Guides to planning and pricing yard projects: landscaping costs, low-maintenance and drought-tolerant designs, mulch and drainage.
Professional artificial turf installation runs about $5 to $20 per sq ft, with recent cost guide averages running about $13 to $20. A typical 500 sq ft yard costs roughly $2,700 to $10,000, depending on turf quality, prep work and where you live.
October 15, 2026
Pick a spot at least 10 feet from the house where runoff flows but water doesn't already pond, dig a level basin 3 to 8 inches deep (usually 100 to 300 sq ft), berm the low side and plant natives that handle wet and dry.
October 13, 2026
Common landscape rock like pea gravel, crushed stone, river rock and lava rock runs about $10 to $220 per ton in 2026 cost guides. It works best on paths, dry creek beds and in desert or wildfire-prone yards, and less well in most planting beds.
October 11, 2026
The best backyard ideas start with how you'll use the space: a patio sized for your furniture, shade over part of it, privacy along the edges, layered planting beds and only as much lawn as you play on. Here are ideas by job, plus typical costs.
October 9, 2026
Xeriscaping is landscaping built to need little water beyond rainfall, using seven principles: planning, soil prep, practical turf, adapted plants, efficient irrigation, mulch and maintenance. It doesn't have to mean gravel and cactus.
October 7, 2026
Pick edging by the job: steel or aluminum for a long-lasting line that keeps grass out, plastic for cheap DIY curves, brick or stone for a decorative mowing strip, or a free spade-cut edge. Bury it about 4 inches for bluegrass and at least 6 for Bermudagrass.
October 2, 2026
Most ground covers can't handle foot traffic the way grass does, so use clover or a flowering bee lawn where you walk, and plants like sedges, junipers or pachysandra on slopes, in shade and in strips you never step on.
September 25, 2026
Landscape fabric is worth it under rock and gravel, where it keeps stones from sinking into the soil. In permanent beds under bark or wood chips, many extension experts say skip it: weeds root on top, plant roots grow into it and it's hard to remove.
September 21, 2026
'Green Giant' arborvitae and Leyland cypress can add about 3 feet a year when young, but the best privacy tree depends on your climate, space and deer. Here are fast picks by region, spacing and what a hedge costs.
September 16, 2026
Multiply your bed's square footage by the depth in inches, then divide by 324 to get cubic yards. At a typical 2 to 3 inches, 1 cubic yard covers about 108 to 162 square feet, or about 13.5 bags of 2 cubic feet each.
September 8, 2026
Professional landscaping usually costs $4.50 to $17 per square foot, so a 1,000 sq ft yard runs about $4,500 to $17,000. Here's what common projects cost, what design fees look like, and what pushes the price up.
September 2, 2026
Start by sloping soil away from the house (at least 6 inches of drop in the first 10 feet) and extending downspouts. If water still pools, add a swale, rain garden, dry well or French drain. Exterior French drains run about $10 to $75 per linear foot.
August 27, 2026
