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A comprehensive courtyard overhaul featuring a fire pit, arbour, gabion benches and outdoor lighting.
The project
My proudest D.I.Y. to date. It took a lot of manual labour and even more patience, but many lessons were learned along the way.
Before I started.
First off was the clean up of trees. Once everything was cut back, it exposed the retaining wall and the syngoniums that were wrapped around the Sheena’s Gold trees. I painted the wall in Dulux Monument Weathershield, carefully peeled the syngoniums off the trees, attached reinforcing mesh to the wall and trained the syngoniums to climb the mesh.
Onto the heavy stuff, which I had help with from friends (removing old pavers and pebbles, digging holes for the drainage pits and posts and installing the decomposed granite).
The posts were put in twice because the concrete didn’t set properly. I forgot to wet the hole the first time, so I had to do them all for the second time on my own, digging out the old concrete and all. Checking out the posts for the arbour was a first for me. This was quite challenging, being up high on the ladder on non-level ground, using a circular saw, but they all turned out well.
The gabions were a blend of different designs I found online. I used fence rails for the frames, painted them in Dulux Weathershield Monument and pegged them to the ground with Metal Garden Stakes. I used some of the old pavers as fill, to save on costs for rocks. Installing the rocks took the most patience, as each one had to be placed individually, being careful not to use the same sizes next to each other. I cut the the mesh to fit the openings and Merbau decking was used as the lid.
Railway sleepers were used for the path, agaves were transplanted from other areas of the garden and tea tree mulch was used to dress everything up. I designed the firewood storage ring and had it made by a local fabricator. With my block being up high, I needed cut-outs on the back of the ring to allow wind to flow through.
Finally, I used 12V garden lighting and festoons to finish it all off.
Before and after
How to plan a backyard makeover
A backyard makeover can be a very rewarding project to help transform your home. The key to success is planning. Get advice from experienced D.I.Y. expert Adam in his guide How to plan a garden makeover.
More inspiration for your outdoor project
Community member Sue has shared how she used Java Reed screen fencing on her Mum's front unit courtyard project.
Planter boxes, a cubby house and a pergola were just some of the additions Workshop member Rylie built during his backyard transformation.
For more ideas for your own project, check out the Top 10 most popular planter box projects, Top 10 most popular outdoor projects and our Top 10 most popular screening projects.
Seriously nice work! You have really brought that space back to being useful 
Love how you reused the pavers as fill!
Your T beams are definently something I will reuse, Perfect for edging along a fenceline. I really like them. I was going to have some straight posts next to my driveway area to hang festoon lighting off but you have changed my idea!
What an improvement!
Dave
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