Landscape maintenance is a rewarding career that allows you to work outdoors, be creative, and make a positive impact on people’s lives. In Queensland, the warm and humid climate offers a variety of opportunities for landscapers to showcase their skills.
Join us on a journey through the seasons, exploring a year in the life of a landscaper in Queensland and the work they do to create beautiful outdoor spaces.
Spring:
Spring is the start of the landscaping season in Queensland. The weather is mild (14-24°C) and the days are getting longer (5.45 am-5.45 pm), making it the perfect time to start planning and preparing for the upcoming projects.
Landscapers begin by assessing the condition of the outdoor spaces, such as gardens, lawns, and car parks. The difference between the work required in a ‘wet’ spring versus a ‘dry’ Spring are very different. A great landscaper will always assess the conditions and respond accordingly.
During the Spring, we complete most of our fertilising. Many plant species that are either dormant or have slower growth rates during Winter respond to the increasing warmth in Spring with a burst of growth, including flowering. Providing some additional nutrients to the soil with fertiliser helps promote this new growth and make the plants look vibrant.
As conditions are warming up and growth rates are increasing, more time needs to be spent on our ‘core’ tasks. These include mowing, snipping, hedging, pruning and weeding.
Spring is also the perfect time of year to consider laying new turf and/or installing new garden beds. These improvements add enormously to the amenity and value of a property, and Spring presents the ideal timing for a landscaper to undertake these works.
Summer:
Summer is the busiest time of the year for landscapers in Queensland. The weather is hot and humid (22-29°C), and it is important to stay hydrated and take regular breaks. Many of our landscape gardeners start work at 6 am or earlier and aim to finish without having to spend too much time working in the hottest part of the day.
Summer is when most plants growth rates are highest—particularly if there has been a lot of rain or storms—and so we prioritise staying on top of our core tasks at this time of year. The main tasks during this time include:
- Maintaining and watering the plants and lawns
- Trimming and shaping hedges and bushes
- Add snipping/spraying/weeding
- You could add mowing (a bit repetitive for the first line)
- Pest and disease control
Summer is also when Christmas occurs, and as such many of our shopping centres have their peak trading periods. We therefore focus on making sure each of our sites look their absolute best in the lead up to this time of year.
Autumn:
As the weather starts to cool down (18-27°C) and the days get shorter, landscapers begin to prepare for the upcoming Winter. They focus on preparing the outdoor spaces for the cooler months, with a particular focus on pruning shrubs and ‘crown lifting’ of trees.
These are important activities to have completed prior to mulching in Winter, and are also best practice in landscape maintenance. Primarily because they help ensure plants present at their best and that no safety issues arise. This includes the potential for sight lines in car parks to be obscured by new growth on trees through the Summer.
As temperatures start to cool down, deciduous trees will lose their foliage. As such, raking and removing leaves becomes an important task to keep a property neat and tidy.
While our landscapers monitor irrigation systems at all times throughout the year, as temperatures cool down in Autumn, irrigation systems will usually be adjusted in anticipation of the Winter season.
Winter:
During the Winter months (10-21°C), growth rates for plants are far lower. So the frequency of mowing, hedging, sniping and spraying will be far reduced. Some landscapers in the industry that are on casual contracts find that their hours are reduced to reflect this lower workload. However, this is not the case at Advance Plants as our team are generally always hired on permanent contracts.
Although our team still have to keep a close eye on the outdoor spaces throughout Winter, the lower growth rates allow us time to perform other important tasks. It is at this time of year where most of our mulching takes place. Installing generous volumes of high quality mulch to garden beds in Winter is vital to ensure an outstanding quality garden all year round. If the right type of mulch is chosen, it will help in significantly reducing the amount of weeds that grow and germinate throughout the warmer months of the year. It will also help add important nutrients back to the soil as it breaks down over time.
Winter is also the perfect time of year to undertake arborist works. While tree works can happen at any time of year, arborists are often very busy throughout Summer and quality operators can have long lead times. As such, Winter is a great time to be undertaking preventative maintenance works. This ensures that any potential safety issues are addressed prior to the storm season later in the year.
Finally, Winter is a great time for equipment maintenance. During the warmer months, landscapers are often using their power equipment (i.e. hedgers, mowers, blowers etc) non-stop. So Winter is a great time for maintenance including the sharpening of blades (or installation of new ones), changing oil, and the replacement of air filters. Staying on top of these maintenance tasks ensures the machinery is performing at its best and minimises the chances of unplanned breakages in the warmer months.
Landscape maintenance in Queensland
Being a landscaper in Queensland offers a unique opportunity to work in a beautiful and diverse environment. It is a physically demanding job that requires a combination of skills, including resilience and a positive attitude. However, the rewards are well worth the effort, as you get to see the results of your hard work and creativity come to life.
If you are interested in becoming a landscaper, it is important to have a strong work ethic, be willing to learn and adapt, and have a passion for the outdoors. Advance Plants is always on the lookout for talent landscapers to join our team.
Advance Plants focus’ on commercial landscape maintenance. We deliver high quality service at a range shopping centres, prestigious hotels and other commercial properties.
