Is your front yard weedy and downtrodden? Is your backyard an uninspiring mix of overgrown plants, worn concrete and dilapidated design elements? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you need some landscaping, which means you need a landscaper.
If you’re not making the most of your outdoor areas, you’re wasting your property’s potential. Not only are you missing out on living space, but you’re also missing out on increasing the value of your home. Now, more than ever, people are looking at outdoor areas when choosing homes, offer them well-landscaped areas, and you’ll reap the rewards.
Unfortunately, the increased importance of landscaping means more and more landscapers are popping up, and you have to do a bit of work to sort the good from the bad.
Here are some tips for ending up with a service that will provide you with a beautiful backyard and great value for money.
Finding The Right Landscaper
Do You Research
Search your local area and source some quotes. When sourcing these quotes, make sure they are based on an extensive discussion on your needs so you can compare apples with apples. Be careful of quotes that seem to cheap or too good to be true – they are. You should also be sure you understand what the quote offers – are they a design and installation team or do they just provide one aspect of the service?
Have A Bit Of A Plan
The right landscaper will be able to make your vision come to life. But, you have to have the vision first. So, before you start ringing around have an idea of what you want and what you think you’ll need to be done.
Check Online
Facebook, Yelp and other review sites make it easy to find a reputable landscaping service. Past customer experiences are the perfect insight into what you can expect, so do a bit of online snooping. Going with a local company is a good idea because you can ask your neighbours, friends and other businesses to see if they know anything about them.
Check Their Folio
Any proud and professional landscaper will have a vast back catalogue of past jobs. This is the best way to check on the quality of their work. If they don’t, it’s worth wondering why.
What Type of Landscaper Are They?
As mentioned above, landscaping services can vary greatly. Some lawn mowing and weeding companies will refer to themselves as landscapers. So, if you want a full design and installation service, and anything more substantial than a bit of a tidy-up, make sure you ask about their scope and what their team and their equipment can do.
Experience Counts
When it comes to a bit of backyard beautification, you want experience on your side. You want people that have done it all before, know how to find savings where they can and move past obstacles without derailing the whole project.
Are They Registered Professionals?
The team you choose should be filled with trained, certified and insured professionals – not handymen that have a go at landscaping on the weekend. Work with experts, and you’ll end up with the perfect backyard.
Last But Not Least
Skills, professionalism and experience are one thing, but you want your landscaping team to have one fundamental trait – care. If they genuinely care for you, they’ll go above and beyond the agreed standard, and they’ll be more than happy to keep working with you until you’re 100% satisfied.
You also want to look for a company with excellent communication skills. You need someone that is prepared to listen to your queries, concerns and have a line open so you can make any changes to the plan. This is your garden, your investment, so you deserve to work with someone that wants to make your dreams come true, not just plough ahead with their own plans.
Don’t be afraid to trust your instinct too. How do they seem over the phone? Are they friendly? Do they answer your calls promptly? You can also look at their presentation. Do they have uniforms? Drive a company car? Have all the equipment you need for the job?
First impressions are often the right impressions, so follow all these tips and then trust yourself to find the right person for the job.
Everlast Services have been providing the people of Melbourne with an expert landscaping service for over 20-years. We provide you with expert landscapers, the best equipment and an end-to-end service that means you don’t have to lift a finger until the job is done.
