How do you get the best bang for your buck? Why is it taking my builder sooooo long? And the age old question of when to landscape?

Well, first things first. Lets talk about when its most ideal to landscape. There are in fact 2 times of the year that are to your advantage. The Spring, and The Fall. The spring is of course when all things grow and so the soil and weather conditions are optimum for new growth and roots to take hold. It also give your plants and grass enough time to really climatize before the extreme heat of summer and extreme cold of winter decides to roll through. The fall is the next best option if you can't get your landscaping completed in the spring. In the fall the plants will begin to start their hibernation like process to prepare for the winter months. The snow will then insulate the plants and grass which protects them until the spring when everything thaws out. The snow melt provides an excellent amount of moisture for the plants to revive and get ample growing opportunity for the root systems. The middle of summer, is in fact the worst possible time to do you landscaping and is recommended to be avoided if possible. The summer is simply too hot and can dry out the plants too quickly before they can really root in properly. Even with watering, the heat is often too much for the plants and they dehydrate before they can really get established. In many cases, freshly laid sod will  brown and die completely. And nobody wants to pay for landscaping, twice!

Which brings us to our next point. How to get the most out of your landscaping or not over paying. In today's day and age of technology there are some many ways to learn how to DIY (hello youTube)  and getting creative alternatives and ideas (thank you Pinterest). Aside from that some key things we suggest is

1. Don't do your landscaping in the height of Summer
2. Do comparison shopping for the best price
3. Make and use your own compost- much cheaper than high end fertilizers
4. Buy plants that are native to your area- exotic plants require a lot of attention and nutrients
5. Start your grass from seed instead of sod- it takes longer but it has huge cost savings
6. Landscaping in the fall allows you to take full advantage of End Of Season sales!
7. Don't get your builder to do your landscaping - most builder will charge more than the going rate for this service

And finally, why does it take builders so long to get your landscaping in. Well my friends, builders have a queue of customers in line to have their landscaping starting from late fall ( when planting season in over) that all have to been done in the spring and summer months (once the snow finally leaves) before the next Fall. So if you buy a home in July, your yard is at the bottom of that totem pole and likely will be complete at the end of the planting seasons. If you buy a home in November, your yard will be at the top of the list for the following spring.