Yet whether you’re doing a simple backyard remodel or a complete backyard renovation, you have to be smart about your landscaping costs. Many homeowners who embrace backyard renovations get too caught up in creating their dream landscaping, only to end up over-capitalizing.
If you want a healthy return on investment for your backyard renovation, it helps to have a detailed plan.
The Benefits of Landscaping your Home
It’s hard to put a hard number how just how much a backyard renovation or front yard renovation can improve your home’s value, as every landscaping concept is unique. However, conventional research estimates that a simple backyard remodel can improve the asking price of your home by as much as $5,000 to $10,000.
Including a complete yard renovation in your home renovating plan could even increase your home’s value by up to 200%. This might be due to increased demand for the property that promotes competitive bidding or estimates by real estate professionals when you put your home on the market.
Yet even if you aren’t planning to sell your home making improvements to your landscaping can have other functional benefits. This includes things like improved safety on walkways and garden paths.
Most yard renovations also improve landscaping, with healthier softscape plants. Not to mention making it easier to cut your grass and maintain your lawn.
Tips for Planning a Backyard or Front Yard Remodel
When planning to renovate your yard you need to separate your wants from your needs to make sure you stay within your landscape budget. You also have to account for any possible permitting, inspections, and when to dial before you dig requirements.
Assessing Your Landscaping
Making a checklist of needs wants, and possible improvements will help you remain objective when creating a yard renovation plan. Especially if you’re landscaping on a budget.
For example, you might want a decorative coy pond integrated with your landscaping concepts. Yet you need to improve the drainage of rainwater over your clay soil, and you could improve your walkway to make it safer for when the grandparents visit.
Consider asking yourself the following questions.
- What areas have drainage problems?
- What areas have failing functional landscaping?
- What cosmetic landscaping features have problems?
- Are there safety concerns that need to be addressed?
- Are there things that could make the lawn easier to maintain?
- Are there landscaping changes that could improve curb appeal?
- Would the lawn benefit from a new irrigation system?
- Are these changes things I can do myself?
- Do I need to contact a landscaping professional?
Common Features of a Landscaping Renovation
After assessing the areas that need improvement in your current landscaping, you can move on to determining which solutions are best. The following are common landscape renovations that are either installing new or modifying the existing features.
Retaining walls often have functional value in holding back areas prone to erosion or grade changes. Common forms include cantilevered, sheet pile, gravity, anchored, and block retaining walls.
Patios and decks are a great way to add more functional space to your outdoor landscaping concepts. Wood decking is still traditional, with many composite options available. Pour concrete, and paver patios also tend to be cost-effective when landscaping on a budget.
Driveways and sidewalks can be replaced or installed to create safe, smooth surfaces for pedestrians and vehicles. Different municipalities have regulations regarding how these hardscape features meet public safety standards.
Fences are a great way to enhance privacy and security throughout your property. Most municipalities and housing associations have covenants governing the type of acceptable fencing, and its spacing from adjacent properties.
Water features can be cosmetic or functional. This includes things like coy ponds, pools, and backyard waterfalls. The material cost and permitting requirements may require landscaping contractors to do these projects.
Irrigation systems that water the turf and garden are one of the more popular features integrated into major landscape renovations. Modern systems use rain sensors and other smart features that might require professional installation.
Turf and lawncare maintenance improvements are often wrapped into most landscape remodel plans. This might be changed in the type of grass, installing side, or even changing the grade in low-lying areas. If you have budget available, you might want to consider a robotic mowing system.
Softscape features like flower beds, vegetable gardens, raised gardens, trees, and other landscaping plants are an inexpensive way to remodel your landscaping on a budget.
Outdoor lighting can be added to walkways, driveways, and hardscape features to improve aesthetics and safety. In some cases, there are permitting and inspection requirements that are best handled by a landscaping contractor. Solar lighting is a cost effective and easy DIY install friendly alternative.
Play areas, playgrounds, and sandpits are popular features families integrate into their home improvement plans. If you have multiple young children, the value to the family can outweigh the cost. However, if your backyard renovation is intended to improve the home for sale, playground features have a much lower return on investment.
Seek Inspiration
One of the best ways to improve your knowledge base when planning a landscaping remodel, is watch home improvements shows like Three Birds Renovations, Fixer Upper, The Block, and Dream Home. You should also check out the DIY lawncare solutions offered at major stores like Bunnings and Home Depot.
There are also a lot of landscaping magazines and coffee table books rife with landscaping ideas. This includes things like Gardens Illustrated Australia, Better Homes and Gardens and Green Magazine, just to name a few.
For a large backyard remodel, you could contact local landscaping contractors that are licensed, and insured. Most offer free consultations and can provide you with a price quote. A few even have their own landscaping architects who can design a digital mock-up of what your new backyard remodel will look like.
Creating a Landscaping Budget
If you’re doing a simple backyard remodel that you can handle on your own, you might be able to base your budget on the money you already have available. For a more intensive modern landscaping remodel, or a complete backyard renovation, you might need to finance the bulk of the outdoor home improvement project.
If the project is more than you can do yourself, a professional landscaping company can give you a quote. Make sure to get multiple quotes and then look through them line by line with a sharp eye out for any markup charges. It’s easy for a backyard renovation to go over budget, and a company that is already marking its material and labor charges up is even more likely to leave you over-capitalized.
If you’re landscaping on a budget, you might be able to do some of the simple backyard remodel jobs yourself. Then have the landscaping contractor do the important bits that require a specialist’s expertise.
PRO TIP: For a landscaping project on a budget, keep and eye out for second hand items in Facebook Marketplace and Gumtree. This can include leftover timber or unwanted plants. It can save you thousands!
Permitting, Safety & Inspections
Even if this is a simple DIY backyard remodel, you still need to be mindful of safety concerns. Dial before you dig needs to be called to ensure there aren’t any unground wires, pipes, or other surprises.
If you’re making major changes to your lawn, installing an irrigation system, or making any changes that affect the mains, the local municipality will likely require a permit. There might be special permitting requirements if you’re moving a lot of earthworks or installing hardscape features over electrical or water mains.
If you’re working with a landscaping contractor, they’ll be well-versed in these requirements. They’ll handle all the permitting, safety regulations, and inspection scheduling.
For a DIY project, you’ll have to apply for permits and schedule inspections yourself. Your local council can help guide you through the permits and permissions you need. In some cases, there might need to be a pre-inspection before work begins. Then you’ll need to schedule a final inspection or another inspection when sensitive backyard renovation projects are completed.
Make sure to give yourself some leeway when scheduling inspections. Most DIY landscaping projects take longer than anticipated, and you don’t want an inspector showing up before a specific phase is completed. They might even charge you a second time if they need to come back for a second landscaping inspection.
Wrapping It Up
When planning a landscaping renovation as part of a larger house renovation, or even just a simple backyard remodel, you need to use an objective approach. Identify problem areas that need to be addressed before you even consider cosmetic enhancements.
This ensures that important things like improving drainage and replacing sagging retaining walls are accounted for in the budget. You’ll then be able to use the budget you have available for aesthetic landscaping improvements, like adding a coy pond or a decorative fountain.
Most major landscaping renovations are so extensive that you need to hire a landscaping contractor. Especially, if any part of the project will connect to the mains or need to comply with council regulations. Be sure to get multiple quotes from different landscaping contractors and keep a watchful eye out for any unnecessary markups.