This is usually the first question on a consultation call, and the honest answer is "it depends" — but that's not very useful, so here's what actually drives the number.
The three cost drivers
Plot size matters less than most people expect. What actually moves the budget is: how much hardscaping is involved (pathways, patios, retaining walls), how mature the plants you want are (a semi-grown tree costs far more than a sapling), and how much site prep the plot needs before anything goes in the ground — levelling, drainage correction, and soil amendment on sandy coastal plots all add cost before a single plant is placed.
Rough ranges
For a straightforward residential garden refresh — new planting, basic bed edging, no major hardscaping — budgets typically start modestly and scale with plot size. Add hardscaping like a paved patio or a retaining wall on a sloped plot, and costs step up meaningfully because of labour and material costs, not planting. Full landscape design and installation projects for larger villas or resort frontages sit at the top end, mostly driven by hardscaping scope and irrigation infrastructure.
Ongoing garden and lawn maintenance is a separate, smaller recurring cost — typically billed per visit or as a monthly plan, and it's the line item most people underestimate when budgeting for a new garden.
Where people overspend
Two places we see budgets go sideways: buying large, already-mature plants when smaller ones would fill in within a season or two at a fraction of the cost, and installing hardscaping before finalising a planting plan, which sometimes means redoing pathways once beds are repositioned. Sequencing the design before ordering materials avoids both.
Where it's worth spending more
Drainage and irrigation are the two places we'd actively discourage cutting corners. A garden that looks identical on installation day but has proper grading and a well-sized irrigation system will cost less to maintain and survive its first monsoon in far better shape than one built to a tighter budget on those items.
If you want an actual number rather than a range, get in touch with your plot size and a rough sense of what you want — we'll give you a written estimate after a site visit, not a guess over the phone.