£13k to have garden landscaped?

LittleMissAspie

Have received this quote from a landscaping company. Several patio areas, couple of paths, a raised bed high enough to sit on, and a trellis/archway thing that he has called a fence. Buildings and plants not included in scope. Does this look reasonable? There's also VAT on the lot so comes to £15.5k total. I'm in East Anglia.

FreeBear

Digging down 200mm and then putting 120mm of hardcore in ensures the job is well over-engineered. Some of the landscapers I know would only put ~75mm of hardcore in. At least your patio won't end up with sunken areas (as long as it is well compacted)

The wall - At 450mm high, I'd suggest back filling with gravel before piling in the soil - This will help to reduce the effects of water pressure in the soil trying to push the wall over. But if the soil level is lower than the wall, gravel may not be needed.

Fencing - I wouldn't use wooden posts concreted in to the ground. They will rot away in 5-10 years. Use concrete posts if you want them to last. Or use steel fence post spike and a wooden post clamped in. The steel will rust away in ~15y, but it will be a little easier to swap out the posts when the rot at the base.

One thing not mentioned in the quote - Disposal of the waste. Digging out 45-50m² of garden is going to generate a big pile of dirt. Best way of getting rid of it is to use a grab hire, but you'd probably need two lorries and somewhere easily accessible to pile the dirt.

LittleMissAspie

Thank you for replying! Didn't think anyone was going to.

I do trust this company to do a quality job as they did a small job for us before and your first comment confirms that. Happy to pay extra for a better job, although looking around it seems 130 per m2 is not expensive.

Wall - I like that idea about the gravel.

Fence - it's not actually a fence, it's more like a flat pergola. This sort of thing but custom made to fit the space and with slatted panels each side https://thegardenfactory.2dimg.com/3/sleeparchset_1s-sleeper-arch-insitu-784_1bb9e33350.jpg
I'll ask about the rot issue.

I'm assuming waste disposal is included, it was last time on the small job. 

FreeBear

LittleMissAspie said: Fence - it's not actually a fence, it's more like a flat pergola. This sort of thing but custom made to fit the space and with slatted panels each side https://thegardenfactory.2dimg.com/3/sleeparchset_1s-sleeper-arch-insitu-784_1bb9e33350.jpg
I'll ask about the rot issue.

I would definitely use steel fence post spikes set so that the timber is slightly proud of the soil level. Then use gravel around the base - This is what I have done with a pergola I put up a few years ago. Whilst the post spikes don't look particularly attractive, they can be painted and/or hidden with plants. Should the posts ever need replacing, it is much easier to get them out and drop new ones in.

TELLIT01

Price doesn't seem excessive but as mentioned by FreeBear do check that waste removal is included.  Thankfully I noticed when we had work done, queried it and was informed that it was not included.  Just what I, or any customer, is expected to do with the waste is open to question.