We produce comprehensive landscape designs that encompass everything within your garden space – pools, pavilions, entertainment areas, pergolas, retaining walls, planting, lawns and fencing. We make recommendations across all materials and colour palettes, including pool tiles.

We specialise in single-dwelling residential gardens, though our portfolio spans residential, rural and commercial projects. You can view some of our projects here.

Whenever you’re ready – but earlier is almost always better.

If your home is still under construction, starting now allows us to coordinate your landscape with your architect or building designer, ensuring that indoor and outdoor spaces connect seamlessly from day one.

If you’ve recently moved in, beginning the design process sooner means you can start enjoying your garden sooner.

And if you’re simply planning ahead, getting your design done early gives you a clear vision and a realistic budget to work toward – so when the time comes to build, you’re ready.

Absolutely, we can. If you are in the process of designing your home and already have contractors such as architects and interior designers on board, we collaborate with your team to ensure the garden design is cohesive with your home’s exterior and interiors.

Yes, and we’d encourage it. Starting your landscape design during the build phase means we can collaborate directly with your architect or building designer to coordinate indoor/outdoor spaces, levels, drainage and access. It’s the best way to ensure your finished home and garden feel like they were designed together – because they were.

It starts with a consultation. From there, we move through concept development and into your final master plan. One of our landscape designers guides you through each stage — keeping you informed, involved and confident in where your garden is heading.

One of our landscape designers will meet with you on-site or online to discuss your goals, ideas and everything specific to your garden. The consultation runs for 60–90 minutes and gives us the foundation we need to start designing – understanding how you live, what you love, and what you want to feel when you step outside.

On-site consultations:

Your designer will walk the property with you, getting to know your brief, your priorities and any site-specific considerations — sun and shade, privacy, access, problem areas and everything in between. From there, you’ll head indoors to explore design directions together. Your designer may sketch out a few ideas on the spot and will take detailed notes throughout.

If your home is still under construction, we’re happy to continue the consultation at a nearby café or at our Canterbury office.

Online consultations:

Online consultations follow the same structure, just via video call. We’ll ask you to send through any property plans in advance, then take us on a walk around your garden before we move into the design discussion.

On-site (within metropolitan Melbourne): $550 inc. GST

Online: $350 inc. GST

For properties further afield, travel fees may apply — please contact us to discuss.

After your consultation, we’ll send through a quote for the design project. This covers your concept sketches and master plan; it does not include any construction costs.

Absolutely. We’ve designed gardens across Australia and internationally, including in the US, UK, Europe and the Pacific Islands.

Our designers travel regularly and can often incorporate a site visit into their schedule. Online consultations are also available for clients further afield, and this is typically what we recommend at the early stages. Please note that for properties outside our standard service area, travel fees will apply. Get in touch, and we’ll talk through the best approach for your project.

Once you’re happy to proceed, we begin with a thorough site analysis — taking measurements, photographs and a careful assessment of your space and its conditions.

For larger or more complex properties, or where detailed plans aren’t available, we may recommend commissioning a professional survey before we begin sketching. We’ll let you know if this applies to your project.

From there, your designer explores design directions and develops a concept plan that maps out the layout, spatial flow and overall vision for your garden. We present this to you for feedback before anything is finalised.

With your feedback on the concept, your designer — working alongside a landscape architect — refines the plan into your final master plan. This includes scaled drawings with plant selections, colour palettes and material specifications: the complete document you’ll need to take your garden from design to reality.

Every design package includes:

Concept plan: a scaled drawing that establishes the overall layout, zones and spatial flow of the design. It’s about getting the bones right and your feedback before any detail is added.

Master plan: the master plan takes the approved concept and develops it into a fully detailed document – specifying materials, plant selection and colour palettes to bring the design to life.

Planting palette: a curated plant selection tailored to your garden, your climate and your lifestyle, with colour, texture and seasonality all considered.

3D visualisation: so you can see your garden before it’s built. The format varies by project, but the goal is always the same: to give you a confident, clear sense of how your garden will look and feel.

Lighting plans: lighting plans map out the placement and purpose of your outdoor lighting: pathway illumination, safety and security, feature lighting and evening ambience. Getting this right at the design stage means fixtures are properly integrated rather than retrofitted, and the result feels intentional rather than patched together.

Your quote will clearly outline all inclusions specific to your project.

