You’re about to entrust your landscaping project to a designer, but how can you be confident you’ll be guided in the right direction?

This article explores where things can go wrong and how to avoid them.

The traditional approach to landscaping

The most common approach is a linear one: design first, then followed by construction.

Typically you engage a landscape designer or landscape architect. Together, you create your dream garden. It looks fantastic – so you pass the plans to a landscaper for pricing.

Then the quote arrives… and the cost is far higher than expected.

At this point, after you have some time to recover, you think, “Where do we do now?”

Typically, one of the following will happen:

• You shelve the design as a “one-day” project
• You get frustrated with the designer
• You ask the landscaper for suggestions to lower the cost to actually create the garden
• You go back to your designer to revise the design or you engage a new designer and ‘start again’
• Or you go to the bank to try and get some more money

Why did this happen?

In simple terms, designers and landscapers operate with different expertise.

A designer’s strength lies in translating your ideas into a creative and inspiring vision. However, they are not typically responsible for purchasing materials or managing construction costs day-to-day.

While they may have a general sense of pricing, they are not always fully connected to the realities of current construction costs.

This is why the traditional “design first, cost later” approach can lead to misalignment.

When can landscaping costs be known

There are milestone points where a landscaping budget can be established.

1. At the initial brief stage. Once your requirements for your garden are clear, for example, a pool, louvred roof, outdoor kitchen, and planting, an experienced landscaper can provide an initial ballpark estimate.
You can also use tools like our Budget Estimator to establish a starting point.: Budget Estimator

2. At the Concept Design stage
Once your garden concept design is created, the layout and scale for the project are somewhat defined. While exact materials may not be finalised, the general size of paving, decking, lawn or pool areas and other quantities are known, allowing for a reasonably accurate estimate.

3. At the Master Plan stage
Once actual materials and precise plants are specified, a much more detailed and reliable cost estimate can be prepared but it is still not final.

4. At the Working Drawings & Engineering stage
It is only once all technical details have been resolved, that a fixed contract price can be established with confidence.

The Whyte Gardens Tandem Approach difference

Over decades of experience, we’ve developed a more integrated way of working – the Tandem Approach.

Rather than separating design and construction as two stages that follow one after the other, our design and landscape teams work together from the outset.

Our approach is:

1. When a project needs to be measured, a designer will often take a senior landscape team member with them to help. This offers the landscape team the opportunity to point out ‘technical’ aspects to consider. This may be the access to the site, drainage consideration, tree root damage avoidance, etc.

2. Before you even see the Concept Design for your new garden, our landscaping estimator is already formulating the costings and reviewing the design from a landscaper’s eye.
3. Again, before you see the Master Plan, your estimator is refining the previous costs; now they are aware of the actual plants and materials to be used.
4. Once you engage us to create working drawings and obtain engineering, the landscaping team steps in to walk through the site with the designer to go over the plans and what is required as the project moves ahead.

How a budget blowout can occur during landscaping

Really, this comes down to three things.

1. Provisional sums. These are allocated costs with an estimated amount because the actual cost is yet unknown. For example, perhaps the landscaping needs to be started, but the engineering is not finalised yet. Then the engineering advice is received. It says, due to poor soil conditions, the concrete footings will need to be huge, and so the cost blows out.
2. Client variations. As the project comes to life, it’s natural for you to want to add features or change or upgrade finishes. These changes can impact the budget if not planned for.
3. Variations for the unknown. The most common cause for a variation to the cost is finding previously unknown things underground. Electrical cables that should have been located 600mm deep are at 200mm. You’re excavating the soil and you come across old concrete foundations of walls no one knew about. We discover your soil conditions are poorer than expected, so excavation requires more soil taken out and new soil added in with extra drainage needed.

A summary

The primary cause of budget stress is a lack of cost clarity early in the process.

When costs are considered alongside design, not after, you remain in control.

A well-managed budget is not a limitation; it’s what allows the project to move forward with confidence and clarity.

Frequently asked questions

Is your Tandem Approach more expensive than alternative approaches?

Not at all. In many cases, it can be more cost-effective. By integrating design and construction early, we reduce rework, delays, and inefficiencies.

Can variations be avoided?

While not every variable can be controlled, thorough planning and early collaboration significantly reduce the likelihood of unexpected changes.

And Finally…

Many people have a question they’d like to ask — but often don’t.

What’s the one thing you’d like clarity on?

You can ask Ivy, our AI assistant, to answer any landscape design or landscaping question, any time: Ask Ivy, our AI assistan