Strata Garden Maintenance in Melbourne: A Complete Guide
Shared gardens are the first thing people notice about a strata property and the last thing anyone wants to take charge of. This guide covers who's responsible, what the work includes, how often it should happen, and what you should expect to pay in Melbourne.
What is strata garden maintenance?
Strata garden maintenance is the scheduled upkeep of gardens on common property — the shared lawns, beds, hedges and entry gardens that belong to the whole complex rather than any one unit. It's arranged by the owners corporation and paid for out of the maintenance budget, so it runs to a set program instead of being called in job by job.
The split that trips people up is common property versus private lot. Shared lawns, entry gardens, boundary hedges and common trees sit with the owners corporation; balcony planters and private courtyard gardens sit with the lot owner.
Who is responsible for strata garden maintenance?
The owners corporation is responsible for gardens on common property, and the cost comes out of owners corporation fees that every lot owner contributes to. Individual owners look after gardens inside their own lot, including exclusive-use courtyards.
The committee makes the call on scope, budget and which contractor to use. The strata manager usually runs the process — getting quotes, managing the contract and handling invoices — but the decision still sits with the committee.
Note: Owners corporation duties in Victoria come from legislation and from your property's own registered rules, and they differ between properties. Check your OC rules and plan of subdivision, and get advice from your strata manager for anything in dispute.
What's included in strata garden maintenance?
Most contracts are built in three layers: routine work every visit, periodic work through the year, and seasonal work once or twice a year. Routine covers mowing, edging, weeding, litter removal and blowing down paths; periodic covers hedge trimming, pruning, mulching, fertilising and irrigation checks; seasonal covers tree pruning, leaf clearing and garden bed renewal.
Tree removal, turf replacement, irrigation repairs, replanting and storm clean-up usually sit outside the base contract and get quoted separately. Get these listed as exclusions in writing before you sign, not after the first invoice. If your complex needs a bigger upgrade, like new paving or retaining walls, our commercial landscaping services can quote that as a separate project.
How often should strata gardens be maintained?
Fortnightly is the standard for most Melbourne strata common areas through the growing season, dropping back to monthly over winter. Small complexes under 10 units manage fine on fortnightly year-round; larger or high-presentation sites usually need weekly through spring and summer.
Frequency is the biggest lever on cost, so it's worth the committee setting it deliberately. Write it into the agreement as visits per year rather than leaving it as "regular" — that's where most disputes start.
How much does strata garden maintenance cost in Melbourne?
Expect roughly $150–$400 per visit for common-area maintenance on a small to mid-size Melbourne complex, with larger sites quoted under a tailored agreement. General garden maintenance in Victoria runs about $60–$200 per visit for a single residential property, and strata sites sit above that because the grounds are bigger and the scope is wider.
Most owners corporations prefer a fixed monthly or annual fee rather than per-visit billing, because it gives the committee a predictable line to budget levies against. What moves the price: total garden area, number of units, visit frequency, access and parking, irrigation, tree volume, and the presentation standard the committee wants. For broader commercial and strata pricing examples, see our commercial landscape maintenance cost guide.
Strata garden rules owners should know
Planting on common property almost always needs owners corporation approval, even for one plant in a shared bed — this is one of the most common sources of friction in strata gardens. The same goes for garden edging, paving or any structure on shared land.
Removing or heavily pruning a common-property tree usually needs OC approval and sometimes council approval too. Check your registered rules before making any change, and take anything contested to a committee meeting rather than acting first.
DIY or hire a contractor?
Self-managing works for small complexes with simple gardens and residents who genuinely want to do it. Below about 10 units with no significant trees, irrigation or slope, a few engaged owners can keep a site looking fine and save the levies.
It breaks down on liability, consistency and resentment. A resident injured working on common property raises insurance questions a contractor's public liability cover would have handled, volunteer schedules slip, and most complexes that switch do it because two people were doing all the work.
How to choose a strata garden contractor
Ask for three things before anything else: a certificate of currency for public liability insurance, a written scope listing every task by frequency, and a sample of their visit reporting. Reporting is the most underrated item in a strata contract — it's what lets the committee actually know what was done each visit.
Give every contractor the same written scope so the quotes are comparable. Committees routinely get three quotes built on three different assumptions and then compare the prices as if they're measuring the same thing.
Red flags: no written scope, vague frequency like "as needed", reluctance to show an insurance certificate, or a price well under the others with no explanation of what's been left out.
Signs it's time to change contractor
Watch for skipped or inconsistent visits, presentation sliding over several months, garden complaints at every OC meeting, and extras appearing on invoices that were never discussed. No reporting is its own warning sign — if the committee only hears about problems from residents, the contract isn't working.
One or two of these is a conversation worth having. Several together usually means it's time to go back to market.
Get a quote for your strata property
We look after common-area gardens for strata properties across Melbourne — apartment blocks, townhouse complexes and villa units — with written scopes, set visit frequencies and reporting your committee can table at meetings.
For a broader common property upgrade or ongoing care from one contractor, see our strata landscaping service in Melbourne.
If you're on a committee or managing a property and want a comparison quote, we'll assess the site and give you a scope and price in writing at no cost.