Does your garden need a complete overhaul before summer starts? With Spring around the corner, now is the time to start planning! But how much does a garden makeover cost?
What can you achieve for your budget?
0-2000k
DIY, turf, perennials, trees & gravel?
The staple for most gardens is of course a lawn, which is relatively cheap. According to Priceyourjob, a 50m2 lawn would cost around £700 for supply and installation – approximately £14 per m2. The cost of the turf itself is a fraction of this at around £3 per m2, so you might consider laying it yourself.
You could also add some interest by planting perennials like geums, astrantia and geraniums that could provide a great display all year round. This could cost as little as £100 for a medium sized garden.
Planting some small trees is also an inexpensive and effective way of adding interest to your garden and drawing the eye up from the ground. For example, consider ornamental cherry trees, crab apple or Snowy mespilus, which are all beautiful and interesting, and should cost under £50 each. Three to four trees would make a big difference to the overall effect.
Finally, as a cheaper alternative to paving or decking, you could use gravel to form a path or patio area. This should cost around £10 per square metre.
£2000-5000+
If you have a larger budget, obviously your options become much greater and you might even find yourself a little overwhelmed by the potential! If you’re not a keen gardener, it can be a little daunting.
Using a garden designer and/or landscaper becomes a very wise idea, depending on your gardening expertise. It can be well worth the money to get a little (or a lot of) design advice to ensure you are spending your budget in the right way, to maximise the potential of your garden.
Here are some ideas to get you thinking, all from garden designers on Design for Me. Click on the image to see that garden designer’s full profile and shortlist them to get a quote for your project.
Garden designers and landscape gardeners – what’s the difference?
There’s sometimes a little confusion when it comes to landscapers and designers. But to put it simply, the garden or landscape designer plans it all and helps you make all of the decisions and a landscaper/landscape gardener does the work and makes it a reality. Sometimes, a landscaping company can provide both services.
How much does a landscape gardener cost?
If you decide to use a landscape gardener (or landscaper) instead of doing the gardening/building work yourself, at a very rough estimate it would be around £100 per square metre for both the materials and labour. However, this could drop to around £30 per square metre if you focus on planting alone, and forget about hard landscaped elements such as paving.
Do I need a garden designer?
Garden designers can represent fantastic value for money, particularly if you’re not very green-fingered yourself. They will really help you to maximise your budget, advising you on the best type of plants for your particular conditions and ensuring your garden looks fantastic all year round. They will also work with you to make sure the garden is designed to best suit you personally. Is your garden going to be your new hobby? Or do you want a low-maintenance oasis that’s super easy to maintain? It is so easy to make costly mistakes – the right design decisions are priceless!
How much does a garden designer cost?
Anywhere between 10-20% of your total budget. This depends on the size of your garden and complexity of the design. Too much? If this seems too much, there may be another option for you…
How to find an affordable garden designer
You might have decided that you don’t want or need a full design service from a garden designer. Perhaps you feel that you want something very straightforward that doesn’t require detailed plans. But you desperately need some advice and inspiration. Some designers would be happy to provide a design consultation service, where they will assist with your design work for a smaller fee. For example, they could help with choosing certain plants. Even a small bit of advice from a garden design professional could dramatically enhance the end result and perhaps even save you money by making wise decisions for your budget. This might cost between £200-£500+ depending on how much of their time you need.
Where do I start?
Design for Me is a free platform to help you quickly find an affordable garden designer for your home project.
Once you register your project, we’ll match it with 100s of garden designers all over the UK and you can see who may be available and eager to work on your project – no matter how big or small – straight away.
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