Investment Guide

Conceptual Design

During this phase, you’ll work with our design team to develop a conceptual design for your garden. Design is billed at a rate of $150/hr. The typical design fee range for our clients is between $1k–$8k. Check out our Design-Build Services page to see what's included.

The design fee varies depending on the size, scope, and complexity of the project. Sites that are particularly steep, expansive, or have unique challenges will require a larger investment than a smaller project on a relatively flat site with a straight-forward scope of work.

Project Investment Tiers

We know that budgeting for a garden renovation is challenging and that understanding what your investment will yield is an important part of your decision-making process. Below is a list of typical project investment ranges and what you can expect to achieve with each level of investment. Check out our Design-Build Services page to see the full range of what's included in our installation services.

Tier 1: $5k-$30k

This level of investment is typically appropriate for clients who are looking to refresh or repair a portion of their garden rather than completely renovate.

EXAMPLE 1

Lawn replacement

  • No design services required

  • Demolition and removal of existing lawn

  • Soil aeration and amendment

  • Replacing lawn area with drought-tolerant alternative

  • Irrigation adjustments as needed

EXAMPLE 2

Irrigation Installation

  • No design services required

  • Diagnostic evaluation of site conditions

  • Demo and removal of any old irrigation systems (if applicable)

  • Installation of new irrigation system

EXAMPLE 3

Garden Refresh

  • May require basic design services

  • Garden pruning and debris removal

  • Filling in gaps with compatible plants

  • Adding compost/mulch as needed

  • Irrigation adjustments as needed

  • Small areas of gravel or DG

  • No hardscape included

Tier 2: $30k-$60k

This level of investment is where we start seeing more significant garden transformations for smaller-scale projects.

EXAMPLE 1

Small front & backyard OR medium backyard

  • Full design with construction documents

  • Demo and removal of existing hardscape

  • New small patio and adjacent walkways

  • Might include 1-2 raised vegetable beds

  • Full planting and irrigation overhaul

  • Assumes the property is relatively flat and easily accessible

EXAMPLE 2

Garden refresh with difficult access

  • Includes everything in Tier 1: Example 3

  • Assumes site is steep with difficult access via narrow street and stairs

  • Might include minor reinforcement of existing retaining walls

EXAMPLE 3

Stand-alone hardscape improvement

  • May require basic design services

  • Demo and removal of existing features

  • Installation of 1-2 hardscape features such as a stone retaining wall, flagstone patio, orchard fence enclosure, etc.

  • Minor planting/irrigation adjustments surrounding the new feature

Tier 3: $60k-$100k

This level of investment is generally required for larger projects, those with more design features, or smaller projects with challenging access and working conditions.

EXAMPLE 1

Premium small front and backyard OR medium backyard

  • Full design with construction documents

  • Demo and removal of existing features

  • New patio and adjacent walkways with premium materials like brick or flagstone

  • 1-2 raised vegetable beds

  • A pre-fabricated water feature

  • Decorative pottery

  • A low stone retaining wall

  • New wood fence along property line

  • Full planting and irrigation overhaul

  • Assumes the property has easy to moderate access

EXAMPLE 2

Planting overhaul on a steep site with difficult access

  • Full design with construction documents

  • Demo and removal of existing planting

  • New wood retaining walls as needed

  • Full planting and irrigation overhaul

  • Assumes site is steep with difficult access via narrow street and stairs

EXAMPLE 3

Large backyard

  • Full design with construction documents

  • Demo and removal of existing plants

  • Replacing lawn area with decomposed granite pathways, a flagstone patio, and native plantings

  • 1-2 raised vegetable beds

  • Refreshing an existing fruit tree area, building soil, and adding companion plantings to support tree health

  • Full planting and irrigation overhaul

  • Assumes the property is relatively flat and easily accessible

Tier 4: $100k-$150k

This level of investment is generally required for larger projects that also have more design features and/or moderately challenging access. Medium-sized projects with extremely difficult access and features such as stone retaining walls may also fall into this category.

EXAMPLE 1

Premium medium front and backyard OR large backyard

  • Full design with construction documents

  • Demo and removal of existing features

  • New patio and adjacent walkways constructed using premium materials like brick or flagstone

  • 3-4 raised vegetable beds with deer fence enclosure

  • A custom water feature with in-ground basin

  • Decorative pottery with drip irrigation

  • A stone retaining wall with stone steps and handrails

  • New wood fence along property line

  • Full planting and irrigation overhaul

  • Assumes the property has moderately challenging access via narrow stairs with a significant slope

Tier 5: $150k+

This is our top tier level of investment for clients with large gardens that want to completely transform everything about their space. The project could include everything listed for a Tier 4 project, but may also have more challenging access, require additional retaining walls, and have special construction features such as a wood deck, overhead structure, custom fountain, custom artwork, and/or custom metal fabrication for fences/railings.