• Learn the eight essential steps for a successful landscape renovation.

• Understand why grading, drainage, and underground infrastructure should go in before any hardscape or structures.

• Discover the importance of installing conduit, gas lines, and irrigation early in the renovation process.

• Find out why planting comes near the end of the renovation instead of the beginning.

• Learn how to complete a backyard renovation in phases without ending up with mismatched design elements.

• Koch & Associates has helped Bay Area homeowners plan and build complete backyard renovations for over four decades.

How to Plan a Complete Backyard Renovation: What Comes First?

Are you planning a complete backyard renovation and don’t know where to start? In this guide, the landscape designers at Koch & Associates explain each phase of the process, which projects you should tackle first, and what can go wrong if you skip steps.

8 Steps to a Successful Landscape Remodel

1. Define How You Want to Use Your Space

Before any design work begins, it’s important to list exactly what you want your renovation to accomplish. Do you need space for kids to play? Do you eat outdoors often enough to justify a dedicated dining area? Would you prefer low-maintenance plantings, or are you keen on a complex garden with a variety of flowering plants, shrubs, decorative grasses, and trees? Answering these questions will help determine where structures should go, how spaces connect, and which features make the most sense for your property.

2. Book a Site Assessment

Once you have a clear sense of your design goals, the next step is a site assessment. During this process, a landscape designer will visit your property to discuss your goals and evaluate your space. They will assess grading and drainage, utility hookups, and how to meet your design vision for the project.

3. Grading and Drainage

Grading and drainage should be the first physical steps you take in any landscaping project. Grading reshapes the land to improve water flow and create a stable base for everything built afterward. Once the grade is set, your landscape contractor will install drainage systems to control how water moves around your home and yard. These steps lay the foundation for a durable landscape that will hold up for years to come.

4. Underground Infrastructure

Now is the time to install the electrical conduit, irrigation lines, and gas lines that will support features like outdoor kitchens, pools, water fountains, and fire pits. Even if you are not planning these upgrades right now, install this infrastructure before the hardscapes are in place. It will cost you significantly less than removing finished surfaces to add them later.

5. Hardscape Installation

With infrastructure in place, it’s time to install the hardscape surfaces that form the backbone of your yard. This includes patios, walkways, retaining walls, edging, and any other paved or stone surfaces in your design. It’s important to have these surfaces go in early, since they set the stage for the structures and plantings that come next.

6. Built-in Structures

The next step in your landscape renovation is installing structural elements like shade covers, outdoor kitchens, and built-in seating. These installations complete the functional layout of your landscape, resulting in dedicated spaces for cooking, entertaining, and relaxing. 

7. Planting

Now that crews have installed the hardscape and structures, your yard is ready for trees, shrubs, garden beds, and ground cover. Planting happens at this stage because construction crews and heavy equipment have finally cleared out, giving your new plants and trees a disturbance-free environment to establish properly.

8. Finishing Touches

At this stage, your landscape is almost complete, and only a few installations remain: outdoor lighting, container plants, and decorative accents. Lighting is best installed first, illuminating pathways, trees, and architectural features. Container plants and decorative accents follow, giving your landscape its final color, texture, and personality.

How to Complete a Landscape Renovation in Phases

Making the time and having the budget to complete a backyard renovation all at once is not easy. However, you can achieve a great result over time with phased upgrades:

• Design your entire landscape before building anything: Even if you only plan to build one phase this year, you and your landscape designer should have an idea of what features you will be installing in the future.

• Install underground infrastructure for future phases: Running conduit, gas lines, and irrigation before pouring hardscape costs less than cutting into finished surfaces later. 

• Prioritize grading and drainage first: Address water flow for your entire yard, not just the section you are building now. Changing the grade later can undo drainage work you have already paid for or send water flowing toward structures you built earlier.

• Leave room for expansion: Don’t build right up to your property line or fill every inch of space now. Leaving open areas gives you design flexibility to add new structures and amenities later.

• Work with the same team across phases: Hiring different contractors for each phase increases the odds of mismatched materials or conflicting design choices as your project moves forward.

Start Your Complete Backyard Renovation with Koch Landscape Design

For over four decades, we have helped Bay Area homeowners create landscapes that balance form, function, and stylish outdoor living. If you are ready to start your backyard renovation, contact our team to schedule a site assessment and consultation.

Call 510-490-0487 to book a discovery meeting with Koch & Associates. Still have questions about what comes first during a complete backyard renovation? Contact us online to learn more. Serving homeowners in Palo Alto, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Los Gatos, Mountain View, and San Jose.