What landscaping costs in Mickleham

Landscaping in Mickleham is priced mostly by the square metre for each surface, plus whole-job items such as irrigation and site preparation. Published Melbourne guides put a full landscape for a new home starting from bare ground at $13,500 to $54,000. Where your lot falls in that range depends on its size, slope, access and the finishes you pick. The figures below are published guide ranges, not quotes; Mickleham Landscaping does not set prices, and the provider you are referred to prices the job after seeing your site.

Published price ranges

Most figures come from a Melbourne price guide published by What’s The Damage, updated October 2026, which says its prices include GST and apply to the Melbourne metro area. One national figure for synthetic turf from the Yellow Pages turf cost guide is added for comparison. Segmental block walls are not in the Melbourne table, so ask for them to be priced as a separate line.

Item	Published range	Source
Natural turf, supplied and laid	$14 to $36 per sqm	Melbourne guide
Synthetic turf, supplied and installed	$45 to $110 per sqm	Melbourne guide
Standard residential synthetic turf, supplied and installed	$50 to $75 per sqm	Yellow Pages, national
Pavers, supplied and laid	$54 to $145 per sqm	Melbourne guide
Exposed aggregate concrete, laid	$125 to $210 per sqm	Melbourne concreting guide
Timber sleeper retaining wall (per square metre of wall)	$135 to $450 per sqm	Melbourne guide
Concrete sleeper retaining wall (per square metre of wall)	$225 to $630 per sqm	Melbourne guide
New garden bed with soil, edging, plants and mulch	$45 to $160 per sqm	Melbourne guide
Automatic multi-zone irrigation, front and back	$2,250 to $5,400	Melbourne guide
Garden design plan	$720 to $4,500 per plan	Melbourne guide
Basic backyard makeover	$4,500 to $13,500	Melbourne guide

Ranges are wide because the same item can be a simple job on a flat, open lot or a slow one on a slope with no access. Use them to sense-check a quote, not to predict one.

What drives the price of a Mickleham landscaping job?

Site preparation. New estate lots usually need rubble removed, compacted clay ripped and soil imported before anything is laid. A quote that looks cheap per square metre may have left this out.

Levels and drainage. Getting falls away from the house and towards the stormwater pits can mean cutting and filling. On benched lots it often means a retaining wall.

Access. Narrow side setbacks are common in new estates. If a small loader cannot get through, soil, rock and pavers are barrowed in by hand, which multiplies labour hours.

Material choice. In the Melbourne guide above, exposed aggregate sits higher per square metre than pavers, and concrete sleeper walls sit higher than timber sleeper walls. Concrete generally outlasts timber in the ground.

Size. Small areas carry fixed costs for delivery, setup and travel, so a courtyard can cost more per square metre than a large back yard.

Permits and engineering. A retaining wall 1 m or higher, or one on a boundary where it could damage the neighbouring property, needs a building permit, and taller walls need an engineer. Those fees sit outside the per square metre wall price. Ask for them to be listed.

Disposal. Removing old concrete, lawn or spoil from excavation adds tip fees and truck hire.

What does a quote usually include, and what does it leave out?

Usually included	Often extra, so check
Labour and supervision	Removal of builder’s rubble and spoil
The listed materials (turf, pavers, concrete, sleepers, plants)	Imported soil and underlay
Base preparation under paving and synthetic grass	Building permit, surveyor and engineer fees
Edging where specified	Machine float delivery
Clean-up of the work area	Irrigation, unless listed
	Sealer for exposed aggregate
	Estate design approval resubmissions

How do you compare landscaping quotes?

1. Line items by area. Front, back and sides priced separately, with square metres for each surface.
2. Named products. Turf variety, synthetic product and pile height, paver range and colour, sleeper type and post size.
3. Base and preparation. The depth and material under paving and synthetic grass, and whether ripping and soil import are included.
4. Drainage. Where water from paving, lawn and retaining wall drains will go.
5. Exclusions. A written list of what is not included.
6. Registration and insurance. If the job includes domestic building work such as a retaining wall or fence and the contract price passes the threshold on the Building and Plumbing Commission landscaping page, the provider must be appropriately registered, and above a higher threshold domestic building insurance is required. Check registration on the BPC register.
7. Timing. Start date, how long each stage takes, and how weather delays are handled.

Splitting a job does not change the rules

The Building and Plumbing Commission says that where landscaping is carried out in stages under separate contracts, the initial agreement and the later contracts are treated as a single contract for the purposes of the Domestic Building Contracts Act 1995. Staging work to spread cost is fine; staging it to keep each piece under a threshold does not avoid the registration and insurance rules. Consumer Affairs Victoria’s building contracts page explains what a major domestic building contract must contain.

Red flags

• A single lump sum with no square metres or materials listed.
• No mention of base preparation under paving or synthetic grass.
• Retaining walls on a boundary priced with no mention of a permit.
• A request for a large cash payment before any materials arrive.
• Reluctance to give a registration number when the job includes a wall or fence.
• Pressure to sign the same day.
• Plans to put synthetic turf or retaining walls on the nature strip, which Hume City Council does not permit.

Saving money without cutting corners

• Do the hard surfaces and levels properly now, and stage planting later.
• Choose real turf for large open areas and keep synthetic for shade or high-wear spots.
• Use gravel or mulch in low-traffic areas instead of paving.
• Check whether your estate developer’s front landscaping offer covers the front yard before paying for it twice.

Related pages

Service guides with more detail: new home landscaping, turf and synthetic grass, paving and paths, retaining walls and garden beds and planting. Area notes cover Mickleham, Craigieburn and Greenvale.

Getting a price for your yard

Measure each area, photograph the site from the street and the back fence, and list what you want included. Then request a landscaping quote for your Mickleham property and compare what comes back against the checklist above.

Send a job enquiry