Anyone had their entire garden redone/landscaped? Can I ask how much it cost?

[IHeartKingThistle]

We have a disaster of a garden that needs professional help! It is very wide and wraps around the house at both sides (detached house) but is also very shallow - less than 4 metres from back of house to hedge. The hedge is massive, made of various trees and bushes, and backs onto a lane so needs to stay. It is full of brambles and nettles.

There is a crappy old patio in a place that gets no sun, so that needs removing. There is a massive old compost heap. The lawn is sloping and mostly made of moss. There are fences on both sides - one is broken and one is covered in old creepers. There are tree stumps and random gravelled areas that the previous owners put in.

Told you it was bad!

We would like to level it, add a small patio and a large deck, restrain then hedge somehow with a mowing strip or low wall, and just generally make it look less of an embarrassment. It's going to be a big job!

I've been saving for this for a while but have no idea how much I might need. Does anyone have any experience of doing a job like this?

Try these people www.abstractgardens.com/default.html if they will travel to you. We got a very reasonable quote from them and they were highly recommended.

We got quite a few quotes - a huge amount of the cost was actually skip hire and disposal of garden waste. The skips can only take so much weight so you can't load them to the brim with earth if you are doing a big leveling job.

What is your garden access like? Can you use the dark side of the garden for access/storage/coal. Don't underestimate how much you might need if you want to store garden furniture (especially cushions), a lawnmower, a few bikes, bbq, logs and other garden detritus.

Your third guy - I think that quote is ok but depends on the complexity of the design. I would:
Look for references and previous work achieved
Check he is insured especially if he is proposing to use machinery to clear stuff
Get him to confirm a fixed price quote [guarantee he will be back to check his measurements]
Get him to detail the materials he is proposing to use and provide samples if possible or you need to check out/research the actual materials.
Get a list of plants and quantities, get your Dad to help review this.
Plants regrow - very quickly, especially if they have been brutally hacked back. Make sure that he is removing the hedge entirely or there is a way for you to constrain the roots in the design so that you can just attack the top and sides twice a year.
Propose a staggered payment plan so you pay in stages and your risks are minimised if he does a runner.
Make sure he is a registered business.

That's a fantastic list! Thank you!

Welcome - I would recommend particularly checking the materials and the maintenance regimes especially if you have a dark damp garden as stone etc will need to be power washed if it gets slippy and if the grouting is sand based, you'll have weeds growing up in no time.
We agreed a lower cost option on fencing but didn't get a sample. While it mostly looks the same as the extortionate alternative its much rougher in finish and gives you splinters if you handle it which is a bit of a pain with small children.