Browse Forums Landscape & Garden Design 1 Jul 15, 2014 9:13 pm Hi
We are looking for ideas for the block we are purchasing. In particular, we want some small trees that don't block our view at the bottom of the slope and thought we would plant an orchard along the 9m wide driveway which is the highest part of our battleaxe block. The above photo is looking north and you will see that there is some cypress trees at the bottom of the slope. We had thought that we would remove these and plant some smaller growing trees in their place. I would like to plant some trees along the eastern and western boundaries. Any suggestions or advice for trees on our boundaries? Would you suggest planting trees down the bottom of the slope in a row or mixing a few different trees a bit more randomly to create a ten metre wide tree/bush area? Our house and shed will be built at the highest part of the block which will be near the southern fence and driveway, roughly where the photos are taken from. Hope that all makes sense. Thanks in advance. Re: Help us design a landscape for our sloping acre block 2Jul 21, 2014 9:07 am Since you have a nice slope it seems a shame to waste the opportunity to harvest water off it. Have you thought about a dam? At the moment all the water will just shed into whatever waterway ****** at the bottom of it and you will miss an opportunity for this valuable resource. A dam can also be an attractive feature in your landscape if you seed it with waterlillies and reeds, it will attract wildlife and flower in the summer. Rather than just plant trees in a row along the border why not section off your acre into various zones that will provide you with welcome cool zones in the summer about your property? Are you keeping livestock? If not then that's a hell of a lot of grass to mow. By zoning the land into sections you can frame that pretty view with a wooded area on one side and draw the eye in and down the slope to the vista beyond while blocking out the view of the neighbours homes. Fruit trees need a lot of water to produce well. If you plant them on the highest part of your block they will be subject to strong winds (lose fruit) and also the least amount of water, as it will readily run off especially if a driveway is present. You will have to run pump irrigation to them or create swales around the trees to keep the water there. It may make more sense to group them on a terrace closer to the house so harvesting the fruit is easier as well. Anyway, just food for thought. Good luck with your project. Re: Help us design a landscape for our sloping acre block 3Jul 21, 2014 9:37 am I don't think you'd have much of a dam on a 1 acre block though to make it worth while. Unless you have one dug really deep and sealed well enough to prevent the water from soaking away, I'm just not sure you'd have enough water there to use for anything much at all. At least with a deep dam, you will have less evaporation from it than a broad dam. Even a swimming pool loses a lot of water from evaporation. I doubt your council would permit a dam in the first place, but check with your council's rules and regulations. I'm thinking if you had room on the high spot, several water tanks, and on the low spot some way of pooling the water to be pumped up to the tanks via a solar powered volume water pump. Owner Building at Jimboomba Woods in Logan City Qld. Blog : http://bandlnewhomebuild.blogspot.com H1 thread : viewtopic.php?f=38&t=68283 . Re: Help us design a landscape for our sloping acre block 4Jul 22, 2014 7:56 pm Thank you for taking the time to respond to my post. I think some zoned shady areas will be nice strawlizzy. I don't think we would be allowed to have a dam on the property. Water isn't really a problem where we are but we will be having some large tanks. I agree with you about the fruit trees. Closer to the house would be better. Re: Help us design a landscape for our sloping acre block 5Jul 23, 2014 12:03 pm Your block is very beautiful by the way. And there are many stunning avenue trees you could put on your driveway, anything with autumn colour would be amazing. Give Jonathan a call. Tell him you know me. He is in my opinion the best surveyor I have ever worked with. His number is 0425 285 622 All the best Simeon 3 12424 i did click it, still couldnt make it out rofl. in any case, doesnt look like too extreme a slope, you may be in luck. Just shoot out some emails to volume builders in… 3 18575 Landscape Design Parramatta We have been doing a large amount of landscape design work in Sydney… 0 3 |