In today’s society everyone is looking to cut costs anywhere they can, even when it comes to landscaping. If you plan on using stone in you landscaping plan, a good way to be cost sensitive with your budget is to buy local quarried stone. Not only are you supporting local businesses in your community, but you’re also saving money by dodging hefty out-of-state shipping fees.
Check out what Marcia Duffy of Landscape & Hardscape Design-Build writes about buying local stones and rocks to help cut landscaping costs:
Local stones and rocks
The buy-local movement is strong for landscape materials, and expensive stones from other areas are often being passed over for more regionally sourced materials.
“If a homeowner is seeking natural materials that are beautiful, affordable and work well with their design, all I can say is buy local,” says White.
Local quarried stone is less expensive than many of the new materials coming on the market, White points out. In addition to saving money by eliminating the shipping costs of materials from out of state, buying materials from local quarries allows you “to support local businesses in your community during these tough economic times,” says White.
Not only should you buy local, but you should also buy early, suggests Victor Coppola, an environmental planner and scientist with Princeton, Conn.-based GreenWorks LLC, a green design/build firm specializing in landscape restoration, rehabilitation and enhancement.
Coppola points out that hardscape installers should consider ordering early to get the hot colors for 2010, such as blue or tan, at a better price, which they can pass on to their budget-conscious customers.
“A better way to look at your project needs is timing and planning … and get good prices by timing your hardscape buying in the off-season [November through February],” says Coppola.
Want more information on budget and eco-friendly hardscape design? Read the full article, Decorative Stone Trends for 2010.