Browse Forums Landscape & Garden Design 1 May 26, 2012 7:09 pm Hi all! I'm new to the forum and new to gardening. We purchased our house in Melbourne about a year ago now and are ready now to plan a rejuvenation of the garden. In the front yard (attached below) we would love to grow grass up the hill instead of what can only be described as scorched earth... but a bit worried how we'd be able to do that because of (a) the huge gum tree, (b) the gradient of the land and (c) soil prep required. Can anyone help? Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Re: Can I grow a lawn here? 2May 26, 2012 8:22 pm Yes you could but it looks like a pathway is that right? If it is, a grantic sand path with timber sleeper steps with garden beds either side would look way better than a patchy lawn competing with the gums root system. If thats not an option bare in mind eucalypts really resent root damage and react by dropping limbs, bigger the roots damaged the bigger the limbs that drop. There is a way to prep it if really realy must have lawn. Re: Can I grow a lawn here? 3May 27, 2012 9:56 am ^ Fully agree! This lovely path lends itself to making it a proper, defined path - and a few sleeper-steps is a very nice idea from BK. There was something similar done on last week's BH&G show, but their path was waay steeper so they had to build proper staircase. Your job would be much simpler. I think turf would be very hard to maintain and keep vigorous, not to mention clean and eye catching - due to the droppings from the gum tree - you would soon not be able to see your turf path from all the fallen leaves etc. I would also further accentuate/define the little rock edging on both sides of the path. Apart from sand, you could also put some dark mulch or some river pebbles on the path (they both look quite natural), and maybe even some rectangular pavers or plonks of timber as 'stepping stones' so you don't have to sink into the path every step of the way (this is if you don't want sand). My signature is distracting people from my wise posts ... Re: Can I grow a lawn here? 4May 28, 2012 6:12 pm Thanks guys for the great ideas and confirming my skepticism I like the sleeper step idea, but a little curious as to how it would work in this space which is quite wide and gradual (not sure how well that comes through in the photo). Maybe pebbles or gravel between the steps as opposed to sand - and will need to carefully consider how many sleepers and whether we need 'stepping stones' between the sleepers.... hmmm Re: Can I grow a lawn here? 5May 29, 2012 11:16 am No probs ... this looks like a very nice little project, hard not to get involved You are right, you may not any "steps" at all, being a gentle gradient ... which makes it even easier! And pavers - only if you see a need later on; I would start without them. Oh yeah, the one thing is that you might need to remove a little bit of soil at the bottom of the path (where it meets the concrete) so that any loose fill (be it gravel, mulch, sand ...) does not have to spill over onto concrete and create a cleaning job for you. If you get rid of the top layer of soil, you create a dip, so your pebbles mostly sit inside the undulation and don't invade your concrete too much ... Would love to see some pics at the end ... have fun!! My signature is distracting people from my wise posts ... Re: Can I grow a lawn here? 6May 29, 2012 11:59 am Hi alfadog, Grantic sand is like a gravel as in you compact it and it goes nice and firm but it still allows water to penetrate. Very useful on slopes to slow water runoff. As for the sleepers they aren't steps as such, just little terraces to lessen the slope. All you need to do is do a spade cut into and across the incline to a depth of the sleeper and then place the sleeper it in the cut. The clay base you have there will do for a base for the sleeper, you could put concrete footings in if you want. You will probably only need 3 or 4 sleepers. You then dig out 100mm or so of the soil for the path and replace with grantic sand/gravel and compact it. You want to use the thicker sleepers and just cut them to size. What looks fantastic is planting lomandra little con's on the edges of the steps as a border softing the look. Also a slight curve in the path would suit the surrounding landscape much better than a symmetrical straight line. 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 4866 I work with owner, he/she is my man on the ground and I instruct them when to visit the site and take photos and I have other tools in the bag. 4 15275 |