Landscaping Ireland guides, calculator & reference

In 2026, a standalone 25–35 m² natural stone or 20mm outdoor porcelain patio costs €95 to €165 per m² (€2,400 to €5,700 installed). A standard suburban back-garden makeover (50–80 m²) including a new patio, screened topsoil, roll-out turf lawn (€22–€42/m²), sleeper beds and French land drainage typically costs €3,800 to €9,800. Complete architect-led garden transformations with split-level retaining walls, composite decking, pergolas and outdoor lighting range from €10,000 to €25,000+. All supply-and-install quotes include 13.5% construction VAT.

20mm vitrified R11 outdoor porcelain (€115 to €165/m²) has less than 0.5% water absorption, meaning green algae, moss and red wine cannot penetrate the slab and it wipes clean with a light wash. Silver granite (€110 to €155/m²) and Kilkenny blue limestone (€115 to €160/m²) offer classic Irish architectural character when sealed with an impregnating breathable sealer, while calibrated Indian sandstone (€95 to €130/m²) is the most cost-effective natural stone for warm buff and grey tones.

Never let a contractor spot-bed ('dot and dab') patio slabs on five blobs of mortar. Spot-bedded flags rock, trap water underneath in winter frost, and leave hollow voids that crack when stepped on. Every patio should be laid over a 100–150mm compacted Clause 804 stone sub-base on a full 35–50mm wet grit-sand and cement bed, with the back of each slab coated in Polymer SBR bond-bridge slurry primer so it locks permanently to the mortar.

New-build estates across Ireland often have compacted subsoil smeared by heavy site machinery under a thin 50mm scrape of topsoil. Simply rolling new turf on top fails within one winter. The permanent fix is to excavate 80mm perforated French land-drainage trenches wrapped in non-woven geotextile membrane and filled with washed 20mm pea shingle discharging to the storm-water soakaway or ACO channel, deep-rotavate grit sand into the subsoil, and import 100–150mm of screened sandy-loam topsoil before laying turf (€3,800 to €8,500 for a typical new-build plot).

Under Class 6 of the Planning and Development Regulations, paving or decking in a rear garden is exempt from planning permission provided any raised platform/deck is not more than 1 metre above ground level. Under Class 5, rear garden boundary walls and fences up to 2.0 metres high (and front boundary walls/fences up to 1.2 metres high) are exempt. Front garden surfacing over 5 m² is exempt when built with permeable paving/gravel or drained to a soakaway within your own boundary.

13.5%. Under Revenue's two-thirds rule for permanent residential building and groundworks services, supply-and-install patio paving, retaining walls, fencing, decking and garden construction attract the 13.5% reduced VAT rate provided materials do not exceed two-thirds of the total contract value.