Cost planning hub
Landscaping costs in New Zealand, broken down by project.
One national landscaping budget rarely applies to your project — a retaining wall, a deck and a lawn are priced by entirely different mechanics. Start with the project type below.
Why one landscaping price does not exist.
Search for a single figure for "landscaping cost NZ" and you will find a wide spread of numbers that mostly talk past each other, because they answer different questions. A deck is priced by substructure height and balustrade requirements. A retaining wall is priced by retained height and whether it crosses an engineering threshold. A lawn is priced differently depending on whether it is turfed or seeded. None of these mechanics transfer to the others, which is why a single blended average is close to useless for budgeting a real project.
The ten pages below are organised by project type rather than by a single blended figure, because that is how quotes actually get built. Each page sets out planning bands with the assumptions behind them, the specific factors that move a quote up or down within that project type, and worked scenarios showing how scope changes the number. None of these are a substitute for a site-specific quote — they are the reference point that lets you read a quote and know whether it is answering the brief you actually have.
Choose a project type
Ten cost guides, one per project.
Each guide below covers a different cost mechanic — pick the one that matches the work you are actually pricing.
Landscaping cost NZ
Whole-site budgets where several elements are scoped and sequenced together, and how combining work changes per-element pricing.
Explore →Landscape design cost NZ
Design fee structures — concept-only, full documentation and design-and-build — and what drives design time.
Explore →Garden design cost NZ
Planting-led budgets driven by plant size, density and soil preparation rather than square metres alone.
Explore →Retaining wall cost NZ
Cost by retained height band, including where engineering and consent thresholds change the price non-linearly.
Explore →Deck cost NZ
Cost by height above finished ground, substructure complexity and where balustrade requirements apply.
Explore →Pergola cost NZ
Cost by roof type — open batten, louvre and solid — and freestanding versus house-attached structures.
Explore →Garden drainage cost NZ
The separate cost of investigating a drainage problem versus the cost of the remediation once it is diagnosed.
Explore →Earthworks cost NZ
Cost by cut/fill balance, haul distance and disposal fees — the mechanics that move earthworks pricing.
Explore →Lawn installation cost NZ
Turf versus seed as genuinely different cost mechanics, not just a price multiplier on the same job.
Explore →Privacy screen cost NZ
Cost by targeted panel versus full boundary run, and how height and permeability change the price.
Explore →How to use these ranges
Before you compare a quote to any range on this site.
- Treat every band as a planning assumption, not a quoted price — site access, ground conditions and material choice all move the number.
- Read the cost drivers table on the relevant page before requesting quotes, so you can ask contractors the same questions they will already be pricing against.
- Check whether a quote includes site preparation, disposal and consent fees, or only the visible finished element.
- Use the worked scenarios to sense-check which end of a range your project is likely to sit in before you start comparing quotes.
Sources & methodology
Designed to show its working.
These pages set out planning ranges and cost mechanics for general budgeting purposes, not a market survey. Every project should be confirmed against a site-specific quote.
Ready when you are
Turn this research into a project brief.
Carry your decisions into a concise quote request and keep the scope comparable.