You're kidding, right? In my region you'd pay $60 - $100 for good sized shrubs from a reasonably priced nursery. You'd pay about half that for the big box storesÂand they'd be about 1/3 the size. Think waiting 2 to 3 years for the smaller shrubs to catch up. Trees? Well, they'd be a bit pricierÂIs the work being priced just for the front yard? I've received several bids for a small landscape project in my backyard that would include re-grading mistakes of the distant past. (Note: You bet there's a warning here. Poorly done grading can mean water issues.) The quotes are coming in at $5,000 to $6,500, if we go with a newly paved patio after the grading. That's for a relatively small area of my modest overall landscape. You want shrubsÂa 50' hedge rowÂgrading seedingÂetc.? I guess I'm wondering who will evaluate the grade and get the drainage right, who will plan for decks, patios, walkways? What about exterior lighting, automatic watering? Sounds to me as though you already have this as cheap as possible Believe me, for 10k you'll get what you paid forÂand it probably won't be much. How much consultation with the LA will you have? Are you just receiving some sort of "standard package" or will the LA give you personal attention and all the different kinds of plan drawings that come with a professional LA? Are you getting the feeling of "Here's your grade work. There's your seed. Here's your row of hedge row shrubs. See ya' later!" (Sound of truck driving off rapidly.) If it were me, I'd be driving over to talk to this guy's previous customers. How happy are they? What does their landscape look like? I'd be talking with friends who have done landscape work that appeals to me and asking them what it cost. Either way, you might be better off putting $5,000 toward consultation with a reputable landscape architect firm for the purpose of developing a comprehensive site-analysis and exterior plan. The work doesn't have to all be implemented at once, but can be done in phases. I'd particularly recommend such a course for someone who aims to have low-maintenance. No landscape can be maintained without some care, and it takes thoughtfulness and planning to get something that is both attractive and relatively trouble free. A really beautiful home can be made into a sad, depressed looking trollop if the exterior work is done too much "on the cheap". Mistakes can damage your home and be costly to fix later on. Think in terms of spending 10 to 20 % of the cost of your home. That's the "rule of thumb" that's out there. Wellspring, who is just a homeowner somewhere on the low-cost-of-living prairie

I pulled up this photo. The brick is a little darker but similar to yours, I thought. I like the idea of a green for your shutters and I wondered about painting both door and trim a dark color, maybe a dark purplish almost black. I think the column could be pulled from your chart, a warmer tone than your current white - maybe Swiss Coffee. Think about whether you'd like that same color for your railing and maybe a dark brown from your brick for the treads and risers. Here's a screenshot of some greens that might work. This link will let you identify all the colors shown, if you want. I love your brick. https://benjaminmoorefrance.com/en/colors/1560

I like the comments so far. I'd just add that it would be good to go into it with an eye toward wildlife, pollinators and edible plantings. Most are structurally beautiful. In my front gardens, I have pawpaw trees and serviceberry, medlar, persimmon, apples, hawthorn (medicinal, wildlife, and winter interest) I have a shrub layer with currants of all kinds, gooseberries, honeyberries, quince, figs (zone 5), interspersed, I have spring bulbs and perennials and have used strawberries as a groundcover. In a few short weeks, I've harvested over 50 quarts of strawberries, so I'm set for breakfast everyday until next year's harvest. I've dehydrated about eight quarts and made strawberry wine and given away numerous berries to friends and neighbors. Hidden behind the serviceberry shrubs, I have 50 crowns of asparagus, from which I've been eating every day since May. I've pickled some, frozen some and given away a lot, too. I have a rhubarb tucked in and am trying a batch of rhubarb wine. My point is that you could benefit from the plants you choose in other ways than only visually. Not all of the plants above have beautiful fall color, but most do, along with spring blossoms and wonderful fragrance. My quince tree had stunning pale pink flowers covering it. In the fall, the aroma and golden color of the ripening fruit will be amazing. In the winter, I will enjoy the processed fruit! Not only is the aronia berry a superfood, but its intense red fall color is shocking, as are the blueberries. Yesterday, I was watching all of the butterflies flitting around, and all of the birds landing on the 'Autumn Brilliance' serviceberry to enjoy the fruit covering it. I like knowing that I am making their lives a little better, because they certainly enrich mine! When the Hawthorn grows a little older, it, too, will provide four season beauty, white spring blossoms to persistent red berries throughout the winter for the birds, and heart medicine for me. There is no downside that I've found with this kind of growing and would encourage everyone to consider some food or medicine to be grown in their yards!

Vinca is a bad invasive where I live in Ontario, and is on the invasives lists in many other places. It does spread by root, but also by seed, and is found here in mid-forest, far from its source. I know many people still buy and plant it, but if you want to avoid the spread of invasives to our natural areas, be aware this is on all the lists as one to avoid. I planted it many years ago on the advice of a landscape designer, and I am slowly removing it. Not a small job.