How to Prepare Your Yard for Landscaping: A Homeowner's Checklist

The days before a landscaping crew starts on site are worth more than most homeowners realise. A yard that's properly prepared runs on schedule, avoids variations, and costs less. A yard that isn't loses days in the first week — days you're still paying for. Here's the checklist we walk clients through before we lift a shovel.

Pots, garden ornaments, kids' toys, the trampoline, the pizza oven — anything you want to survive the build needs to be out of the work zone before day one. Machinery, wheelbarrows, and stacks of sandstone don't negotiate around your possessions.

If you're not sure whether an established plant will make it through construction, ask your landscaper to tag and protect it in writing. "We'll try to save the frangipani" isn't a plan.

Access is the single biggest cost variable on any landscaping job. A truck that can reverse to the back fence is one price; a wheelbarrow relay through a 900mm side gate is another entirely. Before quotes are finalised, confirm: minimum side-passage width, gate widths (measure with the gate open), any overhead obstructions, and whether the neighbour's driveway is available to swing off.

If access is genuinely tight, ask about crane lifts. On the right project, a half-day crane hire ($2,000–$4,000) pays for itself twice over versus a week of hand-barrowing.

Free of charge, order a Dial Before You Dig (now Before You Dig Australia) report for your property. It maps water, gas, electrical, and NBN lines under your yard. Hand it to your landscaper before excavation. Hitting a service you didn't know about is a bad day; hitting one that was on a plan you had is an insurance claim.

Also flag: septic tanks, greywater lines, pool plumbing, and any owner-installed irrigation or low-voltage lighting.

Give the neighbours on both sides a week's notice, ideally in person. Mention start date, likely duration, and rough working hours. It costs nothing and heads off nine complaints in ten.

If your project involves work on a shared boundary (fence replacement, dividing retaining wall, tree removal near the line), the conversation needs to happen before contracts are signed, not after.

Choose your paving, timber species, wall stone, and plant palette before work starts — not during it. The three most common delay-causing decisions: pool paving colour, front-door pathway material, and which trees to remove versus retain. Making these calls at the quote stage locks price and prevents the drift that adds weeks to a build.

A well-prepared site lets a landscaping crew do what they're actually good at: build. A day of prep from you can save a week of hourly rates from them. If you'd like a pre-start walk-through of your Sydney or Sutherland Shire property, we're happy to run one before you commit to any contract.