Your Questions
What do you want to know?
Here are a few questions we are asked regularly. The answers to these questions are as individual as you and your garden but we have tried to give you a guide answer.
1) How much will it cost to construct and plant my garden?
It’s hard to predict this without a design to cost up but there are a few basic rules to follow if you are saving for a new garden. Most small gardens (6m square ish) with a simple design can start at around £3000 but the average is around a £5000 start. This could include a new paved area, basic planting and a revamp of existing features such as re-treating fences.
As a guide the cost of materials is usually half the overall construction cost with labour accounting for the other half. Also if you budget around 1/3 of the material cost for plants and then add a 10% ish contingency to your total for the unexpected such as extra features you would like to add during construction etc.
A very simple breakdown could look like this: (this is just a guide)
| Materials - Paving, Gravel, Skip Hire, Turf Edging, Wood | £2500 |
| Planting - Plants, Turf, Mulch, Soil Conditioner, | £1000 |
| Labour - 4 to 5 days (1 or 2 contractors on site) | £1500 |
| Contingency - Unexpected changes and additions | £300 |
| Budget Total | £5300 |
Our concept guide consultations help you work out a budget that suits you.
2) How long will it take from initial consultation to finished garden?
It depends when you make that call, things can happen quickly at the beginning of the year giving you good time to enjoy a new space for the early sunshine. Calling half way through the year or the busiest time (May - July) you may have to wait and will probably catch the end of that summer.
The design process (depending on the option chosen) can take from 2 weeks to over a month. A guide to design timings will be given by your designer at the start of the process.
For the construction side of things weather is a strong deciding factor. In good weather conditions simple designs can take only a week while more complex designs can take a month or so. As a guide contractors and designers usually get booked up until October by June.
So if you want a new garden for the summer a good time to call our designer is in the October of the previous year. Also January is a good time for an early start. Why wait until the summer when you could already be enjoying a new garden in Spring!
You could even book a designer as a special Christmas gift.
3) What do I need to do after its finished, maintenance?
Your designer or contractor can give you hints for ‘DIY’ maintenance or contacts for the ‘GSI’ (Get Someone In) option to garden maintenance. Your keenness and available time will be established by the designer from the outset but just ask along the way if you need to know more. You’ll be surprise when you see the finished garden how much you’ll want to look after it!
Please contact us to book an appointment with a designer.
