In the second of our series on the garden design process, we answer the question: what does a garden designer do? In the first blog in the series, we looked at How to choose a landscape gardener, and in this blog, we explore how to choose the right luxury garden designer for your Cotswold estate. We will take you through the different stages of garden design, look at what you can expect from a garden design company and discover how much a bespoke garden design costs.
Designing a garden is a once in a lifetime experience for many people, which is why many of us may well wonder how a garden designer can bring real value to a project?
On the surface, hiring a garden designer can seem like a luxury which is why many people are tempted to take on garden design projects themselves. However, this may be a short-sighted view as you could end up paying more in the long-run. To help you decide why you should hire a garden designer, we’ve answered five common questions:
By its very nature, bespoke garden design will cost differently for every client. When it comes to setting budgets, garden designers will charge depending on the level of service they provide, the size of the property and the extent of the works.
Some garden design studios focus heavily on the garden design element and will subcontract out any landscaping or build work. They may well help you find a landscaper and then charge a consultancy fee to oversee the garden design brief. Others will let you deal directly with the landscaper or building contractor yourself.
Garden design companies in the Cotswolds, like Gardens by Keltie & Clark that offer a number of services in-house will take care of all elements of the garden design as well as the build. The advantage here is that you can get a more comprehensive idea about how much the whole project will cost. This should result in a final quote that isn’t underpriced or full of the dreaded ‘hidden extras’.
A design brief is the important first stage in estate garden planning and design. Every garden design company will have their own briefing process, but it usually consists of a document that is drawn up after a garden designer meets with a client to discuss their vision
While it’s lovely to be able to close your eyes and wish for anything you want in your outdoor space, that dream is not always possible! But, a good garden designer will be able to take your vision and interpret it according to your budget and timeframe.
They will also take into consideration the location and value of your property and help to shape your expectations. Once the garden designer has visited your property, met with you and understood the project, you can discuss important elements such as budget, scale and time frame as well as garden design style. It is really important that you are happy with your garden designer at this stage – and vice versa. At Gardens by Keltie & Clark, we will always be open and honest – if it’s not the right project for us we will suggest other companies that might be a better fit.
At Gardens by Keltie & Clark, we estimate that garden design is usually about 10-30% of the build cost, depending on the scale of the project. When it comes to costing garden design, companies will all have their own processes and there are a lot of elements to take into consideration.
The design drawings are the exciting stage of the process where you start to see your vision come to life. They can help you to visualise your outdoor space and the value of your spend. However, detailed 3D garden design drawings are time-consuming and expensive, so it pays to make sure you are happy with the brief and design proposal first before going ahead with detailed drawings.
At this stage, other design elements, such as a planting design or outdoor lighting design, may be added to the proposal. A Topographical Survey is also a good idea as it makes the garden design and build process much more cost-effective in the long-run: you can find out more about the benefits of topo surveys in our blog Do I need a Topographical survey?
As a rough guide, you can expect the following garden design costs:
At Gardens by Keltie & Clark, we believe that there is no point paying for detailed drawings until we have created a proposal that you are happy with. Because we offer bespoke garden design and build services in-house, we have quite a unique garden design process in that we can start pricing a project and adapting it before committing to detailed drawings. Here’s how we do it:
Following the initial brief, we will produce a design proposal consisting of a 2D concept drawing to help you visualise how the garden could function for you. There will be limited detail at this stage – we might include a ‘garden building’ on the plan but also a range of price points – to construct a garden building in stone may take the whole project over budget, so we will also offer scaled back alternatives that might be more in keeping with a client’s costings.
Once the proposal is agreed, we will start to develop detailed drawings and conceptual designs, followed by a detailed quote. One of the advantages of pricing a project like this is that there are no nasty surprises at the end of the process. A garden design company that uses subcontractors for landscape and build might not have the ability to develop the pricing alongside the detailing in the same way.
If a quote comes in too high, a good garden designer will look at what changes can be made so that a client still gets their dream space. We might ask questions such as what are your non-negotiables and where can you make a compromise? And you might consider whether you can do your own planting, or create your own outdoor lighting design. We will always adapt the conceptual design in creative ways to meet your requirements.
As we’ve identified in this blog, there’s more to bespoke garden design than pretty pictures. A garden designer is responsible for several elements of a project, from interpreting a client’s wishes to producing a brief, a raft of detailed drawings and conceptual designs as well as overseeing the landscape and build (if the company offers in-house services). Using a garden designer to do your estate garden planning means you get access to all of this skill, knowledge and expertise.
But, more importantly, a garden designer will work with you to transform your garden in the way that you want, so that it works best for you and your family. At the start of a garden project, one of the most difficult things can be understanding what it is you need and envisaging how much it is going to cost. Working with a garden designer can help you to see through the weeds so that you end up with a carefully considered garden design that does everything you want it to do, at the right price.
Ultimately, garden design is not just about pretty pictures – it’s about getting the garden that you’ve dreamed of built: the drawings are just part of the process of getting you there.
If you are looking to hire a garden designer in Cheltenham and the Cotswolds, we’d love to talk! Contact us to let us know more about your project and we’ll talk you through our garden design process.
