How much does Garden Design cost?

Garden Design is a professional service; much like an Architect but for outside, green spaces and is charged accordingly, for both the time it takes to come up with ideas and provide the drawings and technical documents; as well as the expertise in knowing about layout design and planting design to achieve the best solutions for you and your garden. It really depends on what you value and where you choose to spend your money.

To build a whole garden from scratch costs tens of thousands of pounds. Even making a few alterations is expensive. So it really does make sense to spend a percentage of your budget on a design to ensure you get it right first time.

To make the most of the massive upheaval and mess and cost, it really is worth having an expert like Jo to come up with ideas that you would never have thought of which can improve the way you use your space and change your life in ways you never knew you needed.

Read this blog on how a garden designer could save you money.

How We Calculate Your Design Fee

Your garden design fee is based on three things: the size of your garden, any site challenges that need addressing, and whether you'd like specialist features included.

We start with a base fee that reflects the scale of your garden — larger spaces naturally require more design time and documentation. From there, we consider the practical realities of your site. Gardens with significant slopes, drainage issues, or tricky access take longer to design well, so these are factored into your quote. The same applies if your property falls within a conservation area or has protected trees, as these require additional research and documentation.

Finally, if you're dreaming of something special — a bespoke water feature, outdoor kitchen, or integrated lighting scheme — we account for the extra design complexity these elements bring.

This approach means you only pay for what your project genuinely needs. A straightforward suburban garden won't carry the same fee as a sloping plot with listed building constraints and a swimming pool. It also means we can give you a clear, itemised quote before we begin, so there are no surprises along the way.

Planting Plans

If you'd like a detailed planting plan, this is priced separately based on the area to be planted. The rate per square metre reduces as the planting area increases — a small border requires just as much thought per plant as a large one, but larger schemes benefit from economies of scale in the design process.

If you're not sure how much of your garden will be planted, a good rule of thumb is around one third of the total area. We can use this as a starting point for your estimate and refine it once the design takes shape.

During your discovery call, we'll talk through your garden and your ideas, and I'll explain how your estimated fee will be calculated.

Why do you charge for a first garden design visit?

Because I value your time and also value my time and therefore I want to spend it valuably by getting you to know you and understanding how you are feeling about your garden and how you want it to be better and the barriers that you face.

This visit and chat with you...even if we don't work together going forward, will have brought you closer to your garden goal and that's a win for us all.

Do you do the landscaping?

No, we don’t, but we know some landscape companies that we have successfully worked with before who you could contact.

We can source plants for you at wholesale prices and have them delivered to you and landscapers can plant them for you if they are competent in this.

I’m on a tight budget can you still help me?

Of course. I want everyone to be able to have a lovely garden but I would never take your money to do a design that you then couldn’t afford to build. Jo’s fee for design work must also be in proportion and cost-effective in relation to the budget you have and so it might be not appropriate to do a full design for you. For example, if your budget is under £5,000 I would say having a complete design package would eat into that budget and would not be appropriate. But I am happy to chat about whatever project you have.

What do gardens cost to build?

Over the last couple of years, I would say the gardens I have designed average at £30,000 plus to build and plant. Think of a new garden as a new kitchen.. it is another room in your house and needs ‘floors and walls’, ‘furniture’, ‘decoration’, ‘lighting’. It does cost alot of money but can add value to your house by around 20%.

Examples of gardens and cost:

How long does it take to design a garden?

Once design work is started and depending on complexity and your timely collaboration, concepts and final design changes could be done within 4 weeks.

When you book the design service we take a first stage payment as a deposit to secure your place in my schedule. I work on several projects concurrently and waiting times can vary, but I would let you know when I would be able to start. In winter I generally have less demand so projects can sometimes start within a month. In the summer you could be waiting for several months, but it all depends on project type and my diary so please do always enquire.

I only need to know about what plants and flowers to use, can you help with that?

Yes I can advise on and create just planting plans for you. If I know the size and shape of the areas you are looking to plant up and the sun conditions, soil type and pH I can even do this remotely. For more information on planting design click here.

If you also want help with sourcing the plants, we can do this for you by using wholesale trade suppliers.

What qualifications do you have?

I have an RHS Level 2 qualification in Horticulture from Birmingham Botanical Gardens and am a pre-registered member of the Society of Garden Designers (SGD) who provide accreditation services and have standards and best practices that I endeavor to exceed.

I am also self-taught and gained a huge amount of knowledge and construction experience working on BBC’s Garden Rescue with Charlie Dimmock and Harry & David Rich.