Landscaping costs

[Anonymous]

We live in Bethesda and pay for landscaping. I borrowed a mower and mowed our lawn once and it took me 3 hours. I'd rather spend those 3 hours with our kids than mowing the lawn. Our total landscape costs in a typical year is $5-7k, but this year it'll be $20-25k as we had to fix a lot of drainage, plant new sod, install new plants and mulch, etc.

We also pay people to clean our house, fix our cars, clean our gutters, and wash our cars. I know how to do most of that, but I own a business and 2 hours of my time spent developing the business makes us a whole lot more than the cost to pay someone to do those tasks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can people who are paying 700 to 850 list who they are using?

+100. We've lived in Falls Church, Vienna and now McLean (all quarter acre lots) and it's always cost us between $1,200-2,000 (with mulch) and that's asking around for affordable companies.

[Anonymous]

I love it when the judgy people come out to lecture others about how they should/should not be spending their time and money. Do people who hire others to clean their home and fix their cars next!

We had a lawn service because, after working 40+-hour weeks, commuting, and supervising homework/activities, spending hours doing yard work is not my idea of a good time. We have neighbors who love it and do it themselves, but they're in the minority (and most are retired).

As soon as I can work it into the budget, I'm getting a housecleaner, too. Life is too short to waste my precious free time on things I hate doing!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I live in Bethesda and see crews after crew of people doing spring cleanups. It’s not easy work, but I’m surprised people don’t just enjoy the weather and do some of it themselves? My guess is people are spending between 200-1000 on these cleanups, and that’s a lot of money heading tomorrow spring break!

On the flip side, I did see a lot of more “normal”’people at our local Home Depot who were buying supplies to do it themselves. Just think maybe I’m too cheap or poor to pay that much for spring cleaning!

I also thing gardening is a “slow” process if you do it by yourself and are trying to do it well, but people get impatient and just get these crews to clean up and stick in a bunch of annuals. It looks nice on the estate homes, but seems a little bit overkill on the normal homes, and it’s so expensive!

If you are doing this type of “expensive landscaping”, help me understand your perspective.

For weeding, pruning and mulching my 1/4 acre lot, it’s $400 with our landscaper. Takes DH and I 2 full days and $150 worth of mulch. The extra $250 is well worth it not to do it ourselves. DH does our mowing but only because he likes it.

[Anonymous]

We spend about 1400 and a 4 person crew does it in about a day. 500 just for the mulch. Our lot is about .75 an acre.

I have no desire to do this myself.

Time is money so am happy to outsource this particular activity.

They also mow the lawn every week and trim the hedges for $30.

[Anonymous]

Can anyone in Arlington share how mich their service costs and who they use? I am so sick of shots saying hell do it but can’t get to it and so our lawn looks like crap most of the year. Thanks

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can anyone in Arlington share how mich their service costs and who they use? I am so sick of shots saying hell do it but can’t get to it and so our lawn looks like crap most of the year. Thanks

Sorry for typos on phone. Should be “much” and “spouse” not “mich” and “shots.”

[Anonymous]

Because DH and I have horribly long commutes Mon-Fri. On the weekends, we just want to have fun with our kids and rest. We don’t have an expensive landscaper - but we do hire someone to help with lawn, planting stuff etc.

[Anonymous]

I used to work for one of those landscaping companies in Bethesda, GT and McLean. The one in McLean charged for services the crew didn’t do, like maintenance. Many times the crew looked the front yard just from the truck and continued the trip to another residence. I remember a customer complaint about workers who digged out a precious herbaceous perennial from the front yard as if it were a weed. They charged ridiculous amounts of $.

[Anonymous]

This is what the actualhttps://www.soareslandscaping.ca/landscaping-cost-pricing-guide [code]landscaping cost in 2024" target="_new" rel="nofollow"> https://www.soareslandscaping.ca/landscaping-cost-pricing-guide [code]landscaping cost in 2024. Correct me I'm wrong.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is what the actualhttps://www.soareslandscaping.ca/landscaping-cost-pricing-guide [code]landscaping cost in 2024" target="_new" rel="nofollow"> https://www.soareslandscaping.ca/landscaping-cost-pricing-guide [code]landscaping cost in 2024. Correct me I'm wrong.

Is this spam or did someone really post this to revive this ancient thread? OP isn't talking about landscaping projects, she is talking about maintenance costs, not redesigning and re-doing someone's yard. Some people maintain themselves while others hire people. There is no way someone spends 10s of thousands yearly on landscaping unless it's a legitimate mansion

[Anonymous]

To me lawn services are for people with a lot of money. It's so expensive for what it is if you have a small yard. Mowing takes me 20 minutes every other week with my electric mower.

[Anonymous]

A big factor is the workplace obviously trending away from manual labor and a general lack of skills outside the workplace. Yes, a lot of white collar jobs can be demanding, but it's not the same thing as busting your ass all day pulling an engine out of a car on a 100 degree day or digging a ditch. Older generations tend to be more self sufficient than millennials. It also bothers me to pay someone to do something that I can do myself, but to each their own.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: Older generations tend to be more self sufficient than millennials. It also bothers me to pay someone to do something that I can do myself, but to each their own.

I remember seeing a study maybe 10 years ago that showed working parents today spend more time with their children than stay at home parents did in the 50s/60s. I'm all for a good reminiscing about the old days but if hiring out housework allows working parents to spend more time with their kids than stay at home parents a generation or two ago I'm going to chalk it up as a win.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To me lawn services are for people with a lot of money. It's so expensive for what it is if you have a small yard. Mowing takes me 20 minutes every other week with my electric mower.

I did that for several years mainly because I wanted to keep doing it until my mower broke down. Got to the point where the battery wasn't good enough for a full mow and it just got boring. A half acre lot (a bit hilly) would take me at least an hour of mowing and another 20-30 mins of edging, blowing, etc. and it wasn't something I enjoyed especially in the summer months. Just outsourced it for $50/week. They are done in 20 mins and I think it's money well spent.