Landscape Installation in Dallas-Fort Worth

A full landscape installation in Dallas-Fort Worth runs $8,000 to $60,000 and up, depending on the size of the property and how much of it you are planting. Front yard refreshes commonly land at $8,000 to $18,000. Whole property installs run $25,000 to $60,000.

Plant size is the biggest lever you control. A 30 gallon tree costs several times what the same tree costs in a 15 gallon container, and it buys you about three years of growth. Sometimes that is worth it, often it is not, and we will tell you which.

Almost always the soil, not the plant. Our clay is heavy and holds water, and when a plant goes straight into an unamended hole, the roots sit in a bowl of wet clay that will not drain. The plant drowns slowly and everyone blames the nursery.

The other common causes:

• Planted too deep. The top of the root ball should sit slightly above the surrounding soil, not below it. Buried too deep is the single most common planting mistake.
• Watered on a timer instead of by need. New plants need deep, infrequent water while they root in, not a light spray every day.
• Planted in July. Anything installed in the middle of a Texas summer is fighting for its life from day one.
• Wrong plant for the spot. Full sun on a label written in Oregon does not mean full sun in Texas.

This is where the money should go, and it is invisible once the mulch is down.

• Breaking up and amending the clay so roots can actually spread
• Shaping the bed so water runs away from the house, not toward it
• Setting plants at the right depth and the right spacing for mature size
• Steel edging to hold the bed line and keep grass out
• Two to three inches of mulch, kept off the trunks
• Adjusting the irrigation so the new beds are actually covered

Fall, without much competition. October and November are the best planting months here. The soil stays warm into December while the air cools off, so roots grow for months before the plant has to face any heat.

Spring works too, but a plant installed in April has only a few weeks to establish before June arrives. Summer planting is possible with careful watering, and we do it, but it is the hardest season and the least forgiving.

It can, but it is the expensive way to do it. Sod laid in July needs daily water for weeks and still comes with real risk. The same sod laid in October roots in easily with a fraction of the water.

Bermuda handles our sun best and is what most DFW lawns are. Zoysia is a better choice for a yard with real shade, and St. Augustine works in heavy shade but takes more water and is more prone to disease.

We install landscapes across Dallas-Fort Worth, with a lot of the work in new construction neighborhoods in Celina, Prosper, and Frisco, where builder landscaping is minimal and the lot has usually been packed down by heavy equipment.