What Ruth does
A design service, from first visit to planted garden.
Everything is priced clearly and separately — a 90-minute consultation from £125, a full design from £1,295, and planting and any build quoted on their own — so you always see where the money goes.
01Service
Full Garden Design
The heart of what Ruth does. She surveys the plot, listens to how you want to live in it, then draws a scaled concept design that resolves the whole garden — borders, levels, sight-lines and structure — before anything is dug. From £1,295, it is the difference between a garden that happens to you and one that is genuinely designed around you. As one client put it, Ruth “came with lots of ideas to how she could work her magic — and she did.”
02Service
90-Minute On-Site Consultation
Not ready for a full design, or just want a professional eye on the garden? Ruth spends ninety minutes on site with you, walking the plot and giving honest, practical direction — what to keep, what to change, what will actually thrive where. It costs £125, and if you go on to a full design that fee is deducted in full. Many clients start exactly here.
03Service
Site Survey & Scaled Concept
Good design is decided on paper, not halfway through the job. Ruth surveys the garden accurately and works up a scaled concept — the layout, the borders, the falls and levels, the routes through — so you can stand back and see how the whole thing fits together. It is the stage that stops expensive mistakes and gives every trade that follows a clear plan to work to.
04Service
Planting Design, Supply & Installation
The planting is where a design comes alive. Ruth chooses plants for the soil, aspect and feel you are after, then supplies and installs them so the garden reads as one considered scheme rather than a trolley-dash from the garden centre. It is priced separately from the design fee, so you know exactly what the planting itself costs. Clients describe borders that turned a patch of grass into “a riot of colour with trees, shrubs, grasses & flowers.”
05Service
Landscaper Introduction & Co-ordination
When a design calls for patios, paths, levels or structures, you do not have to go and find a builder yourself. Ruth introduces a landscaper she trusts and co-ordinates the work against her drawings — one point of contact, one plan, and a designer keeping the build true to the concept. “The landscapers she recommended did a lovely job on the patio,” wrote one client, “and then Ruth came back to the planting.”
06Service
Seasonal Garden Maintenance
A newly designed garden is at its most vulnerable in its first seasons. On new gardens Ruth includes three seasonal tidy-ups a year — editing, feeding and shaping the young planting through the year so it establishes properly and grows into the design, rather than being abandoned the day the last plant goes in.
What a design gives you
Decided on paper, before it's decided in soil.
A design fee buys more than a pretty picture. Here is what actually comes out of a commission, and why it saves money later.
A measured site survey
Ruth records the plot accurately — dimensions, levels, aspect, what stays and what goes — so the design is grounded in the real garden, not a rough sketch.
A scaled concept design
A drawing you can actually read: layout, borders, sight-lines and structure resolved to scale so you can see the whole garden before you commit to building it.
A planting plan for your soil
Plants chosen for the aspect, soil and feel you are after — trees, shrubs, grasses and perennials that will thrive where they are put, not just look good in the trolley.
One point of contact for the build
Where a garden needs landscaping, Ruth introduces a trusted contractor and co-ordinates the work against her drawings — so you deal with one person, not three trades.
How it works
A visit, a design, a garden.
01
A 90-minute visit
Ruth comes to the garden, walks it with you and listens to how you want to use it. You come away with ideas and honest direction the same afternoon. The £125 consultation fee is deducted in full if you go on to a design.
02
Survey & scaled concept
Ruth surveys the plot and draws a scaled concept design — borders, levels, sight-lines and structure worked out on paper before a single spade goes in, so you can see the whole garden before you commit.
03
Planting, build & co-ordination
Planting is designed, supplied and installed to suit your soil and aspect. Where a garden needs hard landscaping, Ruth introduces a trusted landscaper and co-ordinates the work — one point of contact for the whole project.
04
Kept looking its best
New gardens are given three seasonal tidy-ups a year, so the planting settles in and reaches its best rather than being left to fend for itself the moment the design is done.
Before you call
Questions Ruth is asked most.
How does the design service work, and what does it cost?
The full design service starts at £1,295. It covers a measured site survey and a scaled concept design for the whole garden — the layout, borders, levels and structure worked out on paper before anything is built. Planting, and any hard landscaping, are quoted separately so you can see exactly what each part costs. Many clients start with a 90-minute on-site consultation first.
What is the 90-minute consultation, and is the £125 refundable?
It's a focused visit where Ruth walks the garden with you and gives honest, practical direction the same afternoon — what to keep, what to change and what will thrive where. It costs £125, and if you go on to a full design that fee is deducted in full from your design cost, so the advice effectively becomes free.
Do you plant the garden as well as design it?
Yes. Ruth designs the planting for your soil and aspect, then supplies and installs it so the borders read as one considered scheme. Planting is quoted separately from the design fee. Clients often describe borders that turned a patch of grass into ‘a riot of colour with trees, shrubs, grasses & flowers’.
What if my garden needs building work — patios, levels, paths?
You don't have to find a builder yourself. Where a design calls for hard landscaping, Ruth introduces a landscaper she trusts and co-ordinates the work against her drawings, so there's one point of contact and the build stays true to the concept. As one client put it, ‘the landscapers she recommended did a lovely job on the patio, and then Ruth came back to the planting.’
Which areas do you cover?
Down to Earth Gardens is based near Godalming and works across Surrey and into Sussex — including Guildford, Cranleigh, Shalford, Bramley, Elstead and Woking, and the villages between them. If you're not sure whether you're in range, just call and ask.
Do you look after the garden once it's designed?
On new gardens Ruth includes three seasonal tidy-ups a year, so the young planting is edited and shaped through its first seasons and grows into the design rather than being left to fend for itself. It's part of why so many clients have Ruth back for the next stage of their garden.
How long has Ruth been designing gardens?
Since 2001 — more than twenty-five years designing and planting gardens across Surrey and Sussex. That experience is exactly why clients who ‘had no idea what plants would grow’ end up with a garden that looks like it was always meant to be there.
Can you work with a new-build or a completely blank garden?
Those are some of Ruth's favourite projects. Several of the gardens on this site started as bare turf or ‘just a patio & grass’ on a new-build plot. A blank canvas is the easiest kind of garden to design well, because everything can be planned as one piece from the start.
Not sure where to start?
Start with the 90-minute consultation. Ruth will walk the garden with you, give you ideas and honest direction, and the £125 comes off if you go on to a design.