Six services, each with its scope set out
Each service below states what it covers, where its price starts and the kind of yard it suits. A project can be built all at once or in phases over two seasons, starting from a scaled plan that gets the grades and drainage right first.
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Design consultation and scaled plan
$395
Up to two hours on the property. Grades shot with a laser level, sun and shade mapped, downspout run-off traced and neighbouring sightlines noted. Within two weeks a scaled plan follows, with a plant schedule, stone samples and an itemised budget that can be built at once or in phases.
Suits A yard being planned from scratch, a project that needs drawings for an HOA board, and anyone who wants to know what a patio and planting will cost before committing to either.
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Seasonal bed care and pruning
from $540
Shrubs pruned by hand at the right point in their bloom cycle rather than sheared flat, perennial weeds pulled at the root, clean spade edges cut along every lawn border, autumn cut-backs and a spring top-dressing of aged hardwood mulch. Priced per seasonal visit; regular monthly care is quoted on request.
Suits Beds that are planted well but have run ahead, hydrangeas and lilacs sheared for years until they stopped flowering, and owners who would rather the garden were looked after on a schedule.
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Smart irrigation and root-zone drip
from $2,400
Lawn and planting zones trenched separately, with pressure-regulated rotors for grass and drip line under the mulch for beds, run by a weather-adjusting smart controller that skips a cycle when rain is forecast. The figure covers a new system; spring start-up and autumn blow-out visits are $145 each.
Suits Newly planted trees that need water through a dry July, an old system that soaks the path, and a lawn still being watered the morning after a storm.
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Patios, steps and retaining walls
from $28 / sq. ft.
Turf and clay excavated to a frost-stable depth, separation fabric laid, six to nine inches of crushed stone compacted in two-inch lifts to a laser-checked grade, then pavers or bluestone set and the joints stabilised. Sleeves for future lighting and irrigation go in under the stone. Walls and steps are priced from the same survey.
Suits A patio that has sunk or holds puddles, a sloping yard that needs terracing, and a flagstone path that rocks underfoot.
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Native planting and privacy screens
from $1,850
Native perennials, pollinator beds and evergreen screening trees sourced from regional growers, planted into beds tilled deep with aged leaf compost. Root flares are set at the correct height, edges trenched clean, and every bed finished under two and a half inches of shredded hardwood mulch.
Suits A bare or failing bed, a boundary that needs screening from the road or the neighbours, and heavy clay where earlier planting has struggled.
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Drainage, French drains and re-grading
from $1,650
Grades checked with a rotary laser to confirm the ground falls away from the house, downspouts buried in solid pipe to pop-up emitters, fabric-wrapped washed-stone French drains laid along wet swales, and soil re-graded where it slopes back towards the foundation. Disturbed lawn is restored with topsoil and seed or sod.
Suits A lawn that stays soggy for days after rain, water pooling at the back door, and a basement that feels damp after every storm.
What happens in each of the three stages
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01
Survey
A laser level, a tape and a soil probe come first: the fall of the ground, where water collects, sun and shade, access for machinery and the condition of the planting already there. The readings are written down and shown.
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02
Scope and figure
The survey becomes a scaled plan and a written scope with an itemised figure, separating base preparation, stone, drainage, irrigation and planting so the work can be phased. Every plant and material to be ordered is named.
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03
Build and handover
An 811 utility locate is filed before any digging, lawns are matted where machinery crosses, and drainage and bases go in before planting. Grades are checked again at handover, and anything found along the way is quoted, never assumed.
When rebuilding is the honest answer
Datum Garden Works will say at the consultation when a repair is not worth paying for. A patio laid on an uncompacted base, a hedge hollowed out to bare wood and a bed that drowns every winter usually need rebuilding, and that is better heard before the work than after the invoice.
Start with a design consultation
Grades, soil and sun measured in your own yard, then a scaled plan and an itemised figure before a single stone is laid.