Start with what the yard needs
Everything on this site hangs off one of four situations. Pick yours.
Dirt, dead lawn, or a layout you inherited and never liked. The design conversation comes before any crew shows up.
How design works here → I need a crew — cleanup, maintenance, a defined jobThe work is clear; the question is who does it well and what belongs on the quote.
Hire with a worksheet → Part of the project is sprinklers, concrete or a wallThose parts carry licence classifications in New Mexico, and it's worth knowing which before bids arrive.
Which work needs a licence → I have a bid and want to sanity-check the outfitThe public record: what a licence number proves, and what New Mexico does and doesn't publish about contractors.
Check them first →The yard you're designing exists at altitude
Santa Fe reads as desert in July and as mountain town in January, and a yard has to survive both. That rules out most of what the national garden centres promote: the palette that works here is cold-hardy natives and adapted dryland plants — things that shrug at UV, go quiet in winter, and drink like locals. Check any plant against your actual USDA hardiness zone before it goes on a list; the altitude makes Santa Fe colder on paper than most people guess.
Water is the other axis. The summer monsoon is real but short; everything else is dry. Yards that work here are designed around that shape — drip to the plants that need it, passive harvesting where the roof already concentrates rain, and gravel or plantings rather than thirsty turf where nobody actually walks.
What landscaping work here usually means
| The job | What decides its cost |
|---|---|
| Design + new build | Hardscape share, tree sizes, irrigation complexity — and whether the plan is phased or swallowed whole. |
| Renovation | Demolition and haul-off. Taking a yard out costs real money before anything new goes in. |
| Maintenance | Frequency and season shape. High-desert yards need spring and fall pushes more than weekly mowing. |
| Irrigation work | Whether it's drip adjustments or a sprinkler system — the second is licensed work in New Mexico. |
Hiring: the worksheet beats the vibe
Landscaping is a low-barrier trade — that's not an insult, it's a fact about how many outfits exist and how differently they quote. The way through is making every crew answer the same seven questions, in writing. The hiring worksheet exists for that.