Once you have created your scale plan and drawn a number of sample designs using different shapes and permutations, you will eventually come up with a solution that meets your needs for the garden, and pleases you aesthetically. This rough design needs to be transformed into a full structural plan, taking into consideration the principles that make up good garden design (these are discussed in more detail in Design Elements).

A structural plan is a detailed drawing, to scale, of exactly how the new design will look. Draw the structural plan of your favoured design to scale, basing it on your original scale drawing of the garden. Accuracy is vital at this stage, as you will use this plan to assess the quantities of your materials, and your overall cost. You may find that you may need to refine and amend your original plan as a result of these calculations. Use the details in our article on Creating Functional Areas to estimate the amount of space you'll need for paths, patios and other features.

'Hard' landscape features, such as paving and walling can take up to 75% of the total costs, although you will save a great deal in construction charges if you do the building work yourself. It is worth doing some market research at builders' merchants and garden centres to check the price of materials, and to decide how to make the best use of the more expensive materials. For example, brick is costly to lay, but can be used with paving slabs to reduce the expense. Paving slabs themselves vary enormously in cost, and you may be able to find a man-made slab that achieves the visual effect you want for a fraction of the price you would pay for natural stone.

As a general rule, natural paving is more expensive than man-made; and the larger the size of each paving element, the cheaper it is to lay. The following table lists the paving materials you might choose, listed in order of expense.