The best gardening services in Canberra

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gardener

Looking for a gardener? We’ve found some of Canberra’s most recommended. Photo: File.

Well-kept gardens provide so much pleasure. They’re beautiful to look at, great places to entertain in and spaces to relax and watch the kids and pets play. Left unchecked, however, gardens can become overgrown and an eyesore.

Taking care of gardens takes time and effort. It can be challenging, especially in Canberra’s hot summers and cold winters. For many, landscaping, weeding, mulching and mowing are best left to professional gardeners. The best gardeners take the stress away and leave you to enjoy your garden all year round.

In this article, we’ll outline the qualities to consider when choosing a gardening services, and share where to find the best in Canberra.

What makes a great gardening service?

Choosing the right gardening service gives you confidence your home will look it’s best all the time.

It can be helpful to keep the following in mind when choosing a gardening service.

  • Reliable, friendly and professional. As with any service, you’ll want a reliable company that shows up on time—no last-minute cancellations that interfere with your schedule. You’ll also want a gardener you enjoy dealing with, who treats you and your home with respect.
  • Experience. The more experience a gardener has, the better their services will be. The best gardeners have the skills and equipment to overcome any challenge. They also work efficiently.
  • Knowledge. If you need a gardener to resurrect your outdoor space with new plants and landscaping services, opt for someone with extensive knowledge. They’ll reassure you that you’re buying the right plants for Canberra’s climate.
  • Price and insurance. Gardening and other outdoor services are hard work and take time, but that doesn’t mean you have to spend a fortune. The best gardeners charge a fair price for services. They’re also fully insured in case anything happens while they’re on site.
  • Range of services. You might want a gardener who provides more than one service. If this is the case, check online to see if the gardener offers comprehensive services, not just mowing and weeding.

The best gardening services in Canberra

Riotact’s editorial team has combed through 20 years of on-site comments to compile a list of the most recommended businesses according to you.

To be listed in our Best of Canberra series, each business needs to have consistently received positive feedback on Riotact and Facebook as well as maintaining a minimum average of 4/5 stars on Google.

Street Appeal Landscaping

The friendly, professional team at Street Appeal Landscaping delivers high-quality landscaping and maintenance services, with attention to detail. Operating in the ACT and surrounds for around 10 years, Street Appeal Landscaping transforms outdoor spaces into neat, tidy, beautiful and manageable places to enjoy.

Services include one-off yard clean-ups, design and construction, as well as ongoing maintenance. The expert team keeps clients informed from start to finish and works hard to deliver projects on time and within budget. They take the stress out of gardening needs, provide the best results and ensure "quality that grows".

Street Appeal Landscaping has completed hundreds of landscaping projects, with excellence, sourcing materials and plants from local businesses, including Yarralumla Nursery, Canberra Sand and Gravel, Corkhill Brothers and Bink Pavers. Free quotes available.

On Riotact, Julia Haley wrote, “Excellent landscapers—highly reliable and, communicate well. Rob is friendly, knowledgeable and his team is hardworking. Can’t fault their work.”

Elysium Complete Gardening

Elysium Complete Gardening is a Canberra landscape design and garden maintenance business that keeps gardens ‘oasis looking’. Fixed rates are offered, and prices are quoted before work begins, giving clients confidence. Services also include construction management. Elysium Complete Gardening is a family-owned business offering quality customer service and value-for-money.

On Riotact, Linda Lockwood wrote, “Elysium Complete Gardening reliable, well priced, pensioner discounts and always does a fantastic job!”

Act House & Landscaping Maintenance

Act House & Landscaping Maintenance, locally owned, specialises in complete garden maintenance with a 100 per cent satisfaction guarantee. The team of garden and landscaping experts provides domestic and commercial clients at competitive rates. High-quality services include lawn mowing, hedge trimming and pruning, gardening services, mulching, ride mowing service and rubbish removal. Free, no-obligation quotes available online.

On Google, Mark Schramm wrote, “Incredible service and speed. Transformed our sorry-looking front yard into something stunning within a matter of days, while offering great suggestions and advice.”

