How much does landscaping cost in Wollongong?
How much does landscaping cost in Wollongong? A landscaper's time is $59–$120 an hour, typically $86, though most local jobs are quoted as a package instead. Refreshing an established yard with turf, new beds and a little paving comes to $5,400–$16,200, and fitting out the grounds of a newly built house runs $16,200–$64,800. Three-bedroom homes are 41.6% of the city's dwellings, above the 39% national share (ABS 2021 Census), so the job most owners are pricing is a mid-sized suburban yard. Measure it before you ring around, because turf, paving and beds are all charged by the square metre. Prices include GST.
Comparing cities, or after the Australia-wide picture? See the national guide: Landscaping cost in Australia.
Detailed Pricing — Landscaping Cost in Wollongong 2026
| Service | Low | Typical | High |
|---|---|---|---|
| Landscaper (hourly rate) | $59/hr | $86 | $120 |
| Garden design / plan | $865per plan | $2,150 | $5,400 |
| Natural turf — supply & lay | $16/sqm | $30 | $43 |
| Synthetic turf — supply & install | $54/sqm | $81 | $130 |
| Retaining wall (timber sleeper) | $160/sqm | $325 | $540 |
| Retaining wall (concrete sleeper) | $270/sqm | $485 | $755 |
| Garden bed, new (soil prep, edging, plants + mulch) | $54/sqm | $110 | $195 |
| Irrigation system (automatic, multi-zone, front & back) | $2,700total | $4,325 | $6,500 |
| Paving / pavers | $65/sqm | $110 | $175 |
| Decking (hardwood) | $325/sqm | $540 | $650 |
| Basic backyard makeover | $5,400total | $10,800 | $16,200 |
| Full landscape (new home) | $16,200total | $43,200 | $64,800 |
| Irrigation — drip system, single zone for garden beds (incl. tap timer) | $865total | $1,500 | $2,375 |
| Bobcat or mini excavator with operator (per hour) | $97/hr | $120 | $175 |
| Green waste removal (one trailer or ute load) | $130total | $205 | $345 |
| Mulch, supplied and spread (per sqm, about 75 mm) | $9/sqm | $15 | $26 |
| Garden soil / topsoil, supplied and delivered (per cubic metre) | $76per cubic metre | $110 | $160 |
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Get Wollongong quotes →Prices include GST. Based on Wollongong metro area, October 2026. Outer suburbs may vary.
How Landscaping Costs Vary Across Wollongong
Wollongong landscaping prices here are city-wide. Paving is $65–$175 per sqm, a hardwood deck $325–$650 and a garden design $865–$5,400. Wollongong University averages 1,323.7 mm of rain a year, wettest in March (Bureau of Meteorology).
What Affects Landscaping Costs in Wollongong
Sloping yards and sleeper walls
Where a Wollongong yard falls away or climbs toward the escarpment, levelling it usually means a wall. A timber sleeper wall runs $160–$540 per square metre of face, a concrete sleeper wall $270–$755. NSW lets a wall skip planning approval only when it is no taller than 600 mm, sits at least 1 m in from every lot boundary and 2 m from any other retaining wall, and drains into the site's stormwater.
Licence and insurance lines
NSW lists structural landscaping among the work that needs a building licence, and any building or trade job worth more than $5,000 in labour and materials, GST included, must be done by a licence holder. Past $20,000, the contractor also needs Home Building Compensation cover, which you should see before paying any deposit. A typical makeover at $10,800 falls between those two lines; a new-home package is above both.
Wet late summer, drier late winter
The Wollongong University gauge records its heaviest falls in March (160.4 mm) and February (156.4 mm), and its lightest in July (63.4 mm) (BOM averages). Earthworks booked for late summer can lose whole days to rain while a bobcat with operator is billed at $97–$175 an hour, so dig and pave in the drier back half of winter and lay turf as spring warms the soil.
Watering under Water Wise
The Water Wise Guidelines of the region's water utility cover the Illawarra. Lawns and beds may be watered with a trigger-nozzle hose, sprinkler or watering system before 10am and after 4pm, and drip or smart systems may also run from 10am to 4pm. A single drip zone with a tap timer costs $865–$2,375, while a full automatic set-up covering both yards is $2,700–$6,500.
Pavers or a hardwood deck
Pavers are laid for $65–$175 a square metre and a hardwood deck is built for $325–$650. In NSW a deck counts as exempt development only when its floor is no more than one metre above the ground, it covers no more than 25 square metres, it stays behind the building line and it sits at least 900 mm from the boundary. Anything larger or higher needs planning approval first.
Turf, beds and what lies under them
Natural turf, laid, is $16–$43 a square metre, and synthetic grass $54–$130. Rain averages 1,323.7 mm a year (BOM averages), so lawns are seldom dry, but compacted fill drains poorly. Check the quote covers topsoil, at $76–$160 a cubic metre, before turf or new beds at $54–$195 a square metre go in.
A plan for owners staying put
A garden design costs $865–$5,400. More than a third of Wollongong homes are owned outright (34.8%, against 31% nationally, ABS 2021 Census), and an owner planning to stay can use a drawn plan to settle levels, drainage and planting once, then build it in stages over several years. Commercial grounds are priced per site rather than from this residential table, so ask for a site visit and an itemised quote.
How to Save Money on Landscaping Cost in Wollongong
Landscaping Cost in Wollongong by Yard Size
Take a levelled yard in Figtree with 14 square metres of timber sleeper wall face, 40 square metres of natural turf and 20 of garden bed. With wall face at $160–$540, turf at $16–$43 and beds at $54–$195, each a square metre, the total is $3,960–$13,180. The basic makeover row of $5,400–$16,200 is the check for the whole yard.
On a block that climbs toward the escarpment, the wall is what moves the figure: concrete sleepers at $270–$755 a square metre of face against timber at $160–$540, plus excavator hours at $97–$175 an hour to cut the ground. Wollongong's wettest month is March, so drainage behind the wall earns its line.
Landscaping Cost in Wollongong: What the Quote Should Include
A Wollongong yard that falls away, or climbs toward the escarpment, can need a wall to level it, so the quote should price that wall apart from the garden around it. Show the face area, the sleeper material and the drainage next to the turf and bed lines.
- Wall face measured in square metres, with timber sleepers at $160–$540 a square metre and concrete sleepers at $270–$755 a square metre, the material named.
- Drainage behind each wall, and where that water goes, listed as part of the wall line.
- Excavation with an operator at $97–$175 an hour, with the hours estimated for the cut, and any spoil carted away shown as its own line.
- Soil brought in by the cubic metre at $76–$160 to fill and top the levelled area, with the volume stated.
- Turf priced as supply and lay at $16–$43 a square metre, with the area and variety named, for the yard after levelling.
- New beds at $54–$195 a square metre and mulch at $9–$26 a square metre across the area, with plants listed by species and count.
- Paving at $65–$175 a square metre and hardwood decking at $325–$650 a square metre kept as separate lines, with the areas written in.
- The irrigation type, a multi-zone system at $2,700–$6,500 or a drip zone at $865–$2,375, listed with its zones.
- The landscaper's licence number and insurance details, then warranty terms, dates, payment stages and GST.
Frequently Asked Questions — Landscaping Cost in Wollongong
Our Methodology
These are independent estimates from public cost guides, marketplaces and industry rate data, and no tradesperson can influence them, so always get a few quotes. Last reviewed October 2026. Read our full methodology →