Landscaping Apprentice Hub

• •Read plans and set out sites with string lines, levels and survey pegs
• •Excavate, grade and compact sub-grades and bases, often with skid steers, mini excavators and plate compactors
• •Lay paving in concrete pavers, natural stone, brick and exposed aggregate
• •Build retaining walls in block, sleepers, sandstone and gabion, with drainage behind them
• •Install subsoil and surface drainage, and pressurised irrigation systems
• •Form up and pour concrete for paths, footings, edges and features
• •Prepare soil, plant trees and shrubs, and lay or seed turf

Same trade, very different day depending on the kind of work your employer does.

• ▹6.30 am: meet at the yard, load the ute and trailer with pavers, road base, tools and the plate compactor
• ▹7.00 am: on site, toolbox talk, check the plan and where the services run before anyone digs
• ▹Morning: dig out and level the area, barrow spoil to the skip, spread and compact road base in layers
• ▹Smoko, then set string lines and screed rails with the leading hand so the paving falls away from the house
• ▹Afternoon: lay pavers or turf, cut with the wet saw, sweep in jointing sand, clean up the street and driveway
• ▹3.00 to 3.30 pm: pack up, unload at the yard, clean tools and log your hours and tasks in your apprentice record book

• →You will dig, barrow and shovel more than you think possible. That is how everyone starts
• →You will be on the end of the string line and the tape while the leading hand sets the levels
• →Expect to be cleaning up, loading trucks and moving material for a lot of the day
• →Machinery time comes once your boss trusts you and you have the right training, not on week one
• →Weather rules the week: rain stops paving and concrete, heat makes every job slower and harder
• →TAFE early on covers safety, site set out and the basics of soil and plants, so it can feel slow next to site work

Set out

Marking the job on the ground with pegs, string lines and paint so everything is built in the right spot and at the right height.

Fall

The slope built into paving or a path so water runs away from the house, usually set with string lines and a level.

Road base

Crushed rock and fines spread and compacted in layers under paving and paths to give a firm base.

Screeding

Dragging a straight edge over bedding sand or concrete along rails to get a flat, even surface at the right level.

Edge restraint

A concrete haunch, edging or kerb that stops pavers spreading at the sides.

Ag pipe

Slotted agricultural drainage pipe laid in gravel, often behind retaining walls, to carry groundwater away.

Geofabric

A permeable textile used to separate soil from drainage gravel so the drain does not clog.

Deadman

A tie back anchored into the soil behind a timber or sleeper wall to stop it leaning over.

Batter

A sloped face of soil, or the backward lean built into a retaining wall.

Hardscape and softscape

Hardscape is the built stuff like paving, walls and decks. Softscape is the living stuff like plants and turf.

The qualification is the Certificate III in Landscape Construction (AHC30921), current on training.gov.au at Release 2 from May 2024. It has 17 units: 10 core units covering set out, brick and block, stone, paving, concrete, retaining walls, drainage, soils, plants and plant establishment, plus 7 electives such as timber structures, irrigation, water features, outdoor tiling, costing and operating machinery. Delivery varies by provider. Melbourne Polytechnic runs it one day a week over 3 years, the Canberra Institute of Technology runs it one day a week over 3 years followed by a 12 month on the job period, TAFE SA lists 48 months, and TasTAFE delivers it mainly in the workplace with trainer visits and some campus days. Some providers use block release instead of day release, so ask your TAFE or RTO how their timetable works. Completion is competency based, so you finish when you and your employer can show you meet every unit, not just when the calendar says so.

You do not need a licence to work as an apprentice or qualified landscaper for someone else, but running your own business doing structural landscaping is licensed in several states. In Queensland the QBCC structural landscaping (trade) licence covers decks, fences, pergolas, retaining walls not needing engineering and similar work, and a QBCC licence is needed for building work valued over $3,300 including labour, materials and GST. In NSW a contractor licence for structural landscaping is required for residential work valued over $5,000 including labour, materials and GST, and AHC30921 is an accepted qualification. In Victoria you must be registered with the Building and Plumbing Commission for domestic building work over $10,000, and there is a domestic builder class limited to structural landscaping. In WA builder registration generally applies only to building work needing a permit and valued at $20,000 or more in prescribed areas, and retaining walls are generally excluded. In SA, Consumer and Business Services treats work such as paving, retaining walls and pergolas as building work needing a licence. Tasmania, the ACT and the NT run their own builder licensing schemes, so check with the regulator before you quote structural work. Plumbing, drainage connections and mains electrical work need their own licensed trades. Machinery is not a licence in the high risk work sense, but employers and big sites want proof of competency for skid steers and excavators, usually the RII units RIIMPO318 and RIIMPO320, and you need a White Card (CPCWHS1001) for construction sites.

Most landscapers are covered by the Gardening and Landscaping Services Award 2020 (MA000101), which covers landscape construction around private houses, parks and public spaces, and maintenance after practical completion. Landscaping done as part of building or civil construction projects can instead fall under the Building and Construction General On-site Award 2020 (MA000020), which lists landscaper as a classification, and some commercial contractors and most councils pay under enterprise agreements that sit above the award. Under MA000101, apprentice pay is a percentage of the qualified Level 4 rate that rises each year, with a higher first and second year rate if you have finished Year 12. Adult apprentices (21 or over when they start) get separate, higher minimum rates, and an existing employee who becomes an apprentice cannot have their pay cut. The award also includes a tool allowance for tradespersons, reimbursement of TAFE fees and textbooks, and rules for school-based apprentices. Rates change every 1 July, so do not rely on a number someone tells you on site: use the Fair Work Pay Calculator to check your actual rate.

Straight from the source. These open in a new tab.

• training.gov.au: AHC30921 Certificate III in Landscape Construction (opens in a new tab)
• Fair Work Commission: Gardening and Landscaping Services Award 2020 (MA000101) (opens in a new tab)
• Fair Work Commission: Building and Construction General On-site Award 2020 (MA000020) (opens in a new tab)
• Fair Work Ombudsman: Pay Calculator (opens in a new tab)
• QBCC: Structural landscaping (trade) licence (opens in a new tab)
• NSW Government: Structural landscaping work licence (opens in a new tab)
• Consumer Affairs Victoria: About builders, tradespeople and other building practitioners (opens in a new tab)
• WA Government: Do I need to be a registered building contractor? (opens in a new tab)
• Your Career: Landscape Gardener (opens in a new tab)
• Jobs and Skills Australia: Occupation Shortage List (opens in a new tab)
• Safe Work Australia: What is crystalline silica (opens in a new tab)