How much does landscaping and gardening cost in 2026?
If you're getting your garden ready to sell, each tidy-up job will usually cost you tens or hundreds of dollars, not thousands. Expect a small lawn mow to start at $40 to $55, and a basic garden tidy at $70 to $90, at most businesses that publish a price (October 2026), though a one-off visit can cost more.
Bigger landscaping jobs cost far more. Expect about $16.50 a square metre for Sir Walter buffalo turf before it's laid (the middle of 11 suppliers' prices), and about $80 to $160 a square metre for paving, going by one Sydney landscaper's indicative range. Before a bigger project, ask the agents you're comparing which jobs buyers in your area would notice.
How much does landscaping cost? The short list
Landscaping means building or reshaping a garden: hard parts such as paving, paths and walls, and soft parts such as soil, turf and plants. Gardening is looking after what's already there.
"From" prices are starting points, and your job may cost more.
| Job | What businesses publish (October 2026) |
|---|---|
| Lawn mow, small well-kept lawn | Starting prices of $40 to $55 at most businesses. Mows from $150 at one Perth business, one-off or regular |
| Basic garden tidy | Starting prices of $70 to $90 |
| Overgrown garden clean-up | Starting prices of about $150 to $350 or more |
| Gardener, one-off work | $59 to $75 an hour at one national chain |
| Two-person gardening crew | $180 an hour (Canberra), or $264 for a one-hour, one-off visit (regional Victoria), including GST |
| Hedge trimming | A guide rate of $50 to $65 an hour for hedges up to about 2 metres (Sydney), or from $149 a job (one Brisbane business) |
| Sir Walter buffalo turf, supply only | $13.50 to $20 a square metre. Middle price $16.50 |
| Sir Walter turf, supplied and laid on prepared (cleared, level) ground | $17 to $18 a square metre on lawns over about 160 to 180 square metres (two Queensland suppliers, one from its own pricing guide). On smaller lawns, a minimum laying fee applies, plus the turf: $395 to $480 at three suppliers |
| Paving, supplied and laid | About $80 to $160 a square metre (one Sydney landscaper's indicative range) |
| Concrete sleeper retaining wall | From about $350 to $600 a lineal metre, measured along the wall (one Adelaide builder) |
| Landscape design consultation | About $195 to $450 on designers' price pages, and from $550 on site at two others, or $350 online at one |
| Landscape design plan | A simple plan for a smaller yard, $500 to $2,500 at one designer. Concept plans from about $1,500 to $3,000 |
| 3D garden design | $2,400 to $3,800, by yard size (one designer, including GST) |
What's worth doing before you list, and what isn't?
No Australian study we know of measures which garden jobs lift a sale price, so it's worth weighing the cost against what buyers will see at the open home and in the listing photos.
| Jobs that cost hundreds | Projects that cost thousands | |
|---|---|---|
| Examples | Mowing, edging, weeding, pruning, mulching, turf over bare patches, clearing green waste | New paving, retaining walls, a designed garden, a full backyard landscape |
| Typical cost | $40 to a few hundred dollars a job | Commonly $15,000 to $50,000 or more for a full backyard makeover (one landscaper's indicative range) |
| Could suit you if | The garden looks untidy or overgrown in photos | Something is broken or unsafe, such as a collapsing wall, or agents say buyers in your area expect it |
| Worth asking | Whether one gardener can do the whole list in one visit | Whether the work will be finished, and the plants settled, before the photos |
A buyer who wants a different garden may redo yours anyway, so a big project is a bet on their taste. Our guides cover whether landscaping adds value and the jobs to do before you list.
How much does a gardener or garden maintenance cost?
If you book a gardener for a one-off job, expect to pay $59 to $75 an hour at one national chain. In Sydney, the same chain charges regular customers $50 an hour.
Many gardeners price by the visit or by the crew instead. In Canberra, you'd pay $180 an hour for a two-person crew at one business, including GST, travel and waste. In regional Victoria, a one-hour, one-off visit by two gardeners costs $264 at one business.
If you'd like the garden kept up regularly, the same Canberra business's fortnightly package is $8,760 a year, including GST.
Hedges and trees. For hedges up to about 2 metres, expect a guide rate of $50 to $65 an hour at one Sydney business. In Brisbane, one business charges from $149 a job.
If you have a small tree to prune, expect about $200 to $500, going by two tree businesses' own guides. They define "small" differently, though: under 5 metres at one, up to 10 metres at the other.
Check before you cut a tree. Some councils need a permit to prune or remove a tree. The permit, its fee and how long it takes depend on your council and the tree, so ask your council before you book the work.
Green waste. If you take it away yourself, one Melbourne recycler charges from $50 for a car-boot load and $155 for a 6x4 trailer. If you'd rather the gardener took it, some charge for that, from $45 at one Brisbane business.
If you're also pressure cleaning or painting before you list, our guides cover what pre-sale repairs and renovations cost and what painting a house costs.
How much does a landscaper charge per hour or per day?
Landscapers mostly quote by the job rather than publish an hourly or day rate. Ask for a quote that shows labour, materials and machinery hire separately, so you can compare like with like.
