Good Houses
Garden and driveway quotes
Two jobs that often go together and are usually the same contractors: landscaping the garden, and laying or replacing a driveway.
Is your property suitable?
A garden is one of the best investments you can make in a house you intend to keep. It is what you look at every day from the kitchen or the living room, and a well designed one genuinely improves how you live.
A driveway is the first thing anyone sees. Kerb appeal matters, and it is what you drive up to every day, so a well designed driveway with good lighting is worth treating as part of the house rather than as surfacing.
Typical cost range
£1,150 – £34,500
Excludes VAT, and includes a 15% contingency allowance for the unexpected.
The important thing to understand about gardens is that there is no natural ceiling. You can spend an unlimited amount, because the ideas do not stop: a paved or decked seating area, a pergola, an outdoor kitchen and barbecue, screening hedges and trees, water features, lighting. Decide your budget first, then find out what that budget actually buys.
Driveways work differently, and it is worth knowing why. There are four common types in the UK: block paving, tarmac, resin and gravel. Most of the cost is the same whichever you choose, because the real work is the base: proper footing, levelled, with MOT type 1 on top, ready for whatever surface goes on it. The difference comes from the surface material, and block paving, particularly the more expensive ranges, is where it rises most.
That makes the choice more about style than budget. You can also blend them: block borders with a resin or tarmac centre, or blocks and stone edging.
What to ask before hiring
For the garden, sketch what you want and where you want it before anyone visits. If you leave the design to the contractor there will be surprises along the way that you may not like, and a sketch makes the quote far more accurate. Get four or five quotes from local contractors.
For a driveway, ask about drainage if the ground is not flat. Ask about lighting before the work starts rather than after: cables and conduit have to run underground, so the routes need marking out first. If you have or want pillars or a gate, the electrical work matters even more, especially for a flush finish.
Ask to see previous work and check reviews.
Red flags
A driveway quote that does not describe the base, since that is where most of the cost and all of the durability sit. Anyone laying a new surface straight over an old one without discussing it.
No mention of drainage on a sloping site. A garden contractor who will not price against your sketch.
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Garden and driveway
When the quotes come in
Common questions
How much should I budget for a garden?
There is no natural ceiling, which is exactly the problem. Decide your budget first and then find out what it buys, rather than starting with the ideas and discovering the cost afterwards.
Which driveway surface is cheapest?
The difference is smaller than people expect, because most of the cost is the base rather than the surface on top. Block paving is usually the priciest, particularly the more expensive ranges, but the choice is more about style than budget.
Do I need to think about lighting before the work starts?
Yes, and this is the one people regret. Cables and conduit run underground, so the routes have to be marked out before anything is laid. Adding lighting afterwards means digging up what you have just paid for.
Should I design the garden myself?
Sketch what you want and where you want it before anyone visits. It makes the quotes far more accurate, and it avoids the surprises that come from leaving the design entirely to the contractor.