Fifteen years of finding out the hard way.
Read more →What survives a Ballarat frost: our planting list
Ballarat & the Central Highlands
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Gardens built to last decades.
Design, construction and maintenance across Ballarat and the Central Highlands. Drystone, natives, and paving that doesn't move.
Request a design(03) 5550 8890
5.0
(29)4.9
(76)Fully insuredFree site visitStaged pricing
Registered Master Landscaper
Member
The studio
Gardens drawn for Ballarat, not Sydney
Most of what we know about gardens we learned fixing ones that were never going to work here. Broadleaf started in 2012 doing maintenance around Ballarat and grew into design and construction. Everything we plant has already survived a Central Highlands winter somewhere we can show you.
Why Broadleaf
Designed for the climate you actually have
Frost, clay, and a dry February. We plant what lives here, not what looked good in a Sydney catalogue.
Staged so the budget breathes
Design first, then build in stages that suit your year. Nothing has to happen all at once.
The site is left tidy every evening
Tools packed, paths swept, gates shut. Your neighbours will not know we were there until the garden appears.
Drawn plans you keep
A scaled plan and planting schedule, yours whether we build it or not.
Plants that come with a guarantee
Anything we chose that dies in the first year is replaced.
Water and drainage designed in
Irrigation on a timer, and drainage that copes with a Ballarat winter.
Meet Tom
Tom Broadleaf
Founder and lead designer
I started Broadleaf mowing lawns and got into design because I kept being asked to fix gardens that were never going to work here. Everything I plant now, I have watched survive a Ballarat winter first. I still draw every design and I am on site for every build.
Credentials
- Cert III Horticulture and Cert IV Landscape Design
- Registered with Landscaping Victoria, member since 2014
- Fourteen years designing and building gardens in the Central Highlands
Our guarantee
If a plant we chose dies in the first year, we replace it.
Provided it has been watered as we showed you. We plant for Ballarat's climate, and we stand behind the choice.
How it works
From first call to finished
- Site visit
We walk the block with you. Free, no obligation.
- Design
A plan and a planting list in three to four weeks.
- Build, in stages if you like
Hard landscaping first, planting after, on a schedule we keep.
- Handover
How to water it, when to prune it, and our number if anything looks wrong.
Recent work
Jobs we have finished lately
Reviews
From the gardens we have built
5.0
4.9
We had Broadleaf do our back yard in early 2024 - new retaining wall, paving and all the planting. Tom drew the design and honestly what's out there now is exactly what was on the drawing. Two years on nothing has moved and the beds have filled in the way he said they would. Jake and Sam were on site every day they said they'd be.
Really happy with the job. We have an old lemon tree that every other landscaper who quoted wanted to pull out. Tom worked the design around it and it's now the centrepiece of the courtyard. Took about 3 weeks, a few days longer than quoted because of rain, but they kept us informed the whole way.
Good tradies are hard to find. These guys swept the site every evening without being asked and the neighbours actually commented on how tidy they were. Paving is level and the drainage works (first big rain since and no puddles). Not the cheapest quote we got, but you get what you pay for.
The drystone wall along our front boundary is the first thing anyone comments on when they visit. We went back and forth on the height a few times and Tom was patient with us, even mocked it up with string and stakes so we could see it. Worth every dollar.
Planted in autumn, got through the frosts, and everything is flowering now. We'd lost two rounds of plants from a previous garden centre 'design' so we were sceptical. Tom explained which plants would actually survive up here and why. He was right.
Front garden done in two weeks start to finish. They took out the old lawn, put in the beds and a gravel path and it looks like a different house. Three people on the street have asked for the number already. Thanks Tom, Jake and the team!
we had a side strip between the house and the fence that was just weeds and the wheelie bins. Now it's a proper path with steppers and planting either side and we use it every day to get to the shed. Small job for them I imagine but they treated it like it mattered. cheers
What I appreciated most was that Tom quoted the whole design in stages so we could spread it over two years instead of finding the money all at once. Stage one (paving and the beds nearest the house) is done and looks great. No pressure at all to sign up for the rest. We will, because the work is good.
Where we work
Landscapers in Ballarat and the suburbs around it
Ballarat
Ballarat East
Buninyong
Alfredton
Wendouree
Mount Helen
Sebastopol
Questions
Before you book a design
- Do you do the design or just the build?
- Both, and either. Some clients come with a plan; most come with photos and a feeling. We start with a free site visit.
- How long does a full garden take?
- Design takes three to four weeks. A typical build runs four to eight weeks depending on hard landscaping. We give you a schedule before we start and we keep to it.
- Do you do maintenance after the build?
- Yes — monthly or seasonal. Most clients keep us on for the first year while the garden establishes.
- Can you work with an existing garden?
- Absolutely. Half our work is fixing or extending gardens someone else built. We keep what is worth keeping.
- Do you need council permits?
- Only for retaining walls over a metre and some fences. We handle the paperwork when it is needed.
- What time of year is best to plant?
- Autumn, in Ballarat. Roots establish over winter and the plant is ready when summer hits. We will tell you if your timing is wrong.
From the blog
Advice, from people who do this every day
Retaining walls: timber, stone or block?
Cost, life and how each one looks at year ten.
Read more →How to water a new garden in its first summer
The one thing that decides whether it makes it.
Read more →Ready when you are.
Call (03) 5550 8890 or send a message — we reply the same day.
Request a design(03) 5550 8890
Broadleaf Landscapes9 Learmonth Street, Ballarat VIC 3350ABN 64 391 275 802
Call(03) 5550 8890Mon–Fri 7am–4pm
ReadBlog & advice
AreasBallarat · Ballarat East · Buninyong · Alfredton · Wendouree
AccreditedLandscaping Victoria · Greenlife Industry Victoria
Reviews
4.9
5.0
4.9
5.0
4.9
105 Reviews
Broadleaf Landscapes
5.04.9
We had Broadleaf do our back yard in early 2024 - new retaining wall, paving and all the planting. Tom drew the design and honestly what's out there now is exactly what was on the drawing. Two years on nothing has moved and the beds have filled in the way he said they would. Jake and Sam were on site every day they said they'd be.
Really happy with the job. We have an old lemon tree that every other landscaper who quoted wanted to pull out. Tom worked the design around it and it's now the centrepiece of the courtyard. Took about 3 weeks, a few days longer than quoted because of rain, but they kept us informed the whole way.
Good tradies are hard to find. These guys swept the site every evening without being asked and the neighbours actually commented on how tidy they were. Paving is level and the drainage works (first big rain since and no puddles). Not the cheapest quote we got, but you get what you pay for.
The drystone wall along our front boundary is the first thing anyone comments on when they visit. We went back and forth on the height a few times and Tom was patient with us, even mocked it up with string and stakes so we could see it. Worth every dollar.
Planted in autumn, got through the frosts, and everything is flowering now. We'd lost two rounds of plants from a previous garden centre 'design' so we were sceptical. Tom explained which plants would actually survive up here and why. He was right.
Front garden done in two weeks start to finish. They took out the old lawn, put in the beds and a gravel path and it looks like a different house. Three people on the street have asked for the number already. Thanks Tom, Jake and the team!
we had a side strip between the house and the fence that was just weeds and the wheelie bins. Now it's a proper path with steppers and planting either side and we use it every day to get to the shed. Small job for them I imagine but they treated it like it mattered. cheers
What I appreciated most was that Tom quoted the whole design in stages so we could spread it over two years instead of finding the money all at once. Stage one (paving and the beds nearest the house) is done and looks great. No pressure at all to sign up for the rest. We will, because the work is good.
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