Front garden design

[Fonzi]

I have a sad garden at the front of our house and is not very appealing to look at. I was hoping to pull it out and do something simple and tidy to suit the Sunshine Coast heat. I would really love some ideas on how to lay this out. I would like to keep the small trees and dress smaller plants around them.

Added a few photos

[BradN · Accepted solution]

Hi @Fonzi,

Being on the Sunny Coast you have a great climate with plenty of options for different kinds of gardens. What sort of look do you want? Do you want something a bit tropical and colourful with different kinds of Hibiscus ? Acalypha wilkesiana, also known as the Fijian fire plant or beefsteak plant will give you plenty of colourful foliage and can be kept to whatever height or shape you prefer.

Those small trees would have been planted as a privacy screen meant to be kept around eye level, but they haven't been pruned properly and they're now too tall and not providing much privacy. You could try cutting them down to eye level and seeing if that will stimulate more growth lower down to green things up and start providing privacy again. Or you could take them out and replace them with something else. 

You could also think about keeping some of the other plants you have. Those Philodendron "Xanadu" with the fishbone leaves are good little well-behaved plants that suit that sort of spot. You can green them up by giving them a deep watering and then adding some Power Feed diluted in the watering can and scattering some slow-release fertiliser on the soil of the garden bed.

Near the letterbox there you've got a nice Raphiolepis (aka Indian hawthorn) that's getting a little bit overgrown by the Xanadu. If you cut the Xanadu back a bit you can keep the Raphiolepis as a flowering shrub or trim it into a formal, blocky hedge shape. 

So many options!  It might be easiest to start by deciding what basic look or theme you want - tropical, native, succulent or whatever. I'm sure others here will have plenty of suggestions.

Cheers,

Brad

[Jason]

Hi @Fonzi,

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community. We're so pleased to have you join us and trust you will get loads of helpful advice and project inspiration from our wonderful members.

Let me tag @BradN and @Adam_W to kick off the discussion. They both live up north and have plenty of experience in the garden. 

Our resident Bunnings D.I.Y. expert @EricL will also be happy to assist as soon as possible.

Jason

[BradN]

@Jason Ha! Beat you to it! I'm sure Adam and Eric will have plenty of great ideas.

[EricL]

Hello @Fonzi

My apologies for the late reply. It's great that you've received fantastic suggestions from @BradN. I agree there are so many options on how to layout your garden. I'm partial to Japanese Zen gardens as you can change the formation of the pebbles to your mood. You can install a solar-powered water feature in your garden to attract birds. You can put in paving steps to break up its uniform look. My favorite makeover suggestion is to turn your garden into a mini-golf putting course.

Using drought-tolerant plants and installing a drip irrigation system should make taking care of your garden quite manageable. If you're after flowering plants perhaps Lavender, Daylilies, and Salvias. Have you seen a garden layout that has caught your eye? If you have a particular idea in mind, please don't hesitate to share it. If I come across any other garden layout ideas I'll post them here.

Eric

[Fonzi]

Thanks alot for the advice everyone. I went for a really simple look for my first run at this. It is not perfect but does the job and will look ok over the next few weeks. 

[BradN]

Hi @Fonzi . That does looks quite tidy. Don't forget to keep the water up to those new plants on these hot summer days.

I would also mulch it to keep the soil from drying out too much, and to keep weeds down. I like lucerne mulch because it breaks down relatively quickly, returning nutrients to the soil, but you can also go with a more ornamental woodchip, or with red cypress to keep the termites away...

Cheers,

Brad 

[Fonzi]

Great tips..i have just done that now...

thank you

[BradN]

Happy to help!

[Toni297]

@Fonzi, lovely garden. What’s growing on the left side of the house that’s so tall and private? I love that