Landscaping Cost Calculator

Nationally, landscaping runs about $4.50 to $40 per square foot depending on scope, according to Angi's 2026 data -- a basic cleanup and planting refresh sits at the low end, a full tear-out and rebuild at the high end. For an average residential yard, that spans roughly $2,000 for basic work to $20,000 or more for a full renovation. Enter your yard size and scope above for a number specific to your project.

It depends entirely on scope more than size. A basic backyard refresh -- mulch, edging, some planting -- runs $4.50 to $12 per square foot. A full renovation with hardscape, new grading and irrigation can run $25 to $40 per square foot. A typical 1,000 sq ft backyard therefore spans anywhere from about $4,500 to $40,000 depending on how much of it is being redone.

The same per-square-foot rates apply as any other landscaping project -- $4.50 to $40 depending on scope -- but front yards are usually smaller than backyards, so the total is typically lower. A basic front-yard refresh commonly lands in the $1,500 to $5,000 range.

Because "landscaping" describes a huge span of actual work, not one material or job. A weekend mulch-and-edge refresh and a full backyard rebuild with retaining walls and a new patio are both "landscaping," and they cost nothing alike. This calculator narrows the range by asking for a scope tier -- basic, moderate, or full renovation -- rather than pretending one number fits every project.

Typically bed edging and a mulch refresh, basic planting (shrubs, small trees), lawn seeding or patching, and minor grading -- work that assumes the yard's structure is already sound and doesn't need a redesign, just a cleanup and refresh.

A complete tear-out of the existing yard, regrading, hardscape elements like retaining walls, patios or paths, mature tree and full bed planting, and often a new irrigation system. This is the $25-40 per square foot tier -- effectively building the yard from scratch rather than improving what's there.

This calculator prices installed work, not a design-only service. If you only need a landscape design plan (drawings and a planting scheme) without installation, that is typically quoted separately by a landscape designer or architect and is not included in the per-square-foot rates here.

Generally yes, on a per-square-foot basis -- softscape work (planting, sod, mulch) tends to sit at the lower end of the range shown here, while hardscape elements (patios, retaining walls, walkways) push a project toward the full-renovation tier. Use the patio-cost or retaining-wall calculators linked above for a hardscape-specific number rather than folding it into a general landscaping estimate.

Scope is the single biggest lever -- moving from a full renovation to a moderate redesign, or from moderate to a basic refresh, changes the per-square-foot rate more than any material substitution within a tier. Phasing the project (basic refresh now, hardscape later) and doing planting or mulch work yourself while hiring out grading and hardscape are the two most common ways homeowners bring the total down.

Small yards cost less in total but not necessarily less per square foot -- fixed costs like design time, equipment mobilization and cleanup don't shrink proportionally with size, so a small yard's per-square-foot rate can run at or above a large yard's. Enter your actual square footage above rather than assuming "small" means proportionally cheap.

This calculator prices a whole project by scope, in dollars. The mulch, gravel and sod calculators price one specific material by quantity -- cubic yards, tons, or rolls -- for a much narrower job. If you already know you need, say, mulch for your beds and nothing else, the mulch calculator will get you a tighter, material-specific number than this whole-yard estimate can.

Only in the sense that a full-renovation project might include hardscape elements like a patio or short retaining wall as part of the overall scope. For an accurate price on a fence or a patio specifically, use the dedicated fence-cost or patio-cost calculators linked in the results above -- they price those elements with the sourcing and detail this general tool can't match for a single feature.

Real estate industry estimates commonly cite landscaping recouping a meaningful share of its cost at resale, though the exact return varies widely by market, project quality and how overgrown or bare the yard was beforehand. This calculator prices installation cost, not resale return, since resale value depends on local market data this tool doesn't have.