You got a quote from us, and you got a quote from someone down the road that came in lower. It’s a fair thing to wonder about, and it’s one of the most common questions we hear before a project starts. We’d rather answer it head-on than talk around it.
Here’s the short version: most of the time, the two quotes aren’t for the same job. They look close on paper. The yard a year later tells a different story.
A Lower Price Usually Means a Different Scope
When a landscaping bid comes in well under ours, the gap is rarely about one company being greedy and the other being generous. It’s about what got left out.
A cheaper patio quote might skip the proper base depth, which is exactly the part you can’t see and exactly the part that determines whether the pavers stay flat or start to heave in two winters. A cheaper planting quote might use smaller stock, skip soil prep, or leave out the warranty. A cheaper maintenance quote might mean a crew that mows and leaves, with no pruning, no bed care, and no one checking that the work actually holds up.
You’re not comparing the same thing. You’re comparing a finished result against a starting point that looks like a deal until the corners that got cut start to show.
What Goes Into Our Price
When you hire Green Side Up, the number on the proposal reflects a few things that don’t show up on a low-bid estimate:
Trained leadership
Our ownership team holds degrees in Horticulture, Turf Management, and Agronomy. That background shows up in the small decisions: the right plant for the right spot, soil that’s prepped to actually support growth, turf programs built around how grass behaves in Richmond and Williamsburg conditions. A beautiful yard that’s also built to last takes more than a mower and a truck.
One point of contact
You’re not chasing a rotating cast of crews or wondering who to call when something comes up. You have one person who manages your project and your account, start to finish.
Quality control visits
We don’t just do the work and move on. We come back and check it against our standard and yours. If something isn’t right, we catch it before you have to point it out.
We do what we said we’d do
Our industry has a reputation for the opposite, and we’ve built our business on flipping that. When we tell you a start date, a price, and a finish, those hold. That reliability has a cost, and it’s worth every dollar to the homeowners who’ve stopped chasing contractors who ghost them mid-season.
The Hidden Price of the Cheaper Option
The lowest bid often turns into the most expensive choice once you add up what comes after it.
Plants that weren’t right for the conditions die and need replacing. A patio built on a rushed base settles, cracks, or pools water, and the fix costs more than doing it correctly the first time. A maintenance crew that underbids to win the contract either disappears or starts skipping the work to make the math work for them, and your property pays for it.
Paying once for the right result is almost always cheaper than paying twice to undo a shortcut. The homeowners we work with have usually learned this the hard way before they call us.
Where the Value Shows Up Most: Ongoing Care
Our property maintenance program is where the difference compounds. These are year-round agreements that renew automatically, and they renew because clients want them to. A property under our care looks sharp every week of the season, not just for the few days right after a visit. Beds stay clean, turf stays healthy, and the small problems get handled before they become big ones.
That consistency is also how most of our clients first get to know us. Maintenance opens the door, and from there many homeowners bring us back for design and build work, hardscaping like patios and retaining walls, or landscape lighting that makes the whole property look finished after dark. It’s a relationship, not a transaction, and we price it to be one we can keep for years.
When We Might Not Be the Right Fit
We’ll say this plainly: if the lowest possible price is the only thing that matters for your project, we’re probably not your company. There are plenty of crews who will compete on price alone, and some homeowners are fine with what comes with that.
But if you want your property to look its best, stay that way, and be handled by people who answer the phone and stand behind their work, that’s the company we’ve built since 2004.
See the Difference for Yourself
The fairest way to judge value is to talk through your property and what you want it to become. Schedule a free meeting and we’ll come take a look, walk you through our recommendations, and put together a free estimate. No pressure to decide on the spot, and no surprises in the proposal.
About the Author
Craig Attkisson is the Owner and General Manager of Green Side Up Landscaping, holding a B.S. in Agronomy and Horticulture from Virginia Tech. His passion for the outdoors started early — growing up on a Christmas tree farm and mowing baseball and soccer fields as a 10-year-old entrepreneur. That foundation led to hands-on experience at Hanover Country Club, followed by a unique opportunity during his time at Virginia Tech to study abroad in South Africa, researching cultural diversity, climates, agrometeorology, and large-scale irrigation. After returning to the U.S., Craig built his expertise across all three Country Club of Virginia golf courses before becoming Second Assistant Superintendent at Hermitage Country Club. In 2004, he channeled that deep-rooted knowledge into founding Green Side Up Landscaping — with a singular focus on delivering the best lawn care and landscaping service possible to every client.