Canberra Gardening & Maintenance

Canberra Gardening & Maintenance provides professional lawn care and landscape management services. Full garden care and maintenance for commercial and residential properties across the ACT and surrounding areas includes mowing, hedging, landscaping and weeding. Also flowerbed and lawn maintenance, pruning, composting, fertilising and tree removal.

Thomas Lester wrote on Riotact, “We had a huge clean up job involving weeding, trimming and laying over 10 cubic metres of mulch … the crew arrived when they said they would, worked hard and consistently and delivered …”

Trendy Landscaping Canberra

Trendy Landscaping is a one stop shop for all gardening and landscaping services, from full makeovers to general maintenance. Trendy Landscaping offers services such as paving, concreting, retaining wall repair and installation, excavation work, mowing and pruning – the list goes on! If you’re looking to give your garden some intense love and care, transforming it from a boring lawn into a real oasis, Trendy Landscaping Canberra has you covered.

Mary Kingsford recommended Trendy Landscaping on Riotact, saying “Trendy Landscaping does good work and is reliable.”

If you’re looking for more information on gardening-related services in Canberra, you might like our articles on the best nurseries, best landscaping suppliers, the best landscapers and the best turf and artificial grass suppliers Canberra has to offer.

Your experience with gardening services in Canberra

Thanks to our commenters who have provided insightful feedback. If you believe we have got it wrong, please let us know.

Have you had experience with any of the gardening services listed above? If so, share your feedback in the comments below.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do gardeners just mow lawns and pull weeds?

Some gardeners just mow lawns and weeds and others offer a more comprehensive range of services. Check online to see what the gardener offers.

How much does it cost to have a gardener?

The cost depends on what you need done. It also depends on how large your garden is and how complex the gardening work is. Cost can also be influenced by level of service. If your garden is in great shape it might not cost as much for a gardener to tend to it as it would if it’s overgrown and loaded with weeds.

Does a gardener require insurance?

It’s best to use a gardener who is professional, runs a reputable business and has the right insurances in place in case anything happens while they’re on site.

How often do I need a gardener?

Frequency depends on many factors. This includes the size of your garden. It also includes the type of garden you have and the services you want. It’s a great idea to chat to your gardener about how often they’re needed to keep your garden in tip-top shape.

How do I choose the best gardener for my needs?

First decide what you’re looking for. Just mowing and weeding lawns? Trimming trees, bushes and plants? Designing a garden area? This is important because not all gardeners provide all types of gardening services. Next, hop online and check websites for the gardener’s professionalism and experience. Also check reviews, references and images of gardens they’ve worked on.

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I’ve been in the industry since 1989. I’ve never heard of most of these. Anyone can put a shingle up saying Gardener and most people wouldn’t know the difference if they did a bad job. As for reviews, unless it is a bad review, I tend to think most likely to be taken with grain of salt. If there’s no incentive to provide a review, who does? How hard is it for fake reviews to be provided?

joelsgardens12:23 pm 05 Jan 22

I am a fully qualified and insured horticulturalist, providing horticultural advice, garden maintenance and design services in Canberra.
I have a passion to work with clients to ensure they can get the most enjoyment out of their gardens, with limited fuss and stress.
A well designed and maintained garden is truly a source of joy.
joelstidygardens.com.au
joelsgardens@gmail.com

Kaylene Dore3:57 pm 05 Sep 21

Street Appeal Landscaping is the best. Rob is professional and friendly, offered great suggestions and options to help with the design of my front yard. Attention to detail; hard working and a pleasure to deal with. I love seeing updates of the work they’re doing on facebook. Inspiring. https://www.streetappeallandscaping.com.au/

Sharon Kelley4:18 pm 11 Nov 20

I heartily recommend Anthony Gall from AG Gardening and Lawn Services. He does everything from garden clean ups to gutter cleaning, and he’s a hardworking, decent and honest man with EXTREMELY reasonable prices. I was delighted with his work, and he quoted me on removing a huge clump of convovulus for a more than reasonable price. He’s quick to respond to enquiries and very polite, and extremely reliable. I couldn’t be happier with him, and his family run business. Local Canberra bloke, bringing up a family in Weston Creek, and operating as a sole trader, training up his son to help. Lovely, lovely man.

asirthegreat6:45 pm 30 Aug 20

Budget Garden Care ACT services are very good.

