Browse Forums Landscape & Garden Design 1 Aug 01, 2017 10:42 pm Hubby and I have been offered a builder's new house (their original contract fell through and they knew we were on the hunt for a speccy or display home). Anyhoo! It's on a slope – we're very green when it comes to this kind of thing, and I'm wondering if this is a good financial decision – are slopes good bad or otherwise? there is drainage behind the retaining walls that are in situ, however what on earth can i do to the front? We aren't made of money, things are tight – can you do anything landscaping wise without building retaining walls at the front? The backyard is pretty similar, I don't have a photo of that sorry. But leading from the back patio there's a high retainer about 2 m away that goes from left to right 900mm to say 200mm, which leaves a slope that goes from the highest point in the back left of the yard to the lowest point across the rear and down the side on the house. I'm not flash at explaining am I?! Apologies for my shocking photos, I've seriously got bugger all clue and not sure what to look for. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Re: Buying / Landscaping a Sloping Block 2Aug 02, 2017 8:10 am A few thoughts At the back of the house you need to be sure that for at least 1m the surface slopes away from the house and that the area is drained. That driveway looks a bit steep so drive your car into the garage and check it doesn't scrape! There are some alternatives to retaining walls at this link: Retaining Wall Alternatives The Harder You Try - the Luckier You Get ! Web site http://www.anewhouse.com.au Informative, Amusing, and Opinionated Blog - Over 600 posts on all aspects of building a new house. Re: Buying / Landscaping a Sloping Block 3Aug 06, 2017 5:55 pm I have a more sloping front yard than that, and am not retaining it. We have a big 3m bank at the front which we're doing a rockery / succulent / native garden in. The most expensive things in the front bank will be the big rocks, and the plant costs. Attached are a couple of pics. You want picture 2 of the renders to see the front yard. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Re: Buying / Landscaping a Sloping Block 4Aug 06, 2017 6:06 pm OH gosh! Yes yours is pretty slopey isn't it!! The renders look really good - it'll be great to see it all done We've signed the contract on the place and waiting on final word from bank. The more I visit the property, the more I think there's bugger all slope to be honest!! The driveway isn't as steep as pictures look. We've decided to do simple garden at the front and along side of driveway, and turf - most likely just seed due to cost. Rocks will come as garden edging as I can afford to buy them - I didn't realise how expensive rocks were!! Backyard wise, we're hoping to essentially "cut off" half and pop a small retainer wall in, as to make a 100sqm flat yard for the little fella and the other way will be a veggie patch, foraging area Re: Buying / Landscaping a Sloping Block 5Aug 09, 2017 11:23 am Nice Kagan. We've done the same with the backyard, cut it in half - we kind've had to with our house site. Would have been nice to keep it all as lawn, but that's the challenge with sloping blocks! A small retaining wall would be good. Rocks - they are not cheap are they. Most of the cost is actually the transport of them. See if you can get them out of gumtree, often cheaper. Re: Buying / Landscaping a Sloping Block 6Aug 09, 2017 12:41 pm PVBuild Nice Kagan. We've done the same with the backyard, cut it in half - we kind've had to with our house site. Would have been nice to keep it all as lawn, but that's the challenge with sloping blocks! A small retaining wall would be good. Rocks - they are not cheap are they. Most of the cost is actually the transport of them. See if you can get them out of gumtree, often cheaper. My hubby has mentioned we might "D*ck & Jane" our rocks hahaha Steal a rock from each house wherever we drive ...... solid plan. I can't see anything going wrong! Re: Buying / Landscaping a Sloping Block 7Aug 09, 2017 1:14 pm Kagan, for resale, if your area has many sloping blocks, then it's expected and accepted when someone is looking in your area, ours has a big slope and in our area, it's nearly everyone, anyone buying knows and accepts that this area is up and down, it adds character to a landscape. Re: Buying / Landscaping a Sloping Block 8Aug 09, 2017 1:17 pm Joker Kagan, for resale, if your area has many sloping blocks, then it's expected and accepted when someone is looking in your area, ours has a big slope and in our area, it's nearly everyone, anyone buying knows and accepts that this area is up and down, it adds character to a landscape. Thank you. Yes, pretty much 90% of the area of streets around the house are hilly. I actually like it to be honest. My son is going to LOVE summer slippery slides on tarps haha Re: Buying / Landscaping a Sloping Block 9Aug 09, 2017 8:44 pm Kagan1042 PVBuild Nice Kagan. We've done the same with the backyard, cut it in half - we kind've had to with our house site. Would have been nice to keep it all as lawn, but that's the challenge with sloping blocks! A small retaining wall would be good. Rocks - they are not cheap are they. Most of the cost is actually the transport of them. See if you can get them out of gumtree, often cheaper. My hubby has mentioned we might "D*ck & Jane" our rocks hahaha Steal a rock from each house wherever we drive ...... solid plan. I can't see anything going wrong! Every time I see a nice load of rocks (mostly on local gov't buildings) I also think that... The reality might be a touch harder!! Re: Buying / Landscaping a Sloping Block 10Aug 11, 2017 9:00 pm glad i found this thread, I have such a mess of a building site with 5m of slope, need to work out how I am going to turn it into a usable space! Re: Buying / Landscaping a Sloping Block 11Aug 12, 2017 7:55 am Christoshizz glad i found this thread, I have such a mess of a building site with 5m of slope, need to work out how I am going to turn it into a usable space! you're going d*ck and jane some retaining wall rocks aren't you!!!??? Re: Buying / Landscaping a Sloping Block 12Aug 12, 2017 9:37 pm Not sure what you mean. Don't think I like the look of the retaining wall rocks to be honest! Re: Buying / Landscaping a Sloping Block 13Aug 15, 2017 4:17 pm PVBuild Nice Kagan. We've done the same with the backyard, cut it in half - we kind've had to with our house site. Would have been nice to keep it all as lawn, but that's the challenge with sloping blocks! A small retaining wall would be good. Rocks - they are not cheap are they. Most of the cost is actually the transport of them. See if you can get them out of gumtree, often cheaper. I second the gumtree option - just search for "sandstone boulders" or something similar and you should get a few options. Keep searching over a week or two because new ones appear all the time and some you have to be quick to get to as it's "first in best dressed!" I did this recently when sourcing small boulders (1-2 man rocks) for a garden retaining wall - just hired one of the double-axle trailers from Bunnings and went around to all the local spots advertised on Gumtree - cheaper than organising a big delivery and paying for them from a landscaping store. If you want the big feature boulders that is a different (and expensive!) story as you need the machinery to move them around site and get them off the truck e.g. excavator with a "claw" attachment or similar. 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 12414 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 18567 Howdy all. I am looking for feedback on what people would do to maximise and make an area as flat as possible. First, out the front of the house is a sloping hill, pretty… 0 20153 |