by Myles Challis – in-house Garden Designer at Paramount Plants
Few people would take the chance and lack of consultation when it comes to “interior design” that they often do when planning their gardens. An individual may have green fingers when it comes to growing plants, but arranging them to their best advantage, and in a way that will not only last but multiply with time, is a much more highly skilled job.
Expert advice in whatever field of course carries a price, but not an unreasonable one when considering the many years of experience behind it. Nowadays more than ever, as any estate agent will point out, the surroundings (ie gardens/landscaping) around a property play a significant role in the value and particularly saleability of that property and therefore any monies spent on a design service are a worthwhile investment.
When it comes to preparing a garden design, a fee is usually payable for the plans/design, and then a separate fee is payable for the plants, materials and labour etc which is either carried out by a landscaping team with the garden designer or the client’s separate contractors.