When you watch garden makeover shows on TV, they often gloss over the boring part: the budget. In the real world, "landscaping" covers everything from unrolling some new turf to excavating tons of earth for a split-level terrace.
At Joe's Fencing & Landscaping, we know that every customer in Bristol has a different budget. The cost of your project depends entirely on what you want to achieve and, crucially, what we find when we start digging.
Here is a realistic guide to landscaping costs in 2025 to help you plan your project.
The Three Main Cost Factors
Before we talk about numbers, you need to understand where the money actually goes. It’s usually split into three pots:
- Materials (30-40%): Paving slabs, timber, turf, cement, and the tons of "Type 1" stone hidden underground to create a solid base.
- Labour (40-50%): Landscaping is hard physical graft. It requires skilled professionals to lay stone levels, build walls, and operate machinery.
- Waste (10-20%): This is the one people forget. digging out a patio generates tons of soil. Grab lorries and skips are expensive in Bristol, and all that spoil has to go somewhere.
Typical Project Costs
While we can't give an exact quote without a site visit, here are some ballpark figures for common Bristol gardens.
1. The "Refresh": New Turf & Tidy (£800 – £2,000)
If you just want the garden to look green again.
- Includes: Stripping off old weeds/grass, rotavating the soil, adding fresh topsoil, and laying high-quality rolled turf.
- Variable: If your garden is full of rubble or needs significant levelling, the cost goes up because we need to bring in more topsoil.
2. The New Patio (£2,500 – £6,000+)
A new seating area to replace cracked concrete or mud.
- Budget (Sandstone/Concrete): Natural Indian Sandstone is the Bristol favourite. It looks great and is reasonably priced.
- Premium (Porcelain): Porcelain tiles are very trendy right now. They are non-slip and don't fade, but they are harder to cut and require a more expensive primer and grout, raising the installation cost.
3. The Full Transformation (£8,000 – £20,000+)
This is the "rip it out and start again" job.
- Includes: New fencing, a large patio, raised sleeper beds, new turf, and perhaps a path.
- The Result: A completely new outdoor room that adds significant value to your property.
The "Bristol Access" Tax
We work all over Bristol, from spacious driveways in Westbury-on-Trym to terraced streets in Bishopston. Access is the single biggest factor in labour costs.
- Good Access: If we can drive a mini-digger into the back garden, we can strip a lawn in 2 hours.
- Bad Access: If we have to wheelbarrow 10 tons of soil through your garage or hallway, that same job takes 2 days. Sadly, manual labour costs more than machine labour because it takes longer.
Why You Shouldn't Cut Corners on "The Base"
If you get a quote that is £1,000 cheaper than everyone else, ask them about the sub-base. A patio is only as good as the ground it sits on. We dig down 150mm and compact a thick layer of MOT Type 1 stone before we even think about laying a slab. If you skip this to save money, your beautiful new patio will sink and crack within 18 months.
Ready to start planning? We offer free consultations where we can look at your access, discuss materials, and give you a fixed-price quote.
Featured Image Image [A split image showing a muddy "before" garden and a completed "after" shot with a sandstone patio and fresh turf.] Image Alt Text [Garden transformation cost before and after landscaping Bristol] Tags Select Tags Landscaping Costs Garden Design Patios Turfing Budgeting Bristol SEO Settings Meta Title How Much Does Landscaping Cost in Bristol? Meta Description Planning a garden makeover? We break down the costs of patios, turfing, and full landscaping projects in Bristol, including waste and access.