Whose Job Is the Garden: Tenant or Landlord?

Routine garden upkeep is generally the tenant’s job: mowing, watering and weeding. Trees, large branches, gutters, fences, irrigation repairs and anything that needs specialist equipment generally fall to the landlord. Your lease and the entry condition report decide the details, and the standard is always the garden’s condition when you moved in, allowing for reasonable wear.

A useful test: if a job can be done with basic tools like a mower, a garden fork and gloves, it is usually the tenant’s. If it needs a ladder, a saw, a licensed trade or machinery, it usually is not.

What Each Party Is Responsible For

Each state’s tenancy law sets the framework, and the details vary by state and by lease. The baseline is the same everywhere: the landlord keeps the premises in good repair, and the tenant returns them in the same condition as at the start of the tenancy, including the yard and any outbuildings.

For repairs beyond the garden, see landlord and tenant repair responsibilities.

The Residential Tenancies Authority publishes guidance on end of tenancy requirements and outdoor areas, and each state’s act expects the property back in its entry condition.

If you are moving out and the garden needs restoring, Urgent Pro’s lawn mowing network has providers across Brisbane, Perth, Sydney, Melbourne and the Gold Coast.

Three Protections Tenants Are Often Not Aware Of

The entry condition report sets the ceiling. It defines the condition the garden must be returned to. If a landlord or agent expects the garden back in better condition than it was at the start, that expectation goes beyond what the report supports. If you moved into a neglected garden, tell the property manager in writing and photograph it in the first days of the tenancy.

Water restrictions. A tenant who followed the water restrictions that applied to the property and still lost lawn or plants is in a different position from one who simply did not water. If you need to rely on this, keep the restriction notices and dates, and tell the property manager in writing before the inspection. Check with your state authority on how it applies to you.

Unreasonable maintenance expectations. If the garden was overgrown or neglected when you moved in, that should be on the entry report, and you cannot reasonably be expected to return it in better condition than you found it. Consumer Affairs Victoria and the other state authorities publish guidance on what a landlord can expect.

What Your Lease Says

Most standard leases require the tenant to keep the property, including the garden, clean and tidy. Some spell out tasks such as mowing, watering and weeding. If a lease sets out reasonable garden requirements, expect them to be enforced. For keeping on top of those tasks through a tenancy, a year-round garden maintenance checklist sets them out by season.

Be careful with terms that go further. If a lease says you must use a nominated gardening contractor or pay for a garden service, ask your state authority whether that term is enforceable before you agree. The lease should also state which garden areas are yours, and gardens managed by a body corporate or strata are generally not the tenant’s job.

Fruit trees are usually dealt with in the lease. If yours says nothing about who picks the fruit, ask the property manager rather than assuming. For Western Australia, Consumer Protection WA is the place to check.

Five Garden Issues That Come Up at Inspection

These are the garden issues that come up repeatedly at final inspections on Urgent Pro jobs across Brisbane, Perth, Sydney, Melbourne and the Gold Coast.

1. Lawns. Agents photograph lawns at the start and end of a tenancy. Lawns that were kept up during the tenancy and then left to grow at the end draw a claim. In Brisbane and on the Gold Coast, lawns can grow quickly in warm, wet months, while dry, patchy grass is the more common complaint in Perth. Some grasses cope with Perth’s sandy soil and dry summers far better than others; see which lawn varieties suit Perth conditions. The simplest protection is to mow just before the final inspection. See the garden tidy-up guide for final inspection for what agents look for outdoors.

2. Plants. Plants can die for reasons beyond a tenant’s control, such as frost, disease or extreme weather, and those are generally not the tenant’s responsibility. Plants that die because they were not watered or maintained can support a claim. Tell the property manager in writing when a plant dies, with a brief explanation and photos.

3. Garden beds. If the beds were overgrown when you moved in, the agent cannot reasonably expect you to hand them back in better condition. Bed maintenance is tied to the entry condition, and entry photos are the proof, not memory.

4. Storms and fallen branches. Small branches that you can pick up or cut with hand tools are generally the tenant’s to clear. Large branches that need a saw or specialist equipment, or that damage the property, are generally the landlord’s. Notify the landlord in writing and photograph the property as soon as you can after a storm. For clearing the property before handover, see how to sequence the property clear-out.

5. Shared and common areas. Balcony and courtyard gardens are generally the tenant’s. Gardens shared by several properties and maintained by a body corporate or strata are not.

Gutters

Gutter cleaning is generally treated as the landlord’s job, but state guidance and leases differ, so check yours. Either way, tell the property manager in writing about blocked gutters, faulty downpipes or water staining on walls, keep a copy, and do not climb on the roof yourself.

If water damage follows a blockage that you knew about and did not report, you may be blamed for part of it. A short note to the property manager each year, sent ahead of the wetter months, helps document the condition.

Before the Final Inspection

Before the final inspection, compare the garden with the photos on the entry condition report. The aim is the condition you found it in, allowing for reasonable wear.

To get there, mow the lawn and edge the borders, weed the beds that were maintained at the start, and remove organic waste. In areas with a hot, dry summer, watering the lawn in the weeks before the inspection helps.

• If a plant dies while you live there, tell the property manager in writing before the inspection and explain why. Do not wait to be asked.
• Photograph the finished outdoor areas before the inspection.
• If a garden dispute comes out of the exit report, respond in writing with your entry photos. If it involves a garden service you paid for, the consumer guarantee protections apply alongside Urgent Pro’s warranty.
• If the garden has run down badly, book a lawn mowing service well ahead of the inspection through the Urgent Pro network across Brisbane, Perth, Sydney, Melbourne and the Gold Coast.
• For the cleaning side of a bond, vacate or end of lease clean, see what an end of lease clean covers.