In my experience Irish people can be extremely coy about their garden budget. I’ve never got to the bottom of this, but i suspect it comes from a combination of cultural attitudes to money and a general perception that they might get ripped off. 

 

Fear not, all good garden designers have one overriding objective: to deliver you the best possible garden for the money you have to invest. So while you may be cagey about telling a builder what you have to spend, don’t be afraid to tell your designer.

 

Ballparks

Based on an average suburban rear garden, will include a patio area, lighting, a water feature, planting, a garden structure (pergola or similar), lawn and so on, you can realistically expect to spend the following;

 

€8 - €15,000 for a small garden (10m x 8m).

€10,000 - €25,000 for a medium sized garden (15m x 25m).

€25,000 - €60,000 for a large garden (25 x 50m).

 

Please note that the above prices are general estimates.

 

Affordable imagination

It is somewhat ironic that the first stage in setting a garden budget has nothing to do with money. Click here to see why.

 

Considered spending 

When you’ve worked out what you’re really after then you can start exploring the budget. For ease of interpretation, I’ve broken down the primary considerations that should direct budget allocation.

 

Prioritised spending.

When allocating your funds it’s always best to write down your priorities. See below for a garden spending hierarchy.

1. Garden enclosure – don’t be afraid to spend on enclosure (walls/fences/hedges), it provides the backdrop for the garden space and will heavily influence character and feel. Given a choice, I’d prefer to spend on a quality fence or rendered wall with a simple well kept lawn, than invest in expensive internal elements with a cheap backdrop. 

 

2. House and garden connection – spend money getting your connection right and you’ll thank me in the long run. A strong physical and visual connection onto a simple scheme is far better than a complex garden with limited connection to the house. It might seem odd, but I’ve told clients in the past to take money from their garden budget to spend on new patio doors/windows.

 

3. Infrastructure – spend money installing electrical circuits for lighting, features and external elements. Even if you don’t have the money to spend on lighting units/water features and so on, you may have in the future, and the foresight of previous installation will save a fortune. The same goes for irrigation, water feeds and drainage.

 

4. Social spaces – be generous with your allocation for social spaces, choose superior materials and finishes and never settle for second best. I’ve seen plenty of beautiful houses ruined by cost cutting on materials, so if you’ve just forked out to revamp your interior spaces and find the budget a bit short, hold off.

 

5. Earthworks – this is often overlooked by clients but is vital to creating a successful scheme. There’s little or no point in spending on expensive plants if they’re to be planted into compacted clay, so spend money getting your soil right, even if it means you’ve to make cuts elsewhere or delay the implementation of other elements.

 

6. Plants – horticulturists would scoff at my placement of plants way down the scale of priorities, but let’s face it, plants grow. It’s much better to have all the other elements spot-on and have to wait a few years for your garden to mature, than shell out for semi mature planting and be disappointed in your hard landscape materials.

 

7. Maintenance – maintenance is usually overlooked or not considered important, but nothing could be further from the truth. If you’re not a gardener, but are investing in your garden, then be prepared to allocate an annual sum for garden care. From experience it’s best to create a maintenance contract with the build contractor. If you’re maintaining the garden yourself and a maintenance program is not included in the proposal, then ask your designer about putting one together for you.
 

 

 

Other factors to consider  

 

Design fees

Even an hour long consultation will save you a fortune in the long run. I can guarantee that a consultation with me will save you money, time and heartache, even if you’ve got a very limited budget. Always seek professional input.

 

Timescale.

By far the best budgetary approach to take with gardens is long term. A longer term vision allows for an investment to be spread over time, thus, a client with a firm vision for what they’d really like, but who may only have limited immediate funds, can prioritise their spending over a number of years. 

 

For example:

Year one: available budget spent on priority elements – structures and garden structure. 

Year two: secondary garden elements – water features, secondary seating and so on.

Year three: tertiary elements – lighting units, supplementary planting and so on.

 

The above noted, it is usually more cost effective to have everything done at the one time. But if you’ve got limited funds, be patient, it’s far better to do nothing that compromise on materials and desires. My mantra: if you can’t afford to do it the way you’d like then hold off until you can.

 

Location and access.

If you live in a house which sits on a challenging site you may have to pay more. The same goes for houses with no side access, where prices may increase by as much as 25% - this is to allow for the increased time and challenge of building.

 

Being different

It goes without saying that if you are including unique, purpose designed and built elements, you’ll have to pay more. Off the shelf will always be cheaper but comes with its own cost. Don’t be afraid to explore various options, a couple of personalised elements can greatly add to a garden’s character. 

 

Final thought.

Whatever money you have to spend, ensure that you are working to a plan. A good layout plan will allow you to work methodically towards a cohesive scheme. Think of it like a jigsaw, with various components coming together to form a pleasing composition. Without a plan you run the risk of ending up with a mish-mash of unrelated elements that will never work and enevidably it’ll cost you more to get it right.