30k to landscape small London garden is this normal?!

[Jem01]

Interested to find out how much (or little!) people have paid to hire a landscaper to completely redesign garden?

We have a 25 square metre sized garden so fairly small courtyard type garden in SE London.

We got a quote through from a landscaping company that created an amazing design for us. The work includes raised flower beds, patio, fences, lighting, garden steps, new external garden door to the side passage, moving a wall, fences to the side passage, new gate to the front garden and plants throughout so a lot of work for a small garden but the results would be amazing.

They quoted £30k inc vat. To say we were shocked was an understatement! Is this standard for a landscape company? Is this too much? We had other quotes from local gardeners but it was more a basic job and we know wouldn't produce the same results.

Ps. We did get a 2nd quote back from this company which was £16k but included no work to the front garden.

[BretonRose]

I think you answered your own question- there are cheaper options but they won't be as good.

[dietcokeandwine]

That's probably about par for the course for good garden design and creation, op. Unfortunately.

We paid about £20k to have our garden done last year as part of a major house renovation - but this didn't involve major landscaping of the sort you describe, they returfed existing lawns and did the hard scaping (laid a terrace, patio, side pathways, cobblestone edging to borders, front drive, path and steps to front door) and installed a new wrought iron back gate. No plants or fencing/walls, garden lighting etc. We are in Home Counties too, not London.

A friend got a quote recently for doing what seemed like a very simple arrangement for her back garden (terrace across back of house, then steps down to a new lawn) and it came back at £40k, she nearly passed out.

You can probably get a gardener to do you a cheaper version of the design but unfortunately as with all these things you get what you pay for...

[BoboChic]

TBH at that price your garden will probably be horribly overdone.

[Waltons]

Hmmm ... we're expensive Home Counties, and from recent experience, I reckon we could have got the same for £10k.

Shop around, is my advice.

[HerRoyalNotness]

Can you get the price without plants? And have them include a planting scheme, then you could do the plants as and when yourself

[Jem01]

Thank you all for your responses. Interesting reading about cost of your garden diet and also really good idea about getting a planting scheme royalnotness thanks all!

[JoJoSM2]

That sounds a lot... have they provided a breakdown of costs? I can't think what you could possibly fit into 25m sq for that much money... Were getting our garden done this spring too and the quote is only a bit more than yours but we have a garden several times bigger and also include lights, water features, terrace (smallish, although still more paving then your entire garden), mature plants etc.

[wobblywonderwoman]

That is really a lot for 25 sq metres.. I would be reluctant to spend that. I would try and get them to do the main things - patio, raised planters etc and get someone cheaper to do the bog standard work.

[PickAChew]

You could build an extension for that!

[AutumnEve]

I'm in the wrong profession.

(Now googling "How to be a Garden Designer")

[Ferrisday]

Nah!
I had clearance(lots of trees, old decking, old patio, junk, old shed &a greenhouse) fences(all new posts) and patio done for £12k
New turf2k, white border walls another 2k, planting 1k

[AstrantiaMajor]

We have just paid £18,000 for a slightly smaller garden. Raised beds actually would have put another £7000 on itso the quote iis probably about right. We chose a very expensive stone.

I would recommend you look in the Marshalls catalogue as they have a list of recommended landscapers. We had 2 quotes about the same price. Our landscapers were fantastic. The are based in East London and I can pm you their details if you like.

[cittigirl]

. Is that the finished garden Astrantia? 18k? What stone is it?

[AstrantiaMajor]

Not finished I just posted that for size in relation to the OP's garden. There was a team of 4 and it took 3 weeks. A lot of the landscaping costs go in stuff you cannot see. The preparation took a week, then there is drainage systems, cabling and lighting as well as all the fencing and trellising. They did do some alterations to our garage and built a front garden wall too, so not all of it on the garden. I had forgotten about that, so maybe actual garden £15000.

[heffalumpshavewrinkles]

I'd actually say 30k for all that work and design is a pretty good price (and I'm not SE!) I paid just over 20k for our garden 3 years ago (bigger plot but less work) and I have enjoyed it pretty much every day since :)

[TheReturnoftheSmartArse]

We've just had ours done, a garden of about 50 square metres (including the front) in SW London for about £16k. Took about a month and the people we used were absolutely fantastic - managed by a man who has done TV garden shows and won RHS awards. Shout if you want details.

[heffalumpshavewrinkles]

Can you post a pic TheReturn (nosey)?

[nougatsquirrel]

Shocking, but doesn't surprise me. Our cousins in North London had a similar quote for a bit of repaving, changing a garden pipe and landscaping. The guy quoting them was driving a Porsche! In any case, they got someone else to come round through checkatrade and ended up paying closer to £3k, which I still think is high, but not ridiculous.

[Crumbelina]

Not sure if this'll work or if the photo will be very clear, but we did our own landscaping (painted railway sleepers on three tiers, new pond with granite borders, lots of planting, paving/gravel and wood chips). It cost us around £1.5k all in.

[Crumbelina]

Ah, just found a slightly better photo. £30k does seem a lot but I'm not surprised by London prices anymore ...

[Raaaaaah]

We have a larger garden and are paying in excess of 30k excluding planting which will add a minimum of 6k. In London. So it sounds about right. We were shocked when we first got our quotes but having broken it down in terms of materials and work hours it sounds about right.

[ITGurl]

When we bought out house, with a similar back garden, the previous owners had used the garden as a tip for all sorts of old rubbish.

We got a man with "Gardener" written on the side of his van to clean, level it and lay grass seed. He did the whole lot, including taking the rubbish away for £500 in about 36 hours last September (prime grass laying season).
Now we have a square handkerchief lawn which looks good, provides much need soakage for rainwater and minimal maintenance.

I kind of agree that for big money, you can overdo a small garden and it will be difficult to maintain and manage with regards to weeding and overgrowth if you don't really have the time or interest.

[Bluntness100]

I'd agree for the amount of work you're looking at 24k plus vat seems very reasonable.

Myself and our neighbours, West Sussex , had our front landscaped last year and the price was 27 k. Less work, more land. There's a lot uou don't see, from foundations and drainage for the patio through to cabling for the electrics. It's surprising what's involved and that's a lot of work you're requesting.

I don't think it's too much for the space, but I do think it's a complete overhaul you're having done.

[Kr1stina]

An " amazing " garden with all that your describe will cost about £1,000 per square meter. So that sounds perhaps a little high but in the ball park.

Of course you can do it for half the price if you do it yourself - labour will be half the costs.

Of if you have the knowledge , skills and time, you can do something much simpler for even less.

It's a bit like asking what a car should cost.

If you know what your budget is , you would be better to tell the designer that upfront so they can work to it. Remember a contingency of 10% .

[InTheMoodForLove]

too high for tiny 25sq