Planning a new landscaping project is an exciting process. You spend hours on Pinterest and in magazines, dreaming of a beautiful new patio, a lush garden, or a stylish retaining wall. But that excitement can quickly turn to sticker shock when you start pricing out the materials. The cost of soil, stone, plants, and other supplies can add up at an astonishing rate.
The good news is, a beautiful, high-quality landscape doesn’t have to break the bank. The key to managing your budget is to shop like a professional and to know the right place to source each of your different materials. For specialized, structural items like gabions for a retaining wall, a dedicated online supplier will often offer better quality and selection. But for other bulk materials, a different strategy is needed.
To get the most value for your money without sacrificing quality, here’s a guide to sourcing your landscaping supplies like a pro.
Buy Your Bulk Materials Locally
This is the single biggest money-saving tip for any large landscaping project. For heavy, bulk materials like topsoil, mulch, sand, and gravel, the single biggest factor in the price is not the material itself, but the cost of shipping it.
Avoid the temptation to buy these materials in small, convenient, but incredibly expensive plastic bags from a big-box home improvement store. Instead, find the local landscape supply yards and quarries in your area. These are the places the professionals go. You can buy your materials in bulk, by the cubic yard, which is dramatically cheaper. Call two or three different local yards, and compare their per-yard price and their flat-rate delivery fee to your home. You can often save 50% or more by buying this way.
For Plants, Timing is Everything
If your project involves a lot of new plants, timing your purchase can lead to massive savings. While the selection at a nursery is at its absolute peak in the spring, the prices are also at their highest.
The best time to buy perennials, shrubs, and trees is often at the end of the season. In the late fall, local nurseries are often looking to clear out their inventory before winter. This is when you can find incredible clearance sales, often with discounts of 50% to 75% off. As a bonus, fall is the ideal time to plant most of these, as the cool temperatures and seasonal rain help them to establish strong roots before the stress of the next summer’s heat.
Source Your Specialized Items from an Expert
While buying bulk materials locally is a smart move, for specialized or hard-to-find components, a dedicated online supplier is often your best bet. A local store may not stock the specific, high-end paving stone you fell in love with, or the professional-grade pond liner you need for a water feature.
An online supplier that specializes in a specific category of materials will have a much wider selection, better and more detailed technical information, and often a higher-quality product designed for professional use.
Don’t Be Afraid to Ask for a Deal
When you’re buying a large quantity of materials, even as a homeowner, you have some negotiating power. A little bit of confident negotiation can lead to significant savings.
- Ask for a Contractor’s Discount: Many local supply yards have a “contractor price” that is 10-15% lower than their retail price. It never hurts to ask politely if they can extend that discount to you for your large, one-time project. The worst they can say is no.
- Look for “Seconds”: If you are buying hardscaping materials like paving stones or retaining wall blocks, ask the supplier if they have any “seconds” or “overruns” for sale. These are products with minor, purely cosmetic flaws—like a slight color variation or a chipped corner—that are sold at a huge discount.
A beautiful landscape is a major investment in your home. By being a smart, strategic shopper, you can save a significant amount of money and get a professional-quality result on a DIY budget.
