A full front and back garden makeover in Clarence Gardens. The owners wanted a garden to match the house: a lawn they could actually use, a paved spot to sit, and a lot of colour that wouldn't need constant work. They had the garden designed first by Tony Stanton of Living Pictures, then asked us to build it.
Working from a proper design
Tony drew a hardscape plan and a softscape plan, both at 1:100. The hardscape plan set out every wall, edge and paved area. The softscape plan named every plant and where it goes. On a job this size that matters. We could price it accurately up front, order the right quantities, and build it the way the owners had already signed off on, with no guessing on site.
If you're thinking about a full garden rather than one feature, our landscape design page explains how the design step works.
Getting machines into the back
The only way into the back yard was through the garage and down a narrow side driveway. We covered the driveway in heavy plastic before the bobcat went through, so the concrete came out the other end without a mark on it. A lot of damage on garden jobs happens on the way in.
The curved raised garden wall
The centrepiece of the back yard is a curved raised garden bed that wraps around the lawn. It's 34 lineal metres of charcoal Versalock blocks, three courses plus capping, about 500 mm high, sitting on a concrete footing.
It's there for the look, lifting the planting closer to eye level and giving the lawn a clean curved edge. We filled the beds with 40 tonnes of raised bed mix so the plants had good soil from day one, not builder's fill.
Travertine patio and brick edging
The owners supplied their own silver travertine, and we laid 14 m² of it as the patio, on a 75 mm compacted rubble base. Around the lawn we ran 43 lineal metres of charcoal brick mowing edge, so the mower runs straight along it and there's no trimming against the wall.
Lawn, soil and irrigation
Before any turf went down we dug sand and compost into about 125 m² of ground, lawn and beds together. A lot of Adelaide soil is heavy clay, and lawn and plants both do far better with it opened up first.
The lawn is Male Sterile Kikuyu, 85 m² across the front and back. It handles heavy foot traffic, kids and dogs, and copes with Adelaide's hot, dry summers. Our lawns page covers why we use it so often.
Every one of the 158 plants has its own dripper, and the lawn runs on 16 pop-up sprinklers. A six-station Hunter controller runs the lot across two valve sets, so the lawn and the beds water separately. Garden lighting went in at the same stage.
Planting: 158 plants, front and back
Most plants went in as 140 mm pots. Small pots cost far less than advanced stock and settle in quickly, and as the photos show, a year was plenty for them to fill in.
The back beds are a mix of colour and silver foliage: Rhaphiolepis 'Oriental Pearl', Eremophila nivea, Erysimum 'Winter Orchid', Limonium perezii, Pelargoniums, Kangaroo Paw 'Bush Pearl', Armeria, Alternanthera 'Little Ruby' and Abelia, with three Lagerstroemia 'Tuscarora' crepe myrtles for height.
The front is simpler and more formal. A hedge of 31 Hebe 'Black Beauty' runs around the lawn, with 37 silver Artemisia schmidtiana inside it and 13 Hebe albicans. The owners kept their existing Prunus cerasifera 'Nigra', and we gave it a square surround of charcoal pavers, cut in half to suit the scale.
All beds were finished with about 105 m² of Jeffries Forever Black mulch, which holds moisture and makes the silver and purple foliage stand out.
What the owners said
Martyn and his Hand Made Gardens Team were very professional, prompt, enthusiastic and helpful from the quoting process, site inspection and installation processes through to the final clean up. Impressed by how particular they were throughout. Great guys as well.
Dean Fairlie, Google review
Project details
- Location: Clarence Gardens
- Design: Tony Stanton, Living Pictures
- Scope: 34 lin m curved raised garden wall, 14 m² travertine patio, 43 lin m brick mowing edge, 85 m² Male Sterile Kikuyu lawn, 158 plants, drip and pop-up irrigation on a 6-station controller, about 105 m² of mulch
- Related services: Retaining Walls, Paving, Lawns, Irrigation, Landscape Design
- See also: a deck and garden makeover we built in Oaklands Park
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General information only. Every site is different, so get advice for yours before you start work. Prices are a guide only, as at the date published. See our disclaimer.
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