First Ideas · online landscape design · Melbourne and Victoria
Online landscape design from your photos, drawn by the people who'd build it.
Upload photos of your garden, answer a few questions, and get back a one-page landscape concept with 6–10 ideas marked up on your site and an honest cost range for each. $5, credited in full if you go further with us.
How it works
You tell us what you already know and what you're stuck on. Byron does the thinking. No site visit needed to get started.
-
10 minutes
1Photos and brief
Upload 3 to 12 photos. Our brief assistant asks the questions a designer would, and keeps what you've decided separate from what you want help with.
-
1 minute
2Pay $5
Card, Apple Pay or Google Pay through Stripe. GST included. Your brief and photos go straight to Byron.
-
Within 5 business days
3Your sheet arrives
A one-page concept marked up on your site: 6–10 ideas, what to keep, what to check, and an indicative cost for each idea.
-
15 minutes
4Talk it through
A short call to walk through the sheet. If you want to go further, we book a site walk and your $5 comes off it.
What's on the sheet, and what isn't
First Ideas is a taster, deliberately stripped back. It's enough to see what's possible and what it roughly costs, before you commit to a design package.
On the sheet
- Your site read back to you. What we can see from your photos and aerial imagery: aspect, levels, what's worth keeping.
- 6–10 numbered ideas. Marked up on a plan of your block, each tied to something you told us.
- An indicative cost for each idea. From the rates we build at today, so you can see where the money goes and choose what comes first.
- Things to check. Levels, drainage, permits for walls, fences or carports, overlays and trees.
- A recommended next step. Sometimes that's a design package. Sometimes it's "you don't need one, here's what to do".
Not on the sheet
- Measurements. It's drawn from photos and aerials, so it isn't to scale. We measure on site in the next stage.
- A quote. The costs are indicative ranges. A fixed, itemised price comes after a measured design.
- Construction or permit drawings. Where a project needs engineering or permit documentation, we arrange it separately.
- 3D renders. We'd rather spend the hour on your layout and your numbers.
Where it leads, and what it costs
You get a cost estimate at every stage, and it tightens as the design does. Every fee is fixed before we start and includes GST.
| Stage | What you get | Fee | Cost estimate at this stage | Credit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First Ideas | One-page concept from your photos and brief, plus a 15-minute call. | $5 | A range for each idea, about ±30%. | 100% off your site consultation or concept design, if booked within 90 days. |
| Site consultation | About two hours on your site. Levels, drainage, access, and a written summary. | $450–$650 | The range, refined against what's actually there. | 100% against your build. |
| Concept design | Measured plan, levels strategy, concept, materials, two rounds of revisions. | $2,500–$3,500 | A costed budget by area, ready to stage. | 50% against your build. |
| Construction documentation | A full set with schedules and a quantity take-off that any builder can price. | $5,000–$12,000 | A quantity take-off, priced line by line. | 25% against your build. |
| Build | BMEL Landscapes builds it. The people who drew it are on site. | Quoted | A fixed, itemised quote. | Credits come off before your deposit. |
Many clients go straight from First Ideas to concept design, which starts with the site walk and measure-up. The full schedule is on bmellandscapes.com.au.
Who draws it
Byron designs and builds with BMEL Landscapes across Melbourne's east and the Mornington Peninsula. The same person who draws your sheet prices it off the rates we actually build at, and is on site when it goes in. That's why the costs on a First Ideas sheet mean something.
Byron holds degrees in civil engineering and architecture from Monash University. He is not a registered architect or landscape architect, and BMEL does not use either title. Where a project needs certified structural design or permit documentation, BMEL engages draftspersons and/or a structural engineer where necessary.
Landscape design across Melbourne and Victoria
First Ideas is an online landscape design service, so it works for any garden in Victoria you can photograph. Site visits, measured design and building are done by BMEL in Melbourne's east and on the Mornington Peninsula.
Online, anywhere in Victoria
Renovating, building new, or stuck between landscapers' quotes that don't agree? Send photos of the front yard, backyard or courtyard and get a garden layout with costed ideas, without waiting weeks for a site visit. Useful for new-build gardens, period homes, sloping blocks and small courtyards alike.
On site in Melbourne's east and the Peninsula
We visit, design and build in the eastern and south-eastern suburbs, Bayside and the Mornington Peninsula, including Kew, Balwyn, Balwyn North, Camberwell, Canterbury, Surrey Hills, Mont Albert, Box Hill, Glen Iris, Ashburton, Blackburn, Forest Hill, Doncaster, Templestowe, Bulleen, Donvale. Suburb guides are on bmellandscapes.com.au.
Questions
Anything else, call Byron on 0422 490 962.
How much does landscape design cost in Melbourne?
At BMEL, a site consultation is $450–$650, a concept design $2,500–$3,500 and full construction documentation $5,000–$12,000, all fixed before we start and including GST. First Ideas is the low-cost way in: a costed online concept from your photos, credited in full if you go further. The fee table above shows what each stage includes.
Do I need a landscape designer, or just a landscaper?
If you know exactly what you want built, a landscaper's quote is enough. If you're unsure about layout, levels, materials or where the budget should go, some design first saves money. First Ideas tells you which camp you're in, and sometimes the answer is "you don't need a design package".
BMEL quotes are free. Why pay for this?
A free quote prices a job you've already decided on. First Ideas is the step before that: working out what the job should be, and what each part of it costs, before anyone prices it. If you already know exactly what you want built, book a free quote instead.
What photos do you need?
Three at a minimum, six to ten is ideal. Stand in the corners and shoot wide, in daylight: the front from the street, the front from your door, the back from the house, the back looking at the house, each side path, and anything that bothers you. The start page has a checklist.
Is the brief assistant a person?
No. It's an AI assistant that asks the questions a designer would ask and writes up your brief. Byron reads every brief and looks at every photo himself, and draws the sheet by hand. Your answers are processed by our AI provider to run the conversation, and aren't used for anything else.
How accurate are the costs?
They're ranges, roughly ±30%, taken from the rates we build at now. Without measurements and a look at your soil and access, that's as close as anyone can honestly get. They tighten at every stage after this one.
I'm not in Melbourne's east. Can I still use it?
Yes. First Ideas works anywhere in Victoria from photos. Site visits and building are limited to Melbourne's eastern and south-eastern suburbs and the Mornington Peninsula, so the credit is only useful there.
Can I take the sheet to another landscaper?
Yes. It's yours to use for your property, with whoever you like. We'd rather earn the build than lock you in.
What if my photos aren't enough to work from?
Byron will ask for what's missing. If we still can't give you something useful, we refund the $5 in full.
How does the credit work?
Book a site consultation or concept design for the same property within 90 days and the full $5 comes off that fee. It's used once and applies to BMEL work only.
Ten minutes of photos and questions. One sheet of honest ideas.
$5 inc GST, credited in full if you go further with us within 90 days.