Design-and-build · Fixed written prices · Booking spring and summer now
Fernbank Garden Design & Build 01632 960 631

Margate · Thanet · East Kent

A garden you'll
actually go outside for.

Design-and-build landscaping across east Kent. Patios, retaining walls, decking, lawns and planting — drawn up properly before anyone lifts a spade, then built by the people who drew it.

  • Free first visit
  • Fixed written price
  • £5m public liability
  • 5 year guarantee on hard landscaping

The awkward question

What does a garden actually cost?

Nobody wants to ask, and most landscapers won't say. Here's roughly what each budget buys on an average Thanet garden, so you can work out where you sit before you ring anyone.

Broadstairs · 2025

£6k – £12k

One area of the garden, done properly.

  • Porcelain or sandstone patio, 20–30m²
  • Levelling and drainage sorted
  • New turf to the remaining lawn
  • Borders dug over and planted
  • Old fencing replaced on one boundary

Usually 2–3 weeks on site.

Ramsgate · 2025

£12k – £25k

Most of the garden, and the difficult bits.

  • Everything in the first band, and
  • Retaining walls and terracing on a slope
  • Steps, paths and a second seating area
  • Garden lighting and outdoor sockets
  • Mature planting rather than plugs
  • Full drawn design before we start

Usually 4–6 weeks. Where most of our work sits.

Canterbury · 2024

£25k+

Ground up, whole plot, no compromises.

  • Complete redesign and rebuild
  • Outdoor kitchen or garden room base
  • Water features, pergolas, specimen trees
  • Automatic irrigation to beds and pots
  • Phased over two seasons if you'd rather

Usually 8 weeks plus, planned months ahead.

What we do

Hard landscaping, soft landscaping, and the drawing that ties it together.

Patios & paving

Porcelain, sandstone, granite. Laid on a full mortar bed with proper falls, so it drains and doesn't rock in three years.

Retaining walls & terracing

Sloping gardens turned into usable levels. Engineered and drained behind, not just blocks stacked up and hoped for.

Decking & structures

Composite and hardwood decking, pergolas, screens and garden room bases. Built to last a Kent coastal winter.

Planting & borders

Planned for what actually survives on the coast — salt wind, chalky soil, and a garden nobody wants to spend every weekend on.

Design & drawings

Scaled plan, planting schedule and a 3D visual so you can see it before it exists. Free if we build it, £450 if you take it elsewhere.

Lighting & irrigation

Low-voltage lighting to make the garden usable after eight, and automatic watering so a fortnight away doesn't undo the planting.

How it runs

From first visit to first barbecue.

01

We come and look

An hour in your garden talking about how you want to use it, what you hate about it now, and roughly what you want to spend.

02

Design and price

A drawn plan and a fixed itemised price. You'll see exactly what's included before you commit to anything.

03

Build

Same team start to finish. Site kept tidy, skips off the road where we can, and a weekly update on where we're up to.

04

Handover

We walk you round it, show you how the lighting and irrigation work, and leave you a planting care sheet.

Timing

When should you actually book?

Everyone rings in April wanting it done by June, and by then the summer's gone. Here's how our year really works.

  • AutumnThe best time to design and book. Planting establishes over winter and you're ready for spring.
  • WinterHard landscaping carries on — walls, patios, groundwork. Fewer people asking, so shorter waits.
  • SpringOur busiest booking period. Expect six to ten weeks before we can start.
  • SummerBuilding all season, but turf and planting are harder work in a dry spell. We'll be honest about it.

Where we work

Thanet, Canterbury and the villages between.

Based in Margate. We take on a limited number of builds a year so we're not spread thin across three counties.

  • Margate
  • Broadstairs
  • Ramsgate
  • Westgate-on-Sea
  • Birchington
  • Minster
  • Sandwich
  • Herne Bay
  • Whitstable
  • Canterbury
  • Faversham
  • Deal

Reviews

Gardens we're still invited back to.

★★★★★

We had a steep, useless slope and now we've got three levels and somewhere to sit in the evening sun. The drawing they did beforehand meant there were no surprises at all.

Rachel & Tom — Broadstairs

★★★★★

Told us honestly that our budget wouldn't stretch to the whole garden and suggested doing the patio properly this year and the rest next. Would rather that than being sold something thin.

Ian H. — Herne Bay

★★★★★

Third summer now and the planting still looks right. They chose things that cope with the wind off the sea, which the last lot definitely didn't.

Fiona D. — Cliftonville

Questions

Before you get in touch.

Do I have to know what I want first?

Not at all. Most people know what they don't like and roughly what they'd spend, and that's plenty to start with. The design visit is for working the rest out together.

Do you charge for the design?

The first visit and a rough costing are free. A full drawn design with planting schedule is £450, and that comes off the price if we build it. If you take the drawings elsewhere, they're yours to keep.

How far ahead do you book?

Typically six to ten weeks in spring, less over winter. If you're planning for next summer, autumn is the time to talk to us.

Do you do maintenance afterwards?

We do a first-year establishment visit twice a year on planting we've put in. For weekly mowing and hedge work we'll recommend a good local gardener rather than pretend it's our speciality.

What about access and mess?

We'll tell you honestly at the visit if access is a problem — a narrow side gate changes the price because everything comes through by barrow. Boards down, road swept daily, and skips off the highway wherever possible.

Is anything guaranteed?

Five years on hard landscaping — patios, walls, steps. Twelve months on planting, provided it's been watered. Turf is guaranteed for the first season if you follow the care sheet.

Get started

Tell us about the garden.

A couple of photos and a rough idea of budget is enough to get going. We'll come out, have a look, and tell you honestly what's realistic.

Phone
01632 960 631
Mobile / WhatsApp
07700 900 631
Email
studio@fernbank.example
Hours
Mon–Fri 8am–5.30pm · Sat mornings