TL;DR — Garden Design Cost At A Glance
- A full garden design package costs £1,500–£4,500 outside London and £2,500–£5,000+ in London and the South East. A one-off consultation is £50–£150; a small garden's concept and planting plan is £600–£1,500.
- Most established designers charge 10–16% of the build cost, on a sliding scale — the recognised industry guidance runs from 18% on a £10,000 budget down to 10% at £100,000 and 8% at £500,000.
- You are buying drawings, not a garden. Design and build are separate purchases, and the build is where the money goes — see our garden renovation cost guide.
- Priced by area, design fees run £30–£120 per m² outside London and £40–£150 inside it, with the rate falling as the plot grows.
- Hourly rates are £50–£150, day rates £400–£900. London designers sit at the top of both.
- Below roughly £20,000 of build cost, a full design fee is a real net cost, not a saving. Above it, the economics change — we set out why below.
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Garden design is a professional service bought in stages, like architecture. You are paying for a survey, a layout, a materials specification and a planting scheme — a document a contractor can build from and that three contractors can price against each other. You are not paying for plants, paving or labour — that's the build, covered in our garden renovation cost guide and our landscaping cost guide.
| Deliverable | Rest of UK | London & South East |
|---|---|---|
| Initial consultation or site visit (1–2 hours) | £50–£150 | £75–£200 |
| Site survey — measured, by the designer | £150–£500 | £200–£650 |
| Topographical survey — independent surveyor | £450–£650 | £550–£800 |
| Concept or sketch plan | £300–£1,000 | £400–£1,300 |
| Full master plan — layout, levels, materials | £800–£3,000 | £1,000–£4,000 |
| Planting plan | £200–£800 | £250–£1,050 |
| Construction and technical drawing pack | £600–£2,500 | £800–£3,300 |
| Materials schedule | £150–£500 | £200–£650 |
| 3D visualisation, per view | £150–£600 | £200–£800 |
| Designer hourly rate | £50–£150 | £65–£200 |
| Designer day rate | £400–£900 | £600–£900 |
| Design fee as a share of build cost | 10–16% | 10–15% |
| Build-stage project management | 5–15% of build | 5–15% of build |
Garden Design Cost By Package And Garden Size
Most designers sell packages rather than single drawings, and the package price tracks plot size and complexity. The fee per square metre falls as the garden grows: the thinking, the survey and the client meetings are much the same whether the plot is 40 m² or 400 m².
| Design package | Approx. garden size | Rest of UK | London & South East |
|---|---|---|---|
| Consultation and verbal advice only | Any | £50–£150 | £75–£200 |
| Concept sketch plan only | Up to 50 m² | £300–£900 | £400–£1,200 |
| Concept plus planting plan | 25–50 m² (small) | £600–£1,500 | £900–£2,000 |
| Full design package | 50–200 m² (average) | £1,500–£4,500 | £2,500–£5,000+ |
| Full design, large garden | 200–500 m² | £4,500–£10,000 | £6,000–£13,000 |
| Full design, estate or complex site | 500 m²+ | £10,000–£15,000+ | £13,000–£20,000+ |
| Design fee per m² | — | £30–£120 | £40–£150 |
What Affects The Cost Of Garden Design?
1. The Designer's Standing And Accreditation
This is the dominant variable, and it's larger than the effect of garden size. Accreditation with the Society of Garden and Landscape Designers — formerly the Society of Garden Designers, hence the still-common MSGD and FSGD post-nominals — requires assessed project submissions, professional indemnity insurance and 25 hours of CPD a year. Registered members, and anyone with Chelsea medals behind them, charge multiples of an unaccredited designer's fee for the same plot.
2. How Far The Drawings Go
A sketch you can look at is cheap; a pack a contractor can build from is not. A concept plan is £300–£1,000; add levels, a materials specification, a planting plan and construction details and you're at £1,500–£4,500 or more. The deeper pack costs more and buys tighter build quotes, because contractors price risk when a drawing is vague.
3. Which Fee Model You're On
On a percentage basis the industry's own guidance is a sliding scale: 18% of a £10,000 budget, 12.5% at £50,000, 10% at £100,000 and 8% at £500,000. One frequently cited variant is 10% for design only and 20% where the designer also delivers the build. Percentages align the designer with your budget but can drift upwards with material choices, which is why some practices refuse the model outright and charge for time instead.
4. Surveys, Levels And Site Constraints
A flat, square, accessible garden surveys itself in an hour. A sloping, awkward or terraced plot needs a topographical survey at £450–£800, usually from an independent surveyor and billed on to you. Trees under a Tree Preservation Order, conservation-area status, drainage runs and shared boundaries all add drawing time and sometimes a planning submission at £500–£2,500.
5. Whether The Designer Also Manages The Build
Design and project management are separate purchases. Build-stage management — tendering, contractor selection, site visits, snagging — is charged at 5–15% of the build cost or £500–£2,500+ as a fixed fee. On a £30,000 build that's £1,500–£4,500 on top of the design fee, and it's usually the right money if you can't be on site.
6. Your Location
London and the South East run 20–35% above the rest of the UK on design fees, and the gap is widest at the consultation end — a London studio's initial visit at £90 plus VAT against £50 in the regions. Day rates converge more than you'd expect, at £400–£900 nationally against £600–£900 in London, because good designers work remotely and travel to a site once or twice.
