Landscaper Guide

How it works

1. Walk the falls

   Point at where water sits after rain, where people will walk, and which trees or fences stay. A sketch with a datum beats a mood board.

2. Split plants from structure

   Turf and shrubs are not the same scope as a retaining wall or a driveway slab. Name the structural pieces so the right class can be checked.

3. Then read the class

   If the state registers landscaping, or the building work hidden inside it, the public search is where that shows. A sign on a truck is not the search.

Services

• Levels and surface water

  Setting grade so water leaves the slab edge, the path and the garage door.

• Planting and turf

  Beds, soil, edging and turf chosen for the aspect and for the ground that is actually there.

• Paving and gravel

  Bases and finished surfaces for paths, entertaining pads and steppers.

• Edges and modest walls

  Garden edging and low walls, with taller retaining work named when another class may apply.

• Reworking a tired yard

  Clearing, regrading and replanting what is already there, without pretending the visit is a structural build.

What a landscaper does

Landscapers shape the ground around a finished house. They set levels so water moves away from slabs and paths, build beds, lay edging, prepare turf, and place plants that suit the soil they find rather than the soil in a brochure. Paving, steppers and gravel often share the visit. A low wall may be included, or it may become a separate wall trade once the height and the load are real. Irrigation, if it is offered, should be its own line so a garden that struggles in January is not an argument about what was promised. Sketch the door, the low corner, and where rain sits after a storm. A planting plan that ponds against the house is the wrong plan.

The work fails when levels are guessed. A patio that ponds against a weep hole, a lawn that slopes into the garage, or a bed that buries a termite inspection gap is harder to undo than to set out properly. This trade is not the arborist who takes down a large tree, and not automatically the concreter who pours a structural driveway. Fences on a boundary need a look at whose posts are whose. Before the ground is cut, services below it need locating. Ask for the datum, the soil coming or going, and what you must water after handover. Separate paving, soil, and plants in the quote. A wall that holds soil may need a building licence once the height is real, so ask before the sleepers arrive.

• Taller walls that hold soil are often a separate booking.
• A structural driveway pour may move to this trade.
• Timber platforms beside the garden can be booked apart.

Licensing by state

When you need a licensed landscaper

Landscape construction in New South Wales, when a class applies, is confirmed through the NSW Fair Trading register. Any value test is a question for that regulator alone, with no figure copied here.

The Victorian check for whether landscaping is a registered class sits with the Building and Plumbing Commission landscaping entries.

QBCC is where Queensland licensed work is searched; look up whether your landscaping appears as a class.

Consumer and Business Services provides the South Australian search for whatever landscaping class that state records.

Structural garden work in Western Australia is checked by opening Building and Energy and reading any landscaping or building class that might apply.

CBOS in Tasmania publishes the tradesperson search, and landscaping classes, if registered, are named there.

Access Canberra holds Australian Capital Territory construction registers; see whether the landscaping you are buying appears.

Landscape work in the Northern Territory is checked by opening the building practitioner register and noting any matching class.

What changes the price

• Wheelbarrow distance from the street, a steep side path, or a courtyard gate too narrow for a machine changes the labour.
• Imported soil, a particular stone, or turf cut to order are materials decisions, distinct from using spoil already on the block.
• Paperwork for a wall, a crossover, or a protected tree sits apart from planting.
• Shoring a collapsed edge this week is booked differently from a garden planned for mild weather.
• Lighting a path so work can finish after the household is home is not a daytime programme.
• Rock, building rubble, or a high water table are ground conditions a surface photo hides.
• A second retaining line added after the first was set out changes the scope that was walked.

Hiring checklist

• Levels refer to a datum you agreed, such as a slab edge or a boundary peg.
• Soil leaving the block and soil arriving are both described.
• Turf, planting, mulch and edging are separate lines.
• Retaining walls are in this scope or handed to a wall contractor, with height described in words.
• Paving or gravel includes the base, not only the surface you will see.
• Services in the ground will be located before digging starts.
• Who waters new plants after handover is recorded.
• Boundary fences and a neighbour's structures are mentioned if the work touches them.
• How machines enter the yard, and what might be marked, is described.
• Fall away from the house is a stated outcome.

Questions to ask

• Are levels taken from a datum you have agreed?
• Who locates drains, cables and old irrigation before the ground is cut?
• Is clay removed, buried, or covered with imported soil?
• Are retaining walls in this scope or with a wall contractor?
• What must you water after handover, and for how long is that your task?
• How are a neighbour's fence and overhanging roots treated?

Landscapers in your city

City pages open when a city has enough published listings. See landscapers near you.

Featured landscapers

• Australian Landscape Supplies

  Eagle Farm

• Australian Native Landscapes

  Bathurst

• ABN checked

  Bega Landscape Supplies

  Bega

• ABN checked

  Bulk Granite Haulage

  Caboolture

• ABN checked

  CMS Landscaping

  Ocean Grove

• ABN checked

  Damon Fuhrer Landscapes

  Fitzroy

Search landscapers in the directory

Common questions

Sources and review

Reviewed 2026-10-22.

• NSW Fair Trading licence search Checked 2026-10-22.
• Victorian practitioner check Checked 2026-10-22.
• QBCC licensee register Checked 2026-10-22.
• South Australia licence holder search Checked 2026-10-22.
• Western Australia licence search Checked 2026-10-22.
• Tasmania licensed tradesperson search Checked 2026-10-22.
• Access Canberra construction registers Checked 2026-10-22.
• NT building practitioner register Checked 2026-10-22.
• LBP public site Checked 2026-10-22.