A guest article. Eoin Campbell is an AILA registered landscape architect whose practice, Place Supply, prepares landscape plans for development applications across New South Wales. Here he explains what councils look for in a planting schedule, and why the plant list is best settled early rather than at the end of the design.
When preparing a landscape plan for a development application, choosing plants is rarely as straightforward as selecting species that look good together or grow well in the local climate.
Depending on the development, councils may have specific expectations around tree canopy coverage, privacy screening, deep soil, species selection and even the size of plants at installation. On top of that, the planting needs to work with the architecture, site conditions and intended use of the space.
Having worked across residential, multi-residential, industrial and public infrastructure projects, I've found that the priorities can vary considerably from one development to another.
Different developments, different planting strategies
For residential developments, privacy and screening are often high on the list. Trees and shrubs can soften neighbouring buildings, provide shade and create separation between properties. Councils may also be concerned with maintaining neighbourhood landscape character, retaining existing trees and achieving canopy coverage targets.
Multi-residential developments introduce another layer of complexity. Communal gardens, rooftop terraces and landscaped podiums need to accommodate people, planting and building infrastructure within relatively constrained spaces. Available soil depths, irrigation, structural loads and long-term maintenance become particularly important.
Industrial developments, on the other hand, can require almost the opposite approach to residential planting.
While councils may expect landscape buffers to soften large warehouses or screen outdoor storage areas, dense planting isn't always desirable. Around heavy vehicle entrances, loading areas and security-sensitive boundaries, maintaining clear sightlines can be more important than providing screening.
I've encountered industrial projects where the challenge is balancing council expectations for substantial landscaping with the practical need to maintain visibility and safe vehicle movements. This is something I've explored further in Best Practice Landscape Architecture for Industrial Developments.
Commercial, health and education developments bring their own considerations, including pedestrian comfort, accessibility, shade, visibility of entrances and the needs of different users.
The point is that a planting strategy suitable for one development may be entirely inappropriate for another.
What do councils actually require?
In New South Wales, landscape requirements are commonly established through local Development Control Plans (DCPs), alongside other applicable planning instruments.
These can include minimum landscaped areas, deep soil provisions, tree canopy targets and requirements around species selection.
Some councils specify that a percentage of proposed planting must be native or locally indigenous, while others publish preferred species lists. These provisions can support biodiversity, habitat connectivity and the landscape character of an area.
It's worth checking whether a particular species list is mandatory or simply recommended. The distinction isn't always obvious, and requirements can differ substantially between neighbouring council areas.
Understanding these controls before preparing a planting schedule can save considerable time responding to council requests for amended plans.
Tree sizes, canopy coverage and deep soil
One thing I've noticed when preparing landscape plans for development applications is that councils can be quite particular about the size of trees proposed at installation.
A small container-grown tree might eventually develop into a substantial specimen, but that doesn't necessarily mean council will accept it as adequate replacement planting or as part of a proposed landscape screening strategy.
For residential and smaller commercial developments, 45 litre container-grown trees are often considered the lower end of substantial nursery stock specifications. For larger commercial and multi-residential developments, 75 litre trees or greater are commonly expected.
These aren't universal requirements, and some councils specify particular container sizes, heights or trunk dimensions. Larger stock also doesn't automatically guarantee better establishment; the species and growing conditions still need to be appropriate.
Deep soil is another area that regularly causes confusion. A landscaped area isn't necessarily a deep soil area.
For example, a garden planted above a basement car park might look identical to one planted in natural ground, but it won't necessarily qualify as deep soil under the relevant planning controls. That distinction can have significant implications for site planning and canopy targets.
Planting on bushfire prone land
Bushfire prone sites bring another set of considerations.
In New South Wales, Planning for Bush Fire Protection informs vegetation management and the design of Asset Protection Zones (APZs), which are managed areas intended to reduce fire exposure around buildings.
Planting within an APZ needs to consider vegetation density, canopy separation, proximity to buildings and the accumulation of combustible material.
An APZ doesn't necessarily mean removing all vegetation. It does mean thinking carefully about how planting is arranged and how it will be maintained over time. Nursery Near Me's guide to bushfire wise garden plants covers the plant choices that suit these zones.
Planting above buildings
As developments become denser, it's increasingly common to see gardens proposed above basement car parks, podium slabs and rooftops.
These spaces have limited soil depths and volumes, which can significantly restrict the types of vegetation they can support.
In New South Wales, the Apartment Design Guide (ADG) provides guidance for residential apartment developments on soil depths, planting areas and soil volumes for different vegetation types, recognising that groundcovers, shrubs and canopy trees have very different growing requirements.
Drainage, irrigation and structural loading also need to be considered. Ideally, these requirements are coordinated with the architectural and structural design early, rather than trying to fit planting into whatever space remains.
Getting the planting right
A landscape plan needs to satisfy planning requirements, but it also needs to work in practice.
There's little value in specifying a tree that will eventually outgrow its planting space, a dense hedge that compromises vehicle sightlines or a rooftop garden without sufficient soil to support the proposed vegetation.
The best outcomes come from considering the planning controls, site conditions and intended use of the development together, rather than treating planting as something to resolve at the end of the design process.
About the author
Eoin Campbell is an AILA Registered Landscape Architect and founder of Place Supply, an Australian landscape architecture consultancy specialising in development approvals, landscape documentation and design support. His experience spans residential, multi-residential, industrial, commercial and public infrastructure projects.
