How soon do you start Landscaping on a new contruction?

Our house is due to start construction in the next month or two... but at what stage do most people start the landscaping? Before or after settlement?

Ideally, we'd like to be in a position where we can move straight in after settlement, with at the very least, the yard 90% done.

What we don't want to do is not be able to move in for weeks afterward because we're still landscaping (we have 2 very active dogs who would love nothing more than the world's biggest mud pit to play in before coming in side).

I would think that once the house comes close to practical completion (i.e. once the internal walls and appliances are installed), we would begin the backyard, because there would only be minimal requirement for the construction work to enter the house through the back.

Can anyone advise on what's best practice?

Great question. Look forward to reading the replies

my understanding is you would have to get agreement from, at the very least, the site supervisor for this. The entire property technically becomes the domain of the builder until handover. Some people are able to get the builder to agree to them putting in driveways etc before handover but most will not even allow this. Hence most people landscape after settlement. I'd be considering get one small section sorted asap after settlement so your dogs have one section they can use while the rest of the yard is no mans land while you get things established. Depends on the size of your yard though of course. From experience of having a large dog and a new garden last time we built I have to admit that large dogs and new gardens don't mix terribly well. You'll just have to do the best you can.
Errin may have some good suggestions as they have dogs and had to sort out a yard area for them too.

It's very unlikely that you'd get any landscaping done prior to handover - as kexkez said, you would need permission from your builder for other tradesmen (or you, if you're DIY-ing) to access the site.

The other thing to consider is that any work you have done may well be ruined by your builder's subcontractors stomping around. OR it could cause delays if the trades are unable to access areas they need to be working on (for example if you have concrete poured and it's in the way of plumbers connecting stormwater, heating, etc, or other tradies doing final work).

Normally, you move in and then do the landscaping, or have the basic stuff completed in the week or two post-handover, before moving in. We had our driveway done immediately after handover and before we moved in, but the rest waited for a while, as we had other priorities.

There is a home near me where the owners started their landscaping well before handover. They planted trees and plants along their boundary and did a fair bit in their backyard, as far as levels and planting. BUT, the block is around 1500m2, around 25m wide and 60m deep. Access for trades becomes far less of an issue on blocks of this size. I also have no idea as to the arrangement with their builder.

I wasn't even allowed to arrange a driveway before handover! I didn't think about the landscaping until after I moved in and had to wash my little doggies paws for a whole month until I arranged a temporary solution to grass (white small pebbles)

In my case, it's when we can afford the time and money and weather permitting!

We moved in about 20 months ago and still don't have a driveway. We want to do the front brick fence first, then fit the driveway snuggly around it, but we have to go through Council for approval (more money), and finding a person to build it for the right price!

I have planted a few Olive trees out the back, but that's about it! Still looking at retaining walls too, and my main problem is I have expensive taste!

Can relate to that. If you showed me two identical items with no price tag, odds are I'd like the expensive one ><

As mentioned above, the sites can get real messy during the build. I think a lot of the work you do would get damaged if it was done before handover. Which is annoying, because it'd make life so much easier.

Our builder let us start before handover but it was for a retaining wall at the front so it wasn't getting in anyones way. I suppose you just have to ask but before you do landscaping the first thing you should do is the fence. I saw someone recently who decided to do their fence after most of the landscaping was in and they made a complete mess of everything.

Well, our builder is doing the fence for us, so that's not a problem, butwhat I was thinking was along the lines of doing the retaining walls and garden beds, and then once they've given an assurance they're done with the backyard, getting the soil etc done ready for turf to be laid after settlement.

We've got a dog also, so we wanted to get Landscaping going before hand-over but we weren't allowed. Poor ol' Jake is going on Doggy Holiday with the in-laws for a couple of weeks while the garden and fences get done! It's a bit disappointing, but i suppose it's fair enough.

Check with your builder on the order of work. Often, the stormwater connection is done pretty much last, so there's a fair bit of digging to be done. Same goes for connections for phone and possibly gas etc...

We got our keys two and a half weeks ago, my hubbi has completed the back landscaping today, he did it on his own and is totally exhausted, allot of hard work . Our concreter laid the slap for the pergola, the fences will be up by Tuesday we hope. Our much love dog has been at the local holiday farm, kennels, we hope to have him back Wednesday at the latest. Even the trampoline is up, I don't think hubbi wants to see his wheel barrow for a while. The front can be done next, but the yard was a priority because of our dog.