How to simply landscape backyard?

[Clarencio08]

Hello everyone,

I would like to do my own backyard to save money but I have zero experience.

Will it be a hopeless task or Is it attainable?

I do not know where to start or what sort of equipment to use as I have a very limited space to put machinery in.

I am just thinking of putting up a simple backyard which is just in ground 1m Garden Beds on all sides of backyard and maybe just sow around a nice soil which I do not know how to proceed with.

Ang advice would definitely help! Thanks in advance! 😄

 

[Jewelleryrescue]

Hi @Clarencio08 

Well the plus side is you have a great back yard  and a blank canvas to create some thing wonderfull.

You need a plan clearly thats why your here.

I would look at as many lovly gardens, and landscaping  effects in person or tv or online.

1) Write down or note the things you like and take/save  pictures of  everything you like  later you can look at them all and pick the features and plant types you like the most.   Also consider there are different gardening styles formal or cottage style garden to name two you may like zones show casing various areas  making little zones.  You might choose to follow a style  that will suggest  certain plants and arrangments to  make  your life easier.  But  a style is just a guide .

2) There are  several gardening apps  too lay out your back yard space  and let you add  features you like and some let you do virtual walk through before you even open the backdoor to start work.  It is very usefull to have a  drawn plan to talk to people and suppliers with  some measurements on it so you can cost things out before hand.  I have  not used  such  apps to recommend  any of  late.

3  Or you can start doing things  gradually like you might want grass  first,  then a  bbq area etc This  gradual approach  can  be following a  drawn plan or you can  wing it.

4 As you start adding landscaping trees and garden beds  etc This  may inspire you  to new upgraded  ideas once you see your  yard first hand growing  before you eyes.

If you  have a  drawing plan it will help save you $$$ as if you know you want a   surround garden  bed then you can order less turf to  spend on the garden  bed instead.

Do your home  work so you get exactly what you want first time and then you can do this in planned stages.

Hope this helps.

[JacobZ]

Hi @Clarencio08,

Thank you for your question and welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community it is fantastic to have you with us.

It's great to see you've already received some fantastic advice from @Jewelleryrescue.

As he has said, a good place to start is by putting a basic plan on paper and breaking things down into stages. I'd suggest checking out How To Plan & Landscape a Garden Makeover and How To Design a Garden for some guidance on this. 

My suggestion for stages is -

1. Lawn preparation
    
2. Lawn installation
    
3. Lawn establishment
    
4. Hard landscaping (planter boxes, pathways, garden edging, etc.)

Preparing for the lawn is a good place to start and this is the one thing I'd suggest getting a landscaper to help with. They can likely use a Skid Steer Loader to remove the top layer of soil, along with the grass and weeds that have formed since construction and add a layer of topsoil between 50-100mm thick over the entire space. There are skid steers that are as narrow as 900mm wide, so even very tight access can often be managed. I'd suggest using a service such as HiPages or True Local to find a landscaping company close to you to enquire about their services. 

Once the ground has been prepared, you can spread seeds using a seed spreader or you can lay already established turf which can be ordered in bulk through your local store's Special Orders desk. Check out How To Lay Turf for some guidance.
 

Once the seed is sown, or the turf is laid, there is a period of around 2-4 weeks where you will need to minimise movement around your yard to allow the grass to establish. This creates a natural break in your overall landscaping project that might be a good time for future planning, saving for the next steps and allowing the body to rest. 

When the lawn has strengthened, you can move on to hard landscaping. Some good articles for information on this stage include -

• How To Build A Garden Bed
   
• How To Build a Raised Garden Bed With Sleepers
   
• How To Install Garden Edging
   
• How To Lay Pavers
   

You have a nice clean slate to work with and a massive amount of potential. Start by getting some plans on paper, draw out what you want to achieve and then break it down into stages. Anything is possible with some effort and commitment.

Allow me to tag @Noelle, @Nailbag and @Dave-1 for their advice.

Let me know if you have any further questions.

Jacob

[Dave-1 · Accepted solution]

Good Morning @Clarencio08 

A new yard to play with Yeah Envy for you is my first thought! So many things you can do!

My first suggestion would be to go out and buy a sketch pad, A3  would be best.

First page -

Do a top down sketch of the yard as is, Add in any services you know of (sewage/stormwater) and any hard bits of concrete ect. Add in width dimensions of yard and services. This becomes your start sheet for ideas.

