Phasing In Your Landscape

So you’ve got your dream design, but can’t quite get it all to fit in the budget. What’s to be done? Well, phasing your landscape, that is, installing your master plan over the course of two or more project, could be an option for you. It’s often a go to when the dreams and reality aren’t in alignment. Homeowners typically have a lot of questions about it. What makes sense to phase? How do you lay out a phasing plan that makes sense? Does it save you money? Let’s looks at what phasing a master design looks like

What makes sense to phase?

Some jobs are easy to phase. Big lots with open access offer lots of possibilities. Smaller lots with tight access and strict HOA policies can be tougher. Regardless of your lot, the order and sequence a job is done in matter. There are certain elements that often don’t make sense to try and phase. If you have a sloped lot and dreams of a terraced garden, it is going to make the most sense to capture the retaining work in an early phase, otherwise the previously installed landscaping is going to get demolished and need to be reinstalled.

Things like patio spaces, and additional trees and plantings are typically well suited to be installed at a later phase. If you are renovating an existing landscape, back yard as a phase 1 and front as phase 2 often makes good sense.

How do you lay out a phasing plan that makes sense?

Again, the sequence matters, and having a master plan helps.

There are items that work well for phasing provided you plan in advance. For example, a gas fire pit or outdoor kitchen can be built fairly simply in an existing landscape, but running a gas and electric line through an existing landscape will get pretty costly quickly. However, if you install the buried lines as part of the first phase, they are already good to go when you’re ready your next phase, and you’ll have saved yourself some money in the long run.

Every project and lot are so different, there’s no easy answer on what works for phasing, but your landscaper should be able to help you. Sometimes there are some pretty unique options we can come up with. Once we phased in a permitted pergola. We had to pull a permit to get the concrete footings inspected and installed along with the concrete patio. We then extended the permit until the homeowner was ready to proceed with the second phase and have the pergola built.

Does Phasing save you money?

This is another common question. The honest answer is phasing saves you money today. It also allows you to save and budget for your future projects. Sometimes, phasing a project requires you install something with the knowledge it will be removed for the next phase. For example, some additional irrigated turf that will become a patio space. This also leads to some demo costs you wouldn’t have on a full install.

If you can tackle the project at once, you are able to capitalize on the economy of scales. The more work that is performed, the more efficiently it goes. Things like delivery fees and setup costs end up being shared, rather than paid across phases. Those savings are passed on to the homeowner. You are also paying for the work and materials at today’s prices, and we are typically observing the price of service rising 5%-10% from year to year. While your dream landscape costs more at the time, the more you can tackle at once, the more you will save in the long run.