Browse Forums Landscape & Garden Design 1 Sep 24, 2016 1:03 pm Greetings, My wife and I are considering buying a 3.5 acre property in the Hunter Valley,surrounded by farmland. It has has 3 acres of "parkland" like lawn we want to convert to low maintenance Australian vegetation and some areas of Australian natives. We would leave 1/2 acre as mowable lawn. Would $100,000 budget be in the ball park, give or take? I know nothing about gardening. I have nothing against grass just dont want to have acres to mow (even with a ride-on). Once established the goal would be to keep it as low maintenance as possible. The land is "good soil", largely flat or gently sloping and already has Ag lines in place and drainage, large water tanks and some irrigation tubes in place. We anticipate a couple of terraces at front over more sloping land. Say 2 retaining walls 30m long and 1m high. At the rear there are some large established eucalyptus trees (staying) but is otherwise NOT densely wooded.We want to retain larger open areas, just not grass. I would eventually get some landscape design quotes and a plan but simply want to know how feasible this would be, others' experience etc. Thanks for any advice David Re: Turning 3 acres of lawn into Australian native garden - 2Sep 25, 2016 8:30 am Okay,the answer is it depends....but what are the main factors? Does anyone know how to go about such a task which will in turn give some indication of cost.Obviously it is too big an area to cover with newspaper? Is it as simple as getting someone with a tractor to plough up the grass,buy your plants and stick em in the ground and mulch around them? Re: Turning 3 acres of lawn into Australian native garden - 3Sep 25, 2016 8:46 am I did it on a much smaller scale in a previous home. I developed an area higher than the other - with large rocks around and coloured bark. Locals referred to it as Stone Henge - but it looked good. Like an "island" in the garden. The plan on paper is the key. DON'T overplant. Trees are ideal and provide shade which is invaluable in the summer - and helps let sun through in winter - if deciduous. The fallen leaves will also help build the soil over time. Pick shrubs/trees/plants that attract animal life and birds. AND - if I had your size I'd look at pathways through the area - using gravel type material - maybe a "folly"/rotunda at one point overlooking a water feature (damn). Being in the hunter it might attract birds again. You could install a drainage system that flowed towards the water feature ? This would not be that expensive. But - as above - do it all on a plan - roughly - and it is amazing what you can do yourself. Maybe hire in some locals to help with the heavy stuff. Then do it in stages - eg if you plan to have the water area - dig the hole and use the dirt for the higher area. Lay the water pipes/courses, at the start. Get the paths in. Its is much easier to spread mulch etc if its dropped right where you want it - ie NOT have to be barrowed. I know much of this is obvious - but many don't do it ! I wouldn't have $100k to spend on such a project - so would try to do most myself. Hire a bobcat - or get a "friend" with one. They can save days of work - money well spent. Take your time - make it a project - set dates - maybe a 6 month finish ? Then it will be self sufficient in a way. You could even introduce a few animals - a goat or donkey. Check out the local pounds. But - it will be fun if you take your time and do as much as you can yourself. Re: Turning 3 acres of lawn into Australian native garden - 4Sep 25, 2016 8:49 am Also - I didn't line with newspaper etc - I thoroughly ripped the ground and gave a light spray - left for a week or so. Use a spray that "disappears". Also - get rid of any "nasties" - weeds and bushes you don't want. Use "locals" where you can. BUT - the plan - on paper - is the key imo. Re: Turning 3 acres of lawn into Australian native garden - 5Sep 25, 2016 10:42 am Hi Mike, many thanks for the reply and all the sensible advice! Saint Mike I developed an area higher than the other - with large rocks around and coloured bark. Locals referred to it as Stone Henge - but it looked good. Like an "island" in the garden. Im guessing having the higher "island" area is not a prerequisite, just you liked it that way? Saint Mike DON'T overplant. Good to hear,that will also keep down initial costs. Also the initial goal really is just to replace the grass.....but with what? I mean if it is not all replaced with plants or some kind of groundcover vegetation. If you rip up the grass with a Bobcat,as you mentioned, how do you then stop regrowth?Would that mean truckloads of some kind of mulch material to suppress weeds and regrowth of grass? Saint Mike if I had your size I'd look at pathways through the area - using gravel type material Yes, I had thought of that too. As I mentioned,we still want large open spaces (without grass) that we can walk through and some pathways would facilitate this.Indeed the long front driveway is made up of largish blue stone material in which a suburban car 'swims' around a little.It is another topic for discussion but we have seen driveways made of much finer gravel,more compacted, easier to drive and/or walk on.We figured we'd replace the driveway with this sort of fine gravel and extend some similar pathways throughout the property.The bonus might be that we might be able to re-use the large blue stone material in some kind of drainage application. Saint Mike maybe a "folly"/rotunda at one point