How to Quote a Landscaping Job: New Zealand Landscaper's Pricing Guide

Landscaping is one of the trickiest trades to price because a single job often rolls earthworks, retaining, planting and irrigation into one scope, and each piece carries a different rate. Split the job into elements, price each on its own, and the quote comes together faster while your margin stays protected. Here is how to price landscaping work for the New Zealand market.

Why landscaping quotes need to be itemised

A single line that reads "backyard makeover, 22,000 dollars" leaves you exposed. Landscaping invites scope creep: the client adds a path, swaps the plants, asks for a taller retaining wall. Breaking the work into separate lines gives you a clean basis for variations and shows the client exactly where their money goes, which makes a larger total easier to accept.

Common landscaping rates (2025 NZ market)

• Ready lawn supply and lay: 18 to 32 dollars per m2 including ground prep
• Timber sleeper retaining wall (H4 treated): 220 to 380 dollars per linear metre
• Concrete sleeper or block retaining wall: 380 to 700 dollars per linear metre
• Paving supply and lay: 90 to 180 dollars per m2 depending on paver and pattern
• Garden bed prep, soil and mulch: 45 to 90 dollars per m2
• Residential irrigation system: 1,800 to 5,000 dollars depending on zones and area
• Excavation and earthworks: 110 to 200 dollars per hour for a digger and operator

Treat these as guide ranges. Site access is the biggest single variable in landscaping. A back section reachable only through a narrow side gate eats far more labour than one with rear lane or driveway access.

Retaining walls and building consent

Landscaping itself carries no occupational licence in New Zealand, but retaining walls do trigger rules. A retaining wall over 1.5m high, or one closer to a boundary or carrying a surcharge such as a driveway above it, generally needs a building consent and often an engineer or a Licensed Building Practitioner (LBP). Use H4 treated timber for any in-ground structural element. Permeable paving and stormwater disposal rules vary by council, so confirm the local requirements before you price the drainage.

What a landscaping quote should include

• Business name, GST number (from IRD) and contact details
• Quote number, date and expiry, since plant and material prices shift with the season
• Client name and site address
• Itemised scope by element: earthworks, retaining, turf, beds, irrigation, paving
• Materials and labour listed separately
• Plant schedule where planting is involved, with species, grade and quantity
• GST at 15 percent, payment terms and a clear exclusions list

How to price materials and plants

Charge soil, mulch, aggregate and plants at cost plus 20 to 30 percent. Landscaping materials are bulky, easy to under order and often perishable, so the markup covers sourcing, delivery, wastage and the extra trip back to the supplier. For planting, quote a named schedule (for example, 5 Griselinia 2 litre, 3 Carex 1.5 litre) so there is no argument later about what was supplied.

Exclusions that protect your margin

• "Assumes clear machinery access. Manual cartage quoted separately."
• "Excavation assumes standard soil. Rock or fill removal charged at cost."
• "Retaining over 1.5m, consent and engineering at client cost unless listed."
• "Plant establishment and ongoing maintenance not included."
• "Council approvals and stormwater connections at client cost."

Quote on-site with landscaping quoting software

The best moment to quote a landscaping job is while you are standing in the yard with the client. You can read the access, the levels and the existing site, and the client is already engaged. The catch is that an itemised landscaping quote takes time to write up by hand, so most landscapers leave it until that evening or the weekend, by which point the client is comparing three other quotes.

Quoting software closes that gap. Describe the job (turf area, retaining length, garden beds, irrigation) or upload a plan, and current NZ rates are applied to materials, plants and labour in well under a minute. You review, adjust any line, and send a branded PDF before you leave the property. Getting the quote out first, on the spot, is the strongest lever a landscaper has on win rate.

Related guides

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• See how Insta Quotes works for landscapers