I am of the firm belief that a garden is an on-going process and not a project that has a beginning and an end. Your post made me curious though to stop and think about what I have spent on the garden. Our lot is smaller than yours - 75'x155'. We've been here 8 garden seasons. We bought an existing house but did a major renovation and addition so, aside from a mature green ash, a youthful red oak and a couple of middle-aged white pines, we started from scratch. The smallish concrete patio was part of the house renovation so I'm not including the cost of that because I don't know what is was as a separate item. I don't have detailed records from the first five years but I've spent about $22,000 in the past three years. That does include the cost of a new garden shed though. I estimate that my average cost per year for plants, pine bark mulch and misc. items is in the neighbourhood of $3,000 a year. Aside from building the shed, other non-routine costs included the north fence and the south gate arbour, the front bed arbour and tuteurs (add another $10,000 or so for all that...) Other than those non-routine items, we did the rest of the work ourselves, spread over the past 8 years. The total sort of surprises me - I'd be reluctant to contemplate spending that all at once! But spread over the years, it doesn't seem so bad. It's hard to project what the future costs will be. I'm running out of room to expand the garden so it might be logical to expect a reduction in plant costs - but I wouldn't count on it! I don't have any large, expensive projects planned at the moment but I wouldn't say that one couldn't come along.... The garden, to me, is not about what you spend on it but what pleasure it gives you. For me, the benefit/pleasure I get from my garden considerably outweighs the money we've spent on it.

I don't think 10% of your home's value is too much at all. Whether you continue to do more each year is really a matter of how important it is to you. Do you improve your yard because you want it to look nice to passersby or because YOU enjoy it and use it? I spend money on my yard each year because I love being outdoors and because I love the beauty, tranquility of my gardens. If that wasn't the case, I probably would only do enough to make it look decent and then call it quits. As it stands now, I've probably spent the same as you and my house is probably smaller and lower in value. But I have no plans to stop. (I also don't plan to move) So I guess, for some, it's never enough LOL!

Well, we definitely made the committment to invest in our landscaping - it for our enjoyment and not for resale value. The reason I posted is because I was curious if others do the same or not. According to my builder "all you really need for landscaping is about $6,000.00" Believe me some of the other homes show every cent they didn't spend, but that's not why we did it.

The funny part is that most of the expense has been on the big stuff, the "bones" of the landscaping - I really have yet to go all out with plants - that's phase 5 - this year, finally! Needless to say, I've spent a bit of time on the Winter Sowing forum because I'd like to save some $$ trying to grow mass amounts of strong, healthy plants from seed - plus I can't seem to find the variety I'm looking for at the nursery/garden centers around town.

I think it's all relative :-)

When I started on mine, it was a total disaster. I started because my wife was embarrassed when company came over. She looked at one particularly hideous spot and said "I think I'd like a pond." What I didn't realize was that just the simple process of starting would spawn the creativity, imagination, and anticipation it would take to finish. Before and after is a powerful motivator especially when it comes together in a way that lives up to or surpasses the vision of your original design.

I worried a bit about overbuilding for my neighborhood and I purposely didn't add up all the receipts. I designed and built it all myself over a period of 6 years and just decided that I had to finish what I started. I'm almost done with all the hardscape, thank goodness and have probably 85% of all the plants in. I've probably got better than $50K into it. I think the thing with me is that I am so satisfied with it that it is my favorite destination after a long day or on the weekend or even for a vacation and there isn't much better therapy for me than putzing in my garden after a long day on the road. Whenever I do a feature/benefit/cost analysis breakdown, I always end up convinced that it was all worth it :-)

I think the discussion has to differentiate garden from landscaping. There are some old threads on the topic... but making the place look good and gardening in it are two entirely separate things, as my husband would be the first to point out!

KarinL

The fact that you LOVED your landscaper says alot.We bought over 2 acres and promptly hired a man who boasted of his skills.We wanted ponds dug and grading done . Well a year later and much heartache we had a couple holes ,mountains of dead debris, and a big fat mess. He kept wanting more and more money and all he did was sit equipment on our property when we complained.I had two kids coming up with weddings and really wanted them here. (Didn't happen)
While digging we found an old dumpsite.We asked that he move it off the property take it to the dump and instead he crushed it into a bank. As I walked across the lawn I could hear glass crushing beneath the soil. pieces of pipe,hoses and tires jutted out. Finally I gave my DH an ultimatum of he goes or I go. When he tried to fire him the man gave it one last try leaving an empty flatbed trailer on my property and driving away. THAT was it. I said how stupid do you think we are?
We fired him and had to go to the sherriff to get money back(not nearly enough)
Hired another guy who listened to what I wanted and Re dug the ponds the correct way.He accomplished the grading,
ponds and creek in a week! Then we were able to have a sod and sprinkler guy and the flower beds and tree planting we did ourselves.
The price 50 grand. To us it is worth it as I spend so much time outdoors.Ienjoy wildlife that visits and love the photo ops it yields.
By the way the first guy is in jail now for cattle rustling . Yep1 He stole over a hundred cows from someone he was working for.
Below is a shot of my pond doubleclick on it and you can see the whole building from start to finish.Push slideshow once you get into webshots.
{{gwi:10169}}