An honest answer, with my prices, what each one includes, and the things that push the cost of a garden design up or down.
A garden consultation with me is £300 + VAT. A garden design starts from £2,000 + VAT, and a full design with a planting plan usually falls between £3,000 and £6,000 + VAT, depending on the size of your garden and how much you want done.
When I wrote my book, The Garden Equation, I called this section 'What to Pay for Garden Design' and admitted that it is a tricky one. It still is. Plenty of garden designers do not publish their prices at all, which makes them very hard to compare, so the rest of this page explains where my numbers come from, because a price on its own does not tell you very much.
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The consultation is a two-hour visit to your garden. We walk round it together and I listen first, then I give you honest, practical advice about the layout and about the things that are easy to overlook: your soil, the light, the drainage, and how they shape what is possible.
You will receive a written summary afterwards, which is yours to keep whether or not you go any further. The £300 + VAT covers gardens across Yorkshire, and if you are further afield there may be a small travel cost, which I will always agree with you in advance. Soil pH testing is available on the same visit, from £50 + VAT.
For some people the consultation is all they need. For others it is the first step towards a design. Either is fine, and you do not have to decide until after we have met.
Every price is before VAT. Once I have seen your garden, I will give you a clear, honest indication of the cost before anything is arranged.
The structure of the garden, drawn by hand: a written design brief, layout options, and a detailed plan covering layout, levels, surfaces, boundaries and materials, with the drawings a landscaper needs to build it. There is no planting plan in Bronze.
Everything in Bronze, plus a detailed planting plan chosen for your soil, your light and the time you have to look after it. Most Silver gardens come in between £3,000 and £6,000 + VAT, depending on size.
Everything in Silver, plus sourcing the plants and being on site to oversee the planting, so that the garden goes in the way it was designed. The price depends on the size of the garden and how complex the build is.
Start with the hours, not the money. How many hours a week does your garden take now, and how many do you want it to take? The design is what closes that gap, and it keeps closing it every year after, which is worth remembering when you look at the fee.
After that, the cost of a design depends mostly on these things:
The size of the garden. A small town garden needs fewer drawings than a large country one, although it rarely needs less thought.
How awkward the site is. Slopes, changes of level, poor drainage and difficult access all take more working out, and more drawing.
How much of the design you want. A layout on its own is Bronze, a layout with a full planting plan is Silver, and if the layout already works, a planting plan on its own starts from £1,500 + VAT.
How involved you want me to be once the building starts. Build supervision is quoted separately, because it depends on how many visits the build needs.
The design fee does not include building the garden. The landscaper who builds it will quote for that separately, and their cost depends on the materials and the size of the job.
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A wise colleague of mine once said that a trained, experienced garden designer does the same kind of job as a trained, experienced architect. There is just as much room outside as there is inside to make expensive mistakes, and a good design is how you avoid paying for them twice: once in hard cash, and again in living with a garden that does not work.
So please do not choose a garden designer on price alone, and that includes me. In my experience the questions that matter more are whether you trust them and whether they understand what you want, so ask to see gardens they have designed (mine are in my portfolio), and ask one of their past clients whether they would use them again.
5 from 31 Google reviews
Independent reviews from people whose gardens I have designed.
Competent, conscientious and creative! An RHS employee advised us to use a member of the Society of Garden Designers…because anyone can call themselves a garden designer! Sally has a robust combination of qualifications, experience…and medals, which underpin delivery of a professional yet personal garden design service. Sally has written a book called The Garden Equation, which really resonated with me. Three foundation steps are needed to balance the equation! 1. Experience of the garden - what you want to have, or do, in your garden. 2. Physical conditions - work with nature! 3. Maintenance - tailor the plan to your timeframe! Working through these steps helped us work through our priorities and communicate our preferences. Sally’s objectivity provided us with invaluable insight and a new perspective. Sally’s knowledge and skills have enabled us to transform our space. The gardens were a space we worked in and walked through. Now our two front gardens feel connected, even though they are separated by a road. We feel that our home extends into two beautiful garden rooms, where design underpins purpose and effort is rewarded with enjoyment.
Sally's work was recommended to me initially by a 2 new neighbours, but then we also saw a totally different garden she has designed and really loved the blend of plant knowledge with varied hard landscaping and creativity. Each garden with which she was involved was unique. Our patch was a real challenge for any gardener, having poor drainage, heavy clay, two mature trees just over our fence, and nothing but rough grass. Sally was encouraging, enthusiastic and also realistic. She showed flexibility in her approach, amended the planting as necessary and always communicating clearly and in a timely way. She listens carefully to her clients' needs, hopes and fantasies, and is pragmatic in her approach. She makes clear the various options available, right at the start, so you can commit financially to the level of her input you want with confidence. She's incredibly hardworking when actually creating the garden physically, preparing beds, laying turf sourcing, planting, and she's also very generous with her time and effort. We are thrilled with the transformation achieved in a relatively short time, and cannot recommend her highly enough.
Excellent garden transformation - highly recommend! We're absolutely delighted with the work Sally has done for us. After extending our house, we lost part of our garden and wanted to make the most of the remaining space, but lacked both the time and knowledge to do it ourselves. Sally was recommended to us and she's been wonderful from start to finish. She presented us with thoughtful ideas and options, then took care of arranging all the work, making the whole process stress-free. The result is fantastic - the garden looks beautiful even now in winter, and we're excitedly looking forward to seeing it come alive in spring and summer. We couldn't be happier and would highly recommend Sally to anyone looking for a skilled and reliable garden designer.
With me, a garden consultation is £300 + VAT, and design packages start from £2,000 + VAT. A full design with a planting plan usually falls between £3,000 and £6,000 + VAT, and the full service, including sourcing the plants and overseeing the planting, starts from £6,000 + VAT. The size of your garden and how complicated it is make the biggest difference.
No. Every price on this website is shown before VAT, which is added on top.
Because it is two hours of my time in your garden, plus a written summary afterwards, and the advice is yours to keep and use whether or not you go any further.
No. You are under no obligation to go any further, and you do not have to decide anything until after we have met.
Yes. If the layout of your garden already works and it is the planting that is letting it down, a planting plan on its own starts from £1,500 + VAT.
No. My fee covers the design, and in Gold it also covers sourcing the plants and overseeing the planting. The landscaper who builds the garden quotes separately. If you would like me to keep an eye on the build, build supervision is available as an add-on.
The place to start is a two-hour visit to your garden, after which I can give you a clear, honest indication of what a design would cost. The visit is £300 + VAT, and you are under no obligation to go any further.
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