Cost guide
How much does garden design cost?
£600 to £4,500 is where most garden design fees land, averaging about £1,950. By area that works out at £30 to £150 a square metre, and by hour at £60 to £200. Percentage based fees run 9 per cent on large projects up to 20 per cent on small ones.
Typical prices
Ranges, not quotes. A quote depends on your garden.
| Work | Typical UK price |
|---|---|
| Initial consultation and site visit | £100 to £350 |
| Measured survey | £150 to £500 |
| Concept plan, small garden | £600 to £1,200 |
| Detailed design, average garden | £1,200 to £2,500 |
| Full package, large or complex site | £2,500 to £4,500 |
| Design fee as a share of build cost | 9% to 20% of build |
Published design fees disagree by two to three times on the same brief, because one guide costs a concept sketch and another a full tender pack. A lower fee often covers less construction detail, and without it the contractor has to price in the unknowns.
What moves the price
- Garden area, priced at £30 to £150 a square metre depending on complexity.
- Level changes, retaining walls and drainage, all of which need survey work and construction detail.
- Drawing depth, from a concept sketch at £300 up to a tender ready pack at £3,000.
- Designer standing, with registered members of the Society of Garden Designers at the upper end.
- Location, where London and the South East add 20 to 40 per cent over the Midlands and the North.
Who quotes for it
748 of the 4,012 gardeners listed on this site take on garden design.
Where most of them are: Brighton and Hove (23), Chelmsford (18), Cardiff (17), Liverpool (17), Worcester (15).
Questions about garden design
Do I need a survey?
For anything involving levels, retaining structures or drainage, yes, at £150 to £500. A flat rectangle with no changes can sometimes be designed from measurements taken at the first visit. Mistakes in levels are among the costliest to put right on site.
What should the drawings include?
A setting out plan with dimensions, levels and falls, construction details for hard landscaping, a planting plan naming species, sizes and numbers, and a schedule of materials. That is the pack a contractor tenders from. A visual without dimensions gives a contractor nothing to build from.