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Wednesday 27 August 2008

How much does landscaping cost?

One of the most important elements in landscape design...is budget.


When I meet with clients in the initial stages of planning a garden to discuss their desires for the garden, they will often have a good idea of what plants they really don't like, what views they would like to improve on or hide, and what they hope to do with their new garden.
But very seldom do they seem to have a 'conscious' idea of what their budget for their dream garden would be.

I've used the word conscious, because I believe most people really do have a pretty good idea of what they can spend on the project.
But very often people only realise what their budget is, after hours of planning and designing have gone into a concept that may or may not be achievable with the available funds. This means that it is probably necessary to go back to the drawing board, quite literally in order to come up with a new design that suits the financial constraints.


When I ask for a budget, the answer is usually: "I have no idea how much landscaping costs, how much should I spend?" As a rough guide, for new houses and gardens, you should be setting aside 5-10% of your building costs for landscaping. This seems like a lot of money at first, but when you consider that when a garden is appropriate, and beautiful, it can add about 20% to the value of your home.

On the other side of the coin, what most people don't realise is that designing and building gardens can be one of the most variable costing exercises in any profession. That's not to say that you can't be exact. Its just that you can have a beautiful garden on almost any budget.
I know that sometimes, people are also reluctant to let on how much they can spend in case they are over-charged, but when you consider that designing is a time-based exercise, its best to give good clear guidelines (budgetary, aesthetic and practical) to keep the time and therefore costs down.

Obviously, when you reduce the budget there will always be some trade-offs though. The aspects of a garden that generally-speaking either cost more or have less room for negotiation are things like:
  1. Instant gardens - the more mature a plant is, the more it costs.
  2. Hard materials like paving, and edging have fixed costs that can't be negotiated unless buying in quantity.
  3. Features, such as walls, structures, fountains, statues etc. often have fairly standard associated costs.
  4. Specialist advice or consultation can be quite costly too.
A good design hinges on good information. In order to plan, and estimate correctly, you need to have as much information as possible. Try to collect pictures from books or magazines of gardens or designs that you enjoy. Look for gardens around your neighbourhood that you appreciate. All of this information will help to speed up the design process, and prevent mis-communication.

The truth is though, that most often, you'll find that any designer or landscaper with a good reputation sees what they do as an expression of art. They are often less concerned about money than they are about creating something that can be both enjoyed and admired.

More of my thoughts on budgets here...

4 comments:

Chookie said...

I'm not sure people are that good at working out their budgets. I might know what plants will cost at a nursery, but I don't have the foggiest notion about the cost of hard landscaping materials -- and while I could grow from seed or tubestock to lower the price of plants, It's a bit hard to lower the price of paving, especially if you have your heart set on a particular material!

I've seen the 5-10% figure for a new house before,but what's the rule of thumb if you are extending your house, or indeed for annual expenditure?

stoneware70 said...

I think you're right, there are not many people who are very good at their personal budgeting.(myself included!)
But, I think to put it differently - we usually know how much we can't spend - so maybe its easier to work backwards from there?

Paving, and other hard materials that we might lust after do tend to push the prices up quite quickly!

Getting estimates from landscapers in your area can help. Sometimes, they can even give an average price per square metre for the different materials.

I would suggest a possible way to plan how much you want to spend on landscape additions, would be to work out how much your essentials (paving, statuary and large plants) are going to cost you, and then work out what is left for the rest. If time is not an issue, plant small and watch them grow.

BluShirt said...

Great post. As a full time landscape contractor I racked my brain as to how to get accross the budget that met the work involved. We started an ecommerce site to allow customers to shop. www.blushirt.com . It has saved me and my clients an incredible amount of time.

Cheers. Mike

Anonymous said...

I agree with Ross. Budgeting is challenging, but knowing a price range of what you want brings so much value, it means either you can do it or maybe save a bit more till you can :) Living in Canada I used www.blushirt.com, I picked a couple of designes I liked and matched different elements to suit my budget. Do you guys have something like this in South Africa?

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