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What is the Budget for Your Landscape Design?

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Designing your ideal landscape is a dream many homeowners have, especially first time buyers. However setting up a budget can be difficult to do if you aren’t going into the job prepared. There are many elements to consider when establishing a budget for your landscape including dimensions of the property, theme of your design and preparation of the land. A beautiful landscape goes farther than simply looks, it can contribute considerably to the curb appeal and add to the overall value of the property.

Join me as we breakdown key elements you need to consider when assessing your budget for your dream landscape design.

Inspecting and Preparation

Before you get started it’s a good idea to have your property surveyed and inspected. You’ll want to avoid any potential liability that needs to be fixed prior to having people begin work.  What you should be looking for are toxic plants, tripping hazards, and dead or dying trees. Other items to keep an eye on include: 

  • Erosion Issues
  • Poor Drainage
  • Poor Lighting
  • Damaged Fencing
  • Damaged Irrigation

The type of soil can affect the amount of preparation required as well. As an example if your soil is primarily clay based many vegetables and fruit trees have a difficult time growing. 

Walking through your property gives you a unique opportunity to see the dimensions of your yard as well as what existing features and plants you like and would like to reuse. Reusing elements from your existing landscape whether its plants, pavers, or  hardscape can go a long way in stretching your budget.

Choose a Theme

Once preparations are underway, you should begin to think of what kind of landscape you are looking for. You can make your own design from scratch or a theme as a starting point. We offer a variety of different landscaping themes to suit every need such as:

  • Contemporary
  • Drought Tolerant
  • Water Wise
  • Low Maintenance
  • Modern
  • Vegetable Gardens
  • English Gardens
  • Mediterranean
  • Tropical
  • Xeriscape

Keep in mind that some plants cost more than others, especially when trying to buy plants that arent in season. As for the hardscape, Importing rocks and other elements can be worth the investment but can be more costly than people realize.

We’ll meet with you to discuss your vision and landscaping needs. Once you’ve selected a theme our landscape designer can help you select everything else you’ll need including grass, irrigation, lighting, layout, plant selection and more.

Prioritize Needs, then Wants

Do you want to grow fruits and vegetables? You’ll need nutrient rich fertile soil and maybe a raised bed.

Do you want to conserve water during the dry seasons? Then you’ll need mulch and an irrigation controller.

The plants and trees you want may have individual needs. Depending on the plants you want to have, you may need to have an irrigation system to support your landscape design. It’s important to keep the necessary landscaping support in mind. Afterall, it’s easier to add more plants or stones to your landscape then it is to redesign everything because you didn’t prioritize the landscape’s needs.

Consult with a Landscaping Company

If there is anything you’re unsure of, talking with a landscaping company can help. That’s why they are the professionals, they should be able to give you estimates, and offer unique solutions to your problems. Oftentimes they may recommend a resolution that fits what you want and what your landscape design needs.

Landscaping companies can help you itemize the costs of your projects to better understand what your budget should look like. If you decide to forgo hiring a company keep in mind you’ll need to include the costs for permits, tool rental, and even fuel.

How would you feel with a yard expressly designed to fit your unique home and personality?

Our staff is dedicated to delivering unique landscapes that 100% fit the needs of homeowners. Each yard is designed in-house by our landscape designer. Our expertise and experience in Long Beach, Lakewood, Seal Beach, Rossmoor & surrounding communities allow us to custom design the perfect landscape for you.

Our team of experts carefully manages your project. Fill out our Landscape Design request for your landscape to fit your aesthetic. Feel free to call us at (562) 225-9460 or get a free quote for your project.

landscaping features

What Supporting Features of Your Landscape Design are You Interested in?

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For supporting features in your landscape, there are no wrong answers. Whatever it is that you love to see, smell or feel is what you should have installed. After all, this is your home, and your design inputs are necessary. 

Speaking of design, what options do you have?

Today let’s cover what supporting features are available for your landscape design as well as the importance of asking about them during the designing portion of the project.

Designing Your Landscape

When designing your landscape there are a few themes you can get started with. These include:

  • Drought tolerant
  • Xeriscape
  • Waterwise
  • Low Maintenance
  • Contemporary
  • Mediterranea
  • Modern
  • Tropical
  • Edible Garden
  • English Garden

Let’s say you’ve chosen the theme for your landscape as an example you chose an Edible Garden theme. During the appointment with our designer let them know what features you are looking for in your garden and what kinds of plants you intend to grow. This can make it easier for us to provide a more unique design suited for you. At this moment it is best to ask about  supporting features. These can include items such as:

  • Rock features
  • Lighting
  • Decorations 
  • Garden Gnomes
  • Statues
  • Water Features

Nothing is off the table as long as supporting features are included in the designing phase of the project. Though it’s fine to change your mind, be aware that any changes after the design phase may be more difficult to incorporate and may take more time to provide.

What Supporting Features Does MC Landscaping Offer?

Ideally when choosing supporting features you’ll want to remain within the theme of the landscaping. But if you want to have a water feature like a fountain in a drought tolerant landscape that is perfectly fine as well.

