How to create new garden bed and lawn?

Simon_blanc

I want to remove the mulch from around the inside perimeter of the house and replace it with white granite/pebbles. Currently the mulch just sits on top of the soil, would i need drainage rock and weed mats underneath when swapping it out?

The next step is I want to rip up the brick boundary and replace with sleepers and replacing all the inside rock with turf, would the timber sleepers need to be cemented or would pegs suffice? Its not for a retaining wall just to provide a boundary between where the grass is going to go and the pebbles/granite

EricL

Hello @Simon_blanc

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community. It's sensational to have you join us, and thanks for sharing your question about your garden bed.

Looking at the photo, the area already appears fairly flat and free draining, and the existing mulch is doing nothing structurally, it’s just sitting on soil. When you remove the mulch and replace it with white granite or decorative pebbles, you don’t need a separate layer of drainage rock. Decorative granite aggregate drains just as well as standard drainage stone provided it’s laid to a reasonable depth, usually around 30 to 50 mm once compacted.

What I would suggest is to install a proper weed mat, ideally a permeable landscape fabric rather than plastic. That will stop weeds coming up through the pebbles while still allowing water to pass through into the soil and away from the house. It’s also important to scrape and level the soil first and slightly fall it away from the wall so water never sits against the house, regardless of what surface finish you use.

Skipping weed mat is where people usually regret it later, especially with light coloured stone, because weeds and soil contamination show up very quickly. Skipping drainage rock, on the other hand, is fine in this context because the granite itself performs that role.

For the second stage, replacing the brick edging with sleepers and converting the internal area to turf, your thinking is also correct. Because this is not acting as a retaining wall and there’s no significant change in height, concrete footings are unnecessary. Galvanised sleeper pegs or stakes driven firmly into the ground will be more than adequate to hold the sleepers in place as a neat boundary between turf and stone. The key is spacing and depth. If the pegs are driven deep enough and spaced reasonably close together, the sleepers won’t move, even with mowing and foot traffic.

If you need further assistance, please let us know.

Eric