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How to landscape new build house?

louiselily

Hi all! Seeking your guidance please. We have recently got our keys to our newly constructed house (Melbourne suburbs) and unfortunately do not have the budget to have our backyard properly landscaped. The soil on our backyard are very uneven and gets really muddy when it rains, which is a big problem for us as we have a dog. The house is higher than the ground, sloping downwards to the boundary fence, Can you help suggest what we need to do to improve the soil? We're planning the following:

Put some pavers
Backyard to be filled with mostly grass
The perimeter of the house to have a border of rocks

Any suggestions are welcome and appreciated. Thank you!

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JacobZ

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community, @louiselily. It is wonderful to have you with us.

Do you have any photos that you can share with us? It would be tough to give you specific guidance without seeing the space. Let me know if you need a hand uploading photos, I am happy to help if required.

At this stage, I'd start by putting together a simple plan on paper showing where you'd like the lawn, paving, garden beds and rock borders to go. This guide on how to design a landscaping plan should help.

The uneven, muddy soil will need to be addressed before installing lawn or paving. If the existing soil is particularly poor or heavily compacted, you may need to remove some of it and bring in suitable materials for the lawn and paved areas rather than simply building over the top. This can be done manually, but it takes a whole lot of work, so you might consider using an earthmoving contractor for this portion of the job. They would likely use a skid steer or similar earthmoving machine.

It would also be worth keeping the existing fall away from the house, so water continues to drain in the right direction. If there are any trouble areas where water pools or soil sits sodden for extended periods of time, they would also need to be addressed.

Allow me to tag some helpful members to see if they have ideas to add - @R4addZ, @Noelle, @OurPretty_LittleHome and @Dave-1.

Jacob

Dave-1

Good Evening @louiselily

:) A blank canvas! Oh yeah :) You will pick up some nice ideas in here for sure. A few photos will make a big difference to what we can come up with, Pics such as -

Whole backyard (from both ways)
Problem spots (wettest areas/clay areas)
Pics showing fence heights, edges that you have.
Where taps are, any drainage pits/sewage.

Pretty much any of the hard objects (taps, concrete paths, shaded areas, trees, clotheslines) all come into play as you work out your yard. Start small, something that you want (tree, fruit tree, swing set) and make that section ready. dont worry about the rest other then getting it mud free for your doggo. Once you have your first hard object your mind will start seeing other things you like/want. Bit by bit your yard will stretch from the first thing, either by a path, stepping stones or a mulched area even.

Will see what I can come up with once we have some pics :)

Dave

R4addZ

Hi @louiselily

I'm with Dave and Jacob on this. We can advise but need to know what we are advising on.

louiselily

this is the left side of the house where we were thinking of adding some stones and pavers

this is the continuation of the left side. We were hoping to put a garden shed in this area

This is the other view from the left side. We had to put some stuff in the middle to limit our dog’s movements for now 😅

This is the right corner. We’re thinking of putting the clothesline here

This is the right side of the house, we just want to plant grass here.

Thank you for all your responses. Please see photos above. Appreciate your comments and feedback!

JacobZ

Thanks for adding the photos, @louiselily. They make it much easier to see what you’re working with.

For the side where you’re planning the pavers and stones, I’d start by getting the levels and base preparation right before bringing in any decorative materials. These guides should be helpful:

The same applies to the lawn areas. You’ll want to remove debris, loosen and level the existing soil and, if necessary, bring in suitable lawn soil or turf underlay before laying your turf. This guide runs through the process: How to lay turf.

One particularly important consideration before adding soil, turf, paving or stones around a new home is the finished height against the house. You don’t want to build the ground level up too high and bridge the damp-proof course or weep holes.

The NCC generally requires the damp-proof course in masonry to remain at least 150mm above adjacent ground, or 75mm above adjacent paved, concreted or landscaped surfaces where those surfaces slope away from the wall. So, you'll want to identify the location of your damp-proof course and then work around the height limitations that it sets.

You also need to maintain drainage away from the house. For a slab-on-ground home, the NCC generally requires the finished ground to fall away from the building by at least 50mm over the first metre in most situations. It looks like this is the case in most areas, but it is definitely something to consider when planning.

Before anything, I’d identify the damp-proof course and weep holes around the house and use those as an important reference point. From there, you can work out how much material can safely be added while still maintaining the required clearances and fall away from the building.

I'd also encourage you to sit down with a pen and paper and sketch things out. Having a clear picture of the area, including the measurements will help you to plan things out and have a realistic idea of how much material needs to move or be added. Having just helped a mate of mine landscape his new build home, I can tell you that it is easy to underestimate how much material is required. Having a good plan can help to set reasonable expectations around what is required.

Hopefully this helps. Please let me know if there are any specific questions around any aspects of your landscaping that you'd like to discuss.

Jacob

Dave-1

Good Afternoon @louiselily

:) Thank you for the photos, it makes it a lot easier to picture some ideas.

Will start as your photos started -

Side pathway, I really like the idea of square stepping stones with white pebbles down here. Mostly because it wont recieve a lot of light. I would put some weed mat underneath the stones and pebbles for sure. I woudl also factor in a slow slop towards the rear of the yard.
That raised stormwater point in the corner of the yard shows approximatly where the soil/grass level should be. A shed would be good but I would keep that grill outside the shed even to the point of getting it professionally moved if needed. I would also consider lowering it 30-50mm to make sure its the low point and the water drains to it instead pooling around the area.
Cleaning up debris as @JacobZ has said would be my first step overall. It makes it a lot easier in the long run, so all builders rubble/rocks to go and not as fill into that dip :) You will thank yourself down the track if you ever need to dig (I have dug up so much "fill" over the years its not funny and I curse the lazy builders that did it even tho back then it was normal practice)
Your last pic, I like the idea of grass only with maybe some low width trees planted around 500mm from the fence to make it softer. I like liquid ambers as they shed their leaves and are easy to prune and keep to a size you want. I would not let your trees get higher than twice your fence height as then you can run into issues. I top my trees every 2 years to keep them in check.

Some rough soil to fill that hole and then some topsoil to bed the grass in @JacobZ has put in that link. Before you fill in the hole maybe consider power you may want to go to your shed mfor lighting or working outside (to be done by a sparky for sure)

Oh, your taps near your temp fence for your doggo. Keep in mind maybe soem garden beds/paved areas that you may have potted plants could be done in this area. Also maybe a little picket fence in place of your temp fence with a gate. Just so you can have zones for your doggo to play in or kids to play/protect garden beds.

Dave

EricL

Hello @louiselily

Here are some landscaping ideas I rendered in AI to give you an idea of what can be put into your garden. In the last photo, I suggest placing your shed at the very end so that it is out of sight. I also recommend paving the area instead of putting grass to save you all that lawn mowing and prevent your pup from dragging all that mud and soil into the house. But I'll leave that decison up to you.

If you have any other questions we can help with, please let us know.

Eric

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