design
Landscaping
£2,500 to £25,000 covers most whole garden projects in 2026, a refresh of turf, planting and a path landing at £2,500 to £8,000 and a full redesign at £8,000 to £25,000. Landscapers charge £200 to £400 a day, £300 to £450 in London.
What this covers
What it costs. £4,000 is the average garden renovation figure for 2026, though the useful spread runs £2,500 to £8,000 for a refresh and £8,000 to £25,000 for a redesign with paving and structures. Full cost breakdown.
What the job covers
- Whole garden design and build
- Levelling, retaining and reshaping ground
- Terraces, paths, steps and boundaries
- Planting, turf and irrigation to finish
- Managing the trades a garden build needs
Worth knowing
Scotland
Scotland does not use the upper and lower waste carrier tiers. The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) authorises carriers by activity under its own regime instead, so the question to ask a Scottish gardener is what authorisation they hold rather than which tier they are on.
SEPA, waste carriers and brokers; Environmental Authorisations (Scotland) Regulations 2018
What is involved
Levels come first on any whole garden project. Landscapers set a datum, usually the damp proof course or a fixed manhole cover, then work out how much soil has to move for the finished surface to sit where it should. Gardens falling away from the house need retaining structures or graded terraces, and a 300mm drop across 10 metres changes the entire layout. Spoil has to go somewhere: 50 square metres reduced by 200mm produces around 10 cubic metres, several grab loads.
Drainage runs, cable ducts and irrigation sleeves go in while the ground is open, because retro-fitting them means lifting whatever was laid over it. Sub-base for paved areas follows: 100mm of compacted stone under a patio, 150mm or more where a car will stand. Compaction happens in lifts of 75mm to 100mm rather than one deep dump of stone, and a plate compactor run over a single 200mm layer leaves the bottom half loose enough to settle later.
Water needs planning as early as the layout. Hard surfaces shed rain that used to soak away, so each plan needs a destination for it: a border, a soakaway pit, a channel drain feeding a rainwater system. Topsoil depth then decides the planting, 150mm under lawn and 400mm or more for shrubs and small trees. New borders filled with builders' spoil instead of topsoil can take three seasons to establish.
Choosing someone for the job
Levels: ask where the finished surface sits relative to the damp proof course, and where the spoil is going. Drainage: ask what happens to rain coming off new hard surfaces. Waste carrier: soil, turf and old slabs count as construction waste, so the registration number should start CBDU in England and Wales. Programme: ask which trades come in, in what order, and who coordinates them.
Worth reading first:
- Hard and soft landscaping explained
- What a landscaping quote should include
- When to prune roses: timing and cuts for each type of rose
- Do I need planning permission for a shed? The size rules
- When to lay turf in the UK: the months that work
- Do I have to declare Japanese knotweed? The law explained
Related jobs:
Common questions
How long does a full garden landscaping job take?
Small refresh jobs run three to five days on site. A mid-size redesign with paving, planting and fencing usually takes two to four weeks, plus lead time on materials. Porcelain, natural stone and made-to-order screens often carry a two to six week wait before anything starts.
Does garden landscaping need planning permission?
Garden work mostly does not. Paving a front garden in England does: an impermeable surface over five square metres between the house and the road needs permission unless water drains to a permeable area. Scotland applies no five square metre threshold, so any hard surface between house and road must be porous or drain to a porous area.