For landscape designers
A garden plan is weeks of work. It shouldn't start on a free consultation.
Landscape design work usually begins with an on-site consultation, then a measured survey, a concept plan, a master plan, planting plans and sometimes construction drawings for a contractor. Clients see a lovely drawing and assume it's a step towards the build, not a priced deliverable in itself — and when they take your plan to a cheaper contractor, the design fee is the one they question.
ApeiroCraft sends the design proposal as a link that keeps your fee separate from the build and planting budget, lists each drawing you'll produce, and caps revision rounds. You see when it's opened and re-opened, the client signs in the browser, and the design fee is invoiced from the accepted proposal.
Where landscape design fees get squeezed.
The free site visit that wasn't
An hour on site, talking levels, drainage, soil and aspect, is real design advice. If it's free and the client then shops the idea around, you've consulted for nothing.
Design and build in one number
When the fee and the estimated build cost sit together, a client sees one large figure and negotiates on the part that's easiest to cut — usually the design.
Endless plan tweaks
Moving the terrace, swapping the hedge, a second planting palette: each change to a master plan is redrawing time. Without a number of revision rounds, the plan never gets signed off.
From consultation to planting plan, signed in stages.
Each drawing as a priced stage
Survey, concept, master plan, planting plan and construction details sit as separate sections with their own fee line, so the client can stop after the concept or carry on.
See when they're comparing
Every open and re-open of the proposal link is recorded. A client reopening it after visiting a contractor is a cue to explain what the drawings save them on site.
Signed before you draw
The client signs in the browser, and the signature records name, email, IP address and a UTC timestamp. It can't be changed, so the stages and revision limits are fixed.
Design fee invoiced cleanly
Convert the accepted proposal into a draft invoice with the stage lines, set it to the first stage, send with your payment link, and convert again for the next stage.
What a landscape design proposal has to include.
Design proposals in this trade fail in the same places: what was drawn, who builds it, and what happens to the plan afterwards.
Consultation and survey
If it's left vague
The client thinks the site visit was free and the survey was part of it.
With ApeiroCraft
Price the consultation and measured survey as the first stage, with what you'll record on site.
Drawing deliverables
If it's left vague
'A garden design' could mean a sketch or full construction drawings.
With ApeiroCraft
List each plan — concept, master plan, planting plan, construction details — and its format.
Revision rounds
If it's left vague
The master plan is redrawn every time a neighbour gives an opinion.
With ApeiroCraft
Say how many rounds of changes each stage includes and how further changes are charged.
Build and planting budget
If it's left vague
Your fee is lumped in with hard landscaping and plants, and it gets cut first.
With ApeiroCraft
Keep the design fee in its own section, and treat any build estimate as indicative and separate.
Use of the plans
If it's left vague
Your drawings are handed to another contractor or reused on the next-door property.
With ApeiroCraft
State that the client may use the plans to build their own garden, and that copyright in the design stays with you.
- Stage invoices from one accepted proposal.
- Pipeline view for consultations, live designs and builds in progress.
- Notes per garden for soil, aspect, access and planting lists.
Common questions.
How do landscape designers usually charge for design?
Common models are a fixed fee per drawing stage, a single design package priced by garden size or complexity, an hourly or day rate for consultations and site supervision, or a percentage of the build where the designer also manages the project. Many charge for the initial consultation and credit it against the design fee. ApeiroCraft holds whichever model you use; it doesn't suggest prices.
What does a typical proposal look like for a family garden?
A short brief from the consultation; stage one, a measured survey; stage two, a concept plan with two layout options; stage three, a master plan with two rounds of changes; stage four, a planting plan as an option; exclusions for hard landscaping, plants and contractor fees; and fees per stage. You send it after the visit, see it opened that night and twice more that week, and invoice the survey the day it's signed.
When is ApeiroCraft not the right fit?
If you mainly need plant-database software, CAD, or a tool that estimates build quantities and material costs, ApeiroCraft isn't that. It also has no scheduler for booking consultations or crew. It's for the proposal, signature, invoice and client record around your design work.
Should the build estimate go in the same proposal?
You can include an indicative build range in its own section, clearly labelled as separate from your fee. If a contractor will quote the build directly, say so, so the client understands they'll sign two different agreements.
Can I credit the consultation fee against the design?
Yes. Price the consultation as its own invoice, then show a credit line in the design proposal. Invoices are editable drafts before you send them.
Price the drawing, not just the garden.
Set out your design stages once and send a signed-before-you-draw proposal today.
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