Garden / Landscape Design Costs

D

DB Pension

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Hi,

Our front and back garden need an overhaul - unfortunately the plants there at the moment are overgrown / flower very little.

We want to come up with a design which balances form and function - space for swings, tree house, lawn, shed but also relatively manageable from a maintenance perspective . The garden is largely flat and whilst relatively long (bear in mind it is in Dublin) there is nothing complicated about it

We live in south Dublin and have been quoted €1800 + VAT for a draft / concept plan.

Is this the going rate? To be honest, we are a bit shocked about the price.

Does anyone have any experience of typical costs for Dublin?

Thanks!
 
There are so many resources out there to do it yourself for cheaper. I suggest that you do it yourself but the quote seems reasonable assuming it includes design, labour and plants.
 
€1800+VAT for a plan only, probably the nicest little earner for somebody to use least imagination and generate a computer printout of hundreds of designs in the history of the state.

You need swings, probably a see-saw and a visit to your local iron welder will pay dividends. Ensure they are movable and not confined to one place. He'll probably sell you clothes line supports too. All you have to do is decide on the colour and use undercoat before applying the final coat. This is the fun bit. Tree houses look good, give out a good impression to anybody that can see it, but in my book there are dangers.

You are not going to be able to hide the swings and see-saw (I hope somebody doesn't come on suggesting they blend into the background). Therefore, build your garden around them. Throw in a small raised rectangular veg patch with room for two raspberry and two blackcurrant bushes at top-of-the-right. Use rhubarb roots there too and you'll probably have some room for lettuce and carrot plants.

At Outside-Left you could do worse than shove in three or four attractive flowering bushes; match your colours.

Build a low "S" shape stone wall with a flat top just behind the back-four of (L to R) (i) small mixed herb patch (ii) cleared bed for purple and white petunia spreading flowers (don't use mixed colours) surrounded by some alyssum (iii) another petunia patch of purple and white (iv) Bottom-Right don't skimp on the lupins. Don't forget you'll need a small patio area between the back of your house and the "Back Four."

Near Mid-Left plant any kind of small deciduous tree (be prepared to dig it up and throw it out every few years). Do the same near Mid-Right but ensure the "Mids" are not exactly opposite.

Down each flank place some creeping plants which will use your fence/wall for support and ensure they thrive on neglect - your garden centre will help here. Stay away from hedges which are hard work later. Use plants that will attract and naturally feed song-birds. These will enhance your garden beyond your imagination, believe me and obviate the use of those stupid nut-hangers etc

Garden Path:- If you put this straight down the garden from a mid point, I'll personally drive to your house and dig it up. Use your imagination and place paving slabs not in a straight line (be prepared to dig them out occasionally and change the route of your path.

Use foliage of your near and far neighbours to enhance your garden. I mean, use theirs as your back-drop. If you are putting in a timber or metal shed ensure you don't spoil the garden my misplacing it.

You've saved over €2K at this point, so book a holiday.
 
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Please check out the Royal Horticultural Society website. This is the "bible" for both amateurs and professionals. The society is the professional association for gardeners. The website is full of excellent, free advice.

Garden design / RHS Gardening / RHS Gardening

Get expert advice on how to design a garden, with ideas and practical tips on garden planning. Browse garden galleries for inspirational designs.
www.rhs.org.uk www.rhs.org.uk
You could do worse than checking out any proposed professional help is a member of the Irish branch:

Garden Expertise | RHSI

rhsi.ie rhsi.ie
 
When I studied horticulture with the RHS, we were given a rule of thumb. The cost of a garden design and landscaping for a given house was the same as the cost of a kitchen design and fit.
Have you had your kitchen done recently?
 
Gordon Gekko said:
That’s very interesting. But it doesn’t really stack-up.
Click to expand...
I'd probably agree on what Drakon says, but that's not to say more people would be more comfortable DIYing their garden than their kitchen, thus feeling a kitchen refit price vs garden landscaping are not equal in cost. A professional Kitchen or garden will both look great. It's probably fair to say that a diy kitchen vs a diy garden would be more prone to failure.
 
Houses with big kitchens tend to have big gardens.
Houses with small kitchens tend to have small gardens.

Houses with budget kitchens tend to want budget gardens.
Houses with hi-spec kitchens tend to want high-end gardens.
 

No, I get that but I’m struggling to see the basis for it.

