How to Hire a Landscaper

Written by James Walker · Last reviewed 15 August 2026

James Walker has 2 degrees in construction (BSc (Hons) Building Surveying · MSc Environmental Design of Buildings) and an extensive background in issue resolution, resolving over £4 billion of consumer issues.

The short answer

Drainage and levels determine whether the result works. Ask where water will go.
Separate hard landscaping from planting, they are different skills and often different people.
Plant guarantees vary considerably. Ask what is covered and for how long.
Season affects both the work and plant establishment.
Structures over certain heights, and some boundary work, may need permission.

On this page

What makes hiring a landscaper different
Drainage, levels and ground
What a good quote looks like
Deposits and payment stages
Questions to ask

What makes hiring a landscaper different

Landscaping is two trades under one name. Hard landscaping is construction, excavation, sub-bases, paving, walls, drainage. Soft landscaping is horticulture. Very few people are equally strong at both.

The dominant technical risk is water. Levels and falls determine where rain goes, and a patio falling toward the house or a lawn built over compacted subsoil creates problems that are expensive to correct afterwards.

Drainage, levels and ground

Ask what falls are being set and where water is directed. Away from the house, and to somewhere that can absorb it.

Where a lawn or planting is going in, ask what happens to compacted ground and construction spoil. Turf laid over compacted subsoil will fail, and the failure appears the following summer.

Retaining walls holding any significant height need proper construction and drainage behind them. This is structural work, not decorative.

What a good quote looks like

Excavation, spoil removal, and sub-base specification for hard areas
Falls and drainage strategy
Paving material, laying method and jointing
Retaining structures and their construction
Soil preparation, topsoil quantity and quality
Planting schedule with species and sizes
Irrigation, if included
Plant guarantee and its terms
Aftercare and who is responsible

Deposits and payment stages

Materials, stone, timber, plants, are ordered up front so a deposit is normal, around 10%, rising toward 15-20% where a large hard-landscaping material order goes in before anyone arrives.

Stages: excavation and sub-base, hard landscaping complete, soil preparation, planting. Hold the final 10% until after planting has been in for a period, because establishment failures show over weeks.

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Trusted Payments sits alongside you for the whole project, not just the payments.
Checked trades. Every tradesperson is vetted before they can be paid through the platform.
Payments tied to real work. You agree the stages before anything starts, and money is only released once you've signed a stage off.
The last payment comes at the end. 10% of the price isn't paid until the whole job is finished properly, snagging included.
A warranty behind the work. Three months while the work is going on, and 24 months after it finishes, underwritten by a fully authorised, A-rated insurer.
An independent ombudsman. If something goes wrong, you have 45 days to sort it out directly — then an independent decision that binds both sides.

See how it works What happens if there's a dispute?

Questions to ask

Where will water drain to, and what falls are you setting?
What sub-base are you laying under paved areas?
How are you preparing the ground for planting?
What is the plant guarantee, and what voids it?
Do any structures need permission?
Who is responsible for aftercare, and for how long?

How it works

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Trusted Payments project flow: create a project, add a completion payment, manage the project in the app, pay by milestones, snagging and handover, 24-month warranty, and independent resolution if needed.

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