Second Page, same drawn widths as the first one, this is where you could add types of trees you may like, shrubs/bushes (actually list the types and sizes they grow. I alos Lop my trees every second year to keep them managable) Garden beds. You have the size of the yard, the plants come with approximate sizes they will grow (unpruned) and you will learn where the yard gets sun in each season as you slowly build your yard up.

Third page, this is a sideways profile style sketch, as if you were looking at the yard at head height. Not hard to do as it dosnt have to be accurate but just so you can see the tree you want over there will block the path you may want in a few years type deal.

The following pages will accommodate each new structure/plant as you come up with ideas. Gazebos, BBQ area, Firepit, Flat area for a above ground pool or trampoline. 

I have several of these sketch books and it is so interesting how the eventual design comes to being!

Places I have found insperation -

Peoples yards as you drive around your suburb,

In here (Bunnings community pages)

Problems that ive seen or heard of actually work in my favour as I will try to do something that mitigates my potential issues.

More driving around, seriously people have so many good ideas in the front yards that you can transfer to your back yard.

Seasonal change, I have liquid ambers, crepe myrtes in my yeard so they loose their leaves in winter. It changes the yards feel purposfully.

Shade, Building shade is an important one. I dont mean shade sails. Mean more trees/structures such as gazebo/shed/greenhouse.

Here is my front yard as I landscaped it over a year -ish 

Landscaping front yard 

Landscaping Front Yard Part 2 

Gabion wall for front pathway 

Top down sketch example of my front yard when I was doing stormwater work and installing/replacing a retaining wall.

Side path idea before I built it, At this point I new I wanted a path and was just considering how to make it.

The corner of the wall after it was built matched the picture I had sketched... I was surpprised

 

The corner before the new path went in months later after I had sourced some wiggly pavers as I had run out.

The yard slowly changed as I broke the whole lot into smaller manageable projects.

Pathway built, yeah still need more wiggly pavers but thats a "wait and see" project. 

It may feel daunting to do it yourself, break it down and all of a suddern it becomes manageable and enjoyable. Go for the large things you want first, bbq area/firpit, pathway, gazebo or shed and the rest will follow.

Dave

[Kyliz]

So much great advice here especially with sourcing what you might like in your yard and creating a drawn plan or inspiration board. 
One big thing to consider is the maintenance that is required for anything you choose. If you’re not much of a gardening person and don’t want to be mowing, pruning etc then you might want to consider not even having a lawn or anything too structured. Think of indigenous plants and possibly rock features or sitting areas that would not require continuous work. 
If you do have lots of ideas then breaking it down into sections will and make it feel more achievable.

[Dave-1]

Afternoon @Kyliz 

You have a very good point! Maintaining what you have and that is everything from mowing/weeding to pruning plus re-oiling or painting. I have about four things I need to re-oil about now! 

Dave

[JacobZ]

Hi @Kyliz,

Thank you for jumping into the conversation and welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community, it is fantastic to have you with us.

This is some great advice that I'm sure @Clarencio08 will appreciate.

Jacob

[Nailbag]

Hi @Clarencio08 

Aside from the awesome practical advice provided by @JacobZ @Jewelleryrescue and @Dave-1 the only few things I can add would be:

• Take note of each plants full growth size and allow ample spacing between others to prevent overcrowding. 
• Invest more in more established plants where you might need to use them to cover ugly areas or provide useful shade etc.
• Buying smaller pots of fast growing plants will save a lot of money.
• Consider how much lawn you want to maintain and how much maintenance you want to do in the garden.
• Consider using 5mm x 100mm x 6m steel edging. It's around $100 a length so not cheap. But will last for decades vs a few years with Merbau. And yes you can buy much cheaper 2-3mm short length edging but it corrodes away real;atively quickly and costs more to support when installing.
• Research "Bush-Mulch" in your local area. If you can access it direct from the arborists, it can be as little as $250 cash for 10mtrs
• Include in your planning independent large diameter irrigation piping for lawn pop-ups, soaker and spray systems. Again future proofing while its easier to install main lines.
• Include in your planning cable runs for feature low-voltage garden and path lights. Even if it's well down the track before it's affordable to install the lights.

Nailbag

[Clarencio08]

I really really appreciate this.

This is indeed very helpful. Im glad i went in to this community workshop. 🙂

[Clarencio08]

This is very helpful! I love this community.

The only problem I would be facing is my house has a very tight access.

I think im gonna have to do It by hand.

Not sure what tools to buy to get it all started but I will do my research.

Thank you so much!