What is your annual landscaping and lawn care budget…

[Anonymous]

About $450/month

[Anonymous]

I do it myself. About 1.5 ac. Few hundred dollars per year. Mostly gas and fertilizer/weed control, lime and stuff

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No mulch - mulch has no place in a real garden, people! It's ugly and serves no purpose.

Silliest thing I’ve ever heard.

That's because you've never paused to look at real gardens, and you've drunk the landscaping cool-aid. None of the landscaping companies around here have real gardeners - they're just recent migrants under a non-gardening manager replicating a rather ugly and expensive model of high-maintenance lawn + mulch beds (sparsely dotted with the occasional flowering plant and tree). No garden is actually like this! Mulch is essentially the symbol of a failed garden.

You want to mass plantings so mulch is not needed. If you don't want a lawn, you can have groundcover plants, water features, gravel, bricks or stone pathways. But borders and island plantings don't need mulch. Even when transitioning, as PP said, mulch is not actually necessary - you can put your lawn clippings or tree trimmings down instead with the same physical and chemical effect. There is hardly ever a gardening reason to buy mulch, ever.

- European who has had many gardens in Germany, France, the UK and now here, and who has visited hundreds of famous gardens in Europe and Asia. No mulch in any of them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No mulch - mulch has no place in a real garden, people! It's ugly and serves no purpose.

Silliest thing I’ve ever heard.

That's because you've never paused to look at real gardens, and you've drunk the landscaping cool-aid. None of the landscaping companies around here have real gardeners - they're just recent migrants under a non-gardening manager replicating a rather ugly and expensive model of high-maintenance lawn + mulch beds (sparsely dotted with the occasional flowering plant and tree). No garden is actually like this! Mulch is essentially the symbol of a failed garden.

You want to mass plantings so mulch is not needed. If you don't want a lawn, you can have groundcover plants, water features, gravel, bricks or stone pathways. But borders and island plantings don't need mulch. Even when transitioning, as PP said, mulch is not actually necessary - you can put your lawn clippings or tree trimmings down instead with the same physical and chemical effect. There is hardly ever a gardening reason to buy mulch, ever.

- European who has had many gardens in Germany, France, the UK and now here, and who has visited hundreds of famous gardens in Europe and Asia. No mulch in any of them.

You can step off your high horse. Why do you assume mulch automatically means the colored hardwood stuff that landscapers are spreading everywhere right now? I’ve been gardening for the past 40 years and have long been a fan of Ruth Stout. I lay down 2 inches of compost and manure each year around all my plants, then I put on a thick layer of wood chips at least 6 inches. I get them free from Chip Drop or flag down a tree removal truck. The soil when I moved into my house 20 years ago was hard clay and now I can easily sink in a spade over 2 feet deep. And I never have to weed or even water much.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No mulch - mulch has no place in a real garden, people! It's ugly and serves no purpose.

Silliest thing I’ve ever heard.

That's because you've never paused to look at real gardens, and you've drunk the landscaping cool-aid. None of the landscaping companies around here have real gardeners - they're just recent migrants under a non-gardening manager replicating a rather ugly and expensive model of high-maintenance lawn + mulch beds (sparsely dotted with the occasional flowering plant and tree). No garden is actually like this! Mulch is essentially the symbol of a failed garden.

You want to mass plantings so mulch is not needed. If you don't want a lawn, you can have groundcover plants, water features, gravel, bricks or stone pathways. But borders and island plantings don't need mulch. Even when transitioning, as PP said, mulch is not actually necessary - you can put your lawn clippings or tree trimmings down instead with the same physical and chemical effect. There is hardly ever a gardening reason to buy mulch, ever.

- European who has had many gardens in Germany, France, the UK and now here, and who has visited hundreds of famous gardens in Europe and Asia. No mulch in any of them.

You can step off your high horse. Why do you assume mulch automatically means the colored hardwood stuff that landscapers are spreading everywhere right now? I’ve been gardening for the past 40 years and have long been a fan of Ruth Stout. I lay down 2 inches of compost and manure each year around all my plants, then I put on a thick layer of wood chips at least 6 inches. I get them free from Chip Drop or flag down a tree removal truck. The soil when I moved into my house 20 years ago was hard clay and now I can easily sink in a spade over 2 feet deep. And I never have to weed or even water much.

it's european horse to you!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No mulch - mulch has no place in a real garden, people! It's ugly and serves no purpose.

Silliest thing I’ve ever heard.

That's because you've never paused to look at real gardens, and you've drunk the landscaping cool-aid. None of the landscaping companies around here have real gardeners - they're just recent migrants under a non-gardening manager replicating a rather ugly and expensive model of high-maintenance lawn + mulch beds (sparsely dotted with the occasional flowering plant and tree). No garden is actually like this! Mulch is essentially the symbol of a failed garden.

You want to mass plantings so mulch is not needed. If you don't want a lawn, you can have groundcover plants, water features, gravel, bricks or stone pathways. But borders and island plantings don't need mulch. Even when transitioning, as PP said, mulch is not actually necessary - you can put your lawn clippings or tree trimmings down instead with the same physical and chemical effect. There is hardly ever a gardening reason to buy mulch, ever.

- European who has had many gardens in Germany, France, the UK and now here, and who has visited hundreds of famous gardens in Europe and Asia. No mulch in any of them.