I finally received a text from Matt on 4 June 2020, stating that he was unwell and was not able to make it and was very apologetic. He said that he will contact me as soon as he feels better. That gave me some reassurance. Thank you for getting back to me Matt and I hope you feel better soon. I am happy and I look forward to touching base with him as soon as he feels better.

I asked Matt from Branch out Canberra for jobs in our garden. He said that he would come to our place on Saturday. He didn’t turn up and has not communicated back to us for over 5 days if he is coming to our place or not. I found this lack of communication and commitment to get the jobs very disappointing. He has not even communicated to us if he is unable to do the task. This has left us in the dark and we need our garden fixed urgently.

I hope that Matt is Okay and that he communicates back when he intends to return back to complete the garden jobs. He did an amazing job in the front garden. I hope he will be available to finish the jobs in the back garden. I am hoping to hear back from him very soon. We have been very flexible and very accommodating to meet his needs and schedules.

Without hesitation I am happy to recommend
Matthew of Branch Out on 0405 031 390 for any minor or heavy work pruning, trimming trees and shrubs.

Shortly after my last comment appeared in The RiotAct, Matthew of Branch Out was recommended as possibly able to help me out. I phoned, left a message, Matthew returned my call an hour or so later and arranged to come and give me a quote the same afternoon.
He arrived promptly and we spent at least 30 minutes walking around the garden and discussing all that needed to be done.
To put this job into perspective, I had a large overgrown back garden and there were 43 shrubs between 1 ½ and 3 metres high, plus 6 mature trees. They have been neglected for a few years and it was a jungle of foliage and misshapen plants. Matthew noted everything, gave me a very fair quote and we arranged for the work to be done over a couple of days the following week.
Matthew and his assistant arrived promptly and early to start work. He re-checked with me and apart from an occasional discussion to be sure I was happy with height of trim etc I left them to get on with it, because it was perfectly clear he knew exactly what he was doing. At one point we decided a very old tree needed to come out, as it was suckering all over the place. Matthew dug out and removed below ground level so the roots can be poisoned.
By the end of the day the job was finished, the garden looked amazing, with space and light restored and gave me hope again. The whole mountain of trim and big branches were loaded and taken away.

I need a thorough prune and tidy up of a large garden I cannot manage on my own.
Am happy to pay a fair price because it is a big job. Have always found good tradespeople etc through RiotAct in the past.
I have phoned first Brian’s Home & Garden and then Foralis on your list above, twice each over a couple of weeks, requesting a call back to arrange a quote. Neither has bothered to return my call.
I can accept that they may be overloaded with work and do not want to take on another job, and would accept that as an answer, but to just ignore a call is rude. It has delayed me making any other arrangement. This happens w other tradesman and it does their reputation no good.

I can highly recommend Rowan from Foralis. I needed some work done leading up to Christmas. I called a few places and organised for a couple of people to come around. Neither turned up. Rowan was very prompt, turned up when he said he would, and did a great job.

Thanks for all the replies. I’ve looked up the plants mentioned and I actually have Viburnum tinus and Photinia ‘Robusta’ growing as giant shrubs (decades old garden – previous owner did random planting all over the pace) in other areas of the garden – I just didn’t know their names. So yes, I agree actually, as hedges they would be good – but yes, Photinia stinks – I think it smells like mosquito repellent! Perhaps Viburnum is the way to go. As for the side of the house, there is no neighbour directly on the other side to worry about, as such. Along this fence is a large grassy area and footpath, and then on the other side, the houses there are further up the street, and look down into our garden and on to our deck, as does the footpath – just want a bit of privacy from that when we are on the deck. We could put up a screen of some sort, but was hoping for some greenery. I love tea tree, so maybe that could be a good way to go. There used to be a giant cotoneaster there, but it was removed to make way for the new fence… (awesome to attract beautiful birds to the garden, but giant weed and in the way)

Thanks again for all the suggestions!

…and 1.8m high and only 1.5m from the house and they need to keep at least a metre wide walkway.

Apple trees, particularly young trees, are not mushrooms and even when espaliered they have some width.

On the longest day of the year, the Summer Solstice of December 21st, the sun will still be 12° north and the roots of the Apple tree will be permanently in shade and the sun almost but not quite vertical, so very little of an espaliered structure will be receiving sun.