Irrigation plans are not included as standard, as these are typically best handled by your landscaping contractor. Your irrigator will be on the ground during construction and is best placed to map out and manage the system based on the actual site conditions. That said, if you’d prefer that we include irrigation documentation as part of your design package, we’re happy to do so for an additional fee.

Construction documentation is also not included as standard, and for good reason: at the time of quoting, we don’t yet know what the final design will look like, and we don’t want to charge you for something you may not need.

Many projects are straightforward enough that your master plan provides everything a builder needs. Others, with more complex or unique elements, may benefit from additional detail drawings to bridge the gap between design and construction. If we determine, toward the end of the design phase, that construction documentation would be valuable for your project, we’ll provide a separate quote for that work at that time.

From accepting your quote to receiving your final plans, the design process typically takes 12–16 weeks. Timelines can be influenced by project complexity, feedback turnaround time, any required council input, and holiday periods. We’ll keep you updated throughout and let you know from the start if we anticipate the timeline to be extended.

The design phase alone takes 12–16 weeks. From there, you’ll need to obtain construction quotes, secure a builder, work through any required council approvals and schedule the build itself. Construction timeframes vary significantly depending on the scale and complexity of the project.

All up, a realistic timeline from first enquiry to a completed garden is often 12 to 24 months – sometimes longer for larger or more complex projects.

We share this not to discourage you, but because we’ve found that clients who understand the journey from the outset enjoy the process far more. The best gardens aren’t rushed. Starting sooner and planning properly is always the right approach.

Absolutely. We work across spaces of all sizes — from compact courtyards and apartment balconies to sprawling rural properties. Great design isn’t about square metres; it’s about making the most of what you have. Small spaces often produce our most inventive work.

No two quotes are the same. Your design fee is based on the size and complexity of your property, any site challenges (slopes, access, soil conditions), the scope of design elements and the level of documentation required.

Your initial consultation gives us everything we need to prepare an accurate, itemised quote – one that reflects your specific project, not a one-size-fits-all package.

Your design is a genuinely collaborative effort. You’ll work closely with your design team throughout the process.

If you’re happy to proceed after your consultation, you’ll be assigned a project lead and a landscape architect to create your master plan. Together, they bring both creative depth and technical rigour to your project. Both will get to know your vision, your brief and your lifestyle.

Your landscape architect will typically be your primary contact throughout the project, along with our administrative team.

Very much so – your input is essential! While we bring the expertise, you bring the preferences and the real-life knowledge of how you use your space.

We involve you at each key stage: the consultation, the concept presentation and the master plan review. Our role is to translate your ideas into something beautiful and buildable – not to work behind closed doors and present you with a done deal.

Some landscape projects require planning permits – typically those involving significant earthworks, retaining walls above certain heights, pools, or structures such as pavilions. Our designers will advise you on whether your project is likely to require council approval and, if so, what additional documentation, if any, is required to support the process. For more complex planning matters, we can recommend specialist consultants.

Some approvals and permits may be required at the construction stage of your project – our team will notify you if this is likely to be the case during the design phase.

Once your master plan is finalised, we’ll send you three printed copies and a digital copy. You’re welcome to take these to any landscaping company for a construction quote.

You can also request a quote from our construction team, Ian Barker Landscapes. If our team isn’t available for your timeline or able to service your area, we have trusted contractors across most areas we’d be happy to recommend.

For some projects, particularly those with more complex elements such as pools or pavilions, your builder or council may require detailed construction drawings. Your designer will advise you throughout the process on whether construction drawings are necessary for your project. If they are, we can quote them separately and include them in your design documentation.

Yes, and it’s one of the things our clients value most. Our design team works closely with Ian Barker Landscapes, our construction arm, and the two operate as one integrated service.

If you choose to proceed with us for construction, you benefit from a seamless handover: the people who designed your garden are closely involved in building it. No detail gets lost in translation between designer and builder, and no corners get cut when the team understand exactly what the design is trying to achieve.

We don’t, unfortunately. Our expertise is in full landscape design – considering hardscape and softscape together as one cohesive whole. In our experience, that’s where the real magic happens: when the structure of a garden and its planting are designed in tandem rather than treated as separate decisions.

The gardens people love most are the ones that were thought through properly before a single shovel hit the ground. A builder can absolutely construct what you describe, but translating a conversation into a cohesive, functional, beautiful garden is a different skill set entirely. A landscape design bridges that gap: it turns ideas into a precise, considered plan that a builder can price accurately and execute confidently. Skip the design, and you’re largely leaving the outcome to chance.

Many landscape construction contractors will require design plans to build a garden.