What a new-construction yard install actually involves
You closed on the house and the yard is a rectangle of compacted builder dirt with a survey stake in it. Somewhere in your closing paperwork there is a date by which the front has to be landscaped. That is where most of our customers start.
A full new-construction install takes that lot through every stage in one coordinated job. We clear whatever construction left behind, rip and regrade the compacted layer, set drainage that moves water away from the foundation and window wells, install a custom irrigation system sized to your lot and water source, spread screened topsoil, lay sod, plant trees and shrubs, edge the beds, and finish with decorative gravel over quality weed fabric.
The reason we bundle all of that is not convenience. It is sequencing. Irrigation has to go in before topsoil. Grading has to be right before irrigation. Bed lines have to be set before gravel. When four different contractors handle those steps on four different schedules, the seams are where things go wrong, and when they do, everyone points at someone else. One crew running the whole sequence means the grade the irrigation was designed for is still the grade when the sod arrives.
New subdivisions across Stansbury Park, Erda, Herriman, Eagle Mountain and Lehi share two problems: tight HOA landscaping deadlines and compacted, rocky builder soil. We plan for both. Tell us your compliance date on the first call and we work backwards from it, and we budget the soil work honestly rather than quoting a number that only works if we skip the topsoil.
What’s included
- Construction debris removal and site clearing
- Rough and finish grading with positive drainage away from the house
- Screened topsoil, amendments and rototilling
- Custom irrigation: mainline, valves, zones, heads and controller
- Filtration and pressure regulation for secondary water where applicable
- Sod installation, or seed where it suits the project better
- Tree, shrub and perennial planting with proper bed prep
- Steel, poly or concrete edging and decorative gravel over weed fabric
- Controller programming and a written watering and care plan
Common problems we solve on new builds
Sod that dies in its first summer
This is the single most common call we get about somebody else’s work. Turf laid directly on compacted builder dirt has nowhere for roots to go. It looks fine in May and thins out by August. The fix is not more water, it is proper soil preparation before the sod ever arrives.
Water running toward the house
Builders grade for construction access, not for your landscape. We regularly find yards sloping gently back toward the foundation or dumping into window wells. Correcting that with proper slope and, where needed, a swale is the cheapest insurance you will ever buy on a new home.
An HOA letter with a deadline on it
Compliance windows in Utah subdivisions vary, but they are enforced. If your date is close, say so. We prioritise deadline-driven front yards and will tell you straight whether we can hit it rather than taking your deposit and hoping.
Irrigation designed for the wrong water
Secondary canal water is not culinary water. Skip the filter and the pressure regulator and you get clogged nozzles, blown heads and zones that never quite cover. We confirm your source before we design anything.
What affects the price
Every yard is different, which is why we quote on site rather than over the phone. The factors that move the number most:
- Square footage. More lawn and more beds means more sod, more topsoil and more irrigation.
- Irrigation scope. Zone count is driven by yard size, pressure and head type. This is usually the biggest single line on a new-build bid.
- Grading and drainage. A flat, workable lot is straightforward. A lot with a real grade change, rock, or drainage problems takes equipment time.
- Soil condition. How much rock has to come out and how much topsoil has to come in.
- Hardscape. A patio, seating wall or retaining wall added to the same job.
- Access. How easily we can get equipment and material deliveries to the work area.
Cheapest bid is rarely cheapest outcome here. When a number comes in dramatically low, the missing line is almost always soil prep or irrigation coverage, and both of those come due later.
Where we do this work
New-construction installs are our busiest service across Stansbury Park, Herriman, Eagle Mountain and the growing subdivisions in Grantsville and Tooele. We also install in Lehi, South Jordan, Magna and West Jordan on scheduled runs.
If you want to understand the process in more depth before calling, our guides cover what’s included in a new-construction yard install, the blank dirt to finished yard process, and what it costs to landscape a new-build yard in Utah.