Soft-scape vs hard-scape — real Melbourne pricing

Melbourne landscapers price in three buckets: soft-scape (lawn, garden beds, planting, irrigation), hard-scape (paving, walls, decks, driveways, drainage) and structures (pergolas, screens, water features). Soft-scape is where the margins are lowest and the quality difference is smallest. Hard-scape is where the money and the risk sit — this is where you need engineered detailing, particularly for retaining walls over 900mm.

• Turf-only refresh (small yard) — $6,000-$12,000
• Soft-scape package (irrigation, garden beds, planting, turf) — $12,000-$28,000
• Paving 40m² travertine / bluestone — $8,000-$18,000
• Retaining wall (structural, engineered) — $650-$1,400 per m² face
• Full backyard refresh (soft + hard) — $28,000-$65,000
• Full landscape design + hard-scape build — $70,000-$120,000+

Melbourne climate + soil — what breaks a landscape

Reactive basalt clay across most of metro Melbourne moves seasonally. Paving laid on unstabilised clay will heave and gap within 24 months. Retaining walls without proper drainage weep-holes and geo-fabric will bulge or fail. The four Melbourne-specific line items every quote should carry: (1) compacted road-base under all paving, (2) ag-drain behind every retaining wall over 600mm, (3) soil-improvement in garden beds (not just topsoil dump), (4) a proper irrigation controller with drip lines — not popup sprinklers on clay.

Victorian Building Authority (VBA) approvals + neighbour rules

Retaining walls over 1m usually trigger development approval. Fences that double as retaining walls need a neighbour consent under the Fences Act (SA) or Fences Act 1968 (VIC). Structures like pergolas within a certain setback of the boundary trigger their own approval. Your landscaper should own the Victorian Building Authority (VBA) lodgement, not you. If they say "no approval needed, don't worry", you're the one who gets the council letter.

How to shortlist a Melbourne landscaper

Landscape is unregulated (no mandatory licence for pure soft-scape) but hard-scape work above $12,000 in SA and above the DBI threshold in VIC needs an appropriately licensed / registered builder. Insist on:

• Verify VBA (practitioner registration) registration for hard-scape and retaining
• Ask for 3 completed jobs in your suburb — walk one if you can
• Insist on a fixed-price contract with itemised drainage line-items
• Confirm Domestic Building Insurance (DBI) certificate for anything over state DBI threshold
• Get the soil / drainage strategy in writing before the deposit
• Separate design fee from build fee — you own the design if you pay for it

Frequently asked questions