and labor required to install it. If you’re working with a $10,000 budget then a front and back lawn might not be as far out of your reach as you thought!
#8. 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 $3000 -/+ 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 Island Pro Mowing and Landscaping?
When you Choose Island Pro Mowing and Landscaping 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 Greater Victoria.
Our staff wear uniforms, are properly trained and will always be friendly and courteous. By choosing Island Pro 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 250-812-4676 or fill out our online contact form and someone will be getting right back to you.
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