I can’t see the sun reaching anything that close to the south side of a fence for six months of the year and when it does it won’t do it much good.

I don’t know if you noticed the mature date palms that were planted for some insane reason on the south side of the Belconnen Aquatic Centre. Despite their height, most of the bottom of the palms were in perpetual shade even in summer.

They died. Expensive and predictable.

rubaiyat said :

Southmouth said :

Espalier apples or plums on your colourbond fence

The fence is facing south.

Yep. I can read. I’ve done it myself. works great on a wire trellis 300mm from the fence. You realise that fruit trees are dormant in winter and thus need no sun? They get plenty of sun for the 6 months that matter.

wildturkeycanoe8:54 pm 13 Sep 15

Whatever you do, do NOT plant Photinia. Not only doers it stink when flowering, that stink also aggravates allergies in people who suffer hay fever. There is so much of it in Canberra I am completely astounded it hasn’t been deemed a noxious weed. It isn’t native either and needs a lot of maintenance to keep it tidy as it grows very tall.
Be considerate to the neighbor and also don’t plant Pittosporium or “screen master”. That stuff drops little messy leaves all over the place, the house we rented long ago had neighboring shrubs along the fence and our yard always needed raking up of these little messy leaves.
Tea trees are at least native and evergreen, that’s my recommendation.

Southmouth said :

Espalier apples or plums on your colourbond fence

The fence is facing south.

rijujacob said :

Try Photinia ‘Robusta’ . You’ll get it in most stores including bunnings. they are drought hardy and like slope as they need well drained soils. Suggestion is to go to any local nursery say, Willow Park nursery and talk to any horticulturist there.

Photinia stinks when in flower. Avoid…… avoid.

I can’t understand why anyone would want it near their house.

“Second, along the side of my house, we have a 1.8m colourbond fence, south facing. Although it’s high, it doesn’t provide enough privacy into the garden. So, I’d like to grow something up it against it, and hopefully higher than the fence”

My first though is, is there a neighbour on the other side of that fence? It would be neighbourly not to block their sun. Something I am always aware of and make a conscious effort not to do. A 1.8 metre high fence should give plenty of privacy. Most people are shorter than that. Is there some other reason?

Photinia flowers STINK and attract blowies!

Espalier apples or plums on your colourbond fence

For the fence try a climbing fig, it is nice and flat, vigorous and tough. Nowhere as invasive as ivy.

Stick with what works in Canberra, not much does. Something I know from long experience with trying alternatives and watching neighbours replace their plants 3 times as well.

That is Photinia Robusta. A bit woody, but it is tough and grows to fill out the hedge very well. Give it lots of room, at least 1.5m wide, and do not stop trimming it. Lightly and often works well.

In the Yarra Valley recently I saw magnificent, fragrant Bay hedges and as my Bay Tree goes gang busters, this could be an alternative.

Quick suggestions:
– for the first space, hazels play well with oaks and make decent hedging. Get a mix of types for pollination and you’ll get nuts too.
– think about a climber of some kind, on simple wire trellis, above the height of the fence. There are tough and deciduous climbers available (I’m just about to plant some hop rhizomes to do something similar). If you don’t need it to drop leaves, hardenbergia might work well.

Try Photinia ‘Robusta’ . You’ll get it in most stores including bunnings. they are drought hardy and like slope as they need well drained soils. Suggestion is to go to any local nursery say, Willow Park nursery and talk to any horticulturist there.

Grab a book called Grow What Where. It has a whole bunch of suitable plants for different scenarios. A great read…

Viburnum tinus in both locations. Can be trimmed or left as an informal hedge, gets flowers and withstands frosts and drought.

Tysen Davis – 0412 900 180

Madam Cholet8:35 am 12 Jun 12

“Sounds to me you’re after an indentured servant more than a gardener.

Lower your standards or be prepared to pay someone the same scale as the work you want.”

At what stage did I say I wouldn’t pay? Funnily enough we do pay our current gardener the rate that we agreed for two hours work, however as I mentioned, he only sticks around for an hour at the moment and about an hour and 45 in the summer. Yes, there’s a bit of mowing and we do have a larger back yard although a lot of it is paved. We do also try to take care of the weeds so it’s not overgrown. The grass in the summer is longer after two weeks, but definintely not unmanageable.

