Garden landscaping prices by scope
Most enquiries fall into one of three shapes. A refresh keeps the layout and replaces the tired parts: clearance, a new lawn and a modest patio. A redesign changes how the garden is used, so levels, patio, lawn, a path and fencing are planned and built together. A full rebuild adds the heavy structural work, such as retaining, terracing and decking on a slope.
Doing several elements in one project is normally cheaper than booking them as separate visits, because the machine hire, the sub-base delivery and the waste removal are shared across everything rather than paid for each time.
The individual rates inside a quote
A whole garden figure is really a stack of smaller jobs. These are the guide rates we work from for the elements that appear most often:
- Patios: roughly £120 to £220 per square metre including groundwork and materials, porcelain at the top of the range
- Turf supplied and laid: £14 to £22 per square metre where the ground is already close to level
- Fencing: £95 to £150 per 6ft panel bay, or £140 to £220 per close board bay, fitted
- Decking: around £1,900 to £3,200 for a low 15 square metre softwood deck
- Spoil removal: £220 to £320 per load, by grab or skip depending on access
Garden redesign
- One joined-up garden plan
- Practical zoning for daily life
- Groundwork through to final finish
What pushes landscaper prices up in Hampshire
Access is the first thing we look at. A rear garden reached only through the house or down a narrow passage means everything is barrowed by hand, which takes longer than tipping straight from a machine. Slope is the second: cutting and filling a sloping garden and holding the new level in place costs more than any surface laid on top of it.
The third is what is buried. Older Southampton gardens often hide rubble, old yard surfaces or filled coal stores, and many estate gardens have builders' subsoil under a thin skim of topsoil. We dig a test hole on the first visit so the depth on the quote is measured rather than guessed.
Where you can keep a garden redesign cost down
Phasing is the most useful tool. Groundwork, levels and drainage can be done over winter, with surfaces and turf following in spring, so the spend is split across two seasons without anything being built in the wrong order. Choosing gravel in place of a lawn in heavy shade, or concrete slabs in place of porcelain on a side area, also trims the total without touching the base quality.
What we would not cut is the preparation. A cheaper base is the one line that reliably costs more later, because it is the reason slabs sink and lawns puddle.
Guide landscaping costs
Guide figures for Southampton and the towns within about 20 miles. Every garden is priced after a free site visit.