Sydney Landscaping Services

It runs in the order shown above. We start with a site visit and a measure — levels, aspect, access, what is already there and what is going. From that we produce a plan and a staged, itemised quote, so you can see what each part of the job costs before you commit to any of it. Once it is approved, the site is cleared, levels are cut, drainage and services go in, then structures, then hard surfaces, then soil, irrigation and planting, then turf and mulch. You get a handover walk-through and a watering regime for the first summer, and most clients keep us on for maintenance afterwards.

Yes, and it is usually the smarter option. Established trees and mature shrubs are worth far more than anything you can buy, and a level area or a sound retaining wall that already exists saves real money. We will tell you plainly which existing elements are worth keeping, which are salvageable with work, and which are quietly costing you — a wall with no drainage behind it, paving with a fall towards the house, or a tree species that was always going to lift the paths.

A courtyard refresh can be a week on site. A mid-size backyard with earthworks, retaining, paving and planting is typically four to six weeks of work, plus one to two weeks of design and quoting beforehand. Anything needing council approval adds weeks to months before the first day on site, and weather moves everything — you cannot pave, pour or plant into saturated ground. We give you a stage-by-stage schedule with the quote, and we tell you when a delay is weather rather than us.

We quote it rather than publish a rate, because the drivers are things we have to see. Access is the biggest one: whether a bobcat can get into the backyard or every barrow of soil and every paver goes through the house can change the price by a factor of two or three on an otherwise identical job. After that it is the fall on the block, what is under the ground, how much demolition and spoil removal there is, and how much of the yard ends up as hard surface. What you will get from us is a staged, itemised quote so you can see exactly where the money goes and stage the work if you want to.

Often no, sometimes yes. Planting, garden beds, mulching, turf, low garden edging and most paving at existing ground level are usually fine. Retaining walls past a certain height, structures, changes to drainage and stormwater, work in a heritage conservation area, work near a protected tree and anything that changes site levels significantly can all need approval — and the thresholds genuinely vary between councils. We will tell you when something you are asking for is likely to need checking, and we would rather raise it at the quote than discover it halfway through.

Yes, and you should ask every contractor the same question and look at the paperwork rather than take a verbal answer. In NSW, residential work above a set value must be done under a contractor licence, and above a higher value you are entitled to a written contract and insurance cover — the current thresholds are published by NSW Fair Trading. We carry public liability and can provide a certificate of currency before we start, which is standard for any strata or commercial work anyway.

Yes. For most residential projects a measured concept plan from us is enough to build from and is included in the process. For large or complex sites — significant structural retaining, pools, anything needing engineering or a development application — we will work alongside a landscape architect or engineer rather than pretend that scope is ours. We are equally happy to build from a plan someone else has drawn.

Yes, and a lot of Sydney work is exactly that. Terracing a sloping yard into usable flat areas is the highest-value change you can make to most blocks. The important parts are balancing cut and fill so soil is not being trucked in and out, getting proper drainage behind every retaining wall, and knowing when a wall has passed the height where it needs engineering. Where a slope is severe, decking over it is sometimes cheaper and less disruptive than excavating it.

Usually, yes — and it should be dealt with before anything decorative. The common causes are a fall running back towards the house, compacted clay with nowhere for water to go, downpipes discharging into the garden instead of into stormwater, and paving laid without drainage. The fixes are regrading, ag lines and pits taken to a legal discharge point, permeable surfaces, and sometimes a soakwell or a rain garden. Anyone who quotes you turf and plants for a yard that floods is selling you a repeat job.

Yes, and it is in the quote rather than a surprise at the end. Excavated soil, demolition waste and green waste all leave the site with us, sorted for recycling where it can be. If we find asbestos — which is common enough in old sheds, fencing and fill on older Sydney properties — we stop, leave it undisturbed and tell you, because removing it is legally restricted to licensed removalists.

The first summer decides everything. You get a written watering regime at handover — deep and infrequent, early in the morning, rather than a light daily sprinkle — and mulch at 75 mm kept back off the stems. We warrant our planting for establishment provided that regime is followed, and the simplest way to protect it is to have us back on a maintenance schedule, which is what most clients do.

All of them — the North Shore, Northern Beaches, Eastern Suburbs, Inner West, CBD, Western Sydney, the Hills District and Southern Sydney, from Bondi across to Greater Western Sydney.