Help your home landscaping project go smoothly and stay on budget with this wise advice from a Materials In The Raw.

Whether you work with a landscaping contractor or act as one on your own project, getting a glimpse into the mind of a landscaping contractor can give you a new perspective into landscape and building projects around your home.

Materials In The Raw has learned a lot working with contractors, and some of those lessons can help homeowners too. What you do is just as important as what you don't do, and sometimes a homeowner's instinct can negatively affect a home landscaping project.

How do you know if you're helping or hurting your project? Read on to find out and to see what can help simplify your home remodel. 

Don't delay decisions. If you want your Landscaping to go well, the best thing to do is make every single decision before work starts. A good Landscaper can talk you through the list of situations that might come up on your job, but decisions about situations aren't usually what cause delays.

Don't change your mind (too much). Even though it's inevitable that you'll change your mind about something on your project, know this: Every time you change your mind, it'll result in a change order. Although the change may seem minor, there are always added costs — even if it's only the time spent discussing the change.

Don't buy your own Landscaping materials. It seems like an obvious way to save money — a Landscaper or builder is going to mark up the cost of Landscaping materials and pass that added cost on to you. That’s true, but the Landscaper or builder may get a better price than you to begin with, meaning that even after markup, you'll pay the same price.

Don't put lipstick on a pig. Though a Landscaper will rarely come right out and say this, some gardens should be ripped out down rather than have money put into them to fix them up. Listen to the professionals who come to look at your job. Be open to their suggestions.

Don't work without a contingency fund. If you find out that the work you wanted to do costs more than you expected or budgeted, you’re in good company. It’s almost unheard of that a person sets a realistic budget for a landscaping project. But don’t eat into your contingency to stretch the budget. If you follow rule number one and make every decision ahead of time, you can probably get away with a 5 percent contingency if you have a good Landscaping contractor.

Don't let kids and pets get in the way. Though the people working in your garden will often try to accommodate your pets and kids, they shouldn’t have to — it's just not safe to have children or animals around landscaping projects.

Don't be a distraction. It may sound harsh, but every minute someone working on your garden spends talking to you, they are not working on your landscaping project.

Don't ignore what the Landscaping needs. Get to know your needs and do your research before you pull out the sledgehammer,

Don't work without a design. Some projects require an architect, some designer, and sometimes a Landscaper will get your aesthetic and help you come up with a good plan.

About Materials in the Raw

Materials in the Raw (MITR) was established at Casula in 1988 as a bulk Landscaping materials distributor reselling pavers, sand, soil, gravel and mulches. MITR specialises in the supply of paving & building supplies, landscaping and building materials from multiple locations in the Sydney Metropolitan Area. 

We deliver landscaping supplies to all Sydney regions including: Sydney City, Canterbury-Bankstown, Eastern Suburbs, Forest district, Hills district, Inner West, Macarthur, Northern Beaches, Lower North Shore, Upper North Shore, Northern Suburbs, South, western Sydney, Southern Sydney, St George, Western Sydney and Greater Western Sydney. If you are would like landscaping supplies Supplied delivered outside of Sydney please contact us for delivery prices

Our Sydney outlets are located at:

Chullora: Corner Hume Highway and Davidson Street
Guildford: Corner Ruby and Oxford Streets

At MITR, our customers are extremely valuable to us. It is our mission to help you build the very best with our diverse range of products and commitment to great service.

Our experienced and enthusiastic staff will work with you to make sure you get the job done in the right way. All MITR employees are trained on a regular basis so they are up to date with the latest products, trends and tips.

We are determined to be the best in the industry and we go beyond Landscaping Supplies and building materials. MITR has a genuine commitment to supporting local communities to keep them strong and their environments clean.