Editorial policy
Editorial policy: how this content is built and checked.
This page explains what our content is and isn't, how we frame cost ranges and local facts, and how we handle independence from any landscaping business.
General guidance vs. site-specific advice
Everything on this site is written as general planning guidance for a New Zealand audience. It's designed to help you understand what a type of project typically involves, what tends to move its cost, and what questions are worth asking — not to tell you what is true of your specific property. Slope, soil, existing services, drainage behaviour, boundary position and council rules all vary from site to site, and no general article can substitute for someone assessing the actual ground.
Where a page touches on something that needs verification — a consent threshold, an engineering requirement, a boundary rule, a drainage discharge point — we try to say so explicitly and point toward the relevant authority, whether that's a council, a licensed professional or the legislation itself, rather than presenting it as a settled fact for your property.
How we frame cost ranges
Cost figures on this site are planning bands, not quotes. Where we show a range, it's built around stated assumptions — typical size, site condition, access and finish level — and we try to show what happens to the number as those assumptions change, rather than publishing a single average that hides more than it reveals.
A cost range on this site is meant to move you from having no idea what something costs to having a sensible starting budget to test against real quotes. It is not a substitute for those quotes, and it should not be treated as a ceiling, a floor or a promise — actual pricing depends on your site, your chosen contractor and current market conditions.
How location facts are sourced
Facts about a specific city or region — climate, terrain, common site conditions, the relevant local authority — are drawn from public sources such as council websites, building.govt.nz and NIWA climate information, and are treated as general planning context rather than a current, authoritative statement for any specific address.
Council rules, hazard information and consent thresholds change over time, and the version that matters is always the one published by the relevant authority at the time you act — not the version on this page, however recently we've reviewed it. Where we reference council or regulatory information, we say so and point toward the source rather than restating it as our own claim.
Our independence policy
How we handle independence and commercial relationships.
- We do not accept payment from landscaping businesses, designers or suppliers in exchange for favourable coverage, ranking or placement in editorial content.
- Service, cost and guide pages are written to the same structure and standard regardless of which businesses happen to operate in that category or area.
- Any commercial relationship that could reasonably affect how a page is written would be disclosed on that page — we don't currently have arrangements of that kind.
- If you believe something on the site is inaccurate or out of date, let us know through the contact page and we'll review it.
Editorial policy questions
Are cost ranges on this site guaranteed prices?
No — they're planning bands built from stated assumptions, meant to give you a sensible starting budget to test against real quotes, not a promise of what your project will cost.
How often is location and cost content reviewed?
We note a checked date on pages that reference time-sensitive facts. Council rules and market pricing change, so the authoritative version is always the one published by the relevant source at the time you act.
Sources & methodology
Designed to show its working.
This policy describes how we handle general planning content. For the underlying regulatory and climate sources we point to throughout the site, see building.govt.nz and NIWA directly.
Ready when you are
Want to see this in practice?
Browse a cost guide to see how ranges and assumptions are actually presented.