Three complaints come up again and again when someone calls us about a garden that went wrong.Somebody took a large deposit and disappeared. Somebody laid a patio on next to nothing and it sank within two winters. Somebody quoted one figure and invoiced a much bigger one.All three are avoidable, and all three are avoided at the same moment: before you pay anything. The questions below are the ones that surface a problem while it is still cheap to walk away.
We build gardens across Glasgow and the Central Belt and have done for 19 years. What follows is what we would want a member of our own family to ask, including the question almost nobody asks us and absolutely should.
The question nobody asks, and everybody should
People ask about price constantly. They almost never ask about the structure of the payments, and that structure is where the real risk sits.
A landscaper who takes 60% upfront has your money and no strong reason to come back quickly. A landscaper on sensible staged payments has to keep working to get paid. That is the whole mechanism protecting you, and it is decided in a two minute conversation before you sign.
What is normal
| Payment | Typical amount | When |
| Deposit | 10 to 30% of total | On booking, to secure materials and the slot |
| Stage payment 1 | 25 to 30% | Excavation, drainage and sub base complete |
| Stage payment 2 | 25 to 30% | Hard landscaping substantially complete |
| Final balance | 15 to 25% | On completion, after you have walked the job |
On a small job of one or two weeks, a deposit and a final payment is perfectly normal. Stage payments matter more as the job gets longer.
What is not normal
- A deposit above roughly a third of the total. There is rarely a good reason for it.
- Full payment upfront. No legitimate landscaper needs this. Walk away.
- Cash only, with no invoice or receipt. No paper trail means no recourse.
- A large deposit demanded on the doorstep, on the day, for a “cancellation” they can start tomorrow.
- Payment into a personal account when you were quoted by a limited company. Ask why.
- Final payment requested before the work is finished. Your remaining balance is your leverage for snagging.
Where possible, pay the deposit by card or bank transfer rather than cash. Card payments over £100 carry additional protection under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act, and either method leaves a record.
The 20 questions, grouped by what they protect you from
Credibility and legitimacy
1. What is your full business name and registered address?
If it is a limited company, check it on Companies House. It takes two minutes and tells you how long they have traded and whether the company is in good standing.
2. How long have you been trading, and under this name?
A business trading under three different names in five years is worth asking about.
3. Can I see your public liability insurance certificate?
Ask to see it, not just be told it exists. Check the policy is current and the cover amount is sensible, usually £1 million or more. This is what covers damage to your property or a neighbour’s.
4. Are you registered with any trade body or checked trader scheme?
Not mandatory in landscaping, and plenty of excellent firms are not. But a listing that can be looked up adds a layer of accountability.
5. Who will actually be on site, and will you be one of them?
Some firms quote with the owner and build with subcontractors nobody has met. Not automatically a problem, but you should know before the van arrives.
Preventing the disappearing act
6. What is your current workload, and is this job starting and finishing continuously?
The most common cause of an abandoned job is a landscaper juggling three sites at once, chasing deposits to fund the last one. Ask directly whether they will be on your garden every working day until it is done.
7. What are your start and finish dates, and what happens if you overrun?
Get both in writing. Weather will move them, and that is fair. A firm that will not commit to any dates at all is a different matter.
8. Can I visit a job you are working on right now?
This is the most revealing question on the list. A live site shows you tidiness, whether the team is actually there, and how they treat the neighbours. Nobody can stage that.
9. Can I see a job you finished three or more years ago?
Anything looks good the week it is laid. Three winters in Scotland is the real test. If every reference is from the last six months, ask why.
10. Can I speak to two recent customers?
Then actually phone them. Ask the one question that matters: did they turn up every day, and did the final invoice match the quote?
Preventing the sunken patio
This is the part of the job you can never inspect once it is finished, which is exactly why it gets cut.
11. What sub base material and depth are you using, and why that depth?
The answer you want is specific. Something like MOT Type 1, 100mm to 150mm for a patio, 150mm to 250mm for a driveway, compacted in layers with a plate compactor.
A vague answer to this question is the single biggest warning sign in the whole process. Roughly 40% of a garden budget goes into things you will never see, and this is most of it.
12. Where does the water go?
Every surface needs a fall built into it and somewhere for that water to end up. In Glasgow, with roughly 170 wet days a year and a lot of clay underneath, this is not optional. Ask about falls, and ask whether a soakaway or land drain is needed on your ground.
13. Is the paving going on a full mortar bed or spot bedded?
Full bed is correct. Spot bedding, mortar blobs under each corner, is faster and cheaper, and it leaves voids that fill with water. Slabs rock, crack and lift. If a quote specifies dabs, ask for it to be changed.
14. Will there be a geotextile membrane between the soil and the stone?
Cheap, and it stops the sub base sinking into soft or clay ground.
15. How will the edges be held?
Haunching or a proper edge restraint. Without it, paving spreads sideways and joints open up.
16. Is the finished level going to sit below the damp proof course?
It must, by at least 150mm, or water can bridge into your house wall. This is a common and expensive mistake.
Preventing the creeping quote
17. Can I have an itemised written quotation rather than an estimate?
An estimate can change. A quotation is a fixed price for defined work. You want the second one, broken down into groundworks, drainage, materials and labour, not a single lump sum.
18. What in this quote is provisional, and what would change it?
Ground conditions are genuinely unknowable until digging starts. Old concrete, buried rubble, a drain nobody expected. A good landscaper will tell you upfront which items are provisional and roughly what a worst case looks like.
This question is not a sign of distrust. It is the question that stops the argument three weeks later.
19. Is spoil removal included?
A modest patio excavation produces several tonnes of soil and rubble, and it has to be disposed of legally. Check it is priced in, not sitting as an exclusion at the bottom of page two.
