ᐅ Is this landscaping contractor’s quote reasonable or way too expensive?

Snowy36 schrieb:
Nowadays, I don’t know anyone who has everything done by the landscaping contractor, not even people who have the money.

Our neighbors two houses down hired the same landscaping contractor and had about €300,000 (approx. $320,000) worth of work done. But it was very extensive. They also have the contractor take care of all their garden maintenance.

Snowy36 schrieb:
Find yourself a cheap, maybe Polish or some other paving specialist, and have them do what you can’t manage yourself, because paving is really tough...

I don’t really understand how to divide the work neatly. It’s enough for me that I have separated trades within the house itself and now have to coordinate everything. If you don’t hire the company for the entire job, they will most likely charge separately for the upcoming execution planning, which alone—according to HOAI (official scale of fees for services by architects and engineers)—is a significant amount, making it less attractive to split the contract. Everything has to work together seamlessly...

Regarding the idea of “doing it yourself” — I won’t manage anything at all. I have zero green thumb (my wife neither) and especially no time. I’m self-employed, working six days a week, sometimes even seven. I won’t spend my scarce free time trying to establish a new lawn or something, standing there clueless...

For the time after, we’re considering hiring a part-time helper for garden maintenance—perhaps a retired neighbor or someone similar. We know people who do this and they get along well with it. The lawn care is handled by a robotic mower, the irrigation by an automatic watering system, and for professional pruning and such, you can have a specialist company come one or two times a year.

My thread isn’t meant to be interpreted as “Wow, everything is so expensive, how do I negotiate them down?” but rather to check if the offer seems serious and fair or just overpriced. As I said, finding a landscaping contractor who will even sit down and explain their approach here is very difficult.

Honestly, I find the quote quite outrageous. I’m happy for you to spend your money, but throwing away 300,000 just like that means you won’t hold on to your hard-earned cash for long—someone else will end up with it. In your case, that’s the landscape contractor.

A friend of mine was offered a similar full-package deal in Baden-Württemberg for about 80,000—just for comparison.

You should learn from the mistakes made with the house. Does the garden really need to be finished immediately?

I would focus on making sure the house is right, move in, and then start with the garden, just like everyone else does.

This time, get informed about how garden irrigation systems actually work, and figure out what you really want instead of leaving everything to the “pros” again.

Only with the pool (having it done costs around 70,000) would I consider moving forward now. It’s much easier to install it now than later, once there are houses built around you, etc. Also, plan for it in your heating system, for example by adding a larger solar array or similar.

Snowy36 schrieb:
You should learn from the things that went wrong with the house. Does the garden really need to be finished right away?

No, it doesn’t. The plan is actually not to commission the entire job at the beginning, but initially only the front area plus the terrace surfaces. But even that is a considerable amount, so I have to carefully consider whether it fits within the scope of the quote or not.

Snowy36 schrieb:
Only with the pool (having it done costs about 70,000) I would start looking now. It’s much easier to install it now than later when houses are built around you, etc. And you should also plan for it in the heating system, e.g. with a larger solar panel area, etc.

That’s probably too late—the solar system and heating are already installed.

Preparing for a pool only makes sense if the pool is precisely planned. And I don’t know when we’ll do it. Maybe in three years, maybe in six… that obviously also depends on business success. Their landscaping contractor says that doing all pool work at the very end might cost about 10,000 extra. I’d rather not have an excavated hole in the garden for years.

Landscaping costs
If you don’t have time, you need to hire a contractor
I would also go with one company
If your neighbor is satisfied, with a high-quality installation you have a good chance of avoiding the same problems as with the house itself

Do you have a comparison quote?

haydee schrieb:
Do you have a comparative quote

That’s exactly the problem. When the garden landscapers hear it’s about a comparative quote, I feel like they shut down. They know that with a pharmacist’s offer they won’t get the contract and are probably—if they’re good—fully booked for months.

And honestly, I would be satisfied just knowing if there are items in my quote that are completely overpriced. I assume the supplier will carry out the work, but I expect some negotiation will still be necessary… but for that, I need to know on which items it makes sense.

In any case, I am also willing to pay good money for a good supplier. No question about that. I don’t want any problems there. I’m happy to pay 15–20% more than elsewhere. But if it ends up being 40–50% more, then it’s time to have a conversation and understand which items are responsible. Those are just my thoughts.

Are these really pharmacist prices?
48 euros/hour is definitely not daylight robbery.

Outdoor landscaping takes a lot of time, plus machinery and materials.

At the moment, there are no bargains.
Whether certain items are overpriced can only be determined by comparison. Are there individual material items listed? You could try asking building material suppliers yourself.