Landscaping prices are hard to pin down because one yard can mean twenty plants and some mulch, or a patio, a pergola and a new fence. The way to budget is to price the parts. Below are typical costs for the things most yard makeovers are built from, in US dollars, with what you'd pay doing it yourself and what a landscaper typically charges installed. We checked 64 common items against US and UK retailers and cost guides in October 2026; treat them as estimates, since prices vary by region and supplier.
Plants: the cheapest way to change a yard
Plants are priced by pot size, and pot size matters more than species. These are typical US retail prices per plant (DIY) and installed prices including planting labor:
| Plant | Pot size | DIY | Installed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Purple coneflower | 1 gal | $12-22 | $28-45 |
| Daylily | 1 gal | $16-28 | $35-62 |
| Hosta | 2 gal | $25-43 | $50-88 |
| Karl Foerster feather reed grass | 2 gal | $25-45 | $50-90 |
| Knock Out rose | 3 gal | $40-70 | $85-150 |
| Hidcote lavender | 3 gal | $35-60 | $80-140 |
| Limelight hydrangea | 5 gal | $70-120 | $130-225 |
| Green Velvet boxwood | 5 gal | $65-115 | $125-220 |
| Emerald Green arborvitae | 15 gal | $140-250 | $290-500 |
| River birch | 15 gal | $160-280 | $320-540 |
| Bloodgood Japanese maple | 15 gal | $300-550 | $480-900 |
Bulbs are the bargain: ten tulips or daffodils cost about $10-22. Groundcovers like creeping thyme run about $24-40 for a 2-foot patch planted from small pots.
What that means for a bed: a 10 x 4 ft border planted at normal spacing takes roughly 3 shrubs, 12-15 perennials and some groundcover. In 1- and 3-gallon sizes that's about $350-600 in plants, or $800-1,400 installed with soil preparation and mulch.
Patios and paths: where the money goes
Hardscape is where budgets grow, because most of the cost is excavation, base material and labor rather than the stone itself.
| Hardscape | Size | DIY | Installed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paver patio | 10 x 10 ft section | $500-1,000 | $1,200-2,400 |
| Flagstone path | 8 x 8 ft section | $350-700 | $1,000-1,900 |
| Pea gravel area | 8 x 8 ft section | $100-220 | $220-480 |
| Japanese-style stepping stones | 6.5 ft run of 5 stones | $150-450 | $350-800 |
A 12 x 16 ft paver patio, a common size for a table and chairs, is about two of those sections: roughly $2,300-4,600 installed. Gravel is the cheapest way to make a sitting area or path, at about a fifth of the cost of pavers, and it drains well.
Structures, fences and features
| Feature | Unit | DIY | Installed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brick fire pit | each | $300-700 | $700-2,000 |
| Brick raised bed | each | $200-500 | $800-2,000 |
| Cedar pergola | each | $1,300-4,000 | $2,800-7,000 |
| Cedar privacy fence | 6 x 8 ft section | $160-280 | $330-580 |
| Picket fence | 3.3 x 8 ft section | $80-160 | $170-330 |
| Greenhouse | each | $1,000-2,800 | $2,000-4,500 |
Fences add up by length: 100 feet of cedar privacy fence is about 12-13 sections, or roughly $4,100-7,300 installed.
Lighting and finishing touches
Small items finish a yard and are easy to budget: solar path lights are about $10-30 each, a 13-foot string of café lights $45-110 to buy (more installed if it needs posts or wiring), a rain barrel $260-500, and a birdbath $130-350.
Three example budgets
These assume a typical suburban backyard and US prices.
- A planting refresh (new borders along two fences, about 50 plants in 1- to 3-gallon pots, mulch and edging): about $1,500-3,000 DIY or $3,500-7,000 installed.
- A planting refresh plus a gravel sitting area and a fire pit: about $2,500-4,500 DIY or $5,500-10,000 installed.
- A full makeover (a 12 x 16 ft paver patio, cedar pergola, new borders with a few small trees, lighting): about $8,000-14,000 DIY or $15,000-30,000 installed.
How to keep costs down without it looking cheap
- Buy plants smaller. One-gallon perennials catch up with larger sizes in two or three seasons. Spend on the few things that give structure now: a tree or a run of shrubs.
- Plant in groups of one kind. Five of the same plant in a drift looks designed and is cheaper to buy in quantity than five different specimens.
- Use gravel where you'd use pavers. For paths and casual sitting areas it costs a fraction and looks intentional with a crisp steel or brick edge.
- Do the planting, hire the paving. Planting is forgiving and DIY-friendly; patios need a properly compacted base, and mistakes there are expensive to fix.
- Choose plants that suit your zone. A plant that dies in its first winter is the most expensive one in the yard. Check each plant's hardiness against your USDA zone before you buy.
Price your own design
Before buying anything, it helps to see the finished yard. In LandscapeGPT you can redesign your yard from a photo, then open the design as a board and use List & costs to turn it into a shopping list with DIY and installed ranges, in your own currency. Pro plans add a full project plan with materials, the order of work and cost ranges.