How Much Should You Spend on Landscaping Your Garden?

A Guide from North Hill Gardens

You might wonder how much you should really be spending on your garden. The simplest answer is: it depends.

As a company that’s been designing and building gardens across Scotland for nearly twenty years, at North Hill Gardens we’ve seen patterns and cost benchmarks that can help guide expectations — but like any good design process, there’s more to it than numbers alone.

Let’s break it down.

What Do Gardens Really Cost?

If you’re looking to refurbish your garden using standard materials like sandstone slabs for patios and paths, timber sleepers for raised beds and retaining walls, and you’re not introducing major structures like pergolas or outdoor kitchens, then plan for around £200 per square metre.

Things change when selecting higher-end materials — porcelain slabs, premium stone, or brick walls — and incorporating features like garden rooms, fire pits or bespoke joinery. An average medium-end finish typically lands around £400 per square metre.

For those pursuing a high-end garden with custom elements — pergolas, water features, outdoor kitchens, outdoor offices, or complex lighting — costs generally start at £600 per square metre and can climb significantly higher.

But here’s the key: this is a very simplified way of looking at it. A lot depends on the density of the development. A large garden with mostly lawn (the cheapest surface you can have) will naturally cost less per square metre than a small, feature-packed space.

In fact, we’ve worked on compact garden landscaping projects where costs exceeded £1,000 per square metre because of the sheer density of features, materials, and details.

Groundworks and Levels

One of the biggest hidden costs in landscaping services comes from groundworks. If your garden sits on a slope, we often need to employ more sophisticated engineering solutions — including reinforced retaining walls, terracing, and drainage infrastructure.

These are typically the most time-consuming and expensive parts of a landscaping project.

We frequently encounter water management issues too. Scotland’s climate means many gardens suffer from being either too wet or too dry. Effective drainage or irrigation systems are vital, but because they’re buried out of sight, they’re often overlooked during budgeting. A proper drainage system can represent a significant investment — but one that safeguards your garden’s longevity.

Access to the Site

One aspect people rarely consider early on is site access. If there’s no convenient way to bring in heavy machinery, even tough groundworks might have to be done manually, with shovels instead of diggers.

This dramatically extends labour time and raises costs. In cases where access is truly limited, we’ve hired large cranes to lift heavy machinery over houses directly into back gardens — an operation that can cost a few thousand pounds one way. It’s an extreme solution, but sometimes necessary to deliver the quality of work we aim for.

Planting Costs

Another variable element is your planting scheme. There’s a huge range of options, from a simple turf lawn to a densely planted, layered garden.

As a baseline, we recommend a mid-range planting scheme with around four small plants per square metre. This provides good coverage in a couple of seasons and keeps initial costs reasonable.

A regular planting scheme typically costs between £50 and £150 per square metre, depending on plant size, maturity, and species selection.

If you want an instant, fully established effect, you’ll need to increase plant density and use more mature stock, which naturally raises the budget. Trees are another story entirely — a mature feature tree can cost £3,000 or more depending on its size, age, species, and character.

In an ideal world, we’d advise splitting your landscaping budget evenly — 50% on hard landscaping and 50% on plants. But in reality, planting is often one of the first things to be cut when budgets tighten. That’s understandable — after all, gardens are long-term projects. As long as space is planned for future planting, it can always be filled out gradually over time.

Does Landscaping Add Value to a Property?

Absolutely — and there’s solid evidence to back it up.

Post Office Money’s Home Improvement Report revealed that landscaping your garden can increase your property’s value by as much as 77%, outperforming other improvements like extensions, kitchens or loft conversions.

Even without major features, Foxtons reports that having a private garden can add up to 20% to a property’s value, and 72% of buyers are willing to pay more for homes with good outdoor space.

In cities like London, where outdoor space is limited, having a garden can add £50,000 or more to a property’s price. Features like patios, lawns, fences and lighting consistently rank among the top desirable elements for buyers, according to Sellhousefast.uk.

Even more impressive, garden rooms or outdoor offices can boost a property’s market value by £50,000 to £100,000, depending on the build and quality.

Regional factors matter too. Research shows that in areas like East Anglia, homeowners often see higher returns on garden investments compared to other regions. Meanwhile, in places like Edinburgh and Glasgow, where outdoor social spaces are increasingly sought after, a thoughtfully landscaped garden can dramatically set a property apart from the competition.

As a rule of thumb, it’s often suggested that a garden should represent around 10–20% of a property’s total value. So, if a home is worth £400,000, it’s sensible to consider investing £40,000–£80,000 in the outdoor space — particularly if selling is on the horizon or if long-term value is a priority.

Why Proper Garden Design Matters

Before breaking ground, the single most important step is investing in a proper garden design.

A professional landscape architect will ensure ideas are realistic, budgets are respected, and gardens work beautifully for years to come.

At North Hill Gardens, our studio always works to a client’s budget cap, finding clever ways to achieve the most impact for the money available.

We’ll tell you honestly if a vision is achievable as imagined — or whether compromises are needed — and we’ll offer creative alternatives to help maximise space and resources.

A good design doesn’t just save money upfront; it avoids expensive mistakes later and ensures the garden is practical, buildable and beautiful.

North Hill Gardens: Local Landscaping Services in Scotland

At North Hill Gardens, we’ve proudly delivered high-quality landscaping services in Glasgow, Edinburgh, and across Scotland for nearly two decades.

Our experience spans everything from large-scale countryside estates to compact urban courtyards, with each garden landscaping project tailored to the needs of the client and the character of the site.

Whether it’s transforming a neglected plot in Edinburgh’s New Town or building a contemporary garden retreat in the heart of Glasgow, our work is rooted in understanding local conditions and delivering exceptional design and craftsmanship.

Final Thoughts

Creating a garden is a big investment — emotionally, financially, and practically.

Whether the dream is a simple refresh or a luxury garden retreat, the key is understanding what drives costs and where it’s worth spending to futureproof the space.

If help is needed shaping ideas into a plan that works for the home, budget and lifestyle, we’d love to hear from you. Contact us to find out how our experienced team can help.