Thanks to other suggestions from those who actually read properly and which did not target my apparent short arms and deep pockets….will consider.

Madam Cholet said :

I recall when I was a kid back in blighty we had a gardener who was an old aged pensioner who spent hours in our very large back garden once a month and did anything and everything because he knew about gardening – in fact, I’m not sure he actually did the mowing as I have memories of family members doing that – but he actual gardened. That’s what I’m looking for, but sadly I know that these days this type of thing is hard to find as the oldies are just far too busy.

Try http://www.greyarmy.com.au

Just curious, how big an area are you looking to keep maintained? 4 hours a month in summer and 1 hour a month in winter seems like an awfully short amount of time to keep anything but a very small garden in check. I know that in the past couple of years in summer, if I miss a weekend’s mowing, things start to get out of hand. Same goes with weeding – and even at this time of the year, I’m seeing weeds poking up a week after doing a thorough job of getting rid of the buggers.

With the amount of time you’re talking, I’m not sure you could expect much more than what you’ve described as getting lately. Believe me, I constantly under-estimate how long it’s going to take to properly deal with parts of the garden. What I think will take me half an hour, takes one and a half.

I think for the level of service you seem to be looking for, you will need to budget for your gardener taking more time.

thy_dungeonman6:11 pm 11 Jun 12

Madam Cholet said :

OK, attempting to resurrect this post as second gardener since this date is of late not really fitting the bill.

What we want is about two hours work front and back twice a month in summer and once a month in winter. What we are finding is that we get one hour of work in the winter – so just enough to notice he’s been, and in the summer all of the time seems to be filled with mowing and edging. I will admit it looks tidier, and that sometimes there is a bit too much children related detritus around that probably may hamper a corner or two, but it’s obvious that certian sections are ignored time after time – even if we have pointed them out. Don’t mind having to leave a note sometimes to ask for extra jobs to be done, but is it really too much to ask that your gardener has a it of vision and perhaps suggests what needs to be done so you can make a decision on it.

I recall when I was a kid back in blighty we had a gardener who was an old aged pensioner who spent hours in our very large back garden once a month and did anything and everything because he knew about gardening – in fact, I’m not sure he actually did the mowing as I have memories of family members doing that – but he actual gardened. That’s what I’m looking for, but sadly I know that these days this type of thing is hard to find as the oldies are just far too busy.

I’m sure in the nearish sort of future we will take our garden on again, but until that time, this is what we are in need of.

Does anyone know of a gardening service provider who does a bit more than general maintenance, doesn’t mind getting down on hands and knees to pull out a few weeds etc or make suggestions on what should be where etc? Or is this just asking too much? I don’t think it’s a landscape gardener sort of job because we want it to be ongoing.

I might be able to help you out, I’m not a professional, but I have helped my parents recently to completely transform the front and back gardens. I’m don’t have great plant knowledge, my parents did the plant selection whereas I did the rest of the work, such as digging, mulching, shoveling gravel, building mounds, planting, putting irrigation together, weeding etc. I can also doing mowing and trimming (using my own tools) and I’m not so picky as to avoid getting down and doing the actual weeding amongst the plants. I can also prune bushes and tree limbs (we recently cut back our trees to allow more sunlight) and I know how to make compost. As long as you can provide clear instructions I should be able to do what you require.

Madam Cholet said :

OK, attempting to resurrect this post as second gardener since this date is of late not really fitting the bill.

What we want is about two hours work front and back twice a month in summer and once a month in winter. What we are finding is that we get one hour of work in the winter – so just enough to notice he’s been, and in the summer all of the time seems to be filled with mowing and edging. I will admit it looks tidier, and that sometimes there is a bit too much children related detritus around that probably may hamper a corner or two, but it’s obvious that certian sections are ignored time after time – even if we have pointed them out. Don’t mind having to leave a note sometimes to ask for extra jobs to be done, but is it really too much to ask that your gardener has a it of vision and perhaps suggests what needs to be done so you can make a decision on it.