Unless it relates to the person rather than to the property.

e.g. a person who’ll spend €30k on a kitchen is more likely to spend €30k on a garden

But most properties will take €30k spent on the kitchen whereas not all properties have gardens that you could spend that much on.

Interesting though.
 
You’d be surprised. You can buy a 3 year old Himalayan Birch for €25 in a garden centre.
But a 10 yo will cost you hundreds or 20 yo will cost thousands, from a specialist nursery.
Doesn’t take long to add up.
(You’re not buying the tree, you’re buying time, ie, the ageing of the tree).
 
Thanks for all the detailed replies folks - very much appreciated.

My own gut says if you have a design that blends form (blends into surroundings, takes account of aspect, uses existing plants where possible, appropriate paving to front and rear) and function (swings, patio area, lawn, shed) you are properly set up for the next 10/20 years.

I am happy to pay for a garden designer - my concern is that I have no sense of what is a reasonable cost.

I am happy to do this over next 5 years - just don't want to waste money on work which needs to be corrected at a later point
 
Check your soil type as well, that will play a key role in determining what works and what dies.
 
Good point re soil type.

BTW I have sketched out a draft garden design - then I realized I needed help!
 
Paid €700 Euro at the end of 2018 to get the design done for a mid-terrace back garden, incl. drawings, 3D renderings and sufficient details to go out for quotes.
Small’ish garden size about 7m by 25m.
well worth the money I thought.
 
newirishman said:
Paid €700 Euro at the end of 2018 to get the design done for a mid-terrace back garden, incl. drawings, 3D renderings and sufficient details to go out for quotes.
Small’ish garden size about 7m by 25m.
well worth the money I thought.
Click to expand...
Can I ask what the actual work/planting then cost on top of that? Can you remember the rang in the quotes received?
 
20 years ago I got a brainwave (I bet some of you think I'm kidding) and my circumstances were that (i) I was skint. (ii) I was overweight (blamed giving up the fags, of course! (iii) Back Garden required much updating. We were at the other end of DB-Pension's dilemma. Ours had grown out of the swings, see-saw etc. Generally, the garden was worn especially for lots of use of the double swings where deep "skid" marks marked the ground in several places where we had placed the movable swings. The garden required work, not design. It was a case of paying for brawn or doing it ourselves.

We had devoured gardening magazines and watched every gardening television programme continuously. We nosed what was happening in other well kept gardens too. The magazines and tv shows shared one thing i.e. fill the place with shrubbery that Tarzan and Jane would have difficulty in locating our back door. Our garden is south facing and our requirements were basic:- (a) Pleasing Appearance (b) Decent sized patio (c) As close to zero maintenance as possible. (d) Garden Furniture that we would use rather than stuff that would lie idle and eventually become an eyesore. We already had the biggest eyesore in the country, our back garden adorned with a cement block shed that could have doubled as a sniper's position on a film about the Somme.

We needed the shed and knocking it would not be too difficult, but it was built on a raft of cement that would have supported the old Central Bank building. We kept the shed but added flowers on one side and on the roof.

We decided that we could kill some birds with one stone i.e. I would do all the work, filling in holes, raising sections that needed to be raised, reducing sections that should be reduced, replacing the roof of the shed (not that easy as the roof was of asbestos). The swings and other unwanted metal were taken away by a guy who kept calling me "Boss." I'm no great mason but when we came up with the idea of design we ploughed on. It was back-breaking using the wheelbarrow to ferry the stone from front gate to back garden and as bad to move unwanted clay from back to the skip at the front. Worst of all was setting a sand foundation for the slabs of the new patio. Remember a patio must be at an angle for rainwater to run off it. Lifting patio slabs was exhausting and "hard labour" took on a more relevant meaning. Labourers are grossly underpaid and if anybody tells you differently, he/she doesn't know what he/she is talking about.

It was not long before I lost most of my excess weight. Every day we worked we could see the garden taking a favourable shape. We thought up ideas to make the place more aesthetic and added steps through the wall, dug out a large area for shrubs (not flowers), put a fence behind the bed to block view of our shed. A rotary clothes line behind the fence replaced our garden length double clothes line. The rotary line worked better than I thought.

However, all went well and a much more aesthetic Leper was born. It was the only time I had a six-pack. Our garden plans have since worked well. There is relatively little work to be done there other than power washing the patio slabs every year. Only thing, our married children want us to buy new swings and see-saw for the entertainment of their children when they visit after the pandemic ends.
 
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