Garden or shrub beds around a house that is on stumps

[phillynight]

My partner and I recently purchased a home in Frankston area and we are not familiar with houses on stumps as they don't have them in Europe or the US. We recently had all of the timber stumps replaced with concrete and had the boards around the house close to the ground replaced as they were rotting. This brings me to my question. We would like to make the landscape/garden beds around the house look nicer but we are not sure that any material (mulch, dirt, etc.) should be touching the timber boards? The ground slopes down under the house, and the ground is quite sandy, so maybe some type of barrier or landscape edging needs to be added to keep garden bed material from A.) sliding under the house and B.) sitting again the timber boards and rotting them. Any advice, recommendations or tips would be very appreciated. Cheers!

[Dave-1]

Afternoon @phillynight 

A warm welcome to the Bunnings community page There are loads of garden bed ideas amongst the pages

Having airflow under the house is something I would try and keep, At the sme time I also would like garden beds up against the house to maximise the look How about a timber edged box for the garden bed but keep the box off the slats by at least 50mm or 2"s

With the area that slopes towards the house, maybe the back of the garden box can be deeper then the front and then you also level the soil in front of the box? That way the box can act like a dam to stop water running under the house in rain instances.

Let me tag some other community members that may have a few different ideas. @Jewelleryrescue , @Noyade and @Nailbag 
Im sure you will get a diverse range of suggestions : Congratulations on your new house btw

Dave

[Nailbag]

Hi @phillynight 

Congratulations on your new home. I definitely agree with @Dave-1 and would be keeping as much if not all of the under house ventilation. I see to often both work-wise and within this community, mould issues with homes with blocked or not enough ventilation points. Especially with older weatherboard homes.

Here are a couple of solutions to consider for where you have a single and double plinth boards under the weatherboards.

Nailbag

[EricL]

Hello @phillynight 

Allow me to welcome you as well to the Bunnings Workshop community. It's wonderful to have you join us, and thanks for sharing your question about adding a garden around your house. 

It's fantastic that you've received excellent advice from @Dave-1 and @Nailbag. I totally agree with their recommendations in regards to spacing and making sure that your garden bed is not in contact with the house. My only other suggestion is to think about using 200 x 50mm Sleeper H4 Treated Pine Sienna MicroPro 2.4m to create a single panel raised garden bed. This will totally keep your garden bed isolated and prevent any soil from accidentally falling or contacting the plinth of the house.

If you have any other questions we can help with, please let us know.

Eric

[phillynight]

Thanks so much, this is very very helpful. You've understood the assignment spot on. I think we will make a Bunnings trip and find the correct depth steel or aluminum, dig the trench and install exactly how you've shown in Option 1. Thanks again!