GOLDEN VALLEY, Minn. — We’re outdoor folk here in Minnesota. And as the weather warms up, you can bet your sweet bippy we’re going to spend every moment we can outside. So, if you’re looking around your greenspace and thinking you should upgrade, well, just know everyone else has the same idea.
"It has definitely picked up,” says Steve Mura, owner of Barret Lawn Care.
That might be an understatement. Steve says the phone started ringing last spring and hasn’t stopped.
“We normally have about 25% to 50% of our landscaping part of our business booked before the season starts, and this year we had 50% plus,” says Mura.
But it’s not just plants and lawncare that people are looking for. Paver patios, fire pits, the whole nine yards. And they want it now. Two things…Minnesota has a short window to get this kind of work done and demand, well, we just went over that.
“What you've seen is nurseries haven't been able to keep up so, now there's just more people buying it, and it's just going through quicker, so people are now forced to segment out projects. So, they might do their hardscape spring or fall and have to wait to the following spring to get all the plants they want,” he says.
For contractors, it’s even worse.
“Some things are just backordered for a lot longer, and then the back order gets back ordered again,” says Mitch Shepheard, owner of MDS Remodeling.
Shepheard says high demand, combined with less production during COVID, and pieces and parts coming from overseas, has made things tricky. And anything made with wood, like a fence or a deck, you might get sticker shock.
"I warn people before I go out there that it's going to be more expensive this year than it was last year or the year before,” he says.
How much more? Mitch says up to 250% more for wood, so he suggests considering composite. It's easier to get, will last longer, and now because of the cost of wood, is comparable. As for the rest, invest in patience.
“As long as we can come out, measure, take pictures, have a conversation, and there's not snow on the ground, we can start the project,” says Mura.
If you’re sprucing up the inside of your house, some timelines to note. Things like plumbing fixtures are three months out. Appliances, if you can even find them, are sometimes up to six months out. And windows are running anywhere from 12 to 14 weeks before they arrive.