Oct 2026 Are Other Landscaping Businesses Finding This Year Tougher?
When you run a landscaping, pool building, horticulture, or design business, it can sometimes feel like you operate in your own little isolated bubble.
Most weeks are spent dealing with clients, managing your team, trying to win jobs, quoting projects, solving problems, marketing and trying to keep payments and profit flowing. You don’t necessarily get the opportunity to sit down with other business owners and ask a simple question:
“How is your business going this year?”
Social media doesn’t help. Scroll through Instagram and you see impressive garden builds, beautiful photography, busy job sites and smiling team members introducing themselves. It can create the impression that everyone else is doing well.
Meanwhile, you might be experiencing enquiries slowing at various times throughout the year, clients taking longer to make decisions, and it feels harder to convert quotes than it did a couple of years ago.
If that sounds familiar, you’re certainly not alone.
It Has Been a Tougher Market, but clients are spending on their gardens
I coach many landscapers around Australia on a weekly basis, and I want you to know that everyone is finding 2026 a tougher year.
During 2025 and 2026, a common theme has been that clients are more cautious. They are taking longer to make decisions, questioning costs more closely and considering different options before committing. And given the increased mortgage rates and increased cost of living, it’s understandable.
At the same time, landscapers, designers and horticulturists are dealing with the normal challenges of running a business: finding quality tradespeople, retaining good employees, managing cash flow and increasing costs.
The good news is that people are still investing in their gardens. Designs, installs, makeovers and maintenance work have continued all year. The difference is that landscapers now have to work harder to win that work.
Work harder on your sales process
Here are a few ways to win more of your quotes when clients are cautious.
Qualify before you visit
Before you head out to a property, spend more time getting to know the prospect over the phone or by your website contact page. Ask what they want, what matters most to them and what budget they have in mind. This saves you time, and you’ll arrive prepared. I know the budget question is one prospects avoid and its easier for designers to discover, but contractors can often receive this information via the website contract page by specifying budget ranges.
Make the first meeting a conversation
Don’t treat the first meeting as a sales pitch. Treat it as a conversation. Listen carefully, ask questions and explain what’s involved and show examples of similar projects. Photos, videos, 3D renders and before-and-after images can all help clients picture what’s possible.
It’s also worth asking prospects to share images of gardens they love. Understanding what they’re drawn to gives you a much clearer picture of what they’re hoping to achieve.
Offer two pricing options
Another approach that works well is presenting 2 pricing options, in other words 2 quotes. One meets the prospects budget and the other includes the additional wants. This will help build trust by showing you have listened, respected their budget and thought carefully about how you can help transform their garden. This approach requires more effort, but it’s worth it.
Make the most of spring
Now that we’re well into spring, enquiries have probably picked up, and Christmas deadlines are starting to loom.
Use this busy period to sharpen your operations, improve your sales process and set yourself up for a strong finish to the year.
Just be careful not to fall into the trap of rushing or trying to squeeze too much work in before Christmas.
Wishing you a great lead-up to Christmas.