Landscapers Burleigh Heads
Walled courtyards, coastal gardens and canal-side yards in Burleigh Heads and Burleigh Waters, designed and built by one team.
Bella Terra Group is a team of landscapers based in Nerang, providing landscape design and construction in Burleigh Heads and Burleigh Waters. Our Burleigh Heads work includes a walled front courtyard behind a white stone entry wall, with rendered planters, a built-in bench seat, limestone and honed concrete, and curved steps. Quotes are free and measured on site.
In the 2021 Census, 39 per cent of homes in Burleigh Heads were separate houses and 47 per cent were flats or apartments. A house garden here is usually compact, overlooked from next door and within reach of salt air off the ocean.
That puts the weight on privacy, and on materials and plants that hold up near the surf. Each Burleigh project is part of our landscape design work on the Gold Coast: planned with you on site and built by our own team, so you deal with one company from the first visit to the last plant. Our owner, Dion McGirr, manages each project personally.
The coast
What Does the Coast Change in a Burleigh Garden?
The coast changes three things: the salt in the air, the sand underfoot and how close the neighbours are. Near the surf, salt corrodes steel fixings and light fittings faster than it does inland, and it scorches the leaves of plants that aren’t suited to it.
The ground is often sand, which drains quickly but holds little water or nutrient. Burleigh Waters is different again. Much of it was the Stephens Swamp, built over in stages from the 1970s, so the ground is lower and slower to drain, and some lots back onto a canal.
So we settle the materials, the soil and the wall heights for your lot first. The layout, planting and lighting are planned around them, so the courtyard is private, drains after rain and suits the salt air from the start.
The work
What Our Landscapers Build in Burleigh Heads
Our own team carries out the work below under our QBCC builder’s licence, with the lighting wired by a licensed electrician. You don’t need to arrive with a plan. Tell us how you’d like to use the space, and we’ll work out the design with you on site.
Walled front courtyards
On a compact Burleigh lot the front yard is often the most usable outdoor space, and a wall turns it into a private room. We design the walls, planters, seating, paving and steps together, so the courtyard reads as one piece with the house.
Here's what our courtyard work covers.
- Rendered garden walls and raised planters around the courtyard
- Natural stone cladding on entry walls and pillars
- Built-in rendered bench seats
- Limestone, travertine and natural stone paving
- Concrete steps and landings, curved or straight
- Step and wall lighting, wired by a licensed electrician
Coastal gardens and Burleigh Waters backyards
Beyond the courtyard, the work turns to gardens that have to cope with sand and salt, and on a Burleigh Waters canal lot, to the frontage. We choose the planting for the exposure and build the beds up before anything goes in.
Here's what our garden work covers.
- Garden beds built up with organic matter for sandy ground
- Coastal planting such as banksias, pandanus and coastal rosemary
- Low retaining walls and changes of level
- Pool surrounds and paving laid to fall away from the house
- Canal frontages kept within council's waterfront fence height
- Natural turf, laid once the heavy work is complete
Every Burleigh project starts with a visit to the property. Salt exposure, sandy ground, a corner lot or a canal frontage can change a design completely, and they’re only clear on site.
During the visit we walk the yard with you, measure it and look at the soil, the aspect and what the neighbours can see. We talk through the layout, the materials and planting, how much upkeep each needs and what it costs, so you can choose what suits your budget.
The process
Our Process
Every Burleigh project starts with how you want to use the space. From there, it runs in three stages.
- Consultation and site assessment. We walk the yard with you and check the soil, drainage, exposure to salt wind, side access and, on a corner or canal lot, the wall heights council allows.
- An itemised quote. Each part of the project is priced separately, so you can see what every element costs and stage the work if you prefer.
- The work itself. Our team builds it, Dion oversees each stage, and he hands the finished space back to you.
What Do We Check on a Burleigh Lot?
We check five things before a Burleigh design is settled: how close the lot is to the surf, the soil, wall and fence heights, privacy and access. Each can change what is built and where, so they come before the quote rather than after it.
