How to Find the Best Landscaping Company in Northern Virginia

Are you thinking about hiring a landscaper? You might be wondering how you can start the process, including how to find the best landscapers in Northern Virginia.

These days, with the Internet at our fingertips, it’s easier than ever to find a wide variety of service providers.

But how do you know what sets these companies apart?

Jump to Section

• What to Look for in a Landscaping Company?
  • Look at the Caliber of Finished Projects
  • Seek the Best Customer Care
  • Look for Stability
  • Find a Landscaper Who Has Your Best Interest at Heart
• FAQs About Hiring a Landscaper
  • What Are Some Red Flags to Watch for When Hiring a Landscaper?
  • What’s a Good Price for Landscaping?
  • What Should Be Included in My Landscape Contract?
  • What Are Some Questions to Ask Before Hiring a Landscaper?
• Choosing a Landscape Contractor in Northern VA

You take a lot of pride in your property, and you want to make sure you get the results you desire. That’s going to mean choosing one of the top-rated landscapers in Northern Virginia.

In this article, we’ll help answer some of your common questions about what’s involved and how to get started.

What to Look for in a Landscaping Company?

If you’re thinking about hiring a landscaper, you are probably wondering what exactly you should be looking for in that search.

Here are a few factors to consider if you care about choosing top-rated landscapers in Northern Virginia.

Look at the Caliber of Finished Projects

First and foremost, if you’re looking for the best landscapers, it makes a lot of sense to review some of their finished work. Most landscapers have a portfolio (or at least have photos on their website) of projects they have completed.

It’s very helpful to get a sense of the kind of work they’ve done and whether it meets your expectations. Here are a few considerations as you look at finished projects.

• Do they have projects of your size and scale? Not all landscapers are equipped to handle larger projects. You don’t want to be a guinea pig for something they haven’t done before.

• Do all of the projects look alike, or are they unique and customized? The best landscapers in Northern Virginia have portfolios with a wide variety of projects. You don’t want a cookie-cutter project.

• Are there consistently high-quality projects? You want a company that delivers high-quality results again and again.

Seek the Best Customer Care

Obviously, you want to make sure that you’re going to end up with a landscaper who can deliver top-notch results. But you also want the experience of working with them to be high-level, too. When you’re investing in professional landscaping, you deserve excellent customer care.

While many companies boast about offering great customer service, your encounter may not match what you were promised or expected.

At Kingstowne Lawn & Landscape, we pride ourselves on a very unique customer service experience that we affectionately call “the royal treatment”. We call the team that handles these interactions our Client Care Team, and we approach the entire process a bit differently than many lawn and landscaping companies.

Look for Stability

How many years has the landscaping company that you’re considering been in business?

While longevity doesn’t guarantee that it’s a great business, it’s a good place to start. That’s because the landscaping industry is known for many fly-by-night companies. They’re there one day, working on lawns in your neighborhood, but several months later, they’re no longer around. That can really leave you high and dry.

However, if you’ve found a company that has been in business for 10, 15, or 20 years, you can feel confident that they’re not going anywhere. There’s also a reason they’ve been able to stick around that long—they have plenty of satisfied customers. When you’re in the service industry, you can’t sustain longevity if you have a lot of unhappy customers.

Find a Landscaper Who Has Your Best Interest at Heart

This can be hard to gauge early on, but finding a landscaper who actually cares about you and your project is critical. The initial landscape consultation is an opportunity to determine whether the company has your best interests at heart.

Are they being very pushy about upselling you on services that might seem unneeded or even unnecessary?

It’s a lot like going to have your car serviced, and they try to sell you on the undercarriage treatment or the wheel protection. It’s a turn-off if it doesn’t feel like a service you actually need. If it feels like they’re just trying to increase the dollar amount, then they probably don’t have your best interest at heart.

On the flip side, the landscape company in Northern Virginia that tells you, “you don’t actually need that,” or points you in a direction that is truly in line with your budget and your needs, is a company that isn’t just out to make a quick dollar.

