Landscaping questions, answered

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Shade, compacted soil, poor drainage or the wrong grass for the spot can each cause it, and another product fixes none of them.

Start with a soil test from your extension service and a count of how many hours of sun the patch gets.

Deep shade under mature trees can suit a bed or ground cover better than turf.

It depends on your grass. Cool-season and warm-season grasses run on different calendars, so the right job in the wrong month can waste the season. Your state’s extension service publishes the calendar for your region, and it is the one to follow.

Water deeply and less often, early in the day, so roots grow down and leaves dry before evening. Light daily watering grows shallow roots. EPA WaterSense says as much as 50 percent of outdoor water is wasted through overwatering. Check your water utility’s watering rules first.

They are a sound default where they suit the spot. Plants adapted to local rainfall and soil can need less water, feeding and replacement. Native does not mean no care: each plant still has to fit the light, drainage and hardiness zone where it goes.

Deal with soil and drainage before planting. New-build lots can have thin topsoil over compacted subsoil, and water may have nowhere to go. Look up the lot on the USDA Web Soil Survey, watch where water stands after heavy rain, and fix both before beds or pavers go in.

Dead limbs over a roof or path, large cracks, fungus at the base, a new lean, or roots cut during construction are reasons to call a certified arborist. If a tree or limb touches a power line, stay away and call the utility. Be wary of anyone who offers to top the tree.

We publish no national average, because access, grading, drainage and base preparation move the price more than the plants and pavers you see.

A flat lot with machine access and a slope behind a narrow gate are different jobs at the same square footage.

Ask every company to price site preparation, base and disposal as separate lines.

Not necessarily. Two honest bids can price different projects: one with a deep compacted base and edge restraint, the other with pavers on a thin bed of screenings. The difference is buried. Ask both for base depth, compaction and edge restraint in writing. See the hardscape base specification.

The base is the first thing to check. A thin or poorly compacted base, a missing edge restraint, or water moving underneath will move pavers of any quality.

ICPI Tech Spec 2 calls for at least 4 inches of compacted base under a patio on well-drained soil, and 2 to 4 inches more in cold or wet ground.

Agree what a deposit buys before you pay it. Paying most of the price before most of the work puts the risk on you. Tie payments to finished stages in writing, and ask for a lien waiver with each one. See choosing a landscaping company.

It depends on whether you would do the work yourself and what the contract includes. Before you sign, read what each visit covers, the auto-renewal clause and the cancellation window. Lawn care contracts lists the clauses to read twice.

For a whole-yard project, a drawing is worth having. It lets every company bid on the same plan, puts the work in the right order and keeps the yard from becoming a string of separate purchases. For a single job, such as a lawn renovation or a fence line, you may not need one.

Ask your building department, because the local code decides. The model code exempts retaining walls up to 4 feet, measured from the bottom of the footing, and flatwork up to 30 inches above grade. Local codes change those numbers, and an HOA, easement or zoning rule can still apply.

Call 811 before any digging, whether you or a contractor holds the shovel. The call is free, and utilities mark their buried lines. Your state’s law sets the notice period. If a company is digging, ask who is making the call and get the ticket number.

Your utility, not a tree company. Stay away and keep people and pets back. If a line is down or sparking, call 911. Never cut, climb or prune near a line yourself. Once the utility has made the line safe, the rest is ordinary tree work.

The product label and the applicator answer that; we recommend no product or rate. Ask for the product name, EPA registration number and re-entry interval. The label is enforceable law. For a suspected exposure, call Poison Help at 1-800-222-1222, or 911 in an emergency. See lawn chemical safety.

No. HyreYard is an independent information site, and a platform being built to connect homeowners with landscaping companies. We do not plant, mow, grade, build or apply anything, and we do not supervise, warrant or finance anyone who does.

We expect to be paid by landscaping companies for introducing homeowners to them. You are never charged. That is not live yet, and it does not shape what we say about base depth, drainage or plants. See our editorial policy.

No. We publish no ratings, reviews or rankings, and no landscaping company is signed up or checked yet. How landscaping companies will be checked lists the checks we plan before any introduction, and which are not built yet.

Only if you agree to a named introduction. We do not sell your data. Our privacy policy sets out what we store, for how long, and how to have it deleted.

The HyreYard Research Desk. There are no author personas, stock portraits or claimed years of experience on this site. A page should be judged on the sources it cites and the dates beside them.