29 September 2026 · 6 min read · Oscar Markham
Why your landscaping quote gets shopped around
A homeowner with three landscaping quotes is holding three totals for what looks like the same job. They cannot assess the base you propose under the paving, the drainage you have allowed for or the size of the plants. So they compare the only thing they can read, which is the number at the bottom.
Itemise what is underneath
Excavation depth, sub-base, membrane, drainage, edging, jointing. The customer will not understand all of it and that is fine — what they register is that you have specified things the other quote did not mention.
It also makes a cheaper quote look thin, because it usually is. The corner most commonly cut in Irish landscaping is the part nobody can see afterwards.
Say what the plants actually are
'Mixed shrub planting' could be anything. Named species, sizes and quantities tell the customer what they are getting and let them see why one quote is dearer.
Pot size is the detail that most often separates two quotes, and almost nobody explains it.
Show them two gardens you have finished
Comparable in style and scale, ideally nearby. It answers the question underneath every landscaping decision: will it actually look like I am imagining.
Photographs do more here than any paragraph of reassurance, and most landscapers send a price with no images at all.
Be specific about disruption
How long the garden is unusable, where the skip goes, what happens to the lawn the machinery crosses, whether they can use the back door.
People worry about this far more than they mention it, and addressing it unprompted is disproportionately reassuring.
Then follow up once
Most landscapers send the quote and wait. One call a few days later, asking whether anything needs explaining, recovers a real share of the jobs that would otherwise drift.
Not a discount call — a clarifying one. The customer is usually confused rather than unconvinced.
Written by Oscar Markham, founder of Dublin Growth Digital. We run lead generation for Irish estate agents and trades, reported every Friday in enquiries and booked work.