Should You Hire a Garden Designer?

Many people think that the idea of hiring a garden designer is pie in the sky, something for those who have more money than sense. But that’s not always the case and the popularity of garden design, led by TV shows and glossy magazines, has made the idea more accessible.

Can a Garden Designer be Cost Effective?

First let’s look at the financial situation logically. A garden designer will cost money that you wouldn’t have to spend if you do the design yourself. After all, you can look at magazines, go to shows and pick up ideas that appeal to you and put them into your garden just as easily as anyone else.

On the other hand, the popularity of garden design means that there are now more garden designers around and being more common means that they should be available at more affordable prices. If you get a good, properly trained garden designer with horticultural qualifications you could end up saving money too.

Cost Savings

If you come up with your own design and put plants in positions where they do not flourish, or grow to be the wrong shape or height, you will have to replace those plants. You might also find that the layout of the garden doesn’t suit you or the way you use the garden either.

These mistakes will cost you money to put right. You might also find that designing the garden takes you quite a long time, time that you could spend earning money to pay for a garden designer. Factor that into the lower cost of plant replacements and reworking the garden and you might find that hiring a garden designer turns out to be a good investment.

DIY Garden Design

For many people the enjoyment of gardening comes from doing it themselves, so hiring a garden designer would be the last thing that they would want to do. Going round gardening shows, open gardens, looking at gardening magazines and coming up with the ideas is all part of the enjoyment.

But a garden designer can come up with ideas that can give you a garden that you could never have dreamt of, so it may still be worthwhile hiring someone. If you are lucky enough to be able to hire a garden designer without thinking too much about the money, then you can get someone in, look at their initial ideas and then simply not use them if you don’t like what they’ve come up with.

Take Care Selecting a Garden Designer

If you do think that you might benefit from using a garden designer, have initial meetings with a few first to see how you get on with them. Find out how they cost their services, whether it’s by the hour or per project, that sort of thing. Get personal recommendations, if at all possible, from friends, family or neighbours who have used garden designers.

Once you have a short list of one or two that you think might be able to work with, ask to see some gardens that they have designed and speak to those customers. If they are reluctant to do this then you know you need to avoid them.