Achieving the ideal landscape for your garden is hard work. Not only do you have to spend time (and money) consulting landscape architects to come up with the right design, but putting those designs into practice requires hard labour and heavy equipment.

Still, taking a gamble on a home landscaping project makes good economic sense. Homes with landscaped gardens sell for as much as 28 percent more than similar homes in their area, and landscaping can have a return on investment as high as 150 percent.

However, there are some ways to ruin a landscaping project, pushing costs through the roof or (in the worst cases) adding toxins to your garden. Here are some things to focus on when executing your landscaping project that can avoid any disasters.

Source Clean Fill Responsibly to Avoid Contamination

When landscapers need to raise the level of gardens or fill in gullies, they require materials that can add shape and occupy space. These can't just be any materials that come to hand.

Filling materials need to contribute to soil health and drainage. They can't contain substances that damage plants. and they need to be inert and non-toxic for humans too. In the past, Australian contractors have been exposed for cutting corners, using contaminated fill on projects in Sydney. Don't be one of those cost-cutters.

How can you source clean fill that definitely won't cause contamination? It's fairly simple. Don't purchase supplies second hand via the web and check with your supplier that they are using responsibly sourced fill.

Hire the Right Multi-Purpose Excavator

Sourcing clean fill is no use without the right heavy construction equipment to deliver it where it is required. Most of the time, landscapers will require the use of mini excavators.

Small models will be fine for moving most soil types, and there's no sense in ordering a machine that is too large. Larger, heavier vehicles will compact soil and damage paving stones, so try to select the smallest possible model.

However, make sure that your excavator can handle buckets with the capacity to move both soil and clean fill. Don't be stuck with a machine that is too lightweight to deal with rocky fill after you've finished removing soil. Hire one with enough power to do both jobs.

Recycle Your Own Fill to Save Costs

Finally, there's no sense in letting good soil go to waste. If you have added ponds, lowered lawns or cut drainage ditches as part of your project, store the soil you excavate in easily transportable bags and arrange for it to be collected by a competent recycling company.

Whatever you do, don't simply sell it on as clean fill without any processing. You can't tell whether toxins are present and almost all soil waste will need filtering to remove sand, rocks and organic material before it is fit for use. Only accredited recycling companies can do that kind of work, but you can receive a cut by selling raw fill for them to process.

So when you embark upon a landscaping project that requires input from construction contractors, make sure they source clean fill and dispose of their soil waste properly. That way, you can alter the appearance of your garden cheaply and responsibly. When you factor in savings from sourcing the right equipment, you can avoid cost overruns and get the job done as efficiently as possible. For more information, contact a business such as Eastern Plant Hire.