20. How are changes handled once work starts?
The answer should be: agreed in writing, with a price, before the work is done. Verbal agreements about extras are where most billing disputes begin.
Comparing three quotes without getting lost
Send all three landscapers the same written brief. Different briefs produce quotes you cannot compare.
Then check each one for these nine markers:
- Sub base material and depth, stated
- Compacted in layers
- Geotextile membrane
- Full mortar bed rather than spot bedding
- Priming slurry, if porcelain or dense stone is being used
- Falls stated, running away from the house
- Soakaway or land drain, where the ground is wet
- Haunching or a named edge restraint
- Spoil removal included
A quote reading “supply and lay 40m² porcelain patio, £X” with none of these is not necessarily bad work. It just gives you no way to judge it. Ask for the detail before comparing numbers.
If one quote is dramatically lower than the other two on the same brief, the saving is almost always underground. Put questions 11 to 16 to that quoter and compare their answers against the others.
Guide prices, so you know what reasonable looks like
Broad ranges for the Glasgow and Central Belt area. Access, ground conditions, slope, spoil removal and material choice move all of them.
| Work | General range |
| Day rate, two person team | £280 to £450 per day |
| Porcelain paving, supplied and laid | £120 to £190 per m² |
| Natural sandstone paving | £90 to £150 per m² |
| Monoblock | £80 to £130 per m² |
| Composite decking | £150 to £230 per m² |
| Timber decking | £90 to £150 per m² |
| Turfing including preparation | £20 to £45 per m² |
| Fencing | £70 to £140 per linear metre |
| Sleeper retaining wall | £180 to £400 per linear metre |
| Small courtyard, complete | £4,000 to £10,000 |
| Medium garden transformation | £8,000 to £18,000 |
| Sloped garden with terracing | £15,000 to £35,000 and up |
Add 10 to 15% of your own as a contingency. That turns an unexpected ground condition from a crisis into an inconvenience.
Red flags, ranked by how worried to be
Walk away now
- Full payment or more than roughly a third demanded upfront
- No public liability insurance, or refusal to show the certificate
- Cash only with no invoice
- High pressure to decide today, or a discount that expires this afternoon
- Cold callers at the door with “leftover materials from a job nearby”
- No written quote, only a figure said out loud
- Refusal to give an address or business details
Ask hard questions before going further
- Vague or evasive answers on sub base and drainage
- No references older than six months
- Will not let you see a current job
- Quote is far below two others on the same brief
- Trading name has changed more than once recently
- Pushing you toward a bigger job than you asked about
Worth noting, not deal breakers
- No trade body membership, which is common in this trade
- A deposit at the higher end of normal, if materials are being ordered specially
- Some items listed as provisional, as long as they are explained
- A short snagging list at the end, which is normal on any build
Before you sign
Get these in writing, on one document, before any money moves:
- Full business name and address
- Itemised scope of works
- Materials specified, including sub base depth
- Total price, and what is provisional
- Start date and expected duration
- Deposit amount and payment stages, each tied to completed work
- Guarantee: what is covered, for how long, and what voids it
- How variations will be agreed and priced
If a landscaper resists putting any of that on paper, you have learned something useful for the price of an awkward conversation.
Frequently asked questions
How much deposit should I pay a landscaper?
Typically 10 to 30% of the total, paid on booking to secure materials and your slot. Anything above roughly a third deserves a clear explanation, and full payment upfront is never necessary.
What payment schedule is normal for a garden project?
On short jobs, a deposit and a final balance. On longer jobs, a deposit then two or three stage payments tied to completed work, with 15 to 25% held until you have walked the finished garden.
Do landscapers need to be licensed in the UK?
There is no mandatory licence for domestic landscaping. That is precisely why insurance, references, Companies House checks and finished work you can go and look at matter so much.
What insurance should a landscaper have?
Public liability insurance, usually £1 million or more, and employers’ liability if they have staff. Ask to see the current certificate rather than taking it on trust.
How many quotes should I get?
Three, all working from the same written brief, all itemised. More than that makes comparison harder, not easier.
What is the most important question to ask a landscaper?
What sub base material and depth are you using, and where does the water go. Those two cover the invisible part of the job that decides whether your garden survives its third winter.
Is a deposit refundable if I change my mind?
It depends on your contract and how far along they are. Once materials are ordered or the slot is held, expect to lose some or all of it. Get the cancellation terms in writing before you pay.
What should I do if a landscaper abandons the job?
Stop all further payments immediately, photograph everything, put your position in writing, and get quotes from others to complete the work. Contact Citizens Advice for guidance on your consumer rights, and check whether card payments give you recourse.
Should I pay cash for a discount?
Cash with no invoice leaves you no paper trail, no proof of contract and no guarantee to enforce. Whatever you are saving is rarely worth that.
Is it rude to ask all these questions?
No. A good landscaper will answer them quickly and specifically, because detailed answers are how they justify costing more than the outfit quoting half the price for half the build up. Irritation at these questions is itself an answer.
The short version
You are not trying to catch anyone out. You are trying to find out, in one conversation, whether this person will still be in your garden in week three and whether what they build will still be flat in year five.Four questions do most of that work. What is the deposit and payment schedule. What sub base and depth. Where does the water go. Can I see a job you finished three years ago.
If you get quick, specific answers to those, you are probably in good hands. If you get vagueness, you have saved yourself a great deal of money and a difficult winter.
Happy to be asked any of the above ourselves. Nineteen years, family run, building gardens across Glasgow and the Central Belt, fully insured, staged payments, and a written itemised quote before anything starts.
