Browse Forums Landscape & Garden Design 1 Nov 10, 2011 6:40 pm G'day guys, Hoping some of you wonderful forum members will be able to help give me some advice regarding my front garden/piece of dirt. We recently had a driveway installed over the existing garden which has left us with a small patch that needs to be filled with something. I was going to just lay turf and have read through most of the posts regarding how to do this which has been really helpful. We had a kikayu lawn before this which was a nightmare. It was so invasive and took to many man hours to control hence the concrete and the small garden now. I was thinking of laying EZ grass with a small garden bed just out past the water metre which would run along both fences and then round the curve. Bascially I just want to know what you guys think. Its only about 25 sq metre in total and I think the minimum delivery of ZE is for that amount (minus garden beds). Is it a good idea to go with this plan? I've spent a few weekends digging down to 30cm below to make sure I got all the kikayu and also given a dose of round up a couple of times. I'm ready to go now bascially but obviously need to mark it out were the lawn would be. How do I make sure my soil is level (house is on a hill) and how far down should I make the level of the soil compared with the concrete. I wont bore you anymore. Just throwing it out there as I'm not very good with this kind of thing Thanks all p.s. I'm in sunny Melbourne Picture of garden http://www.flickr.com/photos/69661167@N ... hotostream Re: Small Front Lawn Ideas (pic incl) 2Nov 10, 2011 8:32 pm I thnk you should not choose a turf. The best landscapes being done right now involve no turf and are far more interesting. If you do want a lawn type look use some Myoporum which can be mowed maybe a few times a year for the absolute manicured look or never and it still looks good. Way cheaper than lawn too. The other is Hemiandra pungens. An amazing deep green lawn substitute that, again, will look great with no care at all. From a distance you'll swear these are the best lawns in the street till you see them on closer inspection. People will wonder why they never thought to do it. Re: Small Front Lawn Ideas (pic incl) 3Nov 10, 2011 10:39 pm I agree with Fu, there is no need for turf unless thats the only "play" area of grass on your block. I would look a planting it out with a sminch of grass. What i would do is put a Bottle tree a metre or so off the retaining wall in the centre of the area. Plant around it and the wall with lomandra's, dwalf thin leaves in the front thick leaves at the back. A circle of turf in the middle with Euphorbia wulfenii against the fence and in front of that Limonium perezii. You will need no watering after establishment, for the turf go a buffalo the coarse leaf will suit the surrounding plantings. Re: Small Front Lawn Ideas (pic incl) 4Nov 10, 2011 11:02 pm Mouseman I've just sprayed the weeds that were my front yard and in the next few days will give them a followup spray (to be sure, to be sure...lol) then spread a layer of treelopper mulch and plant the entire area with native shrubs and grasses so no more mowing in the front yard, just a bit along the northern and western sides of the backyard although there will be a fairly sizeable vegie garden to reduce the lawn area. About 2 weeks ago I did the southern side with mulch and it looks great and really spongey to walk on. When it breaks down it will be easy to spread another layer over the top. For the front yard I have a Grevillea 'Honey Gem' which will be bottom pruned so it takes on a tree shape and can be underplanted with some native violets or similar. Hope this helps? Re: Small Front Lawn Ideas (pic incl) 5Nov 11, 2011 8:24 am Hmmm, I missed (what is for me) a most important feature in any garden...doesn't pay to type replies when you are tired, does it? LOL A fishpond in your front garden surrounded by native plants and shrubs would look great as the sound of trickling water is very soothing. The pond doesn't have to be huge, even a small frog pond works well but I usually like to have at least a couple of fish to eat the mosquito larvae. A small, solar powered pump would also be beneficial, they are quite inexpensive on eBay and the only maintenance required is to keep the solar panel clean and every now and then lift the submersible pump and clear any algae from the impeller. The solar panels usually have quite a long cable allowing you to place it away from the pond where it will get the sun. I've just put a floating solar aerator in my fish pond and tethered it with fishing line to the southern side so it's gets sun from around 10am until sundown. It is a tiny pump and doesn't move much water but would