Some gardens can be successfully planned without professional design, while others benefit enormously from having an experienced designer involved from the very beginning.
In this guide we'll explain when hiring a garden designer makes sense, when it may not be necessary, and how to decide what's right for your project.
Let’s start with the situations where we’d genuinely say you may not need a garden designer.
If you’re replacing an existing patio with something similar, installing a new fence, laying a lawn or making improvements without changing the overall layout of your garden, a designer may add little value.
Even if you need advice on what materials to use, what style suits the house best, or what plants are best suited, a good landscaper should be able to advise on all these points effectively.
Likewise, if you already know exactly what you want, have experience managing landscaping projects and are confident choosing materials, levels, drainage issues and planting, you may feel comfortable working directly with a landscaper.
For straightforward projects, paying for a full design isn’t always necessary.
Garden designers also offer differing services. Here’s a run down:
Garden Designers Only.
These companies tend to tackle design professionally, and if asked, can tender out to a landscaper to build the dream once designed,
Design only companies tend to create workable drawings, construction details for every element with lots of detail so that any landscaping company is tied specifically to the specifications of the contract. This way of designing is expensive, but very thorough, and you have to manage the relationship with a designer and a build team. It’s a good way forward for a complex project with a big budget.
Landscapers:
Some landscape companies do create hand drawn sketches for a smaller fee, or sometimes for free to enable them to be successful in gaining the project.
These are sometime to scale and detail material choices, but don’t generally come from a place of professional training, just experience in laying paving or planting previous gardens.
Design & Build:
Finding a design and build company that are independent and offer a professional design service, with a build team able to guide the design process with years of build experience often creates a more buildable design led approach with cohesion.
What If I Already Know What I Want?
Many clients come to us with Pinterest boards, magazine photos or ideas they’ve collected over several years.
That’s actually a great starting point.
A designer doesn’t replace your ideas—they develop them.
Often the role of a designer is to understand how you want to use the space and then turn those ideas into a practical garden that fits your home, lifestyle and budget.