overlooking a water feature (damn). Being in the hunter it might attract birds again. You could install a drainage system that flowed towards the water feature ? This would not be that expensive. Sometimes I think the only "folly" is us contemplating this project haha. As you say it can be done in stages and broken down.It must be a fun project. Saint Mike I wouldn't have $100k to spend on such a project - so would try to do most myself. Hire a bobcat - or get a "friend" with one. They can save days of work - money well spent. $100k is just a wild guestimate on my part and represents the upper limit of the budget. Id rather spend way less! Re: Turning 3 acres of lawn into Australian native garden - 6Sep 25, 2016 11:27 am Hi again. Yes - you could use a mulch - but not an expensive one. Many farmers/builders mulch up trees etc and get rid of it. You may be able to find them ? Place adverts seeking it (but be careful where its from - what it is ... ). But yes - you will need to plant - but really work out the room they need. Many people think they will never grow to their full size ... They will ! I like the idea of trees - more than bushes - so depending on what you want to see - ie you don't need a lot of ground cover - if the ground has something (eg mulch, bark etc) on it) with the pathways winding through and the trees overhead. If you laid a watering system you could have large sprinklers (those tommy gun type things) set up strategically around the estate. AND - thinking forward - a link to the dam/water feature with pump. Might cut down in water costs. But the idea would be to almost have the place self sufficient. Yes - I liked the island look - where it rose up and had the large rocks - and I do mean large - thus the bobcat - spread around. We got lizards etc who made their homes there. Even a way to get moss to grow. But you could have succulents in this area. Some of them - "pig face" - have magnificent flowering. This type of them is good ground cover and spreads well - so again - no need for too many. You almost just stick it in the ground and it'll grow. So do it in a sort of patchwork effect and it'll fill itself in. I found the weeds didn't come back - but if they did I'd just give them a spray (carefully). I didn't try to produce a "finished product" though. I allowed the garden to develop over time. This allowed me to buy items along the way - especially if I or my wife saw something we really liked - we had spots left. I even had an awesome meyer dwarf lemon tree growing in it - best lemons I ever had. Funnily I got a letter one day from the ABC asking if I wanted to enter their garden competition. I wondered if they had a "free-style". We found the "young" garden was as beautiful - or more so in many ways - than the mature garden. You could make your drive a gravel one - like they do in the UK. They are a perfect burglar alarm. You can hear cars coming. But benches spaced intermittently through the "garden" might be nice - and the water idea. Water always makes things seem nice - just watch the kids. I love that word "Folly". I think my main tree was this old huge Dutch elm (?). Deciduous. It kept plants in the shade in summer and then shed in winter - the leaves were everywhere - but it didn't matter. You buy one of those electric brooms from Bunnings and just blow the paths every now and then. The "soil"/ground cover build up so quickly over a few years. Not sure if you have kids but a play area is also an idea - hidden in there. Maybe a tree house and ladder etc. My two main tips - take your time and get your ideas on paper - so you know where you're going. Re: Turning 3 acres of lawn into Australian native garden - 7Sep 25, 2016 12:18 pm Hi Mike, thanks again and yes we would have a plan done, on paper, that could evolve over some years. It could incorporate various features exactly as you have said and some great tips! Although the end result of a lovely grounds would be the end goal we have no illusions about creating something that will end up in a magazine spread or gardening show.To tell you the truth I would just keep the grass....if it didnt grow and you didnt have to mow it! Grass looks green and nice and you can walk on it....but high maintenance. I too prefer trees to shrubs and if i am understanding correctly, they will over time drop stuff and create their own ground cover, which is great. Some more open areas with succulent ground cover also could be incorporated as you say. Your advice about not trying to produce the finished product, and all the other sensible approaches eventually creating a largely self sufficient garden very much resonates with me.We are Sydney "sliders", kids grown, and whilst we want to make a "tree change" dont want to be slave to a high maintenance property,especially going forwards. So thanks again for your time and 'spades' of common sense advice. As they say "common sense ain't that common" (possibly from Voltaire but I think Mark twain added the "ain't" instead of isn't) ! Cheers David Fig Landscapes has produced an e-book and native plant index, available for purchase from their website. It's a great resource, full of inspiration and tips. Another… 1 12242 I use Tramex moisture meter and it will tell me instantly if the wall is cement sheet or plaster or masonite but most people dont have the equipment. 5 7086 the step up is 30mm and wanting it to be flat . how much does the concrete have to be lowered .we plan on removing bath and lenghten shower and adding seat. the old bath… 0 11835 |