Rock features

Rock features vary from large decorative boulders to small polished pebbles. Large boulders are great for larger landscapes to be seen from a distance or provide structure for other, smaller or complementary landscape features.

Making an impression at driveway entrances with large boulders or using them to retain soil for terracing a gentle slope. 

Using  stones for walkways can add color and texture to your landscape while providing a durable and beautiful feature.

Polished pebbles and river rocks pair well with water features as they aim to create a natural looking element to your landscape. Using small rocks like these strategically can also help with water run off and drainage.

Lighting

Lighting can be used to accent certain features in the evening. Even water features can be visible at night with underwater lights. This illumination adds a different view to your landscape after the sun goes down. 

Spotlights can be installed at the base of trees or architectural features to highlight and draw attention to them during the evening.

Adding walkway or garden lights can increase visibility of pathways to avoid damaging the landscape, injuring yourself or guests.

Decorations

Decorations include lawn statues, garden gnomes, bird feeders, artwork and honestly anything else you can think of that might make your landscape unique to you. Although these can be added after the landscaping is done, we recommend you include the idea of adding decorations during the design phase to better incorporate them to the landscape.

Water Features

Water features can be used to create a sense of tranquility in your lawn or back yard. Waterfalls and fountains give soothing sounds while making your landscape feel alive with the sounds of moving water. Aquatic gardens or ponds can bring the feeling of calmness.

Though you don’t necessarily have to choose one or the other. Many people love the sound of moving water while having it connected to aquatic gardens or koi ponds.

How would you feel with a yard expressly designed to fit your unique home and personality?

Our staff is dedicated to delivering unique landscapes that 100% fit the needs of homeowners. Each yard is designed in-house by our landscape designer. Our expertise and experience in the cities of Long Beach, Lakewood, Seal Beach, Rossmoor & surrounding communities allows us to custom design the perfect landscape for you.

Your project is carefully managed by our team of experts. Whether you are looking to turn your front yard into a showpiece or creating the backyard of your dreams we are here to help. Fill out our Landscape Design request for landscape to fit your aesthetic today. Feel free to call us at (562) 225-9460 or get a free quote for the project you have in mind.

landscape lighting at night

Landscape Lighting Options

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Landscapes can look amazing once complete but don’t forget that at night it won’t be visible without incorporating some landscape lighting. When designing your dream landscape you need to remember that you’ll want to be able to admire it after dark, not just during the day.  

Luckily there are a few options available to choose from when it comes to lighting. From DIY (do it yourself) friendly options to solar powered or hardwired lights low voltage LED lighting systems. Let’s explore what option you have to be able to appreciate your landscape design in the evening. 

Different Types of Landscape Lighting

If from the beginning you have an idea of how you want your landscape to look after the sun goes down, make sure to let our designer know about it when discussing your concept. We offer a variety of low voltage LED lighting system features which include more than just lighting up the plants. We can provide the following:

  • Pathlights
  • Uprights
  • Spotlight
  • Wall Wash Lights
  • Palm Tree Spotlights
  • Stair Lighting
  • Flag Lighting
  • Color Changing Lights
  • Wifi/Smart Controlled Lighting System

At MC Landscaping LLC, we understand that you are investing resources and time into making your project come to life. We work closely with top rated professionals with years of experience in order to bring your vision to light, day or night. 

Lighting What Matters

Lighting up your landscape may seem simple at first, however it’s a bit more involved that at first glance. Although you may think you want the entire landscape to be visible at night, you may need to consider the color of the light, the position of the light, how long the lights will be on after dark, what feature is going to be visible and even the shadow casted by the feature.

Depending on the landscape design you may want more path or stair light to illuminate where you or your guests are walking. Perhaps you want a spotlight on some beautiful trees. Or want to change the color of your landscape lights to match the season. A smart controlled light system can help you change the color of the lights or when they turn on or off with just your smartphone .The possibilities are endless.

DIY

If you decide to do the lighting yourself, in today’s age of information there is almost always that option. Usually the DIY option is a bit simpler than when done by professionals but rewarding in its own way nonetheless. 

You can find many solar powered landscaping lights with either the solar panel attached to the light itself or a kit with the solar panel can be set up away from the landscape to power up a few spotlights. However you are limited by the available options, making it difficult to highlight some of the landscape.

If you have an outdoor service outlet it’s possible to use some plug in LED lights. These usually don’t require electrical experience and typically are plug and play. Though you won’t be able to escape getting your hands dirty as you’ll want to hide any cables in the mulch or soil to get a clean look.

Would you like to improve your landscaping?

Our staff is dedicated to delivering unique landscapes that 100% fit the needs of homeowners. Each yard is designed in-house by our landscape designer. Our expertise and experience in the cities of Long Beach, Lakewood, Seal Beach, Rossmoor & surrounding communities allows us to custom design the perfect landscape for you.

Your project is carefully managed by our team of experts. Whether you are looking to turn your front yard into a showpiece or creating the backyard of your dreams we are here to help. Fill out our Landscape Design request for a landscaping redesign and remember to ask about our lighting options. Feel free to call us at (562) 225-9460 or get a free quote for the project you have in mind.

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