irvinebullhousing
Well-known member
If you have a new house, undoubtedly, the next biggest heartaches is the front and backyard cost. How much did you spend for decking out your pad outside?
NYT said:I think a good rule of thumb is to spend about 10% of home purchase price on landscaping. If you're too much under, you're doing a crappy job, and it'll show. I never understand why someone would spend $1,000,000+ on a home, but then go to Home Depot, buy some plants and put in their landscape for a few thousand. Your landscaping is the first thing people see when coming to your home, and it's a shame when it's not a good first impression for your million dollar home.
Perspective said:There's not much you can do with a postage stamp-sized front yard (~12' by 6'). Strada finishes the front "yards" nicely. The Monterey style houses have palms and other beachy-type plants. The Spanish homes use Agave and desert-type plants. The Italian and Tuscan houses have Italian Cypress trees flanking the front windows. Once the filler plants actually fill-in the space, these yards will look good.
10% is hard to reach in small backyards. We won't come close to 10%, even though we're doing a lot with the ~1,000 sq ft of space. Maybe if we installed a tiny pool and/or a fancy pergola structure we would get close to 10%.
Irvine Fanatic said:NYT said:I think a good rule of thumb is to spend about 10% of home purchase price on landscaping. If you're too much under, you're doing a crappy job, and it'll show. I never understand why someone would spend $1,000,000+ on a home, but then go to Home Depot, buy some plants and put in their landscape for a few thousand. Your landscaping is the first thing people see when coming to your home, and it's a shame when it's not a good first impression for your million dollar home.
whats your thoughts on IP homes? Since alot of them come with minimum landscape on $1M+ homes. I think it looks ok, but no wow factor, just cookie cutter.
aquabliss said:Switch them out for the tiny towers. They only get about 6ft tall and grow very slow.
You can buy mature ones but they will cost you more.
Perspective said:aquabliss said:Switch them out for the tiny towers. They only get about 6ft tall and grow very slow.
You can buy mature ones but they will cost you more.
They are tiny tower Italian cypress trees. They're well over 6' today. They look good because they're extremely thin. If they grow slowly, they'll look good for a long time.
WTTCHMN said:Perspective said:aquabliss said:Switch them out for the tiny towers. They only get about 6ft tall and grow very slow.
You can buy mature ones but they will cost you more.
They are tiny tower Italian cypress trees. They're well over 6' today. They look good because they're extremely thin. If they grow slowly, they'll look good for a long time.
According to Monrovia, not so tiny:
Very slow growth to just 8-10 ft. tall, 2 ft. wide in 10 years, eventually to 25-30 ft. tall, 3 ft. wide.
Perspective said:WTTCHMN said:Perspective said:aquabliss said:Switch them out for the tiny towers. They only get about 6ft tall and grow very slow.
You can buy mature ones but they will cost you more.
They are tiny tower Italian cypress trees. They're well over 6' today. They look good because they're extremely thin. If they grow slowly, they'll look good for a long time.
According to Monrovia, not so tiny:
Very slow growth to just 8-10 ft. tall, 2 ft. wide in 10 years, eventually to 25-30 ft. tall, 3 ft. wide.
My info, directly from Irvine Pacific's Planting Plan, is wrong apparently. I asked a landscape designer I met with today, and he said they're not tiny towers - just regular Italian Cypress trees.
Perspective said:I have one estimate so far, for a ~1,000 sq ft backyard, that includes paver paths on the sides, paver patio extending out to a fireplace, irrigation, lights, and landscaping. The price is $31K. I should have two more estimates within a week. We'll see how widely they vary.