Employing landscape design to beautify your property is a great idea: not only because you'll find more use and pleasure in your yard, but because landscaping can increase the value of your property as much as 15%!

First and foremost, you must decide whether this is a job for you or for a commercial landscape designer. You may enjoy taking on difficult, strenuous and time-consuming labor. If that's you - and you have an excellent eye for design - we encourage you to do so. If you would rather relegate the arduous labor to those who do it for a living, you will want to contact a commercial landscape design professional.

A major advantage of employing commercial landscape designers is that it will save time. Landscaping teams roll up in trucks and perform in a few hours what would potentially take one man weeks.

Another advantage is that commercial landscape design professionals have an extensive understanding of what plants (shrubs, trees, perennials) will flourish in your location and in the environment of your home landscape. This kind of knowledge precludes expensive and unnecessary re-plantings and re-workings.

A landscaper will also foresee the technical and mechanical issues to address before undertaking your project. Above ground and below ground utilities must be taken into consideration. A map with marked property lines will also be necessary in decided where it is acceptable to plant certain vegetation. If you were to plant, say, a Mulberry tree near your property line, branches might eventually grow over your neighbor's roof is understandably problematic, as it would be if the roots were to crack their sewerline. Your landscape design professional can foresee future problems and help you avoid them.

If you understand the work and time involved and you still want to landscape your own yard, good for you! Landscaping companies will sometimes offer consultations to assist you in designing your landscape, leaving the physical labor to you. But if you feel that it may be to big a job for you and your buddies alone, we suggest you hire a well-respected landscape design company to save you time and effort and produce the kind of landscape design that only comes with years of experience. In the long run, their expertise can save you money.