What Do Professional Landscapers Do?

Key Takeaways: What do Professional Landscapers Do?

  • Comprehensive Services: Professional landscapers offer far more than garden maintenance – they handle design, construction, and project management for high-end outdoor spaces.

  • Expert Design & Planning: Landscape design involves detailed planning, 3D visualization, and consideration of aesthetics, function, and property topography.

  • Construction & Hard/Softscaping: Skilled teams manage earthworks, drainage, paving, decking, retaining walls, planting, and turf installation to bring designs to life.

  • Council Approvals & Full Project Oversight: Top firms, like Revell Landscaping, handle necessary council applications and provide end-to-end design-build services, ensuring cohesive, luxurious outdoor transformations.

Many people mistakenly believe professional landscaping begins and ends with a lawnmower and hedge clippers. While garden maintenance is a valid service, true professional landscaping—especially at the highest tier—is a complex, multi-layered discipline rooted in architecture, engineering, and artistry.

A professional landscaping firm doesn’t just tidy up a yard; they reimagine exterior potential. Leading firms operate far beyond simple gardening, offering comprehensive services that transform outdoor spaces into functional, luxurious extensions of the home. Importantly, top-tier landscaping firms, like Revell Landscaping, also manage council approvals and applications, ensuring that every project complies with local regulations and avoids delays.

Here is a breakdown of what professional landscapers actually do, moving from initial concepts to high-end execution.

Professional landscaper design and construction

Landscape Design

Before a shovel hits the ground, a professional project begins with rigorous design. This is the blueprint phase, requiring vision and technical skill comparable to interior design or architecture, but applied to the natural environment.

Professional landscape designers collaborate closely with clients to understand their lifestyle, aesthetic preferences, and the unique topography of their property. They don’t just pick plants; they create master plans that consider spatial flow, drainage, lighting, and material palettes. Using advanced tools like 2D and 3D rendering, they translate abstract ideas into visual realities, ensuring every element—from retaining walls to plant selection— serves both a functional and aesthetic purpose before construction begins.

Landscaping Construction

Once the design is finalised, the construction phase involves turning that blueprint into reality. This is not general labour; it requires skilled tradespeople and precise project management.

Professional landscaping construction involves heavy lifting and technical expertise. It encompasses major earthworks, site preparation, and drainage solutions. The scope includes hardscaping—the construction of permanent features like paved areas, retaining walls, driveways, and stonework—as well as carpentry for decking and pergolas. Simultaneously, horticultural experts manage the softscaping, ensuring soil health, turf installation, and complex planting schemes are executed for long-term growth.

For many projects, council approval is required, particularly for retaining walls, patios, decks, and other structural elements. Firms like Revell Landscaping handle these applications on behalf of clients, coordinating with local councils to secure permits and approvals efficiently. This means homeowners can focus on their vision while professionals manage the technical and regulatory aspects of the build.

A pool design example by Professional Landscapers

Bespoke Exterior Transformations

This is where the industry leaders separate themselves from standard contractors. A “Luxury Outdoor Design-Build Firm,” like Revell, integrates design and construction into a seamless, high-end service.

This approach elevates exterior work to the same consideration set as hiring an architect for a home extension or a custom builder for a new property. It moves the conversation away from piecemeal “jobs” and toward cohesive “projects.”

A design-build firm handles everything in-house, providing a single point of accountability from concept to completion. They specialise in complex, bespoke transformations that integrate sophisticated elements like custom pools, spas, outdoor kitchens, and architectural alfresco areas into the wider landscape. By controlling every aspect of the process—including council approvals—they ensure that the initial high-end vision is maintained through the final build, delivering a curated outdoor lifestyle rather than just a garden.

Contact Revell Landscaping today for a full list of our service offerings or to get further inspiration from past projects, check out our landscape design project gallery.