A 12-week landscaping plan covering design, grading, irrigation, hardscape, planting, sod and lighting, in the order of operations that keeps crews from trampling expensive plants.
Pre-built chart, ready to open and edit.
Open in the app →Landscaping projects fail when the order of operations is wrong. Planting before the irrigation goes in means digging up new plants. Pouring the patio before the drainage means water in the basement. Sod before the irrigation works means brown sod within a week. This 12-week template lays out the sequence experienced landscape contractors actually use: grading first, then drainage, then irrigation rough, then hardscape, then planting, then sod and lighting.
Walk the yard with a designer or sketch it yourself. Decide hardscape (patio, walkway, retaining walls), planting beds, lawn area, and irrigation zones. Pull permits for any retaining wall over 4 ft, fences, and pools. HOA approval may take 2–4 weeks.
Remove existing landscaping you are not keeping. Grade the site to direct water away from the house: minimum 6 inches in the first 10 feet. Install drainage (French drains, downspout extensions, dry wells). Rough in the irrigation main line and valve boxes.
Patios, walkways, retaining walls, fire features. Concrete needs a base of 4–6 inches of compacted gravel; pavers need 6 inches of base and 1 inch of sand. Retaining walls need drainage behind them. Hardscape is the slowest phase because every layer needs to be right before the next goes on.
Run irrigation drip lines through the planting beds. Test all zones before backfilling. Amend the soil. Most yards need 2–3 inches of compost worked into the top 6–8 inches. Plant trees first (largest), then shrubs, then perennials. Mulch 2–3 inches deep, keeping mulch off the trunks.
Sod is laid last so it is not trampled by everything else. Water sod heavily for the first 2 weeks. Low-voltage lighting installs over the same week: path lights, uplights on trees, and any feature lighting. Final walkthrough and irrigation programming.
Spring or fall for planting. Hardscape can happen year-round in mild climates; cold regions are limited to April–October.
Skipping the grading step. A perfectly designed landscape on a poorly graded yard is a landscape with water in the basement.
Yes. Hardscape and grading in year 1, planting in year 2, lighting in year 3 is a common phasing.
Open the landscaping template, fit it to your yard and season, and you have a working 12-week plan in the right order.
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