Pricing

Most complete garden projects fall between £5,000 and £50,000 plus VAT, depending on the size of the garden and the specification. As a broad guide:

• £5,000 to £10,000: usually a standalone project rather than a whole garden, such as a small courtyard, or the design and build of one particular area
• £10,000 to £20,000: a 60 to 80m² garden in premium materials, or a 100 to 120m² garden in a simpler style
• £20,000 to £30,000: a medium garden of 60 to 80m² with bespoke features, or a larger 100 to 120m² garden more simply styled
• £30,000 to £50,000: a comprehensive transformation of a 120 to 150m² garden with key features and natural elements
• Over £50,000: high-specification work including outdoor kitchens, garden rooms and premium finishes throughout

These are build costs. The design fee and any topographical survey are separate.

Because most of the cost of a garden is in what you cannot see once it is finished. Two gardens of identical size can differ enormously in what has to happen below ground before anything is laid.

The factors that move the price most are:

• Access: the single biggest variable. A garden reached only through the house or a neighbouring property means every tonne of stone in and every tonne of spoil out moves by barrow, by hand
• Level changes: excavation, retaining walls and drainage are structural work, and they are expensive
• Material choice: the difference between a standard porcelain and a high-end natural stone is substantial across a large terrace
• Bespoke elements: made-to-measure gates, storage, screens and joinery
• Waste removal: a deep excavation can generate a surprising number of grab lorries
• Distance: travel time beyond about an hour from our Horsforth base adds cost without adding anything to the garden

The preparation work is always a significant cost, meaning the excavation, drainage, sub-bases and any retaining structures. On a sloping garden this can account for a large share of the total before a single paving slab is laid, and it is the part it is least sensible to economise on. Paving can be changed later. The base underneath it cannot, without taking up everything above it.

The other big variable is bespoke features. Outdoor kitchens, garden rooms, made-to-measure joinery, pergolas and custom storage can each range enormously depending on specification, and they are usually where a budget is most easily flexed in either direction.

Between those two, the groundwork tends to be fixed by what the garden demands, while the features are where you have real choice.

No. We would love to build it, but there is no obligation whatsoever.

Design is design. The plans belong to you, and you are welcome to put them out to quotation with other contractors, build the garden yourself, or set the project aside and come back to it when the time is right. The design is a complete piece of work in its own right and it does not tie you to anything.

Most of our clients do go on to build with us, and there is a practical reason for it. When the people who designed the garden are the ones building it, there is no gap between the drawing and the quotation, nobody reinterpreting someone else's detail on site, and one team accountable for the finished garden. It makes the whole process considerably smoother. But that is a decision for you to make once you have your design in front of you.

All figures we quote are stated plus VAT, and the guide prices on this page are build costs excluding VAT. Your written quotation always shows the VAT separately, so there is nothing to work out yourself.

We will do our absolute best to, and telling us your figure at the consultation stage is what makes that possible. What we would not do is promise it outright. Until a garden has been surveyed and designed, nobody honestly knows what the ground, the levels or the access will demand, and any designer who guarantees a figure before that point is guessing.

What we can promise is that you will not be left in the dark about it.

Because we build the gardens we design, we know what things cost to construct. At concept stage, part-way through the design, we provide concept costings, a realistic view of what the design in front of you would cost to build. If it is coming in ahead of your budget, that is the moment to scale things back, by simplifying a specification, changing a material, reducing the extent of the work, or splitting it into phases.

The result is that the design develops around a figure that works for you, rather than arriving finished and unaffordable. You are never paying us to design a garden you were never going to be in a position to build.

Being open about your budget early does not mean paying more. It means the garden we design for you is one you are actually in a position to go ahead and build.

Yes, and we can advise on the best way to go about it. That advice is worth having. Phasing done well means each stage finishes cleanly and the next picks up where it left off, with nothing being taken up and done twice.

Our strong recommendation is to have the whole garden designed at the outset and then build it in phases, rather than designing one area, building it, and designing the next later. With the complete design in front of you, you have the finished vision for the garden, and the levels, drainage, access and material runs are all resolved across the whole space from the start. It is then entirely up to you which parts you do and when.

Designing area by area is where money tends to get spent twice. A level or a drainage run gets set without reference to what comes next, and then has to be altered to make the following phase work.

Phasing also means the part of the garden you use most is done properly, to the standard you actually want, rather than the whole space being stretched thinly across one budget.

On a smaller budget it arguably matters more, not less, and being a design-and-build company is where we can genuinely help.

Because we build what we design, we know what things cost and what they involve. So we can advise on how to get the most out of the budget you have: which areas will create the most impact, where money is well spent and where it can be saved, and what is sensibly left until later. That is a conversation worth having before anything is spent rather than after.

A design also stops money being spent twice, on a patio in the wrong place or a wall that has to come out to run a drain, and it makes the build accurately pricable. For a smaller garden, the Standard Package is normally all that is needed.

A well-designed garden is generally reckoned to add somewhere in the region of 5 to 12% to a property's value, which puts it broadly alongside a new kitchen or bathroom.

The difference is that a garden is used rather than looked at. Most of our clients are not doing it to sell. They are doing it because a garden that works well adds a room to the house for a good part of the year, and a thoughtfully designed one takes less looking after than the one it replaced.

The build is paid for with a 10% deposit, followed by staged payments as the work progresses. The final payment is always due on full completion of the work, never before.

Every project has a written contract of works setting out exactly what is included and what it costs, so there are no added extras appearing partway through. If you decide you would like something added once we are on site, that is no problem at all, but it is always agreed and priced in writing first. The payment structure stays completely clear from start to finish.

The design fee is also paid in stages rather than as a single payment up front.

Not at present, though it is something we are looking to introduce. The staged payment structure above means the cost is spread across the project rather than falling due in one lump.

If finance is something you would find useful, do let us know when you get in touch. It genuinely helps us judge how much demand there is as we look into it.