Design and construction

Plan and design

It’s spring. A young man’s fancy turns to thoughts of love, apparently,

but most older and more sensible people turn their thoughts to getting

their garden done. Interestingly, more men call at this time of the year,

and more women call later on in the summer. Chaps obviously have

this surge of passion in the spring and want to nest build – if you’re

looking for a proposal, this might just be the time to convince him!

It still seems that people find it very difficult to quantify the price of

a garden. With most things, you have a good idea or feeling for the

cost of something, but the price of a garden seems to be understood

by few people. Builders are my favourite clients. They know the price

of things. They understand about levels, getting materials on and off

site and disposing of waste. They are totally realistic about costs.

There is no general rule of thumb, although you could pace out

your garden and work on £150 plus per square metre for a great

garden, and £100 a metre for something level that will be laid mainly

to just lawn and paths. This is where your garden designer is

invaluable, but then I would say that wouldn’t I! Getting your garden

designed helps you to understand the costs and materials, as well as

exploring different options.

A design for a small garden

or courtyard will start at

around £450 for a plan. For

this we will come out and talk

to you about your garden. We

can find out exactly what you

need from your sensible

garden, and then discover all

the things you would like in

your perfect garden. Once the

questions are put to you, it’s

amazing how you can start to

see what you really need and

cross off all the things you

don’t want. There are boring –

but important – things to establish. Do you hang out your washing?

Where do the bins go? Do you need to see the children playing from

your window? Where’s the master bedroom? Does it overlook the

garden? Can you see the neighbours?

Once we have all the information we need and get a feel for your

own particular likes and dislikes, we photograph the garden and

measure it exactly to scale. Then we produce a design for you

incorporating all the things we discussed, but using design principles

and with an overview that’s often difficult to have yourself. We can be

detached and once something is measured and on the drawing board

we can come up with solutions and suggestions you may not have

thought about yourself.

Because the drawings are to scale, they can be quoted for by any

good landscaping company or even built by your own builders.

However, we will also supply you with a detailed quotation of works

and this is broken down into all the different sections of the garden,

and we’d love to build it for you.

A plan means you know where you’re going. The plan price includes

specifying the samples of the materials we would like to use in the

garden. It will show where the planted sections will be, where the

hard landscaping will be laid. We will include water features, lighting,

fencing, pergolas and all other features. It’s a map, a blueprint of your

garden, and will allow you to find out just how much your garden

would cost. You may be shocked, or pleasantly surprised, but at least

you’ll be able to start thinking about it, instead of looking out of the

window and not knowing where to start.