Start with use
Write the brief before choosing the finish
Begin with what the garden needs to make easier: eating outside, safer access, space for children, year-round planting, less routine care or a better connection to the house. These outcomes are more useful than a list of materials because they allow a designer or contractor to test the layout.
Record what should stay as well as what may change. Mature planting, walls, useful levels and existing drainage can affect both design and cost. A measured survey may be needed where boundaries, thresholds, slopes or structures influence the work.
- Approximate garden dimensions and orientation
- How each area should be used
- Features, trees and planting to retain
- Budget range, timing and possible phases
Below the surface
Drainage, levels and access shape the build
Standing water, steep falls and high door thresholds should be raised before a layout is fixed. The right response depends on the site; a new surface should not simply move water towards the house, a neighbour or the highway.
Access also changes the programme. Narrow gates, internal routes, steps and restricted parking affect excavation, spoil removal and material delivery. Show the complete route from the road to the work area when requesting an assessment.
- Areas that pond after rain
- Door, air-brick and damp-proof-course levels
- The narrowest gate, turn or passage
- Where materials and waste could be loaded
Scope and sequence
Coordinate hard landscaping and planting
Paving, patios, retaining work, fencing, lawns and planting interact. A useful proposal explains demolition, groundworks, drainage, construction, soil preparation and planting in sequence rather than pricing isolated visible items.
If the complete scheme is beyond the first budget, ask whether it can be phased without undoing finished work. Drainage, ducts, major levels and structural items usually need resolving before decorative finishes and planting.
- Drawings or a written scope for comparison
- Materials and quantities, not vague allowances
- What is excluded from the price
- Making good, waste and aftercare responsibilities
Local checks
Planning constraints depend on the address and work
Ordinary garden changes may not need planning permission, but raised platforms, walls, outbuildings, protected trees, listed buildings and work in sensitive landscapes can change the position. Check the exact proposal with the relevant planning authority rather than relying on a general rule.
Surrey contains several district and borough planning authorities as well as the Surrey Hills National Landscape. Public landscape guidance is useful context, but it does not confirm permission for an individual property.