Fernline What landscaping really costs out here.
Two quotes for the same garden can differ by tens of thousands, and the gap is almost never the plants. It is the drainage, the engineering and the spec one of them quietly left out. Here is how we make our pricing comparable: honest ranges, the six things that move the number, and a written proposal that names every line.
Work out the scope, then ballpark the cost.
A two-question steer between refresh, rebuild and redesign, then a one-minute range. Both are free, store nothing, and end in a design visit, not a hard sell.
Refresh, rebuild or redesign?
Answer two questions for an honest steer. Not a quote, not a design.
Ballpark your landscaping
An honest range in under a minute. Every project is designed on paper and quoted line by line before anything is built.
Honest ranges for Northern Beaches gardens.
| The no-drawings makeover (No design, no drainage plan.) | $4,000 to $8,000 |
| Garden refresh & replant (Planting, edging, mulch, repairs.) | $8,000 to $25,000 |
| Deck + pergola (Hardwood, engineered, certified.) | $15,000 to $45,000 |
| Retaining walls (Engineered over 600mm, drainage included.) | $12,000 to $40,000 |
| Full design + construct (Levels, structures, planting, approvals.) | $40,000 to $120,000+ |
| Grounds care (home or strata) (Scheduled visits, scoped to the site.) | From $250/visit |
Six things that decide where your quote lands.
None of these are hidden in our proposals. Each one is a named line, so you can see exactly what you are paying for and why.
Six levers. One honest range.
Slope & access
A level block with side access and a steep one where every barrow is carried by hand are different jobs. Machine access can halve earthworks cost, and we say so.
Drainage & soil
Sand drains, clay does not, and half the Beaches is one sitting on the other. Getting water away protects everything built above it, so it is priced in, not discovered.
Structures & engineering
Walls over 600mm, decks over a metre and anything near a boundary bring engineering and certification. Real costs, named in the proposal.
Materials, named
Spotted gum vs treated pine, sandstone vs concrete block, the spread is wide and legitimate. The proposal names the material so you compare like for like.
Planting density & maturity
Tubestock takes three years to look like the drawing, 45-litre stock looks like it on day one. We price the schedule both ways if budget is tight.
Approvals & bushfire
DA or CDC for structures over thresholds, BAL ratings near bushland, tree permits. The approvals path is scoped up front, never mid-build.
Seven lines, and not one of them says 'allowance'.
Every Fernline proposal itemises the same seven things, so a $60,000 garden is comparable line for line against any other quote you hold.
Seven lines. Every one in writing.
- 01The scaled design
- 02Site prep & drainage
- 03Structures, itemised
- 04Materials, named
- 05The planting schedule
- 06Approvals & certification
- 07Warranty & handover care
“$4,500 the house” by text → seven lines, priced.
- 1 The scaled design. A measured plan of your block, drawn to scale and signed off by you before anything is dug or ordered.
- 2 Site prep & drainage. Excavation, soil improvement and where the water goes. Priced as its own line, never buried in "site costs".
- 3 Structures, itemised. Deck, pergola, retaining walls and steps, each with its spec, footing detail and engineering where required.
- 4 Materials, named. Spotted gum or blackbutt, sandstone or block, named in the proposal so nothing gets quietly substituted.
- 5 The planting schedule. Every plant by species and pot size, chosen for your soil, sun and salt exposure, not a "$3,000 planting allowance".
- 6 Approvals & certification. DA, CDC or exempt, stated up front. Where approval or engineering is needed, the path and the cost are in the proposal.
- 7 Warranty & handover care. The 5-year structural warranty in writing, plus a 12-week establishment plan so the planting actually survives.
What you get from us
- ✓A scaled design you sign off before we dig
- ✓Drainage planned before paving, not after the first storm
- ✓Engineered footings on walls over 600mm, certified
- ✓Plants named by species, chosen for salt and soil
- ✓A 5-year structural warranty in writing
Cowboy tells
- ✕A sketch on a quote form and "she will be right"
- ✕Paving laid straight onto clay, puddles by winter
- ✕A sleeper wall holding two metres of someone's lawn
- ✕A trailer of "assorted natives" from the markets
- ✕A warranty that lapses when the ute leaves
Which option does your garden actually need?
Garden refresh & replant
New planting, mulch, edging and small repairs on the bones you already have. The honest option when the structure is sound.
Wrong when: A wall is leaning or the deck bounces, fix the structure first.
Structured garden rebuild
A new deck, pergola or retaining wall with the garden rebuilt around it. Our bread and butter on Northern Beaches blocks.
Wrong when: The whole yard fights you, then staging a full redesign costs less twice.
Full design + construct
The whole outdoor space designed and rebuilt: levels, drainage, structures, planting. Needs a real design and sometimes council approval, all handled by us.
Wrong when: The bones already work, you would be paying for disruption.
Grounds care & maintenance
Scheduled grounds care for homes, strata and commercial sites: pruning, mowing, gardens kept to spec, reported each visit.
Wrong when: The garden needs rebuilding, maintenance cannot fix a design problem.
The money questions, answered straight.
Why is the design a separate cost?
Why are landscaping quotes so different from each other?
Can I get a ballpark before committing to a design?
What pushes a project to the top of its range?
Read deeper before you compare quotes
Get a proposal you can actually compare.
Tell us about your block. We walk it with you, talk budget honestly, and design the garden on paper before anyone digs.