If you want a day rate to compare, the nearest we found is a gardening crew's. One regional Victorian business charges $1,760 for an eight-hour day by two people for regular customers, or $1,892 one-off, including GST.
How much does new turf cost?
If you're buying Sir Walter, a common variety of buffalo grass, expect to pay $13.50 to $20 a square metre.
That's the price shown for a typical backyard order, with a middle price of $16.50 across 11 turf farms and suppliers in four states. Small orders cost more (up to $21.30 a square metre at one Victorian farm), and delivery is usually extra. That farm also adds a 4.5 per cent fuel levy.
If you'd like it laid on prepared ground (cleared and levelled, with the old lawn gone), two Queensland suppliers charge $17 to $18 a square metre, turf included, for bigger lawns.
On a lawn under about 160 to 180 square metres, you'd pay their minimum laying fee of $395 or $440 instead of a per square metre laying charge, plus the turf itself.
Preparing the ground is the big extra. For a full job, with the old lawn removed and new soil laid, one Canberra landscaper charges from $50 a square metre on areas over 60 square metres. That price is on a page last updated in 2019.
Example: a 50 square metre front lawn. At the middle price of $16.50, the turf alone would cost you about $825.
Supplied and laid by either Queensland supplier, the same lawn comes to $1,340 to $1,415 with their minimum laying fee and delivery, before any ground preparation (one supplier's figure is from its own pricing guide). That's for exactly 50 square metres on ground that's ready, so confirm delivery, GST and preparation in a quote.
How much does landscaping cost per square metre?
Hard surfaces cost far more a square metre than turf. If you're paving, expect about $80 to $160 a square metre, supplied and laid, going by one Western Sydney landscaper's indicative range.
If you need a retaining wall, the same landscaper puts it at about $350 to $700 a square metre of wall face (the wall's length times its height). An Adelaide builder prices a standard home wall in concrete sleepers from about $350 to $600 a lineal metre, which is each metre along the wall.
Height, drainage and the material drive the price, so when you compare quotes, check they're for the same height and material.
Check before you build a wall. The rules vary by state and council, so ask your council or a building certifier first. In NSW, you can build a wall without approval only if it meets several conditions. These include being no higher than 600 millimetres and at least 1 metre from a boundary, with drainage that doesn't affect your neighbours.
In Victoria, a wall 1 metre or higher needs a building permit. A lower wall can too, depending on where it sits and what it holds up, such as when it's close to a boundary or a building.
How much does landscape design cost?
If you want a designer's advice, expect a first consultation to cost about $195 to $450 on designers' price pages. Two other designers' own pricing guides start at $550 for a consultation, or $350 online at one of them.
A simple design plan for a smaller yard, with the layout of plants and hard surfaces, costs $500 to $2,500 at one NSW South Coast designer. Full concept plans start at about $1,500 to $3,000. If you'd like 3D drawings, one Victorian designer charges $2,400 to $3,800 including GST, depending on the size of your yard.
A design suits a garden you plan to build and live with. If you're tidying up to sell, it's worth checking with agents whether buyers would notice the difference.
How much does it cost to landscape a backyard? Is $15,000 a good budget?
If you only need a tidy, $15,000 is far more than enough. For a full backyard makeover, it's at the lower end. A makeover commonly costs $15,000 to $50,000 or more, going by one Western Sydney landscaper's indicative range.
For a sense of what a budget of about $15,000 bought in 2019, the Canberra landscaper from the turf section still shows a fixed-price package from that year. The package was $15,000 plus GST ($16,500 including GST), for builders, new home owners and investors.
It included site preparation, a 20 metre paved path, 100 square metres of turf, garden beds with mulch and edging, and $1,000 of plants. The same landscaper's smallest fixed-price package was $9,000 plus GST. A 2019 price may not hold today, so ask for a current quote before you use either as a budget.
You'll often see a rule of thumb that you should budget 5 to 10 per cent of a home's value for landscaping. We couldn't find any study behind it. On a $600,000 home, that's $30,000 to $60,000: more than either Canberra package, and far more than you'd need to get an existing garden ready to sell.
To see the garden alongside your other selling costs, try our selling costs calculator, and swap in your own gardening quote.
Before you pay for anything
- Ask the agents you're comparing which garden jobs buyers in your area notice, and which they'd tell you to skip.
- Get two or three written quotes, and check each one lists labour, materials, delivery and green waste removal separately.
- Check whether prices include GST, and whether there's a minimum charge or call-out fee.
- Ask whether ground preparation is included. It often isn't in a per square metre price.
- Ask when the work will be finished, so the garden is ready before your listing photos.
Our guide to selling your home covers each step after that.
Where these figures come from
Every price on this page comes from a business's own website, such as its price list, rates, packages or online shop, all checked on 22 October 2026. A few come from a business's guide to its own prices or an indicative range on its pricing page, and we say so where they appear.
The businesses are in NSW, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia and the ACT, and prices vary from city to city. A business that charges the same price in several cities counts once.
We worked out a middle price only where at least five businesses published a comparable fixed price: the 11 turf prices. Some price pages carry older dates, and prices change, so check before you book.
