Browse Forums Landscape & Garden Design 1 Jan 21, 2010 5:17 pm Hi, need more advice/idea's on what to do with this on a budget... I do have a way to cut/fill if needs be... Pleaseeeeeeeeeeeee HELP!!! http://www.flickr.com/photos/25362712@N02/ Re: advice, idea's, anything.... 2Jan 22, 2010 11:32 am Looks like a beautiful house! Firstly, what area do you live in? What type of garden are you looking for? Tropical, native, formal etc. Do you have other specifications? Eg. kids, pets, entertaining If you know what type of thing you want then it will be easier to begin to formulate something. I'm very new to this myself so I don't like to give landscaping advice, but I think if you cruise the landscaping forum you will find some fantastic ideas. Do some searches on stuff you're interested in (search function is in the box in the top right of your screen) or just read as much as you can. There are some very knowledgable people on here with qualifications to match who have posted many things that could help you begin to consolidate your ideas of what you're looking for. Search the internet, read magazines, go to bookshops / libraries and browse their gardening sections. Go to nurseries and find out the type of plants you like the look of. Drive around the suburbs and check out the gardens that you like. Take photos, draw pictures and take notes. You'll be surprised how much you can learn about what you like and don't like. Many new homes have gardens with no thoughtful (or practical) landscaping design. You'll probably be able to pick the ones that have been designed well. They will just look 'right'. Whatever you decide you like, I'm sure you can work with your existing land and make it happen. Once you know what you like / want / need then I'm sure the qualified and experienced members here will be able to help you make this happen. Congratulations on deciding to approach your landscaping with thoughtfulness and ask questions rather than just plonking some turf and random plants in. My tac-home-ter: Been in 8 months! Re: advice, idea's, anything.... 3Jan 22, 2010 12:38 pm Not only that Annie has done two landscape courses now and one of them with one of WA's most respected landscape designers Re: advice, idea's, anything.... 4Jan 22, 2010 2:55 pm ... and therefore I now know exactly how inexperienced I am in these matters! I'm more than happy to tell people how to find out where to get the help and ideas, and throw in some of my own ideas in a brainstorming session, but as for giving specific advice on people's projects, I'll leave that to the experts on here My tac-home-ter: Been in 8 months! Re: advice, idea's, anything.... 6Jan 22, 2010 4:00 pm Macy annie.s ... and therefore I now know exactly how inexperienced I am in these matters! Great advice Annie, and I don't think you ever stop learning. Once you stop wanting to learn you may as well be dead My tac-home-ter: Been in 8 months! Re: advice, idea's, anything.... 7Jan 22, 2010 4:11 pm Hi Annie and Fu, i live in south gippsland, victoria. I have an older child, and a few dogs. My concern is that once the side fence goes in, i wont be able to get up the \back?? It's not so bad at the moment... but once that fence goes in, im stuck. I contemplated having more dug out, maybe push the walls back, but then i thought i would lower a section to have a carport/entertaining area... then i got totally lost in thought and confused myself. All of this needs to be done with a non existant budget... thanks for your help... Re: advice, idea's, anything.... 8Jan 22, 2010 4:36 pm I suggest doing up a drawing of your property to scale and then photocopying it heaps of times. Then scribble your ideas all over the pages. One page per design. It's really helped me figure some stuff out and what's actually possible. It also means that you'll be able to tell how much room you may have for access both once the garden is done and also before you do it. Budget for the stuff you can't add / change later. Then you can save for the other stuff. Regarding access, I don't have much experience (none!) with this, but if you figure out the basic structure of what you want then you can maybe do that before the fence goes in??? The rest can follow in time. Sorry I'm not able to be more helpful! My tac-home-ter: Been in 8 months! Re: advice, idea's, anything.... 9Jan 23, 2010 8:34 am annie.s I suggest doing up a drawing of your property to scale and then photocopying it heaps of times. Then scribble your ideas all over the pages. One page per design. It's really helped me figure some stuff out and what's actually possible. It also means that you'll be able to tell how much room you may have for access both once the garden is done and also before you do it. Budget for the stuff you can't add / change later. Then you can save for the other stuff. Annie's on the money. We've waited a year to do the main part of our landscaping, and while it's normal to be impatient and to want it done NOW, having that time to put some real thought into it will give us a much more usable yard that meets our needs. Brainstorming all the things you'd like to have in your yard is a brilliant way to come up with ideas. It's easy to cull the impractical or way-out-of-budget ones and you should be left with the things you really want. Even if you can't have them all straight away, knowing that you definitely want them allows you to leave space or put in things like conduit for future electrical work etc. Collect pictures of things you like too - magazines, brochures (go raid your local hardware stores and nurseries for brochures on pavers, gates, retaining walls, lighting, sheds....all sorts of stuff ), and websites are all useful. Sort them into categories - paving, plants, entertaining, kids' play area....or whatever else you want. You'll change your mind a hundred times as you think of new things, and your original site plan with scribbled notes may not look anything like the end product....but if you don't rush into it, you'll end up with just what you want. We're ready to go with ours in three weeks' time, so all plumbing and electrical plus hard landscaping will be done by end of Feb, but I'm still considering which plants to use. My big file full of pictures, my site sketches and notes, my bookmarked websites, saved images and articles have been a Godsend and I'm confident that we're getting exactly what we want now. Re: advice, idea's, anything.... 10Jan 23, 2010 8:38 am scrappinfreak My concern is that once the side fence goes in, i wont be able to get up the \back?? It's not so bad at the moment... but once that fence goes in, im stuck. It looks like you have good rear access through your garage? That should be enough to get materials in and out, although the cut at the back is going to be a bit painful to work with. You probably need to do any major work at the back of the block first - no point doing a lovely patio and surrounding garden, and then having to drag materials and equipment over it to get to the back of the block. So if you want retaining walls or similar, maybe start there? Re: advice, idea's, anything.... 