Makes me wish we had greener thumbs!

A few things that I would add…

When buying a home, as tempting as it is to work on the inside first, I would suggest landscaping the outside first. Assuming the purchase of one-gallon plants (to save money), it takes about three years (in Georgia red clay) for a landscape to take shape. We made the mistake of fixing up the inside of our home first and then when it came time to sell, our recent landscape updates did not have the impact we would have liked, although the new owner is benefiting now.

Second of all, some community colleges have excellent horticulture programs (some don’t, so investigate) and have students with a gift for design. Many times, they will design a yard for free to fulfill a class project or to add to their portfolio. Just call the instructor. They will know the best students and I haven’t met a hort teacher yet that didn’t like to talk about their program.

Lastly, those same community colleges offer a very inexpensive way to learn. I took an irrigation course (among others) which at the time were free (before the change in GA’s Hope Grant) I have put in three systems now and have saved myself a couple of thousand dollars.

We hired someone to put in the posts for our fence, and then we bought the materials to do the panels ourselves. We, too, are doing things in stages, saving up for each phase of our yard.

Hiring the designer was a great move! Ours only cost $200, though. At any rate, having the designer help us figure everything out has given us a plan to work with, and we are much more organized going forward.

For my first house, I found a local nursery which would send a landscape designer to your home to do a short consulation free, no obligation if the project was fairly small. (In my case, a row of shrubs adn a flower garden in front of my house.) Great design, and I was able to do all the work myself.

Also, the Better Homes & Gardens website offers many free plans, and you don’t have to subscribe to the magazine. I was able to tailor one of their plans to my yard with amazing results. Even better, I was able to re-use some of the materials already in my yard (bluestone walk I found buried under grass, re-set them in a new walk; was able to capitalize on shrubs which were hardy enough to be moved). Total cost was just $200, plus the labor I put in myself.

With that much space, have you thought about wildscaping some or all of it? You basically recreate a wooded area, or a prairie area, or a riparian zone, whatever is appropriate for your situation. The wild things will love it, you’ll be using native plants (so less water use and babysitting) and you’ll have a visually pretty place to live.

Or, you could open a mini-truck farm, but that’s not less work, that’s more.

Have fun!

I can understand hiring professional help when something is not your area of expertise, but to “take advantage” of undocumented workers because they’re willing to work for pennies on the dollar is unethical at best. I’m disgusted by the idea that an American man’s day job is more exhausting or grueling than that of an undocumented worker’s. Myself and my husband work in jobs that are high-stress and require long hours, yet we still manage to do our own landscaping, home remodeling, cleaning and cooking. Not only does doing it ourselves save money, the sense of accomplishment and pride in the work we’ve done with our own hands is absolutely priceless.

Winston, your yard looks amazing. I’m very impressed by the hard work you put into making it a haven for your family. I can imagine it feels good to look at it and see all that you have accomplished. Thank you for sharing your story.

Here in AZ, we hire Mexican immigrants when we can, although a…well, let’s use the word: racist program to push them out of the country is in full swing. I’ve found them to be hard workers, sometimes amazingly skilled, and usually honest. I try not to pay them slave wages, even though they sometimes offer to work for that. A man (or a woman!) should be paid an honest wage for honest labor.

American men spend their days and much of their evenings in office and retail jobs that can be grinding and exhausting, even though they don’t entail physical labor. To say that they do not want to (and sometimes cannot) do the heavy work that Mexican immigrants hire out to do is not racist; it states a fact. Not because they’re lazy, but because one job is generally enough for a man.

Yes. Absolutely.

However, your first comment seemed dismissive of Mexican immigrants (legal or otherwise), not supportive.

I stand by my comment. I used to live in PDX (97203 – St. Johns!) and I know there are tons of illegal immigrants in that area who would be incredibly thankful to to get just a few hours of work at America’s minimum wage (roughly ten times that of Mexico and even more over other the countries in Central and South America).

Here in Texas, not more than just a couple hours drive from the border, there are many more illegal immigrants than where you live, JD, willing to do quality, back-breaking work for very low wages. Do you believe it is unethical to take advantage?

But, JD, you have made decision to deny their existence, even though they are role models for frugality, etc. (sending many billions of dollars back to Mexico etc. even though earning very low wages). I embrace them for the cheap labor they are, and I believe we should all take advantage. I have traveled all over the world, and have specialized in Latin America, and have traveled extensively there, and I have met guys and even some girls from all over South & Central America who have swam across the Rio Grande risking literally everything they had in order to earn a couple of extra bucks in America. In my opinion they are the shit, they are bad asses who work very hard, and can earn a buck anywhere they go, they are role models for all of us aspiring to be frugal, to save money, and to get rich slowly. But, yet, you pretend they do not exist.

Shame on you, JD! The ten million or so undocumented immigrants here in America are exactly like you & me, just trying to earn an extra buck so they can survive and save for the future. I am sorry that you and I do not see eye to eye.

i own a landscaping company and nothing you have mentioned/posted seems out of the ordinary???

care to share some more pictures? looks nice…

Even if you are kidding, I find your comment offensive and ignorant.

All of the creativity and interaction has been rewarding . . . much juicier than conventional, standard-cost modes of doing things. Less consumption can create more joy for both people and planet.
http://www.diamondcutlife.org/

Kris and I have done a lot of work on this house and yard. We’ve done some of this ourselves, but we’ve also opted to pay others to do certain tasks. As I mentioned earlier this summer, we just paid to have work done on our electrical system. I’m okay wiring an outlet or a switch, but I didn’t feel comfortable replacing the old knob-and-tube wiring.

On the other hand, I take great joy from doing smaller DIY projects. Thought these tasks are often frustrating at the time, I learn a lot, and I’m better able to handle projects in the future.

In the yard, especially, Kris and I are very handy. Also, it’s easier to repair a mistake you make to the yard than it is to make a mistake you make to a house.

Bottom line: do it yourself when possible, and you can save a lot of money. But don’t compromise safety and quality just to save a buck.