Your questions answered
Everything you might want to ask.
Grouped by where you are in the decision — from early research through the build to the years after. If your question isn't here, just call and ask.
Before you call
Do you charge for a consultation or quote?
No. The first site visit and the itemised quote that follows are free and come with no obligation. Sam comes out, walks the garden with you, listens to how you use it and then puts a clear design and price to it — whether it's a single patio or a full transformation. You're under no pressure to go ahead.
Will I actually deal with Sam, or a salesperson?
Sam. He's owner of Hammond Landscapes, quotes the work himself and is on site through the build — which is exactly why clients name him personally in nearly every review. There's no sales layer between you and the person doing the job; when you have a question, you ask the man who's answerable for it.
Do you only do big projects, or smaller jobs too?
Both. We take on full design-and-build gardens, but we also lay a single patio, build a wall, plant borders, put in a raised bed or come back for regular maintenance. Plenty of clients start with one job and keep us on for the next — Lisa Collins has had us back for a few different projects now.
What areas do you cover?
We're based at Brook House in Godalming and cover Godalming, Guildford and the villages between — Farncombe, Milford, Shalford, Bramley, Cranleigh and Haslemere — plus the surrounding counties, including Hampshire. For larger design-and-build projects we'll travel further across the South East.
Roughly what should I budget?
It depends on the garden, but we'd rather give you a sense than leave you guessing. As a broad, illustrative guide for our area: a new lawn or a run of planting sits at the smaller end; a quality Indian-sandstone patio often lands in the mid thousands; a full design-and-build with levels, hard landscaping, lighting and planting is a several-week project priced accordingly. Every quote is itemised and free — see our costs guide for the bands.
During the project
Will the same team see the whole job through?
Yes. One team carries the work from groundwork and levels through paving, walling, structures, lighting and planting, with Sam on site throughout. When one person is answerable for the whole garden, nothing gets lost between trades — and you always know who you're dealing with.
How do you handle the parts that need a certified trade?
For tree surgery and for electrical connections — garden or driveway lighting, irrigation controls — we bring in accredited subcontractors we know and trust, and coordinate them within the project. You get certified specialist work done to the right standard, without having to find and manage those trades yourself.
Will you keep me updated, and give me choices?
That's how we work. On one front-garden project the brief ran from driveway setts and integral lighting to a corten-steel feature, planting design, new turf and irrigation — a lot of decisions, taken together with the client. We explain each stage in advance and give you real options rather than one take-it-or-leave-it plan.
How long does a garden project take?
It depends entirely on the scope — a new lawn might be a day or two, a patio a week or so, and a full design-and-build several weeks. We'll give you a realistic timescale with your quote, and keep the site orderly throughout: clients regularly note that we leave the garden in good condition.
Can you handle sloping or awkward gardens?
Very much so. A good deal of our work is on tiered, sloping or awkward plots — building in the levels, drainage, retaining walls and structure a flat finish needs. Godalming's riverside and greensand plots throw up plenty of them.
Quality & after we're done
How do I know the paving is built to last, not just to look right?
It's a fair question, because the difference is all in what you can't see. We bed and lay stone on a properly prepared, consolidated sub-base and correct falls — not on a thin bed of sand — so patios, steps and setts sit level and stay put through the winters rather than lifting and rocking a few years on. We'll show you the build-up in the quote so you know what's going in under the surface.
Can you look after the garden once it's built?
Yes, and it's worth doing. A new garden is an investment that reaches its best with care, so we offer ongoing maintenance — grass cutting, weeding, pruning and seasonal attention. A garden that's looked after goes on developing and maturing rather than drifting back to where it started.
What does maintenance actually involve?
Seasonal work, scaled to the garden: grass cutting and lawn care, hedge and shrub pruning, weeding, and attention to the planting as it establishes. We can do it as a one-off seasonal tidy or as regular year-round care — for gardens we've built and for gardens we haven't.
Do you supply the plants as well as design the planting?
Yes. We can take the planting from design through to selecting, supplying and putting in the plants — chosen to suit your soil and aspect so they root and establish. On one project that ran alongside new turf, lighting and irrigation, all handled as one package.
Still wondering about something?
The quickest way to a straight answer is a quick call or a WhatsApp photo of the garden. No obligation, no pressure.