be OK in a smaller pond, so that's another option. Hope it helps? Re: Small Front Lawn Ideas (pic incl) 7Nov 11, 2011 11:45 am Mouseman I had about 80 m2 front yard and had grass and weeds all over. I removed all of it and planted plants on the border, In the centre we are planning to put a 1 square bed and pot like centre feature. I have surrounded that square with some flowering plants. The rest of the gaps in the centre i have planted plenty of Myoporum as Fu Suggested. I have covered the whole lot with thick mulch. I figured I will not be using front lawn therefore this was what I did. Mainly at this time of the year I am enjoying the saved time due to reduced lawn moving time. Re: Small Front Lawn Ideas (pic incl) 8Nov 11, 2011 12:07 pm Thanks for the link Fu....the 'Small Spaces' photo on the home page is how I'm planning my front yard, probably minus the rocks unless some drop out of the sky one day!! LOL Re: Small Front Lawn Ideas (pic incl) 9Nov 11, 2011 12:23 pm Thank you every one for all the replies. Needless to say I have been googling a lot this morning to read up on the various recommendations. I like the idea of the Myoporum as a substitute lawn which requires very little maintenance. I just have a few concerns on this though. These are: 1. Myoporum apparently doesnt deal well with traffic. We wont be walking on this section at all but FU stated that you can mow this if needed a couple of times a year if needed. Could you damage it by using the mower and also would it be a concern walking over it to the tap every so often. 2. Some places say you need 6 hours ideally of sunlight a day. As we are in Melbourne and the garden faces East, would Myoporum be a problem in the winter months? 3.) Is there a chance many weeds can come through Myoporm? FU, if we wanted to use Myoporum, would you recommend covering the whole area with it or could you still have bordering plants like what Beatrixkiddo suggested (Limonium perezii or any other such type) against the fence line and against the retaining fence? Thank you for all your ideas people and keep them coming. btw HappyCamper - thank you for your idea. I do like the idea of a Pond but I'm not much of a water person tbh. Mozzies also leave me with welts the size of golf balls. Re: Small Front Lawn Ideas (pic incl) 10Nov 11, 2011 12:35 pm That's OK mouseman.... mossies love me too, that's why I got RRV twice!! We can't all like the same thing and as I said above, a pond is the first feature in my garden because I find it so cooling and relaxing. Good luck with your makeover, don't forget to take photos so we can see the end result. Small Front Lawn Ideas (pic incl) 11Nov 11, 2011 3:07 pm Having the right pond will actually reduce the chances of RRV. It's the way it's constructed and the fish you use that make all the difference. If you are feeding the fish your self, you doing it all wrong. Also it means the Mozzies are not being controlled or eaten. It's been the bain of my last year to do the pond thread here That and how to have those good watering nozzles I ask peeps to use made to be super effective Re: Small Front Lawn Ideas (pic incl) 12Feb 02, 2012 5:04 pm Hi guys, just updating an old thread. I have cleared the front garden and made the necessary preparations in order to put in a new front garden which is low maintenance. I have followed the various guidelines to doing this. I have only planted a few items as the other bits and pieces they didnt have in stock or else they are currently in quarantine at the local nursery. We planted the following: Myoporum, Dianella Little Jess, Acacia Bower Beauty and some pittosporum green pillar. We planted these last Sat. All seemed to be going well until I came home tonight and seen that some of the plants looked a bit worse for wear. Under the Bower Beauty, the bottom part has died off. One of the myoporum stems has also started to die. The Little Jess look a bit more droopy than normal although that could be my imagination. I watered the first day they went in and then again midweek after a hot day. Does anyone know why they look so bad or any tips for me? Are they just settling in or should I be right to be worried. I'll see if I can get some pics up. thanks all Re: Small Front Lawn Ideas (pic incl) 13Feb 02, 2012 5:16 pm Hope this works ok. http://www.flickr.com/photos/69661167@N06/ 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 2062 Sorry! I'm new to this forum and have made a mistake in my posting! I'm looking for a structural solution to a stand alone wooden pickets fence with no structural rail… 1 3333 the leaves that are now underground go yellow, the tips that poke through photosynthesise and have chlorophyll, same reason they grow rhubarb in the dark. 5 4949 |