01
Hire the right person
Gardeners maintain, landscapers build, designers plan. Asking a gardener to design hardscaping usually produces regret.
Home Services Guide
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Maintenance landscaping, design-and-install, and full transformation pricing, plus why a good designer pays for themselves on bigger jobs.
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Home Services
Landscaping spans a massive range, from a $60 weekly lawn mow to a $60,000 backyard rebuild with retaining walls, decking, and irrigation. Pricing depends hugely on scope and whether you're hiring a gardener (maintenance), a landscaper (install), or a landscape designer (design + project management).
For anything over $5,000, getting a landscape designer involved, even just for 1–2 hours of advice, usually saves more than their fee by avoiding plant selection mistakes, wrong hardscaping, and poor layout.
What to look for
What separates a good landscaping job from a bad one
The differences between quotes usually come down to a few things. None are visible on day one, and all show up later.
02
Retaining walls over 1m need engineering
Most councils require engineering certification for retaining walls over 1m and sometimes permit approval. Budget for both.
03
Plant selection is local
Australian conditions punish the wrong plant choice, water-hungry exotics die in a heatwave. Good designers pick for your specific microclimate.
04
Irrigation pays back fast
A $2,000–$4,000 drip irrigation system saves plants, water, and weekly hand-watering. Especially valuable if you travel.
05
Maintenance plan
A new garden needs 6–12 months of establishment care, weekly watering, mulch top-ups, weeding. Factor this into the total cost.
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Typical pricing
What does landscaping cost in Australia?
So you know what’s fair to pay, not because cheapest is best.
Get a tighter estimate with our pricing calculatorTypical packages at a glance
Lawn mow + trim (average block)
$60–$140
What’s included
Mow, edge, whipper-snip, blow. 30–60 minutes on a standard 400–600sqm block.
When this fits
Fortnightly during growing season.
Garden maintenance (per hour or half-day)
$80–$200/hr
What’s included
Weeding, pruning, mulch spreading, general tidy. Green waste removal extra.
When this fits
Monthly upkeep, or quarterly seasonal tidy.
Hedge trimming
$150–$800
What’s included
Power trim, shape, clean-up. Hedge size and height drive price.
When this fits
Seasonally, usually after winter growth and before summer.
Mulching + turf refresh
$500–$2,500
What’s included
Mulch delivered and spread, existing lawn treatment, minor planting.
When this fits
Spring freshen-up of established gardens.
Small landscape project
$3,000–$12,000
What’s included
New garden bed, pathway, simple deck, or small retaining wall. Design + install.
When this fits
Refreshing one area without full overhaul.
Full backyard transformation
$20,000–$80,000+
What’s included
Design, hardscaping (deck, pergola, paving, retaining), irrigation, planting. Multi-week job.
When this fits
Renovation, moving in, or when the space doesn't work.
Quotes well below the entry tier usually skip prep work or use lower-grade product. Quotes above the premium tier are worth asking why. Use this as a fairness check, not a bargain hunt.
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What affects your quote
What affects your quote
A few factors do most of the work. Use them to decode why two quotes for “the same job” can be hundreds apart.
Hardscape vs softscape
Paving, decking, walls, stairs cost 3–10x more per sqm than garden beds and lawn.
Access
Narrow side-access or steep blocks need wheelbarrows and bobcats. Tight-access surcharges can double trenching costs.
Materials
Hardwood decking vs composite, natural stone vs concrete pavers, established plants vs seedlings, each choice can double or halve a category.
Design fee
Standalone landscape designers charge $1,500–$8,000 for a full concept and plan. Design-build landscapers often include design in the build price for larger jobs.
Get quotes in 30 secondsGet quotes broken down by every factor that matters.
How we vet specialists
Only specialists who meet our quality bar
We don’t list every business in your area, only the ones who pass our checks. Here’s what we look for.
Verified ABN
Every business is checked against the Australian Business Register before they can quote. Sole-trader cowboys without registration don't make the cut.
Strong review history
Listed businesses meet our review and rating bar. We don't feature unproven operators, and we audit ongoing review velocity.
Quick to respond
We monitor how quickly each business responds to quote requests. Slow responders fall down the matching order automatically.
Customer feedback after every job
Real customers rate every completed job. That signal decides who keeps showing up in your matches, and who quietly disappears.
Get quotes in 30 secondsEvery business in your shortlist has already passed all four checks.
Brands you’ll see
Common landscape materials
Brand and product names you’re likely to see in quotes.
Sir Walter / Buffalo turf
Most common lawn types in AU residential.
Trex / Modwood / EkoDeck
Composite decking brands.
Versiwall / Boral / Austral Bricks
Retaining wall systems.
Hunter / Rain Bird
Irrigation controllers and drippers.
Frequently asked
Frequently asked questions
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