Browse Forums Building A New House Re: Backyard size 13Apr 11, 2017 1:21 am Our build thread with Smart Homes for Living in Wellard https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=86092 Re: Backyard size 16Apr 11, 2017 9:34 am You are welcome. I love it too but you don't see front veggie gardens very often. Good luck with the landscaping. I think the side of the house would be a good option if it gets enough sunlight. It's amazing what you can grow in a small space! Re: Backyard size 17Apr 11, 2017 10:58 am lys245 Thanks everyone for your responses so far! And ourlindrum52 your garden looks great! More photos are definitely welcome. My alfresco will be under the roof area so I suppose taking that into account will make it feel like the yard is bigger. Do you feel like your backyard is big enough for young children/small dog to run around in? I guess it's just the conundrum of whether you choose a bigger house or a bigger yard... and factoring that into account if we ever sell. Given the weather in Sydney, I'm sure we'll be spending more times indoors but I just can't shake the feeling that a couple of extra meters would make all the difference! We will have about 10m (length) x 2.5m (width) down the right hand side of the house, so we're hoping to use that for the veggie patch and a small shed at least. Unfortunately the front setbacks are so small (4.5m from the road) so there's not much opportunity for a front veggie patch like that awesome pic you posted @shellu No problem. We also have approx. 5 metre width between fence and side of the house. As this is north-facing we use that for outdoor entertaining as well - all paved with a pond/water feature and garden beds. The only lawn we have apart from the front verge is the backyard - on purpose! Our children are older now, but I would think there's still plenty of room to run around, even if we also had a dog. We found a lot of inspiration at display homes. I also limited it to what I was capable of doing myself. I did get a brickie to build the pond and garden bed walls from leftover bricks we had kept. Lot sizes are smaller these days too and it's interesting to see how they manage to make the gardens interesting. I think the trick is to create 'rooms' or areas that lead into another area and it doesn't matter if these are small as they draw your eye into them and it creates depth. This is what I did with the side of the house: Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ We're still planning to do a vertical garden wall too; and maybe add shade-sails over the seating areas. It's a work in progress still but the hard stuff is done. Re: Backyard size 18Apr 11, 2017 5:42 pm That looks amazing. Wanna do mine? XD I'm planning to pave the concreted area at some stage, and have some frangpani in huge pots up against the house, with outdoor furniture (just chairs).. I'm not an entertainer.. just need space to sit outside and read a book or have a coffee, and some grass for my bunny and possibly future dog. My sides are 1.3m x 19.. cat run going down ones side.. and some potted citrius plants.. to give some greenery from inside.. I'm thinking scented pearl magnolia or crepe myrtle along the back fence.. I want lots of greenery and colour when looking from the house. Re: Backyard size 19Apr 19, 2017 10:47 am ourlindrum52 I am gobsmacked by how lovely your yard is! My partner and I haven't started our family yet so I dare say our yard will just be a pile of grass for a long time haha. But I will definitely be using yours as future inspiration! My partner and I went to check out some display homes on the weekend, and all of them seemed to have such small backyards! I guess that's just the nature of building on such small blocks! As long as it's enough for some rugrats and pets to run around in, it should be fine! Well I'm hoping so anyway! Re: Backyard size 20Apr 21, 2017 1:17 pm Thanks lys245. It took almost 5 years to get the backyard and side done. I was a bit daunted by what we had planned to do, and since I planned to do the majority of the work myself to save money, I didn't want it to look like a half-botched job. I planned it all out, based on what I could do myself and/or teach myself to do. Surprisingly the screen running the length of the side fence (to give us and neighbours privacy) was one of the easiest things to do. It was an idea my wife had from a display home, but it mimics the front upper façade of our house - so I followed the plan details of our house to build the screen and attach the fibre cement sheeting. I had a brickie build the raised garden beds and pond walls, which gave me the levels for everything else. Then I rendered and painted it. The limestone blocks on top (MUCH cheaper than anything else) and very easy to lay as you can cut them with a handsaw. And I used coloured concrete pavers, with river pebbles because there was no way I could lay traditional pavers and get them level!! We had previously laid the same pavers and river pebbles down the side of the house so this kept the same look and we liked how that turned out. The stones also allow drainage into an agipipe connected to the stormwater so when it rains the water doesn't just sit there. Nothing I did was out of the range of anyone with average skills. Have a go like I did and I think you'll be surprised you can actually do it. Just take it on one job at a time. My day job is completely different, so this was very satisfying to do and we're happy at the end result. But that's it for now. I'm going to take it easy now! DIY, Home Maintenance & Repair That laser level looks lovely! We bought one for less than a quarter of that price off eBay. It worked really well for us and it's still going now, five years later. After… 1 16711 It's possible but a soak well is usually much larger. Your 'soak well' only holds 424 litres when full. What is your soil type? Soak wells need sandy soils. 10 9000 Need advice on the backyard plan above. Should I excavate and cut all of the dirt to level with the house slab or semi-excavate as per photo above? Both left and right… 0 24860 |