Foliaire

Routine maintenance, planting, and small patios don't need a Boston permit. Anything within 100 feet of a wetland resource — including the Charles, the Muddy River, Stony Brook, and Jamaica Pond — requires a filing with the Boston Conservation Commission before work starts. Retaining walls over four feet need a building permit and engineer-stamped plans from the Inspectional Services Department, and any pool requires a permit plus four-foot fencing. Tree removal on public-shade trees (the strip between sidewalk and street) requires Parks Department review. In Back Bay, Beacon Hill, and the other Boston Landmarks districts, even fence and gate changes can require Landmarks Commission sign-off.

Boston landscape pricing runs at the top of Massachusetts because of access, parking, and labor rates. Weekly mowing on a small urban lot typically lands in the $55-$95 range, with spring cleanups for a brownstone garden in the $350-$900 band and fall cleanups higher because of street tree leaf load. A new bluestone patio of around 300 square feet in the South End or Charlestown often runs $14,000-$22,000 once you account for material carry-through and disposal. Full design-build projects with planting, irrigation, lighting, and hardscape in Jamaica Plain or Dorchester larger lots typically start around $40,000 and can pass $150,000 for a courtyard rebuild in Beacon Hill.

Massachusetts requires a written contract and a Home Improvement Contractor registration for most residential landscaping work; ask for the registration number and check it before paying a deposit.

More on permits, costs, rebates and common questions, plus every other landscaping contractor serving the town, on the Landscaping in Boston page.