Garden consultation
a visit, from$180
- Ideas for layout and planting
- A rough range for the build
- Fee taken off a design booked within 3 months
Gardens drawn properly before anyone picks up a spade
Sage and Stone is a garden design studio. We survey the plot, draw the layout, write the planting plan and show you the finished garden in 3D, then hand the drawings to a landscaper you choose or to one of our build partners.
5 stageseach one signed off by you
1:50scale for every layout sheet
3D viewsbefore a single slab is ordered
Five stages, and you sign off each one
Most gardens take eight to twelve weeks from the first visit to drawings a landscaper can price. You can stop after any stage and keep everything drawn so far.
Consultation
Two hours in the garden with a designer, talking through how you use it, what stays, what goes and a rough budget for the build.
Measured survey
Boundaries, levels, drains, trees and the path of the sun through the day, drawn up accurately so nothing is guessed later.
Concept plan
Two layout ideas drawn to scale with sketches and a mood board. You choose one, or ask for a blend of the two.
Detailed design
The chosen layout worked up with levels, materials, steps, walls and lighting, plus 3D views from the house and the far end.
Planting plan
Every plant named and placed, with numbers, pot sizes and a schedule that a landscaper or nursery can order from.
What the drawings look like
A landscaper prices from these sheets, a nursery orders from them, and you see the garden on paper while changes still cost only an eraser.
Design fees
These fees cover the design alone. The build is priced separately by the landscaper from the finished drawings, so you always know which money pays for what.
Concept design
from$1,200
- Survey of levels, boundaries and trees
- Two layout ideas drawn to scale
- One round of changes
Full design
from$3,200
- Everything in the concept
- Detailed layout, levels and lighting
- Planting plan and plant schedule
- Two site visits during the build
Fees shown suit gardens up to about 250 m². Larger, steeply sloping or listed gardens are quoted after the consultation, and half of each stage fee is paid before that stage begins.
The drawing set, sheet by sheet
A full design ends with these sheets, all drawn to scale and sent as a printable set so any landscaper can price exactly the same garden.
| Sheet | What it shows | Who works from it |
|---|---|---|
| Measured survey | Boundaries, levels, existing trees, drains and covers | Everyone, as the base for every other sheet |
| Concept plan | Spaces, paths and views, coloured by use | You, to choose a direction |
| Setting out plan | Every edge dimensioned from fixed points | The landscaper, marking out on site |
| Levels and sections | Heights of terraces, steps and walls | The landscaper and any engineer |
| Materials schedule | Stone, gravel, timber and edging by type and area | The landscaper, to price and order |
| Planting plan | Each plant placed with a code and a count | The planting team and the nursery |
| Lighting layout | Fittings, cable runs and switch points | The electrician |
We draw the garden. Landscapers build it.
Designing and building are separate trades, and a garden is better for having both. We work with three landscaping firms we have watched on site for years, and we are just as glad to send the drawings to a firm you already know.
During the build we come back at the moments that matter: setting out, the first course of a wall, and planting day, when we place every pot ourselves before it goes in the ground.
- Drawings sent to two or three firms for comparable prices
- Site visits at setting out and on planting day
- Changes on site checked against the drawings
- No commission taken from any build partner
Gardens we are asked to solve
Most briefs start with a problem rather than a style, and the problem usually shapes the best part of the design.
- Long, narrow town gardens
- Steep slopes and awkward levels
- North facing courtyards
- Lawns that have to survive football
- New build plots on bare clay
- Front gardens with bins and bikes
- Wildlife ponds and meadow edges
- Roof terraces with weight limits
- Kitchen gardens in raised beds
Sizes run from a 20 m² courtyard to gardens of an acre or more. If yours sits somewhere in between, it is the kind of garden we draw every week.
From garden owners (example reviews)
Two concept plans, and the second one solved the slope we had fought for ten years. Our landscaper said they were the clearest drawings he had ever priced from.
The 3D view from the kitchen window won over the whole family. Planting day was the best part, with every pot set out exactly where the plan said.
Clear fees, a separate build quote and nothing unexpected in between. Three summers on, the borders look the way the planting plan promised.
Questions before the first visit
Do we have to use one of your build partners?
No. The drawings are yours once the fee is paid, and any capable landscaper can price and build from them. We can send them to firms you choose as well as to ours.
How much should we set aside for the build?
Size, levels and materials move the cost far more than style does. At the consultation we give a range for your garden, and the detailed drawings let landscapers give firm prices.
Can you draw a planting plan without redesigning the whole garden?
Yes. A planting plan for existing borders starts from $650 and includes a visit to check the soil, the light and which plants are worth keeping.
Do garden changes need permission?
Sometimes. Raised terraces near a boundary, tall walls, work close to protected trees and changes in conservation areas can need approval, and what needs approval is set locally, so it changes between countries and even neighbouring councils. We flag anything that might apply at the concept stage.
Can the garden be built in phases?
Often, yes. We mark the drawings so the hard landscaping goes in first and the planting follows a season later, or so one end of the garden waits a year.
What should we have ready for the consultation?
A sense of how you want to use the garden, a few pictures of gardens you love and a budget range for the build. We bring the tape, the level and the sketchbook.
Tell us about your garden
Send a few lines about the plot and what you hope for. A designer replies within two working days to arrange the consultation.
- Consultation fee taken off a design booked within 3 months
- Fees agreed in writing before each stage
- Drawings yours to keep once paid
The studio
Calls are answered in studio hours. Garden visits run on weekdays and on some Saturdays.
Reach the studio
A garden studio on the edge of the city, visiting gardens across the city and the counties around it
Studio hours
| Monday to Thursday | 09:00 to 17:30 |
| Friday | 09:00 to 16:00 |
| Saturday | Garden visits by appointment |
| Sunday | Closed |
Where we design
Gardens across the city and the surrounding counties are visited in person. Further afield, ask about a consultation day, with the travel fee agreed before you book.