11Jan 23, 2010 10:40 am i was thinking of doint the retaining walls first, but im wondering if i should CUT it back more. I believe once the walls go up and the missing fence goes in, i wont be able to access the top level without scaling the walls So I kinda need advice on how to cut the walls... i was thinking to lower another section on the non fenced side that maybe oneday could house a garage/carport.. Up towards the back?? For now i could retain it and bluestone it... Im just not sure about the designs at all... but it does need to be done before the fence goes in... Re: advice, idea's, anything.... 13Jan 23, 2010 12:14 pm If you make sure there is a gap of 800mm somewhere, it will mean a wheel barrow will fit through and also it means a small Dingo or Kanga can get through. 750mm is tighter and 700mm is an absolute squeeze. If a wheel barrow can get through, then that is a start and anything in the future shouldn't be a hassle. Right now I would focus on not the types of plants you want. Do that and you'll end up Do as Kek and Annie suggested and start scribbling ideas of shapes you want to see or use. Also look at areas and say, I want that view to disappear, or I want that view to stay. That alone will mean you know you are looking for plants for that area that grow to a certain height. You just made the job 20 times easier on your self Then, do you want lawn or need a lawn? Do you want a raised bed of there or do you want a ground cover over in that bit? What are the functions of the area. Clothes lines, prevailing winds and where is the shade in winter? Where is north? Jot it all down. Get the function right first and that way you develop a practical landscape that flows and works. Is there space for a cubby house for the kids? Can you plant a tree that will become a good climbing tree for the kids and provide shade? What features do you want to include? sculptures (you can make one) feature pots or trees and plants. basics of basics are the floors, walls and ceiling. Lawns and ground covers for the floor also small shrubs. Walls might be climbers and taller shrubs. Ceiling is a well selected tree or trees Don't under rate trees. They have the greatest potential with good thought, to increase home value, reduce energy and water use, and work collectively to creating a suburb that is leafy and desirable which further increases the value of your home Everyone likes leafy suburbs $$$$$$$ to live in too. Remove the trees and those posh suburbs look just like any other. Re: advice, idea's, anything.... 14Jan 24, 2010 12:55 am the site you have is very steep. In some ways this can help design in that it lends itself to terracing / retaining walls which can be a magnificent feature but hard on no budget. good design tends to be simple and very practical. what everyone has said is correct - far better to spend time on designing something than building things inappropriate or impractical which will need changing later. don't do any work without knowing where you are headed - you dont need to have your whole yard designed but you will need to know roughly where you are headed. You can achieve a great deal with a small budget but it will mean you (and older child ??) will need to be prepared to do the work. You take on the role of project manager. Start with a site plan. Do it yourself. Then start to design stuff. Try to have concept idea, this may take a while but it will come to you. (Being a steep site the retaining structures become features so dont do anything ugly.) Landscaping materials are comparatively cheap, it is the trades and labour that is expensive. Get trades in to to the flashy stuff if you are not confident of good presentation, but do all the prep work, running around, organising etc for them so you are only paying for their expertise. Get them on hourly rate if you can. Hire machines for bulk earthworks. As far as specifics, from what I can see from photos, I would be thinking excavate the lower side of the back yard out to make an entertaining area or shed. Two reasons - less to dig and you are not changing the levels at any of your boundaries. If you dig out the high side you have a lot of cut and spoils to move and a big retain to build. You can screen off the water tank / side boundary later if ugly. Maybe look at going up to the middle level (top of first wall) - less excavation, can build a feature ret wall and stone staircase up to terraced outdoor room ? Where your car is now would be good spot for carport ? I wouldn't excavate toward your back boundary as you will create too big a dropoff - more retaining height = exponentially more expensive wall. Actually, how about reataining walls / steps up to middle level and then excavate out a terrace at this level, retaining walls to fences at the back / unfenced side ? Spoils could go to front yard terraces. Looks like you have good access via garage to back yard ? Re: advice, idea's, anything.... 15Jan 24, 2010 10:39 am On a budget That is an expensive block of land there As mentioned, lessen the slopes dramatic gradient where ever possible. The front, start there so the neighbours don't crack it at you and you'll feel better about coming home There is a Grevillea I've seen growing as a cover across a slope bigger and steeper at a nursery. It just looks amazing and do you think I can ever remember what the variety used was That would look sensational. One or two trees will also help, smaller ones I guess because then you won't wreck your view A flowering Euc of some sort will do. The red flowering Gum would be the go with the colours. I'll have a look through a few books and see if I can jog my memory. I would extend the retaining wall across the top. Out the back, the cheapest way will be to use rocks to retain it if you can collect the rocks yourself. Now that would be the cheapest and I didn't say easiest However there are some of Australia's best gardens that have started like yours on tougher blocks than yours and some persistence will be needed, but you'll get there You have a god send in a way, You have the potential to build narrow terraced pathways and creeks from rocks. Then over the years to come begin to build sections of garden There's one garden I remember from my childhood. It overlooked the Yarra near Warburton somewhere and had all these terraced sections made from rocks gathered around the place. As kids we spent the whole day running around the paths and exploring the gardens. It was featured on Gardening Australia last year, or was it the year before? Hmmm anyway it's doable and will only cost you some hard work I had an old shower unit that broke on me and when I took it off, there were only 2 water pipes, instead of the normal 2 water pipes and a shower head pipe. S o I… 0 36934 You must be new to the internet. You're also the only person anyone here has ever heard of washing their garage wall. I hate to break it to you, there are insects and… 6 4808 Versaloc is a mortarless besser block system that still needs a properly engineered footing. If you just do a 400x200 footing it will fail in time. At 17m long you need it… 1 15718 |