Pricing

Simple numbers you can check. No vague lump sums.

Planting design

A planting plan for your garden

$500
  • Site review from photos, measurements and Google Earth, or a visit within 50 miles
  • Planting plan showing what goes where
  • Plant schedule with sizes and quantities
  • A strong lean towards NC natives
  • Yours to use with any contractor
Planning & contracts

Design, contract management & screening

Quoted per project
  • Garden layout, measurements and phasing
  • Written scopes contractors can price like-for-like
  • Contractor screening and quote comparison
  • Checking variations, progress and final accounts
  • A fixed fee agreed before I start
Why 2.5× plant cost?

Transparent by design

Pricing installed planting as a multiple of the nursery cost of the plants is a long-standing, common method in the trade. The multiple covers sourcing, collection or delivery, setting out, planting labour and the plants themselves.

I publish the multiple so you can check every quote yourself. You see each plant's nursery price, so the margin is never hidden, and there's no room for the inflated "planting allowance" figures that make gardens so hard to budget for.

If you'd rather plant it yourself, buy the design and do just that. Many clients do.

Worked example

24 × perennials (1 gal) at $14$336
12 × grasses (1 gal) at $12$144
4 × shrubs (3 gal) at $40$160
Plant cost$640
Installed price (2.5 × $640)$1,600
Planting design$500
Total$2,100

Illustrative only. Nursery prices vary by size and season; your quote lists the real ones. Large jobs, soil improvement, edging or mulch are listed separately if needed.

Pricing questions

A planting design is $500 for a typical residential garden. It includes a review of your garden (online or on site), a scaled planting plan and a plant schedule with sizes and quantities.

If your garden is unusually large or complex, I'll tell you the price before I start.

If you'd like me to plant your scheme, the price is the nursery cost of the plants multiplied by 2.5. That covers sourcing, delivery, setting out, planting labour and the plants themselves.

For example, if the plants on your plan cost $640 from the nursery, the installed price is $1,600.

Because you can check it. Pricing planting as a multiple of plant cost is a common method in the trade. By publishing the multiple and listing every plant's nursery price, you can see exactly what the margin is. There's no room for vague planting allowances or greedy markups hidden in a lump sum.

These depend on the size of the project, so I agree a fixed fee with you before I start. You pay contractors directly for their work.

Tell me about your garden. The first conversation is free.

Send a few photos and a rough sketch. Many first surveys can be done online with Google Earth before I visit.

Get a free quote Call 919-282-7878