Looking Up Landscapes
Jon leads the builds, Bel navigates the council paperwork — customers say this combination makes complex landscaping projects unexpectedly smooth.
Based on only 14 of their 20 Google reviews, every sampled review is five stars, which is encouraging but also means there's limited data to assess how they handle things when something goes wrong. The business has been operating for around eight years as a registered company with GST registration, which gives it more structural stability than a sole trader setup — worth noting if you're commissioning a multi-stage project. If you're planning a job that touches council requirements or involves retaining walls, ask them upfront about their experience with your specific council area and what the certificate process typically looks like — the reviews suggest they'll give you a straight answer.
Their work
What it's like working with them
Based on a sample of Google reviews (20 total)
“Assisting with our construction certificate application”
“kept us in the loop and provided photo updates for us”
What they help with
Based on what their customers hired them for
How they stack up
Context from 156 gardenings in Lake Macquarie
Credentials & background
Sourced from 4 public records so you don't have to look them up yourself
About Looking Up Landscapes
Jon and Bel run Looking Up Landscapes as a family business, and the way reviews split between them tells you something useful: Jon leads on-site project delivery — customers mention him by name on retaining wall builds and major front yard transformations — while Bel is specifically praised for keeping clients informed through council-heavy processes and construction certificate applications. That combination of hands-on trades skill and administrative follow-through is relatively rare in residential landscaping, and it shows up most clearly on jobs that involve both physical construction and council coordination. The team handles a wider scope than the 'gardening' category implies: retaining walls, fencing, knock-down rebuild garden redesigns, and native planting schemes sit alongside smaller garden spruce-ups, suggesting they're comfortable scaling up or down depending on the brief. Several customers flag low-maintenance native garden design as a specific strength — one homeowner describes moving from an unmanageable lawn-heavy layout to a native-and-landscaping scheme that now feels like 'a sanctuary,' which points to genuine design thinking rather than just installation. The team also supplies and delivers plants directly, which matters if you're working on a larger project and want a single point of contact. Based on the reviews available, they appear to be focused on residential work, with a particular fit for homeowners facing projects they've been putting off because of complexity or council involvement.
Best for: residential retaining wall builds requiring council approval, full garden redesigns incorporating native low-maintenance planting, pre-sale garden transformations, and complex multi-stage projects where administrative coordination matters as much as on-site skill.
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Claim This Profile — Free →Common questions about Looking Up Landscapes
What types of projects does Looking Up Landscapes take on?+
Reviews point to a wide range — from small garden tidy-ups before a property sale through to full front-yard renovations, retaining wall builds, and complete garden redesigns as part of knock-down rebuilds. They appear equally comfortable with one-day jobs and multi-stage projects that span construction and planting phases. If you have a project that's been sitting in the 'too hard' basket, particularly because of council involvement, that seems to be a specific area where they add value.
Can Looking Up Landscapes help with council approvals and construction certificates?+
Yes — at least two reviewers specifically mention this. One customer credits the team with assisting through a construction certificate application for a retaining wall, and another says they were surprised how simple the council process turned out to be with the team's support. Bel is named in reviews as the person who manages communication and administrative coordination. It's worth asking them directly what they can assist with for your specific council area.
Who actually runs and works on the jobs?+
Jon and Bel are named across multiple reviews as the principals — Jon appears to lead on-site work including retaining wall projects and major landscaping jobs, while Bel handles office coordination, client communication, and administrative processes. A wider crew is mentioned in reviews, with customers noting that all team members were professional and respectful on-site. The business describes itself as a family operation.
Do they supply plants as well as install them?+
Yes — one reviewer specifically mentions that the team supplied and delivered plants free of charge and described them as high quality. This suggests you may not need to source plants separately for your project, which can simplify the process considerably. Confirm the specifics of what they supply and any associated costs when you get your quote.
What do customers say about their pricing?+
One reviewer mentions 'very good price' in relation to a fencing job, but there aren't enough pricing references across the sample of 14 reviews to give you a reliable sense of where they sit in the market. No reviewers raised concerns about cost. Given the range of project types they handle — from small gardens to multi-stage builds — it's worth getting a detailed quote that breaks down materials, labour, and any council-related costs separately.