Landscaping help

[Anonymous]

We bought a house that has a lot of professionally done landscaping. We have a new baby and yard maintenance is not a top priority (other than basics like mowing the lawn). We had the original landscaper come out to get a quote to tear everything out and so something more low maintenance. He strongly advised against it saying how much value it adds to the house. He suggested replacing a few plants and trimming everything correctly for $1600. At first I wasn't phased by the cost but now I really wonder if that's worth it. I can replace the plants myself. Is there someone else I can hire cheaper to do trimming? or how can I learn how to do it myself without totally butchering the plants (I have no clue how they are supposed to be shaped but they are clearly over grown).

Help!!

[Anonymous]

I think that a most expensive option is to rip everything out and replace the existing plants.

If you are trying to reduce costs but are unsure of your personal skills, hire a yard maintenance company and tell them what needs to be done. Maybe show them some pictures from when you first moved into the home. They would probably be a lot less than the landscaper, and the trimming should be only done 1 or 2 times per year.

[Anonymous]

Why would you want to rip everything out?

Hire a lawn service for $200 a month.

[Anonymous]

Please, please don't rip out mature landscaping! If you really don't think you can keep up with it yourself, hire a service. But if it isn't an enormous yard, you should be able to keep up with it.

[Anonymous]

What exactly do you need to maintain? Cleaning out weeds from planting beds and mulching? Trimming shrubs? Are the bushes getting oversized? Are they too close to the house?

If the house had professional landscaping in the first place, I doubt there is much that needs to be done.

Why don't you research what types of plants you have and only replace the ones that may grow too much or get out of control. Most shrubs do not need any annual maintenance other than watering during dry periods.

[Anonymous]

1600 to trim and replace a few plants sounds... overpriced.

[Anonymous]

Op here - What is the difference between a landscaper and a lawn maintenance company? I think mostly things are just overgrown, the things that need to be replaced are half dead and one big thing is about to fall over (it's like 8 or 10 ft tall).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op here - What is the difference between a landscaper and a lawn maintenance company? I think mostly things are just overgrown, the things that need to be replaced are half dead and one big thing is about to fall over (it's like 8 or 10 ft tall).

Landscapers design more and lawn maintenance do the regular cuttings/weedings/trimmings.

[Anonymous]

Op again - thank you - any recommendations on good services in the Kensington area?