What this is
Most landscaping prices online are national averages built from surveys. This is not that. These numbers come from 105 real quotes Epic Horizons wrote for properties in North Port, Port Charlotte, Venice, Englewood and the surrounding Charlotte and Sarasota county area between 2025-03 and 2026-10 — 608 individual line items in all.
Every figure below is a median of what was actually quoted, with the full range alongside it and the number of quotes it is drawn from. Nothing is estimated, adjusted or rounded for presentation. Where a line has only a handful of quotes behind it, the count says so and you should treat it accordingly.
No customer names, addresses or job locations are included, and none were used in producing these figures.
Materials and installation rates
These are the rates that drive most of a landscaping quote. Each includes material, delivery and installation unless noted.
| Work | Unit | Median | Range | Quotes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rock installation (river rock, slate, shell) | per cubic yard | $500 | $300–$620 | 26 |
| Commercial weed mat, installed | per sq ft | $1.25 | $1.00–$1.75 | 17 |
| St. Augustine sod, delivered and installed | per pallet | $450 | $350–$550 | 17 |
| Stamped concrete curbing | per linear foot | $14 | $10–$14 | 15 |
| Old mulch removal and haul-off | per cubic yard | $182 | $150–$200 | 10 |
| Mulch, delivered and spread | per cubic yard | $152 | $120–$165 | 10 |
| Christmas palm (25 gal), planted | per palm | $400 | $175–$450 | 8 |
| Topsoil, delivered and spread | per cubic yard | $100 | $50–$250 | 7 |
| Irrigation, per zone | per zone | $1,000 | $1,000–$1,200 | 5 |
| Shell, delivered and spread | per cubic yard | $325 | $250–$350 | 5 |
| Aluminum edging, installed | per linear foot | $10 | $9–$12 | 4 |
Two things worth knowing if you are comparing quotes. Rock is sold by the cubic yard and one yard covers roughly 100 square feet at 3 inches deep, so a bed that sounds small adds up quickly. And a pallet of St. Augustine sod covers about 400–450 square feet, which is why sod pricing is quoted per pallet rather than per square foot.
Plant material
Plant pricing moves with container size more than anything else. A 3-gallon shrub and a 15-gallon specimen of the same species are different line items entirely, which is why the ranges below are wide.
| Work | Unit | Median | Range | Quotes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Croton Magnificent | per plant | $40 | $30–$75 | 11 |
| Dwarf Ixora | per plant | $40 | $30–$75 | 8 |
| Red Sister | per plant | $40 | $35–$70 | 8 |
| Philodendron | per plant | $70 | $70–$160 | 6 |
| Podocarpus | per plant | $75 | $30–$175 | 5 |
| Blue Daze | per plant | $30 | $20–$38 | 5 |
| Croton Mammey | per plant | $40 | $38–$40 | 4 |
| Foxtail Fern | per plant | $40 | $40–$40 | 4 |
| Hibiscus | per plant | $62 | $38–$300 | 4 |
Why the ranges are wide
The spread in these numbers is not vagueness, it is site conditions. The same cubic yard of rock costs more when a wheelbarrow is the only way in, and sod on a lot that needs the old grass stripped and the grade corrected carries prep work the number above does not include.
What moves a quote in this area, in rough order of impact:
- Access. A gate too narrow for a skid steer turns a one-day job into a three-day job.
- Prep. Removing old mulch, sod or rock is its own line item — the removal rates above are real and they are not small.
- Grade and drainage. Sandy soil here drains fast until it does not. A yard that holds water needs the water solved before anything is planted on top of it.
- Quantity. Mobilising equipment costs the same whether it moves four yards of rock or forty, so small jobs carry a higher effective rate.
How these numbers were produced
Every accepted and pending estimate written between 2025-03-28 and 2026-10-02 was exported from the company's accounting system. Line items carrying an explicit unit rate — the "@ $X per unit" notation used on every quote — were grouped by service and unit, and the median taken. Line items without an explicit unit rate, and any service with fewer than four quotes behind it, were left out rather than reported thinly.
Medians are used rather than averages because a single unusual job distorts an average badly at this sample size. The full range is published alongside every median so you can see that spread for yourself.
If you are writing about landscaping costs in Southwest Florida and want to cite these figures, please do — a link back to this page is all that is asked. If you want the underlying breakdown in more detail, call Dennis at (941) 946-8403.