How to Prepare for a Landscape Project - A Sydney Homeowner's Checklist

The projects that run well almost always share the same first month. Here is what we ask clients to do before we start drawing - none of it takes long, and all of it saves money later.

1. Write a one-page brief

How you want to use the space, who uses it, what you love and what you don't. No plant names, no material names - just how life should feel in the finished garden. Answer three questions: what happens here on a Tuesday night, what happens here when twelve people come over, and what do you want to see from the kitchen window?

2. Set a real budget range

Not a ceiling - a range. 'Between $180k and $240k' is a workable brief. 'Under $250k' is a ceiling that quietly becomes the target. Hold 10-15% aside as contingency; on a site with unknown ground conditions, closer to 15%.

3. Gather site documents

Survey, sewer diagram, any existing DA documentation, and the architectural plans if you have recently built or renovated. If you don't have them, we'll help - but having them ready shaves weeks off design. A current contour and detail survey is the single most valuable document on a sloping site.

• Contour and detail survey
• Sydney Water sewer service diagram
• Architectural plans and any approved DA/CDC documents
• Strata or community title by-laws where relevant
• Any engineering reports on existing retaining walls

4. Photograph the site through a full day

Sun at 9am, midday, 3pm and dusk. It's the single most useful thing a client can hand to a designer. Add a short video walking the space, and photos of anywhere water pools after heavy rain.

5. Build a reference folder, not a wish list

Ten to fifteen images that share a mood are far more useful than fifty that don't. Note what you like in each one - it is often the light or the proportion rather than the object. Include images of things you actively dislike; they narrow the direction faster.

6. Talk to the neighbours early

Boundary work, overshadowing, privacy and construction access are far easier to resolve over a fence in month one than through council in month six. On tight Sydney sites, access across a neighbour's property is sometimes the difference between a machine and a wheelbarrow.

7. Plan for living through the build

Where will the skip go, where will materials be stored, which gate will trades use, and can you still get the bins out? On a 12-week backyard rebuild these logistics matter more to daily life than any material choice.

8. Choose design before builder

Design first, quote second. A well-documented scope makes builder comparisons honest and protects the outcome. If a builder is pricing a sketch, every quote you receive is pricing a different project.