Garden design
A measured survey, a soil test and a planted drawing you can build from, in stages if the budget wants it that way.
Services
From a drawing on Monday to turf on a Friday.
Six things we do, with typical starting prices and how long the work takes on site. Every job is quoted properly after a visit; nothing below is a guess we will change later.
Full garden build
Levels, drainage, hard landscaping, planting and turf by our own crew. One start date, one finish date, one invoice schedule.
Patios and paths
Sandstone, porcelain and clay pavers laid on a full mortar bed with proper falls, so puddles do not sit outside your back door.
Driveways
Block paving, resin bound and gravel, all with a SuDS compliant build-up and a linear drain where the fall runs back to the house.
Fencing and screens
Close board, slatted and woven panels on concrete spurs or posts set in postcrete, plus gates made to the opening we measured.
Garden maintenance
Fortnightly or monthly visits from March to November, with hedge cutting, borders, lawn care and a written plan for the year.
Rough cost
Work out the shape of the number first.
Most people want to know whether they are looking at eight thousand or eighty before they give anyone their phone number. Use this, then book a visit if it is close to what you had in mind.
Rough cost, in ten seconds
Area, finish, access.
Indicative range£15,500 to £20,000Full mortar bed, falls and pointing. Includes site set-up, waste and VAT. A fixed quote follows the site visit.
Planting
Plants we return to on Surrey clay.
Every planting plan is written for the aspect, the soil and how much time you actually want to spend out there. This is a sample of the list we draw from, with the detail that matters when you are standing in the garden centre.
| Botanical name | Common name | Where we use it | Aspect | Height at 10 years | Interest |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hydrangea quercifolia | Oak leaf hydrangea | Shrub, shaded border | Part shade | 1.8 m | Jul to Sep |
| Verbena bonariensis | Purple top | Perennial, gravel and prairie | Full sun | 1.5 m | Jun to Oct |
| Amelanchier lamarckii | Snowy mespilus | Small tree, focal point | Sun or part shade | 6 m | Apr blossom |
| Hakonechloa macra | Japanese forest grass | Grass, shaded edge | Part shade | 0.4 m | Aug to Oct |
| Salvia nemorosa Caradonna | Balkan clary | Perennial, sunny border | Full sun | 0.6 m | Jun to Sep |
| Carpinus betulus | Hornbeam | Hedge, bare root in winter | Any | 2 to 4 m | Foliage all year |
| Geranium Rozanne | Cranesbill | Ground cover under roses | Sun or part shade | 0.5 m | Jun to Oct |
| Pittosporum tenuifolium | Kohuhu | Evergreen structure and screening | Sheltered sun | 3 m | Evergreen |
Heights are what we expect on our ground in Guildford and Surrey, not the label on the pot.
Questions
The five we get asked every week.
Do you charge for the first visit?
No. We walk the garden, take rough measurements and talk about budget. If you want a drawing after that, design starts at £1,450 for a typical Surrey back garden.
How far do you travel?
We build within 25 miles of Guildford. Maintenance rounds run in Guildford, Godalming, Farnham and Cranleigh only, so the crew is not sat in traffic on your hourly rate.
Can the work be done in stages?
Yes, and it often should be. The drawing is costed area by area, so you can build the hard landscaping this year and the planting next without redesigning anything.
What happens about the mess?
Skips and grab lorries are in the quote, boards go down on the route through the house, and the site is swept every evening. We tell your neighbours before the first delivery.
Is the work guaranteed?
Five years on hard landscaping, two years on fencing and structures, and one year on planting we installed and you watered to the schedule.
Not sure which of these you need?
Send a photo and a rough measurement. We will tell you what the garden actually needs first.