If you have ever landscaped your yard or even looked into landscaping your yard then you are probably already aware of how expensive it can be. The reason that landscaping ends up costing so much is because of the various materials that you are going to need to obtain and the fact that the costs for these materials tends to go up and down rather quickly. Not to mention that they can also change with the seasons. So basically the costs of landscaping supplies vary greatly during different times of the year, and they tend to be more expensive during the spring and summer months when everybody is working on their yards.

Another thing that makes landscaping so hard is the fact that you have so many different types of materials, not to mention there are numerous sources that you can use to obtain these materials that knowing what is best is often hard to do. So unless you are a professional landscaper it becomes rather difficult in deciding what to buy. But the good news is that even though you are not a professional landscaper there are still things that you can do when landscaping your yard to help you save money.

Here are some tips that you can follow to save money on your landscaping.

Tip one:
You need to think about what you are going to be doing and honestly decide if it is something that you can do yourself. What happens to many people is that they don't want to hire a professional because of the huge expense that is involved because you have to pay for their labor in addition to the supplies and any mark ups. But sometimes this is going to end up being cheaper than you doing it yourself. This is really true when you are unsure of what you are doing and if you mess up you are going to need to hire a professional to come and fix it. Having to do that can cost you more than just hiring the professional in the first place, so be sure to make the right decision in this aspect.

Tip two:
Before you even being to start buying any of the supplies that you are going to need for your landscaping project you are going to want to plan out your project. This means that you are going to want to sketch your design on paper or even on a computer program so that you know exactly what you are going to need. By knowing exactly what you need and where you are going to put it you can avoid wasting money because you are not buying unneeded supplies or wasting time saying no it looks better over there.

Tip three:
Figure out how much design you actually want. Don't go with the cheapest option just to save money. Sure one design might be cheaper than another but if it isn't a design that you want you won't end up using the area like you should so it actually turns out to be a waste of money in the end. But going with what you want ensures that you will use it so it won't be a waste of money.

Tip four:
You don't need to necessarily hire a professionally to landscape your yard, but if you are unsure of what you are doing or are needing some type of advice you can always talk to a professional landscaper. This would be done in something that is called a consultation and they can range from half an hour to an hour if not longer if you need it. On average these consultations cost between $50 to $100 per hour. But these are a great tool to use to help prevent costly mistakes in the future.

Tip five:
Rather than buying everything at once, which few people can actually afford, you should plan your landscaping project into phases. This is a great plan because rather than getting into debt by charging everything that you need you can just pay as you go with the money that you have on hand. But not only that buy doing this you can actually evaluate how things are going and then make adjustments if they are needed before you g on to the next phase of your plan.

Tip six:
Making friends with your neighbors can be a great way to save money on landscaping costs because chances are good that they are also looking to landscape their yards, especially if you are living in a new neighborhood. So what you can do to help cut costs is to share the expenses for renting the heavy piece of equipment and then take turns when using it.

Tip seven:
If you are looking for rare plants or specialized products be sure that you look at things online and in mail order catalogs because these can help to expand your resources, which can get you a better price in the long run because you have more options to choose from. Not to mention that often times things purchased online or over the phone can be cheaper than in the stores, but make sure that you include shipping and handling costs when you are comparing prices. Even better look for free shipping and handling offers for the purchases that you are considering.

Tip eight:
But don't just think that by shopping online or through the mail that you are going to be saving a ton of money, you also need to consider your other resources. The thing is that arboretums and botanical centers have plant sales. But you can also look to friends and neighbors to see if they bought too much and will sell you some for a discount. But even better is the cities that offer free mulch and compost to help with your landscaping plants. Construction sites and demolition sites can be great sources for bricks and stones.

Tip nine:
Consider when you are buying your items; planning on buying them during certain seasons can actually save you a ton of money. In fact many times when you buy is just as important as where you buy. More often than not lumber for outdoor projects is usually cheaper in the winter than it is in the summer. But also if you buy plants and tress later in the season you can save money because the nurseries are trying to get rid of their stock before winter hits. If plants or flowers just came out meaning they are newly released varieties what a few years for production to catch up to the demand so you pay a cheaper price.

Tip ten:
Just because something is cheaper than something else that doesn't always mean that the cheaper item is going to be better. What you need to keep in mind is that while you home improvement warehouses are going to offer you lower prices for common plants and landscaping materials the variety that they offer is not going to be as good as at other places nor is the quality always going to be as good. But not only that your specialized shops can more often than not offer you things that the larger stores can't such as specialized knowledge about installing things or even when it comes to planting what plants will work better than others in certain locations. Not to mention that the specialty stores usually offer money back guarantees on their plants, trees and shrubs which is something that your bigger stores usually fail to do.

Tip eleven:
What you need to know is that sometimes there is no difference between the quality of the items that you are going to be purchasing. So when it comes to these items if there is little to no difference why do you want to pay more for the higher priced item when you can get the same thing for a cheaper price. Basically things that you can buy at the warehouse type stores that are commonly used like pavers and containers are what we are talking about because they buy in bulk they can offer cheaper prices. But you want to inspect the plants closely before buying them because they might not care for them the same way a nursery would.

Tip twelve:

• When it comes to buying things like soil or sand you are going to need to estimate how much you are going to need of that material, which can actually be hard to do because sometimes things seem to be more than what they are or they seem to be less than what you get. So what you want to keep in mind is that these materials are usually sold by volume or weight and if it is a dense and compact type of material a ton might not cover as much as you think it will. So you are going to want to follow some guidelines when it comes to purchasing these materials. Here are some general guidelines:
•     A cubic yard of soil, compost or mulch fills about this much space:
•     320 square feet to a depth of  inch
•     160 square feet to a depth of 2 inches
•     10 square feet to a depth of 3 inches
•    80 square feet to a depth of 4 inches
•     A cubic yard of soil weighs more than 2,000 pounds; a cubic yard of sand or gravel weighs nearly 3,000 pounds
•     A ton of ¼ to _ inch diameter decorative rock spread 2 inches deep will cover 110 to 120 square feet
•     A ton of sand or pea gravel spread 2 inches deep will cover 100 to 120 square feet
•     Full-size pick ups hold 2 to 3 cubic yards of dirt, sand, gravel or mulch. But maximum weight capacity may limit you to carrying less. Single axle dump truck holds 5 to 7 cubic yards of loose fill material. Larger trucks can carry more than 10 cubic yards