- How close the lot is to the surf. Salt air wears steel fixings, light fittings and some plants faster near the beach, so each is chosen for the exposure.
- The soil. Sand drains fast and holds little water or nutrient, so garden beds are built up before planting and footings are planned for loose ground.
- Wall and fence heights. Council sets lower limits on corner lots and waterfront lots, and some titles carry covenants, so the walls are designed to the lot's own limits.
- Privacy and sightlines. With apartments and townhouses close by, we look at what the neighbours can see from upstairs before walls, screens and trees are placed.
- Access for machinery. Many Burleigh lots are narrow, so we plan how machinery and materials reach the yard before the work is priced.
Recent work
Recent Landscaping in Burleigh Heads
Three more views of our Burleigh Heads courtyard. We keep our customers’ details private, so the photos do the talking.
Burleigh Heads: curved steps meeting the lawn above a rendered planter.
Burleigh Heads: a curved rendered bench seat built in beside a planter.
Burleigh Heads: the walled courtyard, with its bench seat and rendered planters.
Why Bella Terra Group
Choosing Bella Terra Group in Burleigh Heads
Our owner, Dion McGirr, has been in the trade for over 14 years, and our Burleigh work ranges from natural stone entry walls to rendered planters, built-in seating and new steps. You can see more of it in our project gallery.
Each project is designed and built by the same company, under QBCC licence 15452813, with Dion managing the work on site. One client, who used many contractors on a complete exterior renovation, wrote that “Dion and his team have blown everyone else out of the water.” Another wrote that Dion “was super helpful in coming on site to quote.”
Quotes are free, measured on site and itemised, with no obligation to go ahead.
Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does landscaping cost in Burleigh Heads?
The cost depends on the size of the yard, the materials and the site itself. In Burleigh Heads the biggest variables are how much walling and render a courtyard needs, the stone chosen for paving and cladding, how much the sandy ground has to be built up for planting and how easily machinery can reach a narrow lot. We visit, measure and provide an itemised quote at no charge.
Do I need approval for a front courtyard wall in Burleigh Heads?
Usually not, if the wall stays within council's limits. A fence or screen up to 2 metres high above the original ground generally needs no building approval. On a corner lot, fencing within the corner can't be higher than 1 metre so drivers can see around it, fencing on a waterfront is limited to 1.2 metres, and some titles carry covenants on fencing. A wall that also retains more than 1 metre of soil, or carries a load such as a driveway, needs approval of its own.
Source: City of Gold Coast.
What plants suit a garden near the beach at Burleigh?
Plants that tolerate salt, wind and sand. Council's list of natives for exposed coastal sites includes coastal banksia, screw pine (pandanus), tuckeroo and coastal she-oak, and coastal rosemary is a reliable shrub in sandy soil. A courtyard sheltered by a wall can take a wider range of plants.
Do you do landscaping in Burleigh Waters as well?
Yes. We've finished work in both Burleigh Heads and Burleigh Waters. Burleigh Waters is mostly houses, about seven in ten homes in the 2021 Census, and much of it was built in stages from the 1970s on the former Stephens Swamp, so drainage and levels matter more there than near the headland. On a canal lot, fencing along the water is limited to 1.2 metres and the owner is responsible for the revetment wall.
Burleigh Heads and the Suburbs Around It
We’re based in Nerang, a short drive from Burleigh, and we work across Burleigh Heads and Burleigh Waters: the streets around the headland and Burleigh Ridge Park, the blocks back from the beach and the canal lots of Burleigh Waters.
If you’re looking for landscape design in Burleigh Heads, we also work in the suburbs around it, including Mermaid Beach, Mermaid Waters, Palm Beach.
Further afield? Get in touch. We cover most of the Gold Coast, and you’ll get a straight answer either way.
Written by Dion McGirr, who runs Bella Terra Group and has been in the trade for over 14 years. You can talk to Dion directly about your project.
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Let’s plan your Burleigh garden
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Get a free quoteEvery quote is free, prepared on site and carries no obligation. Or call 0423 188 691.