Jane Hamel Garden Design

Business info

After having spoken to you on the phone, the first step is to arrange a visit to view your garden and discuss your requirements. This consultation is free with the exception of mileage, which is charged at 16 pence per mile if the garden is located over 25 miles from Banbury. It is a very important visit and usually takes around two hours, during which time I will take down a lot of information to ensure I fully understand all that you want from the garden, any problems with the existing garden, all of your tastes and preferences, how much time you have for maintenance, what kind of budget you have available and many other details. It is also time for you to ask any questions and for sharing ideas. I will then contact you in writing with a firm quote for the design and my terms and conditions. It is impossible to say in advance how much this quote will be as it depends upon the size of the garden and what work you want doing, however, I usually find it falls between £2,000 and £3,000.

The next stage is to survey the garden – I will either do this myself, if it is a small garden, or suggest a chartered surveyer. At this stage I will also take plenty of reference photographs of the garden.

I will then produce a concept design, which is an outline of the design idea, for discussion. This gives you chance to feedback ideas and concerns and for any changes to be made before the design is finalised. After this I will go on to produce a detailed outline plan of the proposed design for the garden. I will also produce any necessary construction drawings, a planting plan and plant schedule. I will further illustrate the design with isometric drawings or sketches, provide setting out drawings, specification, scope of works and a maintenance schedule.

I suggest we then get quotes for the work from several (usually three) contractors, and if you wish me to, I can provide a project monitoring service which is charged at a rate of 12% of the first £12,000.00 of work done and a further 9% of the work thereafter.