How to Choose a Landscaping Company in Georgetown, TX

To choose a landscaping company in Georgetown, check four things before you compare prices: an irrigation license you can verify with the state, a working knowledge of Georgetown's watering rules, a written scope of work, and recent local projects you can look at. Star ratings tell you whether past customers were happy. Star ratings do not tell you whether a company is licensed to touch your sprinkler system.

The checks below take one phone call and one walkthrough, and each one comes from a published state, city or neighborhood rule.

Does a landscaping company in Texas need a license?

The part of landscaping that Texas licenses is irrigation. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality's irrigator licensing page states: "A person may not sell, design, install, maintain, alter, repair, service or inspect an irrigation system—or consult in these activities—in this state, unless the person is licensed by the TCEQ."

That rule reaches further than most homeowners expect. A new planting bed usually needs a drip zone, a patio often means moving sprinkler heads, and new sod means resetting the controller. Each of those jobs is irrigation work under the TCEQ definition.

TCEQ describes two licenses a homeowner will meet. A Landscape Irrigator "can sell, design, consult, install, maintain, alter, repair, or service an irrigation system." An Irrigation Technician may do that work "under the supervision of a licensed irrigator."

Ask every company for its irrigator license number in writing. A company that plans to cap, move or add sprinkler lines and cannot name a licensed irrigator is working outside the state rule.

Does the company know Georgetown's watering rules?

A Georgetown landscaping company should bring up the city's watering rules before you do. The Georgetown Water Utility states that its customers "are in two-day (Stage 1) watering restrictions," and new plants and new sod need more water than two days a week provides.

The city's answer is a variance, and it has limits. Georgetown's irrigation variance article states: "If you are installing new landscaping, such as new construction landscaping or replacing existing sod, you must apply for an irrigation variance." The same article says variances "are valid for 14 days from approval," that replacement projects "must cover at least 200 square feet," and that variances "are not guaranteed during declared drought stages."

A good estimate accounts for that. Ask who applies for the variance, when the application goes in, and what the plan is if the city says no. A company that schedules a full yard of sod for August and never mentions the variance has not done this in Georgetown lately.

What should a Sun City homeowner ask a landscaper?

A Sun City homeowner should ask whether the company has prepared a landscape modification application before. The Sun City Texas Community Association's design guidelines state that the review committee "aims to respond to the homeowner within 30 days, and will respond within 60 days of the submission."

The guidelines also set a clock after approval. A project "must start within 120 days from the date of the approval." A company that knows those two timelines will schedule the design first and the crew second.

No contractor can promise what the committee will decide. A contractor can hand you a plan, a plant list and a materials list that match what the guidelines ask for.

What should a written landscaping estimate include?

A written landscaping estimate should name the work clearly enough that two companies' numbers can be compared. Look for these items:

• Materials by name. The stone type, the plant species and container sizes, the mulch or gravel, and the edging.
• Irrigation changes. Which zones change, who does the work, and the irrigator license number.
• Site preparation and cleanup. Removal of old turf or concrete, haul-off, and the condition the yard is left in.
• Schedule. A start window, the order of work, and what depends on a city variance or a neighborhood approval.
• One point of contact. Who you call when the stonework and the planting are done by different crews.

The last item matters on any project that mixes stone and plants. A patio poured or set by one company and planted around by another leaves the homeowner to settle who fixes the sprinkler line that ran under both.

How should you read online reviews for a landscaper?

Read online reviews for projects like yours, not for the average score. A company with hundreds of mowing reviews has shown that it mows well. A company with a shorter list of reviews that describe patios, planting plans and irrigation repairs has shown the work you are hiring for.

Then ask to see it. Photos of finished local projects, and the neighborhood they were built in, tell you more about stone joints and plant choices than a rating does.

What to ask on the walkthrough

• Who is your licensed irrigator, and what is the license number?
• Will this project need a Georgetown irrigation variance, and who applies?
• Which plants are you proposing, and how do they handle alkaline soil and summer watering limits?
• Does one crew handle both the masonry and the planting?
• What is in the written estimate, and what is left out?

B&B Landscaping & Masonry has worked in Williamson County since 2007 and handles landscape design and installation and masonry with one crew. Our irrigation services are led by a Texas Licensed Irrigator, license LI0028648.

To walk your yard and get a free written estimate in Georgetown, contact B&B Landscaping & Masonry or call 512.635.7701.