We've just moved into a house we built. We've been really happy with the job the landscapers have done for us. Before and after:
I've gotta heckle...way too much grass vs garden. You spend less time doing gardening than the lawns and edges. Looks pretty low maintenance though
Will be a breeze to maintain. Just the right size for a battery powered mower and whipper snipper. Well done.
The lawns and edges don't take long. It's the right amount of gardening for us at our stage of life. I will be building a couple of raised garden beds in the back corner, and will be busy establishing the gardens. I haven't shown the front, which will be all natives. There are fruit plants along the back, flowers near the al fresco and along the patch closest to the house, and taller plants along the fence. I'm happy to be doing some gardening once established, but not to spend major time. I'm getting on.
Tip - Young plants from a wholesale nursery that are young are quite cheap and grow. Those garden beds are going to be a weed factory. And grass growing through it.
Thanks Paul. I have been buying tubestock online for a little while now, growing them in larger pots. Many of them have now been planted, with the rest going in over the next week. The garden beds are mulched. I started with pea straw mulch, but that starts growing pea plants, so ive swit hed to sugar cane mulch. My advice was to apply a second lot of the same in 6 months, and then ise a more decorative mulch. The turf is growing like crazy. So I expect it to be extending into the garden beds, and I'll be trying to keep on top of it. There's no lawn in the front yard (except for the nature strip), just natives and mulch, which is my next project.
I bought a heap of young buxus for $3 each wholesale. Tiny things and 100mm apart. Now 1.2 metres tall and a well formed hedge. Trim with battery hedger. They grew to mature in 18mths. Buying mature is super expensive. Like a bad haircut its just means waiting. Then magolias (port wine) which started as $4 babies. Now mature and lush green. I also use pea mulch. It only spouts a few and easy to pick out. The shoots are easy to spot. Keeps the soil moist. One tip I believed helps - a sprinkler irrigation system using poly 13mm with some risers and small spray heads to suit (pope) .. Cheap and is invisible. Keeps it all looking good and not standing there with a hose. Timer for round 20mins each day. If its raining turn it off.
Cultural appropriation? That was Zen and zis is now? I've done a Japanese influenced garden at an IP, which meant no grass for a tenant to mow. But here, we were happy with a traditional Aussie garden, mowing and all.
If we went culturally appropriate, we could go with my wife's mexican heritage. Thus is Frida Kahlo's house One influenced by her house And a few others
Its like german looking timber homes, british thatched cottages and french chateaus. They dont look right in the wrong environment. And in the right environmnet where there are others it can be protected and highly valued
