How we chose
We built the candidate list from Google Places results for landscaping searches across Telford, matched each firm against Companies House records and its own website, and checked trade-relevant registers including TrustMark, the Federation of Master Builders and the Environment Agency waste carrier register [1][2][3]. Before we score anyone, we check that each business is who it says it is, is trading today and can actually be reached, and that any claimed registration checks out. We then score every eligible business against our scoring system, which looks at the things you care about when hiring: what customers say, the qualifications and registrations that matter for this trade, how the business responded when we contacted it, how long it has traded, insurance and safeguards, how clearly it prices, and how useful its website is. Anything we cannot verify stays neutral rather than counting against a business. Every fact on the ranked list carries its evidence date, so you can see how fresh each check is.
How to hire
Brief the outcome, not the method: how you use the garden, who needs level access, where water sits after rain, and which boundaries are yours. Ask whether you get a scaled drawing before work starts, who manages groundworks and drainage, and whether planting, turfing and fencing sit with the same firm or with subcontractors. For anything structural — retaining walls above knee height, raised beds holding back soil, drainage that joins the mains — ask who takes responsibility if it moves or fails.
Check the firm the way you would a builder, because the work is building. Look for Federation of Master Builders membership [2] or TrustMark registration [1], ask for public liability insurance with the limit in writing, and confirm the company on Companies House [4]. Visit one finished local project — or at minimum study dated photos — and ask the owner whether the crew turned up when promised and left the site clean each day.
Compare at least two itemised written quotes that split labour, materials, plant stock, waste removal and VAT. A deposit for materials is normal, staged payments tied to visible milestones are normal, and full payment upfront is not. Ask what happens to plants that die in the first year — some firms replace like-for-like, others do not — and get that promise into the written terms [5].
Confirm who checks permissions: most patios and paths need none, but work near boundaries, protected trees and conservation streets around the Ironbridge Gorge can trigger council rules — Telford & Wrekin's planning pages set out when to ask first [6]. Agree start and finish dates, daily hours, material storage and access, and who speaks to the neighbours before the digger arrives.
Pricing
Rough Telford ranges as of autumn 2026: turfing an average lawn £800 to £2,000 including preparation; a 20-square-metre patio £2,500 to £5,000 depending on stone and groundworks; sleeper beds and small retaining work £800 to £2,500; and full small-garden redesigns £6,000 to £15,000. Compare at least two itemised written quotes before you commit [5].
Ground conditions move the price most: clay to dig out, poor access for machinery, soil and hardcore removal, drainage runs and the choice of stone. Get labour, materials, plant sizes and numbers, waste disposal, VAT and the staged-payment schedule in writing, with start and finish dates — Citizens Advice explains what a sound quote should contain [5]. Ask for the aftercare position too — watering, staking and first-year pruning responsibilities.
Red flags
Prices a redesign or rebuild from photos alone, without walking the garden and its access.
Asks for full payment upfront, or a deposit far beyond the materials it needs to order.
Cannot name the subcontractors doing the groundworks, drainage or electrics — or will not say who guarantees their part.
Has no insurance details to show and no finished local project you can visit or verify.
Gets vague about plants that die, snagging, and who returns when something moves or fails.
Corrections and business responses
Tell us what needs checking, or ask to claim a listing and reply to an assessment.