The final week’s biggest problem isn’t the landscaping. It’s the neighbours’ access route, and Adam’s delay in closing it has left his own team with almost no time to finish. With a $50,000 reduction in the reserve at stake, that’s a costly gamble.
Chantel and Wyatt, along with Lisa and Rosco, are still moving landscaping supplies through Adam and Jolene’s yard. Until the route is shut, Adam and Jolene can’t plant the area or build a shed at the access point. Jolene and foreman Dan see the delay as a missed chance to gain an advantage. “It’s like talking to a brick wall,” Jolene says. “It’s not good enough. Fifty grand off your reserve’s massive, Adam. We’ve just wasted an entire week. We’ve just given someone else a week.”
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Adam and Jolene’s yard with the water feature they bought from Lisa and Rosco.
Adam finally shuts the route just 90 minutes before tools down. That leaves his team the evening and a few hours the next morning to complete the yard. Jolene walks off, fed up, while Adam is left with the consequences of the delay.
Wyatt, meanwhile, doesn’t seem especially grateful that he and Chantel haven’t had to haul dirt and pavers through their own home. As the upbeat Cursio brothers try to lift his mood, he tells them he hates the show. Their poor run in the room wins—potentially a Block record, since they’re on track to finish without winning one—doesn’t appear to be the reason.
“I hate it here, ay,” Wyatt says. One of the Cursios suggests selling the house might make it worthwhile. Wyatt shrugs: “Money’s not worth anything to me. I’m over pushing barrows, I’m over the rain, I’m over the mishaps.”
Sulky Wyatt and Chantel in their final week.
Chantel gets the same treatment when she asks him to look at their newly laid side-yard tiles: “I don’t give a f**k.” His mood softens only when they talk about saying goodbye to the Cursios. “It’s so sad saying bye to our Cursios. They’ve been our backbone through this whole thing and it wouldn’t have been the same without them,” Chantel says. Then comes the judging.
What the judges made of the yards
Adam and Jolene’s front yard.
Adam and Jolene’s design pairs the property’s large gum trees with steel arches intended to carry greenery. They’ve also added a side garden with a sculptural firepit, a stone-and-wood outdoor table and screening plants. But the arches raise practical questions: Shaynna Blaze objects to sand between the entry pavers because it could be tracked indoors, while guest landscaper Dave Franklin warns that rain could drip from the plants overhead. Shaynna also thinks the arches obstruct views from the street towards the house and pool. The judges do like the stone water feature the couple bought from cash-strapped Lisa and Rosco.
Chantel and Wyatt’s front yard with outdoor fireplace.
Chantel and Wyatt’s yard includes a Japanese maple in the atrium and a wellness area with a sauna, outdoor shower and oversized stone bath. Darren Palmer calls the bath “a water feature and bath in one” and says, “This is absolutely beautiful.” The judges praise the Cursios’ tiling and outdoor-fireplace design, though Dave says the magnolia could eventually crowd out the plants around it.
Chantel and Wyat’s wellness area with stone bath and sauna.
Even Shaynna is won over. “It feels like home, and I have not said this about any of their spaces,” she says.
Lisa and Rosco have built a shed fitted with an Argentinian barbecue, beer taps and a television. Their yard also has a mature atrium tree, a children’s picnic table and a broad lawn. The judges aren’t sold on the birdbath—Dave says it looks like “something that should be in my nan’s house”—and want more screening trees. Still, Darren admits their earlier criticism that the pair had wasted space was misplaced: “They knew what they were doing, we didn’t.”
Lisa and Rosco’s yard with shed containing barbecue, TV and beer on tap.
Courtney and Sev’s front yard makes a different trade-off. A space for parking a boat or caravan is practical, the judges agree, but weakens the home’s street appeal. The steps are steep, their concrete sides are poorly painted and there’s no handrail; Shaynna struggles on them in heels. Dave also dismisses the water feature as “just plonked there”.
Lisa and Rosco’s front yard.
Shaynna’s verdict is blunt: “If you told me this was House 4 I wouldn’t have believed you. It doesn’t feel elegant, it doesn’t feel finished, it doesn’t have an impact on me at all. They’ve had a lot of money and the fact this is their entry, this is where you should create a lot of wow factor. The fact is, they haven’t allocated the money for it.”
Courtney and Sev’s front yard.
The contestants aren’t surprised. They gave landscaper Troy Lovett a tight budget, and that decision has cost them the week’s win as well as a shot at the show’s record for most room wins.
Courtney and Sev’s side yard with water feature and steep steps with no handrail.
Rick and Tayla finish the season on a high. After struggling to complete even one space, they not only get their yard done but win the week. The standout is a custom concrete water feature, made by hand and centred on a large bonsai tree.
Rick and Tayla’s water feature.
Olive trees and generous lawn round out their yard, but the judges flag two practical gaps: it isn’t fenced, making it unsuitable for pets and children, and some steep steps have no handrail. Shaynna’s reaction is still emphatic: “This is amazing.”
Rick and Tayla take the $50,000 reserve reduction. Danny Wallis, the richlister, has already made comments about their house during the open inspections, so the prize could prove useful.
Rick and Tayla take the top score
Rick and Tayla’s front yard won the round, with a score of 27.5. Adam and Jolene followed on 26.5, while Courtney and Sev and Lisa and Rosco each received 26. A second entry for Courtney and Sev in the results is listed at 22, though the fragment doesn’t explain the duplicate.
Rick and Tayla’s winning front yard.
Catch up on earlier episodes
If you’ve missed an instalment, these recaps track the season’s disputes, design decisions and judging:
Episode 1: First tears shed on season 22 of The Block
Episode 2: ‘I will shut you down’
Episode 3: ‘I won’t help them again’
Episode 4: ‘You will only last five weeks’
Episode 5: Block couple ready to quit after scandal
Episode 6: ‘Everyone is in on it’: Chantel and Wyatt cry foul
Episode 7: Gloves are off as Courtney accuses Rosco of treachery
Episode 8: Dan fuming as Tayla barely lifts a finger
Episode 9: A huge prize causes bitterness in one contestant
Episode 10: Jolene and Tayla fume over controversial bathroom win
Episode 11: Lisa and Rosco fall behind again
Episode 12: Block star’s sad health update
Episode 13: ‘Like a high end coffin’
Episode 14: ‘Should I call an ambulance?’
Episode 15: ‘That s. t’s got to stop’
Episode 17: ‘Like I’m sitting at a bus stop’
Episode 18: Adam’s dirty tricks leave Chantel and Wyatt high and dry
Episode 19: Tayla’s bad decisions leave Dan angry and Rick stressed
Episode 20: ‘Horrible ‘80s dance studio’
Episode 21: ‘This is dead’: teams botch their living rooms
Episode 22: ‘Screwed up their entire house’
Episode 23: ‘They’re cheats’: scandal erupts
Episode 25: ‘Like a bad hotel room’
Episode 26: Wyatt and Chantel’s sloppy habits are grinding their housemates’ gears
Episode 27: Wyatt can’t take Mat’s ribbing as dishesgate continues
Episode 28: Cheating scandal erupts after secret video recording
More from The Block 2026
The later episodes show how quickly renovation pressure turns into personal conflict. Catch up on the disputes, judging rows and twists as they unfold:
- Episode 29: Rick finally snaps at lazy Tayla
- Episode 30: Tayla and Jolene at each other’s throats in embarrassing spectacle
- Episode 31: Jolene furious at Wyatt for being in her carport
- Episode 32: A Wyatt and Chantel prank backfires badly
- Episode 33: Adam and Wyatt erupt in nasty feud over intimidation claims
- Episode 34: Jolene throws out Wyatt’s protein powder amid fury over dishes
- Episode 35: Dishesgate continues as Sev braces herself for Jolene blowback
- Episode 36: Block theory sweeps the show
- Episode 37: Tearful Lisa points out double standards in judging
- Episode 38: Ugly feud erupts on The Block over perfect 10s
- Episode 39: Jolene gets wind of Courtney and Sev’s secret rooftop terrace
- Episode 40: Courtney accuses Dan of conspiring against her
- Episode 41: Winning isn’t enough for Jolene
- Episode 42: Girls’ are threatened with disqualification over spending