Working with a garden designer: turning a bare block into a plan

What a garden designer does

Garden designers usually work in stages. It starts with a paid on-site consultation — an hour or two walking the space, talking through how you use it and what you want, ending in written advice on layout and priorities. Next comes a concept plan: a scaled drawing showing the layout, a planting palette and the feel of the garden. For bigger projects there's full documentation — planting schedules, materials, levels and construction details detailed enough for a landscaper to price and build from.

The fee scales with the size of the garden and the depth of documentation. A courtyard concept is quick; a full suburban block with structures, lighting, drainage and retaining takes many more design hours. Slopes, drainage problems and established trees all add design work, and structures like pergolas or pools sometimes need other consultants alongside the designer.

The design is not the build. Once you have the plan, the physical work — earthworks, paving, planting, irrigation — is quoted and carried out by landscapers, so hold two budgets in your head: one for design, a much larger one for construction.

How the cost works

A design consultation with written advice sits at the bottom of the range, a scaled concept plan with a planting palette lands in the middle, and full construction-ready documentation for a large garden reaches the top. The estimate on this page adjusts for garden area and the level of service, so read any figure as indicative — studios price quite differently.

The two levers are the size of the garden and how far the documentation goes. A concept sketch costs far less than construction-ready drawings and schedules, and most fees include one or two revision rounds with extra changes charged hourly. The smartest early move is to share your realistic build budget up front, so the designer draws something you can actually afford to construct rather than a beautiful plan you'll never build.

Choosing the right designer

Garden design is an unlicensed field, so judge on portfolio and process rather than a register. Ask to see completed gardens, not just drawings — the built result, a year or two on, is the real test of whether a designer's plans translate into a garden that grows in well. Photos of planting that has matured tell you more than a glossy render.

Talk budget honestly and early. A designer who asks what you can spend before drawing is protecting you from an unbuildable plan; one who avoids the question may be designing for their portfolio, not your wallet. Ask how revisions are charged, and consider a staged planting plan so you can build the garden over a few seasons without a redesign each time.

Mistakes to avoid

Garden design regrets are usually about budget mismatches or confusing the plan with the finished garden.

• Not sharing a realistic build budget, so the design is lovely but unaffordable to construct
• Forgetting the build is a separate, much larger cost than the design fee
• Judging a designer on renders alone instead of visiting gardens they built years ago
• Assuming unlimited revisions are included when extra rounds are charged hourly
• Skipping a staged planting plan and having to redesign to build in phases
• Overlooking that slopes, drainage and big trees add real design hours