Landscaping using natives and recycled materials

KanoLaLa

DIY Garden. Marino Rocks

We recently built our first home, and having literaly spent every last penny. I decided to take on the landscaping myself.

After spending weeks walking through nearby suburbs and snapping photos of plants and garden features I liked, I felt ready to give it a go. Along the way, I managed to rescue a beautiful 60-year-old frangipani from a demolition site — a piece of history I couldn’t let go to waste.

Other than that gem, I wanted to focus mainly on natives. A brilliant young staff member at my local Bunnings was a huge help — full of knowledge and enthusiasm — and guided me through selecting a range of Australian natives to fit my rough plan. I aimed for a warm palette of reds, yellows, and oranges, with just a hint of white for contrast.

I also had some old jetty poles gifted to me, which I incorporated into the design for a natural, coastal feel. And, of course, I couldn’t resist adding a water feature — a three-tiered pond with a waterfall and small fountains to tie it all together.

After seven months and more trips to Bunnings than I can count, I’m proud to say the project is finally complete. Now it’s just a matter of waiting for everything to grow — fingers crossed it all comes together as imagined.

Materials

Recycled Jetty poles.

Steel path edging. 
Crushed River pebble. And full river pebble. 
Cottage mulch.

Few different pond sizes. 
Some recycled cages I found on market place for Gabion fencing. 
Plenty of hose and fittings for irrigation. 
BHive Watering system.

Some HPM lighting.

Some cobble stones left over from someone else’s job. 
Plenty of natives (All from Bunnings)

Tools

Started with teh Weed matt - Weed matt and Weed matt pins.

HPM Lights - Garden Lights 

Rusty look Garden Edging - Rustly Steel Garden Edging.

I used and reccomend the below:

AquaPro pond pump - Pond Pump 

Aquapro Fountain Kit - Fountain Kit 

Hosing to suit for water fall above - Non Kink Hose 

Filter to suit above - Large Filter for pond 

Small Fountain pump for lower pond - Small Feature Pump 

A few B-Hive tap timers. 

I think i bought one of every Irrigation fitting avaliable and still forgot one LOL - Irrigation fittings.  

A range of Natives from Bunnings - It was helpfull to have good advice from someone who also has a intrest in Navies. - Natives 

All plants topped with Osmocote as reccomended by Garden member at bunnings. - Native slow release 

Steps

Step 1

Firstly I removed 3 years worth of weeds and trimmed some established trees. 

Step 2

I covered the ground with weed matting and the painted some lines with line marking paint. This showerd the position of paths, ponds and features. 

Step 3

Next i added my irrigation pipe and conduit for lighting.  Then I added the steal edging for the paths. Edging

Step 4

The next step was to get a load of cottage mulch and sfresh soil delivered. That was fun to move. Dirt delivery

Step 5

From here i started planting. I used a stanley knife to cut the weed matt and a large garden drill bit to drill some holes for the plants. I used some Osmocote premium Potting Mix for each hole. Potting Mix.  

Step 6

Last step was to add my features. 

Pond.

Jetty Poles.

Lighting.

Step 7

A few more images of my project.

Step 8

I wanted to create some projected lighting effects onto the house.  HPM spotlights offered plenty of options to get this right. Projected images of garden.Projected images of garden.

JacobZ

Hi @KanoLaLa,

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community, it is fantastic to have you with us.

Congratulations on the new home, and congratulations on what is an absolutely magnificent landscaping project.

Taking on the entire landscaping project yourself after building your first home is no small feat, and the result is truly special. The mix of native plants, water features, flowing garden edging, recycled materials, and last but not least, the rescued frangipani, gives your garden so much character and heart. You’ve managed to capture the coastal feel beautifully while keeping it sustainable and uniquely your own — congratulations on an inspiring effort and a space you’ll enjoy watching grow for years to come.

Just thought I'd also mention those fantastic low gabion walls. I know @Dave-1 is a big advocate for gabions and I'm sure he'd love to see yours.

Thank you for sharing and congratulations on what truly is a mammoth effort, for a fantastic result.

Jacob