What's Included — And What's Not
A full design package normally covers:
- An initial brief-taking meeting and a site visit
- A measured survey and site analysis — aspect, soil, drainage, existing planting
- One or two concept layouts, with a revision round
- A scale master plan with levels and a materials specification
- A planting plan with a plant schedule and quantities
- A presentation meeting and one set of amendments
- Enough detail for contractors to price from
Charged separately, or excluded:
- Topographical survey by an independent surveyor — £450–£800
- Extra revisions beyond the agreed rounds
- 3D visualisations and walkthroughs — £150–£900 per view
- Construction and technical detailing, where sold as a separate pack
- Planning drawings and applications — £500–£2,500
- Structural or arboricultural consultants — £500–£1,500
- Build-stage project management — 5–15% of the build
- Plants, materials and all labour — that's the build, priced in our garden renovation cost guide
- Site revisits after completion, usually a half-day or day rate
Can You Design Your Own Garden?
Yes, and for many gardens it's the right call. If your plot is broadly flat and rectangular, you're keeping the layout, and the job is really "better borders and a bigger patio", a designer is solving a problem you don't have. A one-off consultation at £50–£150 is the sweet spot: an hour or two of professional judgement on what's genuinely hard to see for yourself — sightlines, proportion, where the sun falls in July — and you draw the rest.
Self-design fails on levels, drainage and planting succession. Changing ground levels without understanding where water will go is the most expensive mistake in a garden. Planting is the other: a scheme that looks right in April and empty from August is a very common outcome, and replanting is real money. Online design from £250–£700 for a small garden is a reasonable middle path if you can survey your own plot accurately.
The honest test is the build budget. Below roughly £20,000 most designers themselves recommend a consultation rather than a full commission; between £20,000 and £40,000 a full design starts to earn its fee; above £40,000, a designer plus a separate contractor is the standard route.
How To Save Money On Garden Design
- Buy the consultation first, then decide. £50–£150 for a couple of hours tells you whether you need the full commission — some designers refund the consultation fee against a full appointment.
- Do your own measured survey. An accurate plan of boundaries, levels, drain covers, windows and existing trees can take £150–£500 out of the fee — get it wrong, though, and the whole design is wrong.
- Buy layout, skip the planting plan — or the reverse. These are separate deliverables at £200–£800 for planting. If you're confident with plants, buy the hard-landscaping layout and choose your own.
- Agree the revision rounds in writing. Extra amendments are the most common overrun on a design fee. Two rounds is normal — ask what a third costs before you need it.
- Skip the 3D visuals unless you can't read a plan. At £150–£900 a view they're a communication tool, not a design one.
- Phase the drawings. Commission the master plan now and the construction pack when you're ready to build. A plan you sit on for three years may need updating anyway.
How To Hire A Good Garden Designer
Start with accreditation. Registered membership of the Society of Garden and Landscape Designers means assessed projects, professional indemnity insurance and annual CPD — the last of which is what separates a designer from someone with landscaping software. BALI and the APL accredit the build side, and some practices hold both.
Ask to see two things: a portfolio of built work, not just drawings, and a written fee proposal listing each deliverable, the revision rounds, what happens if you change the brief, and who owns the drawings. On the last point, UK practice is that the designer keeps copyright and licenses you to build the scheme once, on that site — so if you plan to build in phases or move, say so before you sign.
Red flags: a fee quoted with no site visit and no brief; a designer who will only work with their own build team and won't release drawings for competitive tender; no professional indemnity insurance; and a percentage fee with no stated cap on a build budget nobody has costed yet. Get proposals from three designers and compare the deliverables list, not the headline number.
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Frequently Asked Questions
How Much Does A Garden Designer Cost In The UK?
£1,500–£4,500 for a full design package outside London, and £2,500–£5,000+ in London and the South East. Hourly rates are £50–£150, day rates £400–£900. A small garden's concept and planting plan is £600–£1,500 and a one-off consultation £50–£150. Established practices start at £2,500–£3,250 for a small garden.
What Percentage Of The Build Cost Is A Garden Design Fee?
10–16%, on a sliding scale that falls as the budget rises. The recognised industry guidance runs 18% on a £10,000 budget, 12.5% at £50,000, 10% at £100,000 and 8% at £500,000. Independent designers commonly quote 10–15%. Where the designer also manages the build, expect 15–20% in total.
Is A Garden Designer Worth The Money?
It depends on your build budget, and the honest answer is not always. No published UK figure shows a design fee recovering itself in build savings. What a design buys is comparable tender prices, fewer abortive decisions and a garden that still works in five years. Designers themselves put the threshold at around £20,000 of build cost — below it, take a consultation.
Do I Own The Garden Design I Paid For?
Usually not outright. Standard UK practice is that the designer keeps copyright and grants you a licence to build the scheme once, on that site. That matters if you intend to build in phases, reuse the design, or sell the house. Ask for the licence terms in the fee proposal.
Can I Get A Free Garden Design?
Sometimes — design-and-build firms often waive or refund the design fee if you award them the build, and one UK practice states plainly that the design is free if they construct it. It's a real saving, but it costs you the ability to tender the build competitively, which on a £30,000 project is usually worth more than the fee.
What's The Difference Between A Garden Designer And A Landscaper?
A designer produces drawings — layout, levels, materials, planting — and doesn't usually build. A landscaper builds, from your drawings or their own, and some firms do both. Designers charge £400–£900 a day for thinking; landscapers £320–£600 a day for a two-person team on site.
How Long Does Garden Design Take?
2–4 weeks for a small garden, 4–8 weeks or longer for a large or complex one. Concept stage takes 2–3 weeks, with detailed drawings and planting plans adding around three more. Build follows — six weeks for a small London garden to eighteen months on a complex landscape. Start the design in autumn for a spring build.
Fantastic Services Garden Design & Landscaping Prices
Landscaping and garden design are quoted per project after a free site survey — there's no separate design invoice and build invoice to reconcile. These prices apply within the M25, excluding congestion charges.
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