How to Step Back from the Tools and Develop Your Landscaping Team
PODCAST
Giving your landscaping team more responsibility starts with creating the conditions for success. In The Front Garden EP154, Daniel Eastman from Evergrow Landscapes shares how he’s supporting a newly qualified employee to take greater ownership on site. Along the way, he explains why knowing your quoting numbers, documenting payment terms, planning materials and communicating openly all matter when you’re trying to make more time for running the business.
Landscaping Victoria | 15 October 2026 | 4 min read
When staying on the tools leaves everything else waiting
A busy week on a landscape project site can feel productive — until you look at the quotes, invoices and planning that have piled up behind it.
For Daniel Eastman, owner of Evergrow Landscapes in East Gippsland, finding a better balance is a priority. His first apprentice is now qualified and keen to take on more responsibility. That gives Daniel more time to spend on site and less time organising the work ahead.
In episode 154 of The Front Garden podcast, Daniel talks with host Adam Hompas about that transition and the practical lessons helping him along the way.
It’s a useful conversation for business owners learning to delegate, supervisors supporting their teams, and qualified landscapers preparing to take the next step.
How do you give a landscaping team more responsibility?
Daniel’s approach is to give his newly qualified landscaping employee opportunities to manage site work while remaining available to support decisions.
He’s still working out how to strike that balance. The goal is to provide guidance without constantly looking over someone’s shoulder, while maintaining the standard of work clients expect.
Daniel recognises that staying on site and doing the work himself can be the easiest option in the moment. But it can also mean missing an opportunity for his team to develop — and leaving other responsibilities waiting.
For an employee moving beyond their landscaping apprenticeship, this part of the conversation highlights an important career step: becoming qualified can open the door to greater responsibility, with continued learning and support.
Make time for quoting before it becomes after-hours work
Stepping back from site serves a practical purpose for Daniel: creating time during the day to quote, complete administration, and organise projects.
With two young children, he wants to stop spending evenings preparing quotes after the kids go to bed. He’s also conscious of the cycle that develops when a full week on the tools is followed by a week spent catching up on everything else.
His team’s growing capability is helping create that space. Having a qualified landscaper who can manage work while Daniel is away allows him to visit prospective clients or collect materials.
The transition is still underway, but the direction is clear: build enough on-site support to give planning and administration the attention they need.
Why your own costs should guide your landscaping quotes
Before starting Evergrow Landscapes, Daniel received advice that helped shape his approach to quoting: understand your numbers before setting your prices.
Instead of copying another landscaper’s rates, he calculated what he needed to charge based on his own costs.
That preparation helped Daniel approach his first projects with greater confidence. It also informs the advice he gives others starting out: different businesses have different costs, so another person’s price won’t necessarily work for you.
For anyone involved in estimating or project management, it’s a useful reminder that a quote needs to reflect the work and resources required to deliver it.
Put payment terms and project changes in writing
An early project taught Daniel a difficult lesson about relying on verbal assurances.
Although he had a contract, he hadn’t clearly documented the payment terms. Getting progress payments became a struggle, slowing the project’s progress.
Since then, he has placed greater emphasis on written payment terms, variation forms and email records.
Daniel also discusses using Landscaping Victoria’s contract templates and variation documents to help make project administration more straightforward.
His experience reinforces a practical point: even where there’s an established relationship, clear written expectations help everyone understand how the project will proceed.
Regional landscaping needs careful material planning
Working in East Gippsland brings another consideration: getting materials to site.
Daniel explains that some pavers have an eight-to-ten-week lead time, plus additional time to reach his team. Freight costs and collection trips also need to be considered.
That makes early planning important. Knowing which materials require extra time helps him organise projects around their availability.
At times, collecting materials himself is the most practical option. Having someone who can manage site work gives him more flexibility to make those trips.
It’s a solid example of how developing a team can support the wider demands of delivering a landscape project.
Keep client communication open
Daniel identifies pride in the work, professionalism, and transparency as core values for his business.
When clients have questions about pricing, process, or an on-site decision, Daniel prefers to explain openly — even when the conversation feels uncomfortable.
He has found that responding promptly and honestly helps resolve concerns before they become an ongoing source of stress.
That lesson applies across the team. Clear communication helps clients understand what’s happening and supports the trust built through the work itself.
Listen to The Front Garden Episode 154
Daniel’s transition away from being constantly on site is ongoing. His experience offers practical ideas for developing people, organising projects, and making room for responsibilities beyond the tools.
He also reflects on the value of mentoring and industry connections, including the guidance he received through his apprenticeship and site supervision experience with Ian Barker.
Listen to The Front Garden EP154: Stepping Back from the Tools Without Losing Quality
Follow The Front Garden wherever you listen to podcasts so you don’t miss future episodes.
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