FAQs About Hiring a Landscaper

Here are a few of the most commonly asked questions associated with hiring a landscaper. Hopefully, these will cover any remaining uncertainties that we have not discussed yet.

What Are Some Red Flags to Watch for When Hiring a Landscaper?

We’ve talked a lot about what to look for when hiring a landscaper. But what are some red flags that might indicate a landscaper is a bad fit? Here are some important ones to keep in mind.

Expecting payment in full upfront: This may be a red flag if a landscaper expects you to pay the entire project cost upfront. Conversely, expecting no deposit at all is also potentially concerning, as you might question whether you’re actually on their schedule and when the project will actually move forward. Always inquire about what’s expected of you regarding payment and timing.

Not offering any contract: You should have details in writing. But if the landscaper does not offer a contract, or has one that is incredibly limited in detail, you should question what you’re getting.

Low-ball bids: As we mentioned, you’ll likely see a lot of variation when it comes to landscaping costs. But if a bid seems excessively lower than all of the others, that should raise a red flag about what you’re actually getting. There’s a good chance things were left off the plan or that the landscaper might be cutting corners.

High-pressure sales: Are they desperate for your work because they don’t have other projects? Or, is this what the entire experience is going to be like? If the sales process makes you uncomfortable, this may not be a good fit.

No references, reviews, or portfolio…or poor reviews: If there are indicators that other clients were unhappy, or you’re finding it impossible to verify this information, it could be a big red flag.

What’s a Good Price for Landscaping?

When hiring a landscaper, you might be inclined to shop around based on price. But it’s important to understand the “value” that you are getting for your investment. There are good reasons why some landscapers charge more than others, and the last thing that you want is to be dissatisfied because you sought to save a few dollars.

We tell homeowners that if they are looking for all of the key components (hardscaping, fencing, drainage, lighting, plants, etc.), then a realistic range for landscaping is between 10 and 15 percent of your home’s value.

Project costing, however, is highly dynamic, so your project price might be higher or lower depending on factors such as site conditions, access, plant selection, scope of work, chosen materials, and more.

What Should Be Included in My Landscape Contract?

Some landscaping companies are much more detailed in their landscaping agreements than others. At Kingstowne Lawn & Landscape, we do get pretty detailed in our landscaping contracts.

Here are some of the details that we include:

• Materials to be used

• Scope of work

• Warranties

• Project specifics

• Accessibility

Answering these details ahead of time will help you avoid confusion during the installation process, when changes are most difficult to implement.

What Are Some Questions to Ask Before Hiring a Landscaper?

Asking the right questions can help you get a much better sense of who you are hiring and whether they are the right fit for you. Here are some questions to consider asking to help you get important information:

• Where can I see examples of your work?

• Do you have any special training or certifications?

• Do you provide designs for new installations in advance?

• Do you have the necessary equipment to do this job?

• What ideas do you have for my property?

• What is your current project timeline?

• Can you maintain my project after you build it?

When you ask the right questions before your project, you can save time, prevent costly change orders, and position your landscape project for success.

Choosing a Landscape Contractor in Northern VA

Researching and ultimately choosing a landscape company is a big decision, and it may feel like it requires a lot of work. But by putting in the effort on the front end, you’ll be able to find a company that you can build a long-term relationship with, rather than feeling as though you’re headed right back to square one when it didn’t work out with the company you chose.

Whether you’re looking for a new patio, refreshed landscaping with new plant beds, or maybe an entire outdoor living area, you want to make sure that you’re selecting a landscape contractor that you can trust…and that has your best interest at heart.

Hopefully, we’ve given you the information you need to start that process and make a wise choice.

But if you have more questions or you’d like to talk further, we are always here to help.

If you’d like to learn more about our landscaping company and how we can meet your needs, request a consultation, get your customized plan, and relax while we get to work.