Landscaping enquiries are worth a visit when the homeowner has a budget, a rough scope and a reason to start. Landscaping marketing is mostly about attracting those people, charging for design work so the curious fall away, and staying in touch with the ones who take weeks or months to decide. This guide is about that. For the questions to ask on the first call (access, ground, machinery), read lead generation for landscapers and pool builders.
Design, install and maintenance are different
These are three businesses that happen to share a ute.
- Design. Drawings, planting schedules, levels. The homeowner is buying thinking. Some will build with you, some will take the drawings to another contractor.
- Install. Paving, retaining walls, turf, irrigation, decks, garden beds. A big spend with a long lead time.
- Maintenance. Regular visits at a smaller price. Less glamour, steady income, and a good way to meet people who later want an install.
Pick the one you want to grow and write your listing, website and ads for it. A site that says “design, build, maintain, lawn mowing, tip runs” attracts all four kinds of caller and satisfies none. See websites for trades for how to give each service its own page.
Where enquiries come from
- Your own past clients. A garden you finished two years ago leads to the neighbour’s garden. Ask for the introduction while the job is still looking good.
- Builders, designers and architects. They need a landscaper who turns up and finishes. A short portfolio email to five local builders can do more than a month of ads.
- Search and maps. “Landscapers near me” and “retaining wall builder” are searched by people who already have a project.
- Social media. Before-and-after photos work because landscaping is visual. They bring comments more than enquiries unless you point the post at a specific job and suburb.
Photos matter more here than for most trades. Take them in the same light, at the same angle, before you start and when you finish.
The first visit and a paid design stage
A site visit costs you an hour or more, plus travel and a written quote that can take half a day. Doing that free for every enquiry is how landscapers end up with a full diary and a thin week of paid work.
Two common ways to protect your time:
- A short phone screen first. Scope, rough budget, when they want it done, who decides.
- A paid design or concept stage. The homeowner pays a fixed fee for a drawn concept and a costed scope. If they build with you, you can take the fee off the build price; that is your decision. If they do not, you were paid for your time.
The paid stage also tells you something useful. A homeowner who will not pay for design is unlikely to pay for the build. The arguments for and against are in free quotes versus paid preliminary agreements.
Whatever you charge, write what it includes and who owns the drawings. Keep the wording plain.
Following up long decisions
Landscaping is a decision made over weeks. The homeowner gets two or three quotes, talks to a partner, waits for a tax refund or a bonus, and then waits again for the weather. A quote that is not answered after a week has not been refused. Often it is still waiting.
A simple follow-up rhythm:
- Two days after sending: “Did the quote arrive? Happy to talk through the staging.”
- One week later: offer an option. A smaller first stage, such as the retaining wall now and the planting in spring, often unsticks the decision.
- One month later: a note with a recent photo of a similar job.
- Three months later: ask if the timing has changed.
Keep a list of open quotes with a date for the next contact. A system to keep track of enquiries and quotes can be a sheet with five columns. The wording in follow-up email after a quote carries over.
Landscaping marketing through the seasons
Enquiry volumes for landscaping are likely to rise and fall with the seasons where you work. We do not have a sourced figure for how much, and it differs by region, so use your own records instead. Mark each enquiry with its date for two years and you will see your own pattern.
Then use it:
- Run design work in the quiet months, so installs start as soon as the weather turns.
- Book maintenance and small jobs to fill gaps.
- Follow up the long decisions before your busy period, not during it.
Claims, listings and the NSW licence point
Keep your Google listing to Google’s guidelines: the real business name with no service keywords added, and a service area instead of a home address.
On claims in your ads and on your site, the ACCC says a business must be able to prove any claim it makes, and that fake or misleading reviews are against the law. Say “10 years in the Adelaide hills” only if it is true and you can show it. See ACCC advertising and promotions.
One licensing point, for NSW only. The NSW Government lists structural landscaping, which includes retaining walls, fencing, driveways, paths, pergolas and decks, and says a contractor licence is needed when the work is valued at more than $5,000 in labour and materials including GST. See NSW structural landscaping work. So a landscaper who advertises retaining walls or decks in NSW is advertising licensed work once the job passes that figure. Other states have their own rules. Check your regulator for your situation.
The trade page for landscaping and pools shows how these jobs are usually split.
Common questions
How do I get landscaping jobs?
Past clients, builders and designers, a complete Google listing with photos of finished jobs, and a quick follow-up on every quote.
Should I charge for a landscape design?
Some do, because design takes real time and a fee filters out the curious. Say what it includes and whether it comes off the build price.
Why do landscaping quotes take so long to close?
Homeowners compare several quotes, wait on money and weather, and often stage the work. A follow-up every few weeks, with an option to start smaller, helps.
When are landscaping enquiries busiest?
It varies by region. Record the date of every enquiry for two years and use your own pattern.