6 services · Scottsdale, AZ
Landscaping Services in Scottsdale, AZ
Scottsdale landscaping comes down to 6 services in one climate. Each one is planned for alkaline soil, hard sun and a monsoon that arrives all at once. Pick the one your yard needs, or call and describe it.
6 services, one page each
Landscape Design and Installation
: A full landscape installation in Scottsdale is demolition, drainage, grading, irrigation, hardscape and planting, in that order, and the order is what keeps a yard from being built twice.Patios and Pavers
: A paver patio in Scottsdale is a base problem before it is a surface problem, and every wall around it is an engineering problem before it is a design choice.Artificial Turf Installation
: Artificial turf in Scottsdale is a base project with grass laid on top, and the base and the drainage decide how long it lasts.Irrigation and Sprinkler Repair
: Sprinkler problems in Scottsdale often show up as a wet patch, a dry zone or a clock that runs while the yard stays dry.Outdoor Living Spaces
: Outdoor living is the part of a Scottsdale yard used after sunset: a cooking counter, a fire feature, a structure overhead, and light that reaches the walk.Landscape Lighting
: Landscape lighting in Scottsdale is a low voltage system, a transformer and city guidance on how much light leaves the property.
Service area
What landscaping work is covered here?
The list is short and deliberate: landscape design and installation, patios and pavers including retaining walls, artificial turf and putting greens, irrigation and sprinkler repair, outdoor living builds such as kitchens, fire features and pergolas, and landscape lighting. Each has its own page with the process, the published ranges and the local rules that apply. Phoenix yards have their own pages for pavers, artificial turf, landscape lighting, sprinkler repair and pergolas. Every service starts with a look at the property, before any number gets discussed.
Planning
Which service do Scottsdale yards need first?
Irrigation is a common first step. A yard that looks tired in July often has a stuck valve, a clogged drip line or a controller still running a July schedule in January, and fixing the water is the cheapest way to find out what is still alive. Drainage is the second starting point: a low corner that ponds, a wash running toward the patio, gravel pushed onto the pool deck after a storm. Plants come after water and grade, never before. A new shrub set into a yard with a water problem can need replacing inside a year. The order is boring and it saves money: test the water, fix the grade, then plant. The city is in Stage One of its drought plan, which is increased monitoring and evaluation (City of Scottsdale, water shortages and preparedness (opens in a new tab)), so a yard that runs dry in July often has a hardware problem.
How it works
What does a full landscape installation include?
A full installation starts with the site, not with the plants. Grading first so water leaves the property the way it should, then irrigation zones laid out and tested, then hardscape, then planting, then gravel or mulch. The plant list follows the exposure of each bed, so the west face gets a different palette from the shaded north side. A front yard rebuild takes weeks, not days, and the hardscape and the permit step decide how many. A national cost guide puts a front yard project at $1,500 to $5,000 and a full backyard renovation at $15,000 to $50,000. Published market ranges, not a quote: the final price is set after an on-site assessment. The landscape installation page walks the order.
Hardscape
What does a patio or a wall involve?
Pavers and flagstone are 2 surfaces that hold up well here, and the base decides whether they stay flat. A paver patio is excavated, compacted, built on a crushed base with a plate compactor, edged, then sand set. Flagstone is set on a mortar bed or dry set on sand, and the dry set version is the easiest to install. Skip the base and the field can ripple within a couple of summers. Walls are a different permit conversation: a fence or wall over 3 ft needs a city permit, and every retaining wall in Scottsdale needs engineered plans submitted and approved (City of Scottsdale, walls and fences (opens in a new tab)). A wall under 3 ft still needs courtesy site plan approval for zoning and stormwater. The patios and pavers page covers materials, base depth and the wall rules.
Turf
When does artificial turf make sense?
Turf makes sense where feet go and where real grass has already failed: a small play area, a dog run, a putting green, a strip that never got enough water. It does not make sense as a whole yard replacement, because the surface gets hot in direct sun and the base work costs more than most people expect. The honest case for turf here is water, not appearance. A Bermuda lawn with overseed takes over 55 in of irrigation a year, and an average xeriscape takes under 18 (University of Arizona, turf and water (opens in a new tab)). Turf replaces the lawn, not the drainage problem, and on a west facing yard with no shade it is hard on bare feet in July.
Water
What does irrigation work cover?
Repair and design are the same trade. On the repair side: broken valves, cracked lateral lines, heads that have sunk or tilted, drip emitters that clogged, controllers that lost their program after a power cut. On the design side: splitting one zone into hydrozones so trees, shrubs and turf are not watered on one schedule, and converting spray heads to drip where the planting changed. A drip conversion can pay for itself in water and in fewer dead plants, and it belongs before new planting rather than after. Scottsdale's drought plan adds limits on watering days only from Stage 2 on (City of Scottsdale, Drought Management Plan (opens in a new tab)). A leak can be one fitting or a lateral line under a walk, which is why repairs get quoted by the job. The irrigation and sprinkler repair page covers both sides plus the seasonal schedule.
Outdoor living
What goes into an outdoor living build?
A kitchen, a fire feature, a pergola or ramada, and the low voltage lighting that makes the space usable after dark. These are hardscape projects with a utility component, so the order is fixed: gas and electrical rough in before finishes, footings before pavers. In Scottsdale a building permit is required for an attached patio cover (City of Scottsdale, attached residential patio cover details (opens in a new tab)), and the permit desk can confirm any freestanding ramada or pergola. On lots in the Environmentally Sensitive Lands overlay, exterior lighting above 3 feet has to be horizontal full cutoff and aimed down, and lighting below 3 feet fully shielded, with security lights excepted (City of Scottsdale, ESL single-family plan requirements (opens in a new tab)). Lighting goes in last and is the thing people notice when it is missing. Gas work is regulated separately from hardscaping. The outdoor living page covers each build, and lighting has its own landscape lighting page.
Services
How do the 6 services fit together in one project?
Grade and irrigation come first, hardscape such as patios, pavers, walls and outdoor living builds comes second, and planting and the surface come third, with lighting last. Gas and electrical rough in comes before finishes, and footings come before pavers.
4 questions
Questions people ask
Still have a question? Call (747) 243-2089 and describe the yard.
Can I book one service without the others?
Yes. Repair work is often a single visit. A patio or a wall is quoted on its own. Site work is the exception: if the grade is wrong, a patio built on it will fail, so the fix is quoted with the patio rather than after it.
Can an existing plan be used?
Yes. A plan can be priced against the site. If it was drawn without a site visit, the grading and the irrigation may need adjusting, and that is noted before the work starts.
How do the published costs work?
Every range on the site comes from a published cost guide and is noted in the sentence that carries it. Those are market ranges, not quotes, and the number for a specific yard is set after the property is seen. The landscaping cost page holds the table.
Is there a minimum job size?
Small repairs are taken when the schedule allows. Say what else the yard needs and one visit can cover both of them.
