Our Landscaping Process
Eight steps from the first phone call to the final walkthrough — with real timelines, honest payment milestones, and what happens when the monsoon shows up mid-build.
Our landscaping process has eight steps: free on-site consultation, site and soil assessment, design and proposal, permits and HOA approval, demolition and grading, irrigation and base work, installation, and a final walkthrough. Most residential projects in Las Cruces run two to six weeks from signed proposal to completion, depending on scope, permitting and weather.
The Eight Steps
Every project runs through the same sequence. Smaller jobs compress several steps into a single day; a full property install spreads them over weeks. What does not change is the order — skipping grading or base work to save a few days is exactly how landscapes fail in their second summer here.
Free on-site consultation
We walk the property with you. What you want the space to do matters more than what it looks like on a mood board, so we ask how you actually use the yard, who uses it, and what has failed there before. No charge, and no obligation at the end of it.
Site & soil assessment
We check drainage flow, sun and shade across the day, existing irrigation, access for equipment, and how deep the caliche sits. Caliche depth alone can move a quote significantly, because breaking through it is machine work, not shovel work. Finding that out now is far cheaper than discovering it mid-install.
Design & written proposal
You receive an itemized proposal — materials, quantities, labor, timeline and exclusions written out, not bundled into one round number. If the full scope is beyond the budget, we phase it and show you what each phase costs, so the decision is yours rather than ours.
Permits & HOA approval
Not every project needs this, but some do. Retaining walls above certain heights, work affecting drainage, and anything in an HOA area like Sonoma Ranch can require approval before a crew arrives. We prepare the plan and material specifications in submittable form; you submit it, because the HOA contracts with you rather than with us.
Demolition & grading
Old turf, failed gravel, dead plants and unsuitable material come out. Then the ground gets shaped so water moves away from your foundation and toward where you want it during monsoon storms. This is the least photogenic stage and the one that decides whether everything above it lasts.
Irrigation & base work
Drip lines and zones go in before anything covers them, grouped by water need rather than by convenience. Hardscape base material is laid and compacted to the depth the surface actually requires. Everything buried happens now, because reopening a finished patio to fix a line is the most expensive mistake in this trade.
Installation
Pavers, rock, boulders, edging, turf, trees and planting go in, in that general order so heavy material is never carried across finished surfaces. You will see the yard change daily at this stage. Scope drives the duration far more than yard size does: a gravel conversion moves fast, an outdoor kitchen does not.
Final walkthrough & handover
We walk the finished project together, program the irrigation controller in front of you around the current watering ordinance, and explain the establishment watering your new plants need for their first two seasons. Anything on the punch list gets noted and closed out. Final payment comes after this, not before.
How Long Will My Project Take?
The honest answer is that scope drives timeline far more than square footage does. These are the on-site ranges we quote against, excluding any HOA or permit wait.
| Project type | Typical on-site time | Main variable | Permit likely? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rock / gravel front yard conversion | 3–5 days | Volume of turf and old material removed | Rarely |
| Full xeriscape conversion | 1–3 weeks | Irrigation rework and plant count | Rarely |
| Artificial turf install | 3–6 days | Excavation depth and caliche | Rarely |
| Paver patio or walkway | 4–10 days | Base depth and cutting complexity | Sometimes |
| Retaining wall | 1–2 weeks | Height, drainage behind wall, grade | Often |
| Irrigation system install | 2–5 days | Zone count and trenching distance | Rarely |
| Full property, new construction lot | 3–6 weeks | Grading scope and phasing | Sometimes |
Who Does What
Most project friction comes from an assumption nobody said out loud. So here it is in writing.
Our responsibility
- Site assessment, design and itemized proposal
- Permit drawings and HOA-ready plan documents
- All materials, delivery and haul-off of debris
- Locating and protecting existing irrigation and utility lines
- Daily site cleanup and safe equipment storage
- Irrigation programming and the establishment schedule
- Punch list completion before final payment
Your part
- Clear access to the work area and a water spigot
- Pets kept inside or secured during work hours
- Formal submission of the HOA application in your name
- Decisions on material and plant selections by the agreed date
- A heads-up about anything buried we would not know about
- Watering of new plants per the schedule after handover
Payment Milestones
You should know what you are paying and when before signing anything. Our standard structure ties payment to visible progress rather than to a calendar.
A deposit that covers material ordering and secures your slot in the schedule. Nothing is charged for the estimate or the proposal itself.
Due when rock, pavers, turf or plant material physically arrives on your property, not when it is ordered.
On larger builds only, tied to a defined milestone such as completed grading and base work.
The final balance is due after the walkthrough and after the punch list is closed out, never before.
What Happens When Things Change
Monsoon and heat delays
Between July and September, storms can stop grading, base compaction and paver setting for a day or more. Wet caliche will not compact properly, so we wait rather than build on it. We tell you the same day when a weather delay moves your finish date.
What the ground hides
Shallow caliche, buried concrete, an old irrigation line nobody documented, or a drainage problem only visible once turf comes up. If any of these change the scope, work pauses and you get a written change order with the cost before we continue.
Mid-project requests
You can change your mind. Adding a bed, upgrading a paver, extending a patio — all workable. Each goes through the same written change order so there is never a surprise number on the final invoice.
Establishment and follow-up
New plantings need one to two seasons of attentive watering before they are self-sufficient. We leave you a schedule for that and remain reachable afterward. Workmanship and any manufacturer material warranties are stated in your proposal.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. The on-site visit, the assessment and the written itemized proposal are all free, with no obligation to proceed. You keep the proposal either way.
It depends on the season and the current schedule. Spring and fall are the busiest windows in Las Cruces, so booking earlier matters then. We give you a realistic start window in the proposal rather than an optimistic one.
No, as long as we have access to the work area and a water source. We do ask that you are available for the initial consultation and the final walkthrough, since both involve decisions.
Yes, and on larger properties we often recommend it. The key is planning all phases at the start so irrigation and grading in phase one connect properly to phase two instead of being torn up and redone.
We can build to an existing plan. We will still walk the site and flag anything that will not work in local soil or drainage conditions before starting, because building a flawed plan correctly still produces a failed landscape.
Because breaking through a caliche layer is machine work rather than hand digging, and its depth varies street by street across Las Cruces. It changes planting hole cost, trenching time and hardscape excavation, which is why we check for it during the assessment rather than guessing.
We prepare the plan, plant list and material specifications in submittable form. You submit it formally, because the HOA agreement is between you and the association. We schedule the build around the approval window.
Call us. Workmanship terms and any manufacturer warranties on materials are written into your proposal, so the coverage is defined before work starts rather than debated afterward.
Next steps
Start With a Free Walkthrough
No pressure and no charge. We look at your lot, tell you honestly what is realistic for your budget, and put an itemized proposal in your hands within 48 hours.