Garden Design Enquiry Trends in 2021

 

With the unusual year that was 2020, I don’t think anyone was sure what this year held for garden designers in the horticultural industry. We kicked off 2021 with a lot of uncertainty, and no real dates for when we would return to ‘normal’.

So, how would the general public react? Would the coined term ‘Covid Boom’ be relevant in 2021?

Five months into the year, I spoke to garden designers across the UK and here’s what six of them had to say:

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“Having focused on local areas to Amersham I am finding the enquiries at between 3 and 5 per week which is unprecedented. The requests are all sensible, expectations realistic and budgets achievable.”
— Karl Harrison
“I have had the most enquiries ever this early Spring. I market myself as an environmentally friendly and ethical designer and the requests have mainly been large planting designs. In my experience those that want more want to do it in stages rather than all in one go which has its downsides as you still need to quote for a full garden design but work out the individual components separately.”
— Tessa Parikian
“2021 started slowly for me, but suddenly in February design enquiries started coming in and it hasn’t stopped. I am now fully booked until the end of June”
— Pippa Shennan
“With regards to what I am learning so far, I would say establishing personal relationships with your contacts, in all areas you are dealing with, is very important for consistency in costs and efficient, professional service.”
— Andrea Hayden
“Demand has been extremely high (the first year I have turned work away). As normal expectation have varied, most people have realistic expectations on cost, but there are a few that are are way off. Most of these die at enquiry stage, Garden Costs helps manage the others. Projects are largely full design and build.”
— Gordon Croy
“We have been inundated with enquiries, far more than normal, at a rate of 4-5 a week throughout the winter. In part, certainly down to lockdown with people spending more time looking at their gardens, then not spending money on restaurants and holidays.”
— Rob Jones
“The number of enquiries has gone up exponentially. At least one a day. I do not advertise so many people find me through the SGD. These are people with realistic budgets and expectations. As to tips; ‘honesty is the best policy’. People have to be told what things cost before you start designing. Managing client expectation is critical to have a happy client, a good design and a happy landscaper. Suggest that they consider what they are going to’ invest in their site ‘to enhance it rather than asking for their ‘budget’. ”
— Ann Dukes
“Massive increase in numbers of enquiries - very varied in size from £2k - quick tidy up and sort out to £60+k overhauls to make up for lack of holidays and realising the value of their garden space..”
— Esra Parr
“So incredibly busy at the moment as I expect most trades are! A very busy time as designers and landscapers are very much in demand due to the current Covid restrictions as gardens become the “GO TO” place to be!”
— Paul Newman
“I have found prospective clients are generally much more appreciative of the benefits of introducing wildlife to the garden, because they have slowed down at home and experienced this more during the lockdown period. So there is a much greater interest in using plants to structure gardens, introducing planting which is particularly beneficial to wildlife.”
— Emma Hanford
 

So I think it’s fair to say the Covid Boom is still very present in the industry. With enquiries at all time highs for amazing garden designers like the people above, it will be interesting to see how this plays out for the rest of 2021.

However, one thing I have noticed is the variety of enquiries people are receiving. Variety not only in project size, but also expectations.

A lot of people I have spoken to are receiving a greater number of enquiries, but a large proportion of those have big expectations with minimal budgets.

How has your experience been so far in 2021?

Let me know in the comments and let’s have a discussion. It would be great to talk about the types of enquiries we’re all finding are coming through the doors.

Enquiries, Industry ConversationsSam HassallComment