How to landscape new home backyard?

[nagumuthu]

Hi Bro,

Backyard Dimensions: 15m (width) x 4m (length)
Plan: Artificial turf lawn with 1m-wide garden beds along all three sides.

We’re currently building our home, and our neighbours are also under construction and planning to close off the fence soon. This raises a question about the best approach for backyard filling, leveling, and landscaping.

There will be 0.9m of space on each side of the house for access to the backyard. Is it feasible to complete the backyard work—such as filling, leveling, and installing turf and garden beds—after the house is built, given only 0.9m side access?

Alternatively, if we fill and level the backyard now while there’s easier access from the rear, is there a risk that construction activities could damage or disturb the finished work?

Are we allowed to complete the work ourselves, or do we need to comply with any council regulations? From pricing perspective, how much budget should be reserved for above job?

Please share your thoughts on this.

Kind regards
MM

[JacobZ · Accepted solution]

Hi @nagumuthu,

Let's start with your concern about access: having 0.9 metres of space on each side of the house does provide some access to the backyard, but it’s quite limited. While it’s technically possible to complete backyard work like filling, levelling, and installing artificial turf after the house is built, the narrow access can make it significantly more challenging. Equipment such as mini-diggers or narrow access machinery can just fit through that width, but transporting materials in and out will be more labour-intensive and costly due to the constrained space. You may find yourself relying on wheelbarrows and manual labour where small machinery would otherwise be used. 

Construction activities pose a real risk to any finished landscaping. Materials, tradespeople and things like scaffolding can damage newly laid turf, shift filled ground, or compact soil unevenly. There’s also the risk of drainage being altered during the remaining build process, which could create water pooling or erosion in newly levelled areas. 

While it would probably be best to leave the actual installation of things until after the work on your house is complete, it might be worthwhile having materials delivered and moved to the backyard while access is still good and machinery can be used. This would need to be coordinated with your builder, but it would make things easier down the line.

Most councils do allow homeowners to complete general landscaping such as laying turf, building garden beds, or planting. Exceptions arise if you're planning significant earthworks, altering drainage, or building retaining walls over 600mm high. It’s always smart to check your local council regulations or review your building approval documents to ensure you're not overlooking any site-specific requirements. Also, don't forget to use a service like Dial Before You Dig to avoid any issues with underground services, especially if you're planning any excavation.

As for budgeting, it is extremely difficult to say without knowing all the variables, but I would probably be budgeting somewhere in the region of eight to ten thousand.

In summary, it’s feasible to do the landscaping after the build, but it will likely be more expensive and time-consuming due to limited access. If you can take advantage of the current open access to at least move materials in, that would be a smart move. Just hold off on installing anything permanent until construction is complete and ensure you consult with your builder to ensure it is not going to get in their way.

Allow me to tag @Nailbag, @Dave-1 and @JoeAzza for their thoughts.

Jacob

[Dave-1]

Afternoon @nagumuthu 

I would also be stockpiling material, maybe roughing out the area but knowing that construction could disturb fine work. @JacobZ's list is a good one, something I would suggest to pin to the wall and go through as you bring in materials. 900mm of space is pretty narrow to bring in large quantities of stuff but its still doable. My side path would be 1200mm ish wide and that is good, but only one side has access for now. 

Working out an estimation, pick a number Way to many things to guestimate, not sure of what you are thinking of, material, planst, structures. Id suggest to work out indervidulaly and then add them all up.

Dave

[nagumuthu]

Hi @JacobZ

Thanks so much for your detailed advice—really appreciate the practical tips and the perspective from your side.

Thanks also for the heads-up about checking local council regulations before starting the work and for flagging the potential issues with drainage and underground services. The budget estimate is very helpful too.

Thanks again for your help and for tagging in the other tradies.

Kind regards
MM

[nagumuthu]

Hi @Dave-1 

Thanks for your input and for sharing your own experience with side access widths—hearing that your 1.2m access has been workable is reassuring, even though mine will only be 0.9m. I agree delaying the finer work makes the most sense given the space and risk of construction disturbance, considering stock piling materials in advance.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts.

Kind regards
MM

[nagumuthu]

Hi @Dave-1 @JacobZ 

For cost estimation purposes:

Could you please recommend a suitable width and height for the garden bed (e.g., 400mm, 600mm, etc.) based on a backyard size of 15m (width) by 4.5m (length).

The preferred garden bed layout is a C-shape design (rotated 90 degrees) when viewed from the alfresco area.

Which soil type is best recommended for garden bed (veggies, fruit trees and flowers)?

Which soil is to be used for Buffalo grass (if we prefer this in backyard).

Which timber is suitable for garden bed?

Any other material cost to be accounted for this project