Find a trusted landscaper on the Gold Coast

Gardens that never stop growing

The Gold Coast’s warm, wet summers mean a garden can double in size in a season, so the best landscape plans start by asking how much cutting back you want to do. A good landscaper will steer you towards plants that suit the spot rather than fight it: salt-tolerant coastal species like pandanus, banksia and lomandra within sight of the beach, and shade-loving tropical foliage under big trees. Warm-season turf such as buffalo, couch and zoysia does well here, but each likes a different mix of sun and shade.

Soil matters as much as plants. Beachside and canal-estate yards are often sandy and drain fast, so they need organic matter worked in before turf or beds go down. New homes in growth suburbs like Coomera, Pimpama and Ormeau can be handed over with compacted fill and little topsoil, so finishing a new-build yard properly often starts with soil, not plants.

Slopes, storms and the pool fence

Hillside estates like Pacific Pines, Upper Coomera and Reedy Creek, along with blocks in the hinterland, often need retaining walls to create a usable yard. Queensland lets you build a wall up to 1 metre high without building approval, provided it’s at least 1.5 metres from the house or another wall and nothing heavy sits above it. Fail any one of those tests and the wall needs building approval, normally with engineering.

Summer storms test every yard. Water should fall away from the house, walls need drainage behind them, and paved areas need somewhere for the runoff to go. If you have a pool, keep in mind that garden beds, walls and big plants near the pool fence can create footholds a child could climb, which can make the barrier non-compliant with Queensland’s pool safety rules. A landscaper who works around pools often will plan for that.

When a landscaper needs a QBCC licence

Planting, turf and garden maintenance are unlicensed work in Queensland. Retaining walls, paving, decks, pergolas and fences are a different matter. When that structural work is worth more than $3,300 with materials included, it must be done under a QBCC Structural landscaping licence. Get the licence number, look it up on the QBCC licensee register, and use our Queensland licence checks if the job also needs, say, a plumber for the stormwater.

What landscaping costs on the Gold Coast

Rates here are close to Brisbane’s. Expect about $50 to $100 an hour for garden work, with anything bigger priced as a fixed job. Turf supplied and laid is usually $10 to $25 per m², and pavers on a compacted base $60 to $120 per m². Retaining walls are priced by the face area, typically $250 to $700 per m². A concept and planting plan for a suburban block is typically $1,500 to $6,000. More jobs are in the landscaping price guide, and every figure there is indicative.

Finding one landscaper who fits the job

Sketch out the yard for us in a sentence or two: the size, the slope and what you’d like to use it for. We’ll introduce one landscaper who covers your suburb, after vetting their licence, insurance, ABN and reviews, and your number goes nowhere else. Read how landscaper matching works, browse more trades on the Gold Coast, or request a free quote.