Cost of a garden designer?

[user1471511336]

I've been toying with idea of having a professional team makeover my new-build's small garden to make the best use of the space, re-site the seating area, find a place for a shed and the bins, add more interest beyond the bland rectangle it is. I'm not a gardener or at all practical so someone to do it all, then all I need to do is maintain it would be ideal.

I watched Your Garden Made Perfect on TV last night. What shocked me was the price of the work, £32k, for a garden similar size to mine.

Is that the price that people are actually paying?

Following as I would like similar and have a budget of 4k. I wouldn't want anything as a elaborate as the TV show but wouldn't have the skills/strength to do much myself.

We had our garden (6m square roughly) designed and landscaped last year. All in it cost £12k. Shop around for the designer, we had quotes for more than double that initially.

Oh we are in the southeast.

Yes, @JackieCollinshasnoauthority - I don't want anything too elaborate or personalised - patio, grass, shed and bin store, flower beds and some pots. I want advice on paving types, siting of patio, general layout to look good and permanent plants, keeping some existing plants but getting rid of some which have taken over.
I'm the same, I haven't the strength, skills, time or inclination to do it all. I can stretch a bit further than you with the budget as I have some savings, but £32,000 its hopeless.

instagram.com/gardenthirtythree?utm_medium=copy_link this lady on Instagram is starting to do online consultations for £100 - the idea is you send her photos, problems, details of the plot then she had 1hr chat with you to share ideas and potential designs. I'm really quite tempted - it seems like a nice compromise to me?

Design itself is not very expensive - you'll probably get change from a couple of £k.

Implementation - particularly hard landscaping, for example fancy dry stone walls - and mature plants can get expensive.

We had two relatively small areas designed and implemented - most of the cost was dry stone walling and a fancy slate spherical water feature - admittedly both by a Chelsea medal winning waller - and some large yew domes (think 4 feet diameter) - which were around £250+ each.

If you go easy on the hard landscaping and are prepared to be patient for plants to grow to maturity, then it doesn't need to cost a lot.

Thanks @TheSpanishApartment - mine is 4.5m x 12m, so I suppose the price is fairly comparable. I'd budgeted about £8,000, with a ceiling of £10k, which is why I was shocked at the price they quoted on the TV show.

The design was £600. The plants and planting were £1k and the landscaping was £11k. For that we had the whole lot dug up, then fences, gates, a patio, a few raised beds, turf, two borders and a pergola and a screen built. And it took two weeks. I was watching my garden made perfect in advance of doing it in horror too! The gardens are amazing though.

That sounds like an option @Pootles34 - I would then need to find someone to implement the plan, so I'd need very clear notes.

Thank you @macshoto, some good advice. Yes, I'm very happy to have small, new plants. Raised beds, stone walling etc. is probably not right for me, so that should keep costs down.

When I search for local people what's best to google to find someone who will design and implement it, please?

Ignore the price on the tv show - they would have used really top class materials and the designer would be a high-end one who charges a fortune per hour. They also had two designers, so would have had to pay both.

You need a local landscape gardening contractor rather than a fancy garden designer.

@user1471511336

That sounds like an option *@Pootles34* - I would then need to find someone to implement the plan, so I'd need very clear notes.

Thank you @macshoto, some good advice. Yes, I'm very happy to have small, new plants. Raised beds, stone walling etc. is probably not right for me, so that should keep costs down.

When I search for local people what's best to google to find someone who will design and implement it, please?

Try going into a couple of nearby garden centres and asking if they know of any contractors. You need a landscape contractor. Do you have a local facebook group? Ask on there for recommendations.