Denny's Soapbox

Over the last several weeks, the soap box has talked about selecting a landscape designer, and new plant varieties he or she could add to your landscape. Today I’d like to talk to you about professional installation of that new landscape planting.

Some statements can stick with you a long time. Several years ago I was quoting prices to a homeowner who wanted to re-landscape his home. I gave him the price of the plants and the materials needed to install them. I then gave him the cost to install the planting and with a look of shock he said “How much? Anybody can dig a hole”. While this may be true, it takes a lot of skill and experience to properly install a landscape. I’ll share with you a golden rule on planting trees and shrubs “Plant ‘em low, never grow; Plant ‘em high slowly die; Plant ‘em right shear delight. Now, what is right?

I would love to have a dollar for every tree and shrub planted in the last year that’s installed too high. In some cases, the root clump is half out of the ground. In others, plants are installed on these tall mountains of soil. Even if planted to the proper depth on the mound, the mountain itself is exposed to sun and wind, drying out the roots of your new plants on a regular basis, causing the affected plants to grow under continual stress till death do we part. The same thing applies to plants planted too deep. The stems and trunks of all plants don’t want to have soil and/or mulch piled up on them. At least it’s more humane than planting too high. The plants die quickly by comparison. Proper installation also includes soil preparation, fertilization, and bed edging. There’s also a real art to the proper handling of your plants before and during your installation. At the completion of your new planting, the foreman should explain any ongoing maintenance needs, including future pruning and water requirements.

A $100 Hole

There is another nursery saying that I’m a firm believer in “Always dig a $100 hole for a $10 plant. The success of any new planting depends mostly on what’s going on in the ground. The foliage above ground will only grow as well as the roots can grow in the soil below. When dealing with clay soil, soil amendments can be added at various amounts depending on the thickness of the clay. The soil particles going back into the planting hole should be no larger than a golf ball. Non-burning fertilizer and weed seed control should be added to the planting bed along with a thin layer of quality mulch.

Dollars and sense

Landscape companies have to spend money for good wages and benefits to attract people with all the right skills. There is other overhead that has to be covered too, such as good tools and equipment, and worker’s compensation and general liability insurance so the homeowner is covered in case of unforeseen problems. A good qualified landscape installer should cost the homeowner in the range of $45 to $55 per hour of labor. This is right in line with what you pay an auto mechanic. You pay plumbers, electricians and appliance service people $65 or more just to show up plus their hourly rate to do any work.

Good landscape installation takes real skill just like what’s required by these other service people. There are some people who advertise that they are landscapers when, in essence, are only qualified to cut grass. Your best installers will be those who work for or have their own companies, and will give you addresses of recent work they’ve done, which allows you to go look and inspect. Then you need to be willing to pay a fair price for a great installation.