A full garden redesign costs roughly €100 – €250 per m² when a landscaping firm builds it, so €10,000 – €25,000 for a typical 100 m² garden. A DIY refresh that keeps the layout and replaces lawn, beds and surfaces costs €15 – €40 per m². The spread is almost entirely hard landscaping: anything you walk on is expensive, anything that grows is not.
Three budgets for a 100 m² garden
| Level | What it includes | Typical total |
|---|---|---|
| Refresh (mostly DIY) | Clear-out, new turf, mulched beds, gravel path, 30 – 40 shrubs and perennials | €1,500 – €4,000 |
| Partial redesign | New 15 – 20 m² terrace, edged lawn, new beds, simple lighting | €6,000 – €12,000 |
| Full redesign (contractor) | Terrace and paths, levels or steps, planting plan, fence, irrigation, wired lighting | €15,000 – €30,000 |
The jump from the second to the third row is mostly labour and ground work, not nicer materials. Changing levels, moving soil or fixing drainage adds days of digger time that never shows in the finished garden.
Prices line by line
| Item | Typical price | What moves it |
|---|---|---|
| Garden designer, full plan | €500 – €2,500 | Size, site visits, planting plan included or not |
| Clearance and skip (per 7 m³ container) | €300 – €700 | Soil vs green waste; access for the truck |
| Mini digger with operator, per day | €450 – €800 | Region; transport to site |
| Turf, supplied and laid | €10 – €18 / m² | Soil prep and levelling |
| Lawn from seed | €3 – €6 / m² | Soil prep; patience (8 – 12 weeks) |
| Concrete pavers, laid | €60 – €110 / m² | Sub-base depth, cuts, edging |
| Porcelain or natural stone, laid | €110 – €220 / m² | Format, cutting, bedding mortar |
| Composite (WPC) decking, built | €110 – €180 / m² | Substructure, height above ground |
| Softwood decking, built | €70 – €120 / m² | Pressure-treated vs thermowood |
| Gravel path with steel edging | €30 – €60 / m² | Membrane and sub-base |
| Planting (shrubs and perennials) | €30 – €70 / m² of bed | Plant size: 9 cm pots vs 3 l containers |
| Hedge, planted | €25 – €60 / m | Species and starting height |
| Wooden fence, 1.8 m | €70 – €150 / m | Posts in concrete; panels vs boards |
| Automatic irrigation | €8 – €15 / m² | Drip lines vs pop-up sprinklers |
| Garden lighting (wired, 6 – 10 points) | €800 – €2,500 | Cable runs and an electrician’s time |
A landscaper’s day rate sits around €35 – €55 per hour per person. Most garden quotes are labour-heavy, which is why the same paving material can cost twice as much in two quotes: the difference is excavation depth and how much cutting the layout needs.
Where the money goes
Hard landscaping takes half or more. Terrace, paths, steps and walls usually take 50 – 60 percent of a full redesign. Each square metre needs digging out 20 – 30 cm, a compacted sub-base and drainage fall before any stone goes down; that preparation is €15 – €30 per m² on its own. The backyard patio guide covers sizing a terrace so you don’t pave more than you use — 12 – 15 m² seats six around a table.
Planting is cheaper than people expect. Even generous planting rarely exceeds 15 – 20 percent of the total. Buying smaller plants (9 cm pots, 2 – 3 l shrubs) and waiting one season halves the planting line.
Boundaries and services are the hidden third. Fencing, irrigation and lighting each look small, but together they often add €4,000 – €8,000 to a 100 m² garden.
Five ways to cut the cost without regretting it
- Keep the layout if it works. Moving a terrace or a path is the most expensive decision in garden design. Re-surface in place where you can.
- Phase it. Do ground work, drainage and cabling in year one, planting and furniture in year two. Running cable before the paving goes down saves breaking it up later — the same logic as phased renovation planning indoors.
- Lay the soft parts yourself. Gravel, mulch, planting and turf are good DIY jobs; paving and decking on a slope are not. DIY vs hiring a contractor has a checklist for deciding.
- Gravel instead of lawn in shade. A lawn under trees costs money every year. Gravel with shade planting is a one-off €30 – €60 per m².
- Get three itemised quotes. Ask for prices per m² for each surface and a separate line for excavation and waste. A single lump sum hides where the quotes differ.
Keep a 10 – 15 percent contingency on top. Ground work surprises — roots, rubble, old foundations — are more common outside than inside; our renovation budget guide explains how to size it.
Front garden, back garden or balcony?
The front garden is smaller but works harder: it’s what buyers and neighbours see. A front garden refresh of 20 – 40 m² usually costs €1,500 – €6,000, and the front yard landscaping ideas cover low-maintenance layouts that look finished all year. If you’re redesigning to sell, put the money there first — curb appeal ideas ranks the changes by return. Without a garden at all, a balcony makeover applies the same principles at €300 – €1,500.
See the design before you pay for it
The cheapest moment to change a garden design is before the digger arrives. Take a wide photo from the house or an upstairs window — how to take photos for AI redesign has the framing — and run it through Homie’s Exterior Redesign to compare a paved terrace with a deck, or lawn with gravel, on your own garden. It won’t price the job, but it tells you which version is worth getting quotes for.
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