Browse Forums Landscape & Garden Design 1 Nov 06, 2009 8:02 am Hi Retaining walls have eaten into our paving budget So we're looking at alternatives to keep the backyard neat and tidy while keeping mess into the house to a minimum. Thinking of compacted dolomite for the driveway and pathways around the house. Or perhaps gravel contained in a simple brick paver border. Maybe using finely ground mulch for garden paths to define garden and walkways. We're hoping to get the leveling of the block and good quality soil in place as soon as we move in. And keen to get trees, especially fruit trees, established right from the start and maybe a small patch of lawn for children to play on. Or should we wait until everything for the base of our landscaping is complete? Keeping in mind we have baby number two on the way and money will be tight for a year or so. Any ideas or photos to share would be much appreciated! Re: Ideas for landscaping backyard until we can afford paving? 2Nov 06, 2009 8:05 am keep in mind that you have to remove anything you put on now when you want to put paving in the future. We have an area that we are going to pave in the future... and we just leave it. The grass is growing on it at the moment, but we though it would be easier to kill the grass than to remove gravel, etc, etc... Regards, Ari Ari & Scott Darwin, NT Re: Ideas for landscaping backyard until we can afford paving? 3Nov 06, 2009 11:39 am I'd just get a heap of green mulch delivered, apply it very thick, use sawdust for paths. Then when you are ready for the garden and the rest, you will have a rich soil forming deeper down and plenty of mulch on hand. This will also be fine to dig through you soil Very cheap, no mess Re: Ideas for landscaping backyard until we can afford paving? 4Nov 06, 2009 12:49 pm Toppings are relatively cheap and compact down nice and firmly. They can be dug up and moved elsewhere if you no longer want them in the original position. Perhaps you could use Fu's mulch suggestion for most of the area, and lay some paths and/or a "patio" area of toppings. If you can figure out where some of your garden beds will eventually be, you can get a head start on planting those areas among the mulch too. Then when you're ready to pave, you'll already have some established trees and shrubs. This driveway is done in Donnybrook toppings (our local nursery calls them sunset toppings, so they probably go by a few different names), but you can also get the light grey Lilydale toppings: Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Granitic sand does a similar job... beats having mud everywhere. I think both cost around $50-$60 per cubic metre, at least around here. Re: Ideas for landscaping backyard until we can afford paving? 5Nov 06, 2009 2:49 pm These are all great ideas! And good to know we can do something while saving up for paving. So they're all better alternatives to dolomite? Someone told us that can be pretty muddy and slippery in winter. Granitic sand would be the way to go for the driveway then? Keeping in mind we're building in the Adelaide Hills with high rainfall... Not sure what exactly these topping are as we've only every had to ask for garden mulch at our garden centre. Will investigate. Re: Ideas for landscaping backyard until we can afford paving? 6Nov 06, 2009 3:19 pm Roar, both kinds of toppings are sourced from the outskirts of Melbourne, but some of them, or an equivalent local product might be available around your way. There's a bit of info here:
http://www.thegreencentre.net/toppings-pebbles-gravel.html Granitic sand is used for the same sorts of applications, but I have no idea which would be more suitable in high rainfall areas. I'm sure your local garden supplies retailers can help you there. Or Fu might pop back in with his expert opinion. I think ideally you need a base of crushed rock under any of them for a decent driveway, but for paths, it shouldn't be necessary. We used the Donnybrook (sunset/Tuscan) toppings down the narrow side of our house and that's my path to the clothesline. It drains really well and we're on heavy clay here...we haven't had a problem with mud or puddles all through our fairly wet winter. This is how it looks - we didn't compact ours at all, just let it settle over time: Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ We also used toppings for paths in our front yard as a cheap alternative to paving. We added some rectangular concrete pavers as well in the path to the front door as a bit of a feature, but the path to our side gate is just plain old toppings and we really ike the look. Re: Ideas for landscaping backyard until we can afford paving? 7Nov 06, 2009 3:21 pm The mulch I'm talking about is not available from garden centres. You need to ring a tree surgeon or tree lopper. The toppings may not be available in Adelaide. They are not something you get in WA landscape supply joints that's for sure. Big in Melbourne where supply is plentiful Also this is just the sort of application that weedmat is supposed to be used. Cover the whole area, cheap as. Just don't put anything on it, treat it like paving. Most people use it under mulch thinking it is going to keep weeds away of course there are legal avenues. You've already mentioned it. Sue them. I find it odd that lawyers wouldnt be willing to take on the case, given CCT evidence and… 1 23764 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 2010 DIY, Home Maintenance & Repair That laser level looks lovely! We bought one for less than a quarter of that price off eBay. It worked really well for us and it's still going now, five years later. After… 1 16711 |