I think it all really depends on the circumstances. My DH is not a gardener. But, he has strong opinions about how a garden should look, and it's the neat and tidy, plants in a row like soldiers with mulch underneath them, kind of look. I'm a gardener, and my love is for cottage gardens, plants so thick that weeds are not a problem. So the compromise solution is that the spaces that are more public are his, and "tidy", and the ones that are more private are mine, and less tidy. I'm slowly converting about 1/2 acre into a native garden, and I do find it helpful to have mulch down, as a way to deter weeds, as I pop in a few plants here and there. I will probably be done in 10 years, at which point there won't be any need for mulch for my garden.

[Anonymous]

I do it all myself and spend probably $1k/year. That will slow down some when I run out of room for plants. I’ve been converting most of our lawn. But I’m sure I’ll still buy a lot of plants each year, and I tend to do bagged compost and mulch because i have a small lot and nowhere to take a big delivery.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No mulch - mulch has no place in a real garden, people! It's ugly and serves no purpose.

Silliest thing I’ve ever heard.

That's because you've never paused to look at real gardens, and you've drunk the landscaping cool-aid. None of the landscaping companies around here have real gardeners - they're just recent migrants under a non-gardening manager replicating a rather ugly and expensive model of high-maintenance lawn + mulch beds (sparsely dotted with the occasional flowering plant and tree). No garden is actually like this! Mulch is essentially the symbol of a failed garden.

You want to mass plantings so mulch is not needed. If you don't want a lawn, you can have groundcover plants, water features, gravel, bricks or stone pathways. But borders and island plantings don't need mulch. Even when transitioning, as PP said, mulch is not actually necessary - you can put your lawn clippings or tree trimmings down instead with the same physical and chemical effect. There is hardly ever a gardening reason to buy mulch, ever.

- European who has had many gardens in Germany, France, the UK and now here, and who has visited hundreds of famous gardens in Europe and Asia. No mulch in any of them.

I’m really shocked that a garden lover could be such a cont! Wow.

One of the most lovely types of garden for our area is a woodland garden, which is inspired by the local forest. Without the deep leaf litter from the actual woodland, mulch or woodchips are a good option. You might have spring ephemerals and then bare ground in the shady hot summer and if you don’t put down mulch or have a thick layer of leaves (and even if you do) you’ll really battle with invasive weeds.

One of the best places to view this type of garden imo is the “fern valley” section of the arboretum. You may not even consider it a “garden” although I certainly think it qualifies.

Even my full sun, densely planted perennial bed benefits from a layer of compost and sometimes mulch. I mulch under the roses for weed suppression and to conserve water. Etc.

[Anonymous]

I outsource weekly lawn mowing from April to October if the crew do a good job. I’ve started to do my own lawn care treatments using granular weed control and fertilizer. No spray. I also do the grub control and make sure I cover the areas well. The lawn care company used to charge $900 for the treatments and $700 for core aeration and reseeding. I got tired of their dishonesty. Now I pay $350 for all the products I choose and know they are effective.I do the reseeding paying $300 for quality seeds. I outsource the core aeration every other year.

[Anonymous]

I'm on an acre. I do nothing for the lawn other than mow it; feel free to class that as environmentally friendly or lazy. Usually mow every other week, but sometimes more frequently during peak growth. See previous statement.

Huge garden -- practically a farmden -- but we do start things from seed, diligently compost, divide bushes, etc.

Riding & walk-behind lawn mower -- maybe $300 - $400 a year in gas/maint/repair.

Seeds - maybe $20? Usually get a bunch of new varieties, plus leftovers from previous years. Tomato seeds from 2016 are coming up nicely.

Assorted other gardening stuff - $300? More expensive because replacing wooden trellises with metal, putting in a couple more raised beds, additional bags of soil.

Wood chips for free from arborists in the area that I flag down. They're happy to drop of a giant pile.

Put in a huge order for about a ten new fruiting bushes and trees - $300. Another $100 to protect the vulnerable ones from deer. Fortunately, not an ongoing expense. I hope.

[Anonymous]

I pay $380 a month/12 month contract for about .33 acre. It covers everything including leave collection, gutter cleaning, pruning, grass cutting and spring/fall clean up and mulch. Worth it to not deal with the hassle but once we retire I may consider taking on part of it myself.

[Anonymous]

I spend about $3000 for .2 acre lot. I pay for lawn mowing, spring clean up/pruning/mulching, leaf blowing, and always have them do a bit of other work. I handle most new plantings, bulb planting, veggies, myself. Also, mine might be higher because I have a lot of flower beds that require care.

[Anonymous]

just paid 900 for clean up and mulching just in front of the house. usually do it myself most years but just got behind this time i did get a second quote and it was 1300. seems these landscapers are really busy now

[Anonymous]

Minimum of $500/season for bi-weekly mowing and $500/year for mulch and grass seed. Another $1200 minimum for spring/fall cleanup. This is with me doing most weeding and other maintenance myself. I probably have .2 acres.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have a huge maintained yard (about an acre), and it's all outsourced, except the native garden I'm starting, so about 22K/year.

What type of maintenance costs almost 2K per month? There seems to be a huge gap in prices (judging by the reply of another poster with .75 acre lot paying less than 5K a year who also outsources)