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Do Not Let The Client Budget Break Your Design

22/10/2024 - Garden Design

Why It’s Important to Design A Garden With The Customer’s Build Budget At The Forefront

Are you a garden designer who has been disappointed to learn that your client has compromised your design by substituting specified materials for a lower quality alternative?  At the risk of sounding cliched - you are not alone.

Of course as a designer, you can only influence the client’s choice of products, you cannot dictate what somebody installs in their own garden. The trouble is your name may end up being associated with a garden that is not quite ‘right’. And when it comes to promoting your brand - that’s a bit of a problem.

So how can you discourage these major changes to your design? The answer lies in better communication, better collaboration with the installers, and paying very close attention to the build budget. For in many cases, the client will request materials changes to reduce the overall bill. It may not be a wise decision on their part, but it is human nature.

bengal cat relaxing in a beautiful garden designed by Judy Shardlow

Cats can always tell a quality garden feature! This stunning patio sits in a lovely garden designed by Judy Shardlow. Read the full case study here.

Establishing The Build Budget For Your Garden Design

Some garden designers charge an hourly rate, others have a fixed fee, but the cost of designing a garden is not the issue when it comes to procuring the materials specified. No, it’s the shock of getting the landscaper’s quote that very often frightens clients into making rash decisions about going off-spec with the materials.

The wise garden designer will take great pains to manage their client’s expectations on overall cost. Starting with establishing a ballpark budget.

Other than by watching TV garden makeover programmes, and possibly word of mouth, very few householders will have a clue what a new garden should cost. It’s no secret that telly programs are highly misleading when it comes to costs, time frames and quality of workmanship. And so, the designer needs to assume that clients are naive in terms of their expectations. The initial consultation with a client should always include a conversation about money. 

Very often, clients will say ‘we don’t know what we want to spend’. That’s because they genuinely don’t know what to expect. Your job is to get them to narrow their ideas down, at least to either a cost bracket such as £50,000 - £75,000 or to a maximum figure. Eg up to £200K. 

The next part of your job is making sure the build costs are not terrifyingly bigger than the budget.

female garden designer in a striped shirt talking to their client about budgets

A frank conversation about budgets can avoid problems with specification and procurement later in the project

Designing For A Build Budget - How Landscapers Can Help

I’ve never yet met a garden designer who didn’t have an amazing vision for almost every garden they’re asked to reimagine. Like any artist, they want to create something that’s an absolute delight, something that exceeds expectations and has bucket loads of wow factor. It’s so easy to get carried away, adding exciting features, beautiful shapes and luxurious materials. But if the budget is limited, the design needs to be edited accordingly if it’s not to be compromised at some point during the build.

Designers are not generally trained in how to price a landscaping project. And of course, there are no standard charges for say, laying a patio or building steps. The groundworks and the foundations of a garden, often account for sixty percent or more of the landscaping price. So, as a designer, collaborating closely with a trusted landscaper is probably the best way to gauge costs for each individual garden. Share your initial thoughts and get some idea of a) what that layout might cost to build (excluding the decorative elements such as pavers) and b) how those costs could be managed (smaller patio, less complexity etc)

From here you can hone your ideas so that they meet the client’s needs in terms of functionality, aesthetics and build cost.

Don’t forget to factor in a contingency budget so that both you and the landscaper will have some wriggle room and still be able to please the client.

A group of garden designers inspecting part of the product range at Arbour Landscape Solutions

A group of garden designers examining just some of the landscaping materials on display at Arbour Landscape Solutions yard

Choosing Landscaping Materials

The decorative elements of a garden are what matter most for the overall look and feel of a space. And that’s where you probably don’t want to compromise. It’s better to have a smaller patio and build it with superior quality slabs than to have a vast space of ‘cheap’ alternatives.

However, if your client is overwhelmed by the landscaper’s quote, but still loves your design, the first thing they’ll do is look for things to substitute in order to reduce the price. Swathes of planting could be exchanged for a bigger lawn, luxurious limestone from a trusted supplier might be swapped for whatever is on offer at Travis Perkins. All of a sudden it’s a completely different garden being built from what you designed - and yet your name is still on that design.

The answer? Get the clients deeply engaged with the palette of materials. Explain why you recommend each one, show them how the colours and textures help make for a cohesive design. Compare and contrast top quality materials with cheap alternatives. In short, make them love the materials so much that they’ll find another way to manage the budget.

If the products are chosen early enough in the design process, then you will have the opportunity to present your design in such a way as the client knows their product choices are a major contributor to the success of the garden.

At Arbour Landscape Solutions, we welcome visits to our yard to view materials. Please, bring your clients along to meet our team and learn about materials properties so, that guided by you, they can make informed choices. Very often, if people are involved in the decision making process, they will commit to a palette of products.

Alternatively, why not ask one of our team to bring a selection of samples to one of your client meetings. A phone call or zoom meeting before hand will help us to bring along materials that we think are best suited to your client’s taste and budget.

Ready to arrange a consultation?  Call or email us to fix a date in the diary.

We regularly run designer-focussed functions at the Arbour Landscape Solutions yard. Email Anna if you would like an exclusive invitation to the next event.

Need samples for your materials library? Order samples online and we’ll despatch them within 1 working day.


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