I recall when I was a kid back in blighty we had a gardener who was an old aged pensioner who spent hours in our very large back garden once a month and did anything and everything because he knew about gardening – in fact, I’m not sure he actually did the mowing as I have memories of family members doing that – but he actual gardened. That’s what I’m looking for, but sadly I know that these days this type of thing is hard to find as the oldies are just far too busy.

I’m sure in the nearish sort of future we will take our garden on again, but until that time, this is what we are in need of.

Does anyone know of a gardening service provider who does a bit more than general maintenance, doesn’t mind getting down on hands and knees to pull out a few weeds etc or make suggestions on what should be where etc? Or is this just asking too much? I don’t think it’s a landscape gardener sort of job because we want it to be ongoing.

Sounds to me you’re after an indentured servant more than a gardener. Lower your standards or be prepared to pay someone the same scale as the work you want.

Hi Madam Cholet,

One of my friends who is a bit past gardening for herself uses a guy who does the lawns, prunes, weeds etc. He has also eradicated her cotoneaster (?) problem. Very reliable and does a good job. His number is 0406 227 772. Mark. from Mow and behold.

Madam Cholet9:40 am 11 Jun 12

OK, attempting to resurrect this post as second gardener since this date is of late not really fitting the bill.

What we want is about two hours work front and back twice a month in summer and once a month in winter. What we are finding is that we get one hour of work in the winter – so just enough to notice he’s been, and in the summer all of the time seems to be filled with mowing and edging. I will admit it looks tidier, and that sometimes there is a bit too much children related detritus around that probably may hamper a corner or two, but it’s obvious that certian sections are ignored time after time – even if we have pointed them out. Don’t mind having to leave a note sometimes to ask for extra jobs to be done, but is it really too much to ask that your gardener has a it of vision and perhaps suggests what needs to be done so you can make a decision on it.

I recall when I was a kid back in blighty we had a gardener who was an old aged pensioner who spent hours in our very large back garden once a month and did anything and everything because he knew about gardening – in fact, I’m not sure he actually did the mowing as I have memories of family members doing that – but he actual gardened. That’s what I’m looking for, but sadly I know that these days this type of thing is hard to find as the oldies are just far too busy.

I’m sure in the nearish sort of future we will take our garden on again, but until that time, this is what we are in need of.

Does anyone know of a gardening service provider who does a bit more than general maintenance, doesn’t mind getting down on hands and knees to pull out a few weeds etc or make suggestions on what should be where etc? Or is this just asking too much? I don’t think it’s a landscape gardener sort of job because we want it to be ongoing.

YoungAndVocal2:00 pm 24 Jun 11

Coming onto the bandwagon a little late, but I heard about escape gardens a little while ago. From what I have heard they can offer advice and source suitable plants. http://www.escapegardens.com.au/index.php

Matt Bligh does a good job, ph 0413 172 182 and he is on the Southside.

Woody Mann-Caruso4:02 pm 20 Sep 10

For the mowing side of things, just ask if any of the local kids want to make some money. Run the mower round the front and back once a fortnight, I dunno, $25?

(If you’re looking for a lawnmower, see if you can find a secondhand Victa Commando. Can’t kill them with an axe, guaranteed to start first time.)

We’ve just employed Steve from Baya’s Backyard in Palmerston. He’s just resurrected our front yard (and small back yard). Great, friendly service.

Amanda Hugankis1:47 pm 20 Sep 10

I know a diligent fellow who works southside, he specialises in soft planting & pruning & has 25 years experience in Australian & English heritage type gardens. He’s quite in demand, but may be willing to quote – let me know if you’d like details.

Brian Welsh from Brian’s Home and garden has just cleaned up my place. Faced with completely overgrown back yard I decided on the prudent option to outsource and go to work instead. Was blown away by the result in just a day and a half. A genuinely nice guy too. He’s on 0409 126 804

Andrew Wain (part of Jim’s Mowing group) does great work for us on occasion. We’re in Wanniassa, so I assume wherever you are on the south shouldn’t be an issue.

You can contact him on 0418603116

Pommy bastard11:32 am 20 Sep 10

Contact North-South contractors. They are a charitable organisation and do very good work.

41B David St
O’Connor ACT 2602
(02) 6205 1583

Harry from Harry’s Handy Help does a fantastic job at awesome prices. Harry: 0403505714

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