Landscapers are often referred to as gardeners, and likewise, gardeners are sometimes called landscapers. So, what’s the difference?
What is a Gardener?
While there is some overlap of activities carried out by landscapers and gardeners, my definition of a gardener is someone who performs what is termed ‘soft landscaping’.
This includes activities such as planting plants, mulching gardens beds, sowing lawns or laying turf.
Gardeners should have a sound horticultural background, and as well as planting out gardens, they often carry out garden maintenance activities such as pruning, pest and weed control etc.
What is a Landscaper?
A landscaper’s work involves the ‘hard landscaping’ elements of garden construction, such as concreting, paving, pergola construction, irrigation, drainage, lighting, retaining walls and fence construction and — yes —horticultural knowledge is definitely required.
To carry out these works a landscaper needs to have a comprehensive skill set, and most importantly a good construction background covering trades such as plumbing, carpentry, bricklaying, concreting and electrical to name a few.
When does my Landscaper also need to be a registered builder?
For a landscaper to legally construct a garden containing elements over the value of $10,000, they need to be a registered builder. To qualify as a registered building practitioner, a landscaper must demonstrate a good understanding of building processes and satisfy all requirements of the Building Act.
They also need to qualify for builders warranty insurance and are often required to be members of professional bodies such as Landscaping Victoria.
These requirements have been put in place to protect the consumer and weed out (excuse the pun) unprofessional operators. With so many complexities to a landscaping project, sometimes things do go wrong, and you need to feel reassured that you have someone to turn to for help and advice, whether it is a professional contractor, industry organisation or governing body.
Lucky for you, we are registered building practitioners (Liz herself: DB-L 30419 and Liz Filmer Landscaping Pty Ltd: CDB_L 48725[1] ), and members of Master Builders Association and Landscaping Victoria.