Landscape Design ยท Brisbane
Landscape design for your Brisbane home.
A garden that suits your block, your lifestyle and Brisbane's climate. We design plant-rich, functional gardens you'll use every day, and we're an LDI award winning studio based right here in Brisbane.
Brisbane is home ground
A garden that belongs here.
Brisbane backyards have a lot going for them: long summers, an outdoor lifestyle, and a climate that lets you use your garden almost year-round.
But designing a garden that actually works here takes more than picking plants you like. Between subtropical heat, summer storms and Brisbane City Council requirements, there's a lot to get right.
Tristan Smith Landscape Designs is a Brisbane studio that specialises in exactly this: beautiful, practical outdoor spaces built for the way we actually live in South East Queensland.
We're professional members of the Landscape Design Institute, and our Birkdale project took Bronze at the LDI Awards 2025. Our background runs from the nursery to the tools to the drawing board, so every plan we draw is genuinely buildable.
Recent work
Real gardens, in real suburbs.
Kenmore native garden
A western-suburbs backyard redesigned around a sunken firepit, level lawn and water feature, with native planting chosen for Kenmore's conditions. Designed by our studio, built from our documentation by a trusted local landscaper.
Designed for where you are
Your microclimate. Your home's character.
Drive twenty minutes across Brisbane and the gardens change, A good design responds to both the architecture and microclimate of the block.
The microclimate of your block
Brisbane's climate isn't one climate. Riverside pockets hold humidity, the bayside cops salt wind, elevated suburbs catch afternoon storms head-on, and a south-facing slope grows a very different garden to a west-facing one across the street. We read the aspect, the breezes, the shade lines and the hot spots of your block before a single plant goes on the plan, so the garden thrives where it's actually planted.
The character of your home
A garden should look like it was always meant to be there. A Queenslander on stumps asks for a different garden to a post-war brick home or a sharp contemporary new build, in its materials, its levels and its planting style. Whether that's Hamptons, tropical, Mediterranean or native, we design so the garden and the architecture read as one considered whole.
What we do
Design first. Then we stay to see it built right.
We're a design studio, not a construction company. Your project starts with an on-site consultation, moves through concept design, and finishes as a full Master Plan: a construction-ready set of drawings with hardscape and planting plans, schedules, specifications and levels that any good landscaper can build from.
If you'd like, our Design Implementation service keeps us involved through the build. We help coordinate the process, connect you with trusted contractors and suppliers we work with, source your plants, and check in as the garden takes shape. We help keep the construction consistent with the design.
- Construction ready: detailed enough for any landscaper to build from with confidence.
- Maintenance friendly: planted for the long term, with the right species in the right place.
- Council aware: designed within Australian Standards, with council-ready documentation.
Landscaping Q&A
Landscape design in Brisbane, answered.
How much does landscape design cost in Brisbane?
Landscape design in Brisbane is typically charged on the hours your project needs, and you receive a fixed fee proposal after an on-site consultation, so there are no surprises. Every garden is different, so every design is quoted to scope. Most projects fall within a clear, sensible range we'll talk through together once we've seen your site.
Is it worth hiring a landscape designer?
Yes. A professional design usually saves more than it costs, because the expensive mistakes in a garden happen when there's no plan: the wrong plants in the wrong spots, materials that don't suit the site, and work done twice. A design gives you one cohesive picture you can build in stages, adds real value to your home, and means every dollar you spend on the build is spent once, in the right place.
What's included in a landscape design?
A complete landscape design includes a hardscape plan for paths, patios, pools and structures, a planting plan with species, quantities and pot sizes, full plant and materials schedules, and detailed drawings with dimensions and levels your landscaper can build from. We also prepare a mood board, and 3D visualisation is available when you want to walk through the garden before it's built.
Do I need council approval for landscaping in Brisbane?
Most planting and general landscaping in Brisbane doesn't need council approval. Approval is generally triggered by structural work, like retaining walls over one metre, walls that support a structure, or work near pools, easements and boundaries. Every design we prepare works within Australian Standards and comes with council-ready documentation, so if your project does need approval, your plans are ready to support it.
When should I engage a landscape designer for a new build?
Before the build starts, ideally once your house plans are finalised. Designing the landscape early means the driveway, levels, drainage and services can be planned together rather than worked around later, which saves money during construction. You can almost never start too early, but you can definitely start too late.
Do you build the garden as well as design it?
We're a design studio, so we don't build the garden or hold the building contract ourselves. What we offer is Design Implementation: we help coordinate the process, connect you with trusted contractors and suppliers we work with, source your plants, and stay involved as the garden takes shape, so it's built the way it was drawn.
What's the difference between a landscape designer and a landscape architect?
A landscape architect holds a university degree in landscape architecture and typically works on large commercial and public projects. A landscape designer specialises in residential gardens, working closely with you on layout, materials and planting. For a home garden in Brisbane, a designer with horticultural knowledge and construction experience is usually the better fit.
Where we work
Landscape design across Brisbane.
Some of the Brisbane areas we design for most often.
Beyond Brisbane, we also design across Ipswich, Logan, the Redlands and the Gold Coast.
Start a project
Let's design a garden you'll love coming home to.
The first step is an on-site consultation. We'll walk your garden, talk through the possibilities, and show you what's achievable on your block.