How to renovate our front yard and add pavers?

[ksmith]

w have just moved and want to tackle our gardens. This front yard we want super low maintenance, ground cover and coastal style. Plus the travertine pavers from Bunnings.

questions:

what’s the first steps and what products do we need before planting?

and do we need to concrete the pavers down  to create steppers?

[JacobZ]

Hi @ksmith,

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

Landscape design is a very personal thing and comes down to your style and preferences, but the coastal style with travertine pavers will look fantastic. 

Do you have an idea in mind regarding where the pavers will go, where the plants will go, any irrigation or drainage systems and any kind of separation using garden edges? 

Often, the best place to start with landscape design is with a basic top-down sketch of the area that identifies your zones. Once you have an idea of what you are trying to achieve, you can start to look at specific plants and products to achieve your vision and create the wonderful front garden you are hoping for.

You might like to have a look at How To Design A Landscaping Plan, How To Plan & Landscape a Garden Makeover and How To Plan An Irrigation System for some guidance

You might also like to have a look at 10 ways to improve your home’s street appeal and Top 10 most popular front yard projects for some inspiration.

Once you've got a plan in mind, you can start to take steps towards bringing your vision to life. The first step will be anything that starts in the soil, such as drainage or irrigation systems. They should be dug in and installed as per the manufacturer's guidance.

You can then start on the pavers. The most important thing when laying pavers is to ensure there is compaction of the substrate to ensure a stable base and adequate drainage. This can be achieved by adding road base and compacting it with a plate compactor. You might like to have a look at How To Prepare And Lay a Base For Pavers for some guidance on this process. 

Once the base is prepared, I'd suggest using mortar to set the pavers in place and allow for levelling. Check out How To Lay Pavers for some guidance on this.

After the pavers have been laid, you should start work on your planting zones. As the ground looks quite sandy, depending on the plants you've chosen, you may need to add a layer of topsoil such as Scotts Osmocote Garden Soil Premium Planting Mix to give them the best chance of thriving in their new home.

The specific plan of attack will come down to your vision, but the above guidance should give you a good start.

Allow me to tag some of our helpful members to see if they have any further advice they can offer, @Noelle, @Herrenovacation, @Nailbag.

Let me know if you have any further questions.

Jacob

[Nailbag]

Hi @ksmith 

@JacobZ has given some terrific advice and pretty much covered it in the order that I would be approaching. Once you have a plan, getting your paving and borders down are the next steps before preparing you lawns and garden beds.

My only additional suggestion would be to consider what if any irrigation system as well as any pathway and garden lighting. You don't have to fit the lights and sprinklers in straight away, you can wait until an affordable time. It will simply be much easier to run the lower voltage cables and irrigation tubing in the before the soil goes in. Just include them in your landscaping plan and take some photos so you can find them later. For the garden beds I would recommend using a drip irrigation tubing, which will be perfect for your ground covers and succulents.

Enjoy the process and your new home

Nailbag.

[Herrenovacation]

Hello & welcome @ksmith 

Some great advice from @JacobZ & @Nailbag 

For design & plant advice I may be able to help. 

• Make pathways meander.  Replicate the look of the beach but in a slightly more structured format, so avoid formal straight paths – keep it natural! 
• The plants that you use in your landscaping need to be salt hardy so look at what grows naturally and clings valiantly to the sand dunes. To help choose plants I go for a walk in an area I want to replicate and use a plant identifier app to work out which plants to search for. For you i'm thinking you should look at banksia's, flax lily, pig face, shore westringia, lepospermum laevigatum, dichodra repens, fountain grass, coastal rosemary & creeping thyme to start. 

When designing my gardens i also watch a lot of Youtube & use pinterest & instagram to help get the vision or find plants.  

Check out Peter Fudge, I love his coastal style gardens. 

Hope this helps 

[ksmith]

Thank you so much