Since fresh in my mind, the last with Grant Kemp was interesting and insightful..

Most of all, how does a developer make money in the case of a ground-up fresh development project?

Garbage everywhere, dog piss ruined hardwood floor, fresh painted walls ruined with magic marker, etc.

Fresh coat of paint.

For myself, after our first property I tossed out all of my original figures and started fresh with real world figures.

Fresh paint scratches pretty easily.

No doubt the 'landscaper' i.e. gardener is working independently and therefore is 100% responsible, However most gardeners will not carry liability insurance, and then the neighbor can and will come after you.

@Nathan Killebrew“Id rather be a warrior in a garden than a Gardner in a war”.

Depends, odds are if it's fresh, pricing will be toward the high end of the market since most know what market is. 

Why not try stopping by a local garden center & asking what they would recommend & get prices (unless you don't have these in Texas & people go to Home Depot?)