Browse Forums Landscape & Garden Design 1 Jun 05, 2009 1:48 am Construction of our house will be starting soon and I thought if we have a plan for the front and back yards we can start acquiring things and maybe even growing some plants in pots ready for when the house is done. At the moment I'm trying to plan out our back yard. Never having done any gardening of any sort (my parents think my sudden interest in gardening is amusing) I'm finding it quite difficult to come up with ideas. So far, my only real idea is to have some kind of feature tree in rear left of the yard, perhaps on a bit of a raised mound with smaller plants around the base, if that makes sense. That possibly isn't such a great idea though because I don't think it will give much shade to our yard, perhaps rear right is better. Besides, I'm not even sure if you're supposed to build up dirt against a colourbond fence. We don't have heaps of space and I really want to get the most out of it, I want it to be useful but most importantly be a relaxing, nice place to be. So far the features I think I would like: Garden around most of the edges of the yard(I'm thinking perhaps some proper garden beds in one or both of the corners and then just thin strips in between, along the fence). One or two different levels in the garden, either with small retaining walls or sloping ground. A decent amount of grass. An outdoor entertaining area(Originally I was thinking of a patio connected to the house where the sliding door is, but perhaps it may be more space efficient to have it separate). Garden beds with curved edges. Vegetable garden(Perhaps even incorporated into the rest of the garden somehow). Clothesline somewhere on the left side of the yard(Laundry is down that side of the house). I really just need some ideas, it's seeming like such a large and important project, choosing power point locations and tiles seems quite simple at the moment Here is the house situated on the block:Evolution3000a.jpg I appreciate any feedback and ideas, thanks. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Building with RedInk at Waterhall in WA, check out our blog: http://justinandashlyshouse.blogspot.com/ Re: Landscaping Ideas 3Jun 05, 2009 9:02 am Have I understood correctly that depth from back of house to rear fence is 6.36m? If so, it is not a very deep back yard so be careful with a feature tree - make sure it will not grow too large for area - and as you say it may shade your rear of house too much as rear does face Southish so will be the darker side to start with - as Adrian says, depending on your location, how much of a concern or not this will be. "So far, my only real idea is to have some kind of feature tree in rear left of the yard, perhaps on a bit of a raised mound with smaller plants around the base, if that makes sense" Be careful with small plants around the base of a tree- they can struggle as the tree roots steal all the water. I imagine your clotheline will go on side of house where laundry is, that would be wide enough for a wall mount, or you could do it at left hand rear, still fairly easy access from laundry. Can you do a long narrow entertaining area at right side of house, where sliding doors open to?? (but it would be narrow) other wise do it at back of house outside family room, this will reduce your available garden area though. Also do you want a tool shed - if so,plan where that would go. Re growing plants in pots - you sound really enthusiastic but dont do it too soon, plants transplant better when they are not grown too much, especially many Australian natives. Actually I think the best way is to draw a rough plan of all things to scale on graph paper before you start - thats what we did and include shed position, lawn area, bark chip area, paths etc. We have a larger yard - you may not neccesarily include everything on that list. Good Luck and Happy Gardening: I enjoy gardening, hopefully you will find it very satisfying too (and surprise your parents!! ) Re: Landscaping Ideas 4Jun 05, 2009 10:06 am Just quickly before I go to work: Thank you for your reply's. Firstly, we're building in South Guildford, WA. The plan that I posted above is actually from a visualisation program which does landscaping and gardening, I will be planning out all of the gardens, retic, lighting etc. in great detail and working from those plans. I'd like a garden shed, but I really don't think our yard is big enough, we have extra space added to our garage and the garage will be used for tools and my project car anyway. I had concerns about putting the clothes line down the side of the house because I thought that there won't be much sunlight there, is that an issue? And yes, you are correct, the depth of the back yard is 6.36m, I wish it was bigger, but you can't have everything I guess. Building with RedInk at Waterhall in WA, check out our blog: http://justinandashlyshouse.blogspot.com/ Re: Landscaping Ideas 5Jun 05, 2009 6:50 pm Before you do anything with your garden in that case, get along to one of these workshops http://www.greatgardens.info/events.php Travel to one if you have too! You won't find info like it anywhere (Except maybe at homeone ) They are free to you (sponsored by the water corp and swan river trust to name a few) and will give you a whole new way of looking at landscape design and gardens in general. They have no other benefit from it other than the government paying them to give you information that is actually accurate and they are some of the best in Australian horticulture as w ell as saving our environment from damage through education. You will get contacts for landscapers who are on the same wavelength and the results will need to be seen to be believed even if you do it yourself On the tree in the south corner, this is a good position. Why? Because in summer it will be one of the hottest parts of the garden. Choose a deciduous one and the light comes through for the winter Small trees to check out for you will be Chinese Tallow, Forest Pansy, Silver Birch, Manchurian Pear, Prunus Nigra (a flowering plum), Frangipani, or an evergreen (but shady in winter as Helyn suggested) Magnolia Kay Paris or Little Gem. A small garden area is going to be a blessing in disguise for you So much can be achieved with small spaces, in fact I reckon you can get more out of them for impact than big spaces. Just look at Peaceful's landscape in that other thread. Not anywhere suitable for Guilford, but you can see the concepts An under planting of small natives can be done or waterwise plants no worries. Choose the correct ones and one of the best data bases for that is found here http://www.watercorporation.com.au/W/wa ... -2374-1092 Also a very useful link for the rest of Australia because so many of the native plants you buy in nurseries are Western Australian culitvars I recently finished my house and after landscaping, have begun to plan a fence. To be honest its been a bit of an afterthought so I'm after some much needed advice. The… 0 2017 Hmmm, I have checked your past posts and it seems that you are in NSW, not WA as I had thought. It pays to show your State in your avatar. Retaining wall regulations… 5 7857 Hi, you've probably already resolved this, however, Commbank will probably pay the funds to you after you send evidence the work is done regardless the change in the quotes. 1 35326 |