Landscaping contract, 6 Harrowgate Lane backyard build

Landscaping contract template with a plant schedule and an establishment period

A garden build is two jobs in one: construction that is finished when it is finished, and planting that is only finished three months later. This contract prices the construction in four stages, lists every plant with its pot size and quantity, and holds the landscaper to a 90 day establishment period for anything that dies.

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Landscaping contract

Backyard Build, 6 Harrowgate Lane

Between Terra Form Landscapes and Ines Moreau

Terra Form Landscapes

On site from 2 March 2027

Landscaping contract · 6 Harrowgate Lane · job TF-2027-12Page 2 of 5

Landscaping contract · 6 Harrowgate Lane · job TF-2027-12Page 3 of 5

Landscaping contract · 6 Harrowgate Lane · job TF-2027-12Page 4 of 5

Landscaping contract · 6 Harrowgate Lane · job TF-2027-12Page 5 of 5

Parties

This contract is made on 12 February 2027 between Terra Form Landscapes, of 40 Kilburn Road, Rosewood, called the Landscaper, and Ines Moreau of 6 Harrowgate Lane, called the Client. It covers the construction and planting of the rear garden shown on the plan dated 30 January 2027.

$32,000

Contract sum

4

Stages

2 Mar 2027

On site

90 days

Establishment

1. The works

1.1

Scope

Demolition of the existing concrete path and two raised beds, excavation and levelling of about 140 square metres, a subsurface drainage line to the street kerb, a 24 square metre sandstone paved terrace, two timber sleeper retaining walls to 600 millimetres, an irrigated garden bed system, turf to the remaining lawn area, and the planting set out in clause 2. The works are those shown on drawing L-01 revision B, planting plan L-02 revision B and levels sheet L-03, all dated 30 January 2027, and where the plan and this contract disagree this contract prevails.

1.2

Exclusions

Fencing, the pergola, outdoor lighting beyond the two bollards shown, the water feature, pool works, tree removal requiring a council permit, and any rock breaking beyond the allowance in clause 3.3. Each can be quoted separately.

2. Plant schedule

Plant	Common name	Pot size	Quantity	Position
Waterhousea floribunda	Weeping lilly pilly	45 L	3	Rear screen
Magnolia Little Gem	Dwarf magnolia	45 L	2	North bed
Westringia Grey Box	Coastal rosemary	200 mm	18	Terrace edge
Dianella Little Jess	Flax lily	140 mm	36	Front of beds
Lomandra Tanika	Mat rush	140 mm	42	Drainage swale
Gardenia Florida	Gardenia	200 mm	9	Path border
Trachelospermum	Star jasmine	200 mm	12	Retaining wall
Sir Walter buffalo	Turf, laid and rolled	Roll	68 m2	Lawn area

Plant	Common name	Pot size	Quantity	Position
Waterhousea floribunda	Weeping lilly pilly	45 L	3	Rear screen
Magnolia Little Gem	Dwarf magnolia	45 L	2	North bed
Westringia Grey Box	Coastal rosemary	200 mm	18	Terrace edge
Dianella Little Jess	Flax lily	140 mm	36	Front of beds
Lomandra Tanika	Mat rush	140 mm	42	Drainage swale
Gardenia Florida	Gardenia	200 mm	9	Path border
Trachelospermum	Star jasmine	200 mm	12	Retaining wall
Sir Walter buffalo	Turf, laid and rolled	Roll	68 m2	Lawn area

Plant	Common name	Pot size	Quantity	Position
Waterhousea floribunda	Weeping lilly pilly	45 L	3	Rear screen
Magnolia Little Gem	Dwarf magnolia	45 L	2	North bed
Westringia Grey Box	Coastal rosemary	200 mm	18	Terrace edge
Dianella Little Jess	Flax lily	140 mm	36	Front of beds
Lomandra Tanika	Mat rush	140 mm	42	Drainage swale
Gardenia Florida	Gardenia	200 mm	9	Path border
Trachelospermum	Star jasmine	200 mm	12	Retaining wall
Sir Walter buffalo	Turf, laid and rolled	Roll	68 m2	Lawn area

2.1

Plant quality, soil and mulch

Every plant in the schedule above is supplied at the pot size stated, healthy and true to name, and a substitution is made only with the Client's written agreement to a plant of the same habit and mature size. Beds are excavated to 300 millimetres, backfilled with a certified organic garden mix to Australian Standard, and topped with 75 millimetres of hardwood chip mulch held clear of every stem. The turf area is topdressed with 50 millimetres of washed sandy loam and rolled.

3. Price and payment

3.1

Contract sum

The contract sum is $32,000 for the scope in clauses 1 and 2, including all plant, soil, mulch, paving, timber, drainage, irrigation, machine hire, spoil removal and labour.

Stage	Claimable when	Share	Amount
1	Demolition, excavation and spoil removed	20%	$6,400.00
2	Drainage in, retaining walls built and backfilled	30%	$9,600.00
3	Terrace paved, irrigation run and tested	30%	$9,600.00
4	Planting, turf, mulch and site clean complete	20%	$6,400.00
Contract sum			$32,000.00

3.2

Claims and payment

Each stage is claimed when the work in the table is finished, and payment is due seven days from the claim. The Landscaper photographs each stage before the next one covers it, so a later question about drainage or backfill can be answered from the record rather than from memory.

3.3

Rock and fill allowance

Six hours of rock breaking and 8 cubic metres of imported fill are included. Anything beyond that is charged at $185 an hour for the breaker and $92 a cubic metre delivered, approved in writing before it is done. The Client is told the same day if rock is found.

4. Drainage

4.1

Where the water goes

A 100 millimetre slotted agricultural line is laid in aggregate and geotextile along the low side of the yard, connected to a sump behind the terrace and piped to the kerb at a fall of no less than 1 in 100. Surface levels fall away from the dwelling at no less than 1 in 50 for the first metre.

4.2

What drainage does not promise

The system is designed for ordinary rainfall on this site. It does not make the yard immune to a storm that exceeds the street system, and it does not fix water entering from a neighbouring property. The Landscaper says so before it starts rather than after the first storm.

5. Establishment period

5.1

Ninety days

For 90 days from the day planting is finished, the Landscaper replaces at its own cost any plant in the schedule that dies, provided the Client has watered to the written schedule handed over at completion and has not changed the irrigation settings.

5.2

What is not covered

Loss from a failure to water, from a pet, from a frost or hail event, from vandalism, or from a change the Client makes to the irrigation or the soil. Turf is covered for 30 days rather than 90, because turf establishment depends almost entirely on watering. Two maintenance visits are included, at 30 and 75 days, to adjust the irrigation, top up mulch, check stakes and ties and replace anything failing.

6. Site, safety and insurance

6.1

Access and the site

Access is through the side gate, which the Landscaper widens temporarily and reinstates at its cost. Machines work between 7 am and 4 pm on weekdays and until noon on Saturdays. The Landscaper protects the neighbour's fence and the existing jacaranda with hoarding, and sweeps the street at the end of each day. Before any excavation it obtains service plans and pot holes by hand within 500 millimetres of a marked service, and it holds public liability cover of $20 million and workers compensation as required by law.

7. Variations, defects and ending

7.1

Changing it, standing behind it, ending it

A change to the plan, the plant schedule or the materials is priced and agreed in writing before it is done, and unquoted extra work is charged at $78 a labour hour. Workmanship on the paving, walls and drainage is warranted for two years, and consumer guarantees under the Australian Consumer Law apply and are not limited by this contract. Either party may end this contract if the other is in serious breach and has not fixed it within 10 business days of written notice, and the Landscaper is then paid for work carried out and for plant already bought. This contract, the plan and the plant schedule are the whole agreement and replace the quotation dated 22 January 2027.

For Terra Form Landscapes

Name

Position

Date

The Client, Ines Moreau

Name

Date

Section by section

What each section is for, so you can keep the ones you need and drop the rest.

Cover: A contract cover naming the build, both parties and the start date.
Parties and key terms: Landscaper and client, then the contract sum, the stages and the establishment period.
1. The works: Demolition through to turf, the three drawings that govern, and what is excluded.
2. Plant schedule: Eight plant rows with pot size, quantity and position, plus soil, mulch and plant quality.
3. Price and payment: The $32,000 sum in four verifiable stages, staged photographs, and the rock and fill allowance.
4. Drainage: Where the water goes, the falls used, and what the system does not promise to do.
5. Establishment period: Ninety days of replacement, the exclusions, and the two maintenance visits included.
6. Site, safety and insurance: Access and hours, protection of the fence and tree, services located before digging, and cover.
7. Variations, defects and ending: Changes in writing, two year workmanship on the hard landscaping, and what this replaces.
Signatures: A block for the landscaper and one for the client.

Clauses in this document

How to adapt this agreement

For a maintenance round rather than a build, delete the stage payments and the establishment period and replace them with a visit schedule and a monthly fee, keeping only the plant schedule as a record of what is on site. For a commercial or council job, add a defects liability period of 12 months on the hard landscaping, a traffic management clause, and a requirement that plants come with a nursery certificate. For a design and construct job where the landscaper also drew the plan, add an intellectual property clause saying who owns the drawings and whether the client can build them with someone else, because that is the argument that follows a rejected quote.

What makes this document work

The plant schedule is specific enough to price

Eight rows give botanical name, common name, pot size, quantity and position, from three 45 litre lilly pillies down to 42 lomandra in the drainage swale. A substitution needs written agreement and a plant of the same habit and mature size.

The establishment period says what it does not cover

Ninety days of free replacement is only useful if both sides know the limits. Clause 5.2 excludes loss from failure to water, pets, frost, hail and vandalism, and drops turf to 30 days because turf lives or dies on watering.

Drainage is described by fall, not by promise

Clause 4.1 sets a 100 millimetre agricultural line in aggregate and geotextile, piped to the kerb at no less than 1 in 100, with surface falls of 1 in 50 away from the house. Clause 4.2 then says plainly what it will not fix.

Questions people ask

What should a landscaping contract include?

The scope and the drawings that govern it, a plant schedule with quantities and sizes, the soil and mulch specification, the contract sum broken into stages, an allowance for rock and fill, the drainage design, an establishment period, access and services, and how variations are agreed.

What is a plant establishment period?

A period after planting when the landscaper replaces anything that dies at its own cost. Here it is 90 days for plants and 30 for turf, conditional on the client watering to the written schedule handed over at completion and not changing the irrigation settings.

How are landscaping payments usually structured?

Against stages that are easy to see. This contract uses four: 20 percent at demolition and excavation, 30 at drainage and retaining walls, 30 at paving and irrigation, and 20 at planting and clean up, which adds to the $32,000 contract sum.

What happens if the excavator hits rock?

Six hours of rock breaking and eight cubic metres of imported fill are already in the price. Beyond that it is $185 an hour for the breaker and $92 a cubic metre delivered, approved in writing first, and the client is told the same day rock is found.

Does a landscaper guarantee the yard will never flood?

No, and clause 4.2 says so before the first storm rather than after it. The system is designed for ordinary rainfall on that site. It does not make the yard immune to a storm that overwhelms the street system, and it does not fix water arriving from a neighbouring property.

Who checks for underground services before digging?

The landscaper. Clause 6.1 requires service plans to be obtained before any excavation and hand pot holing within 500 millimetres of a marked service, which is the step that stops a machine finding a water main or a communications cable.

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Sources

Written and checked by the OneCraft team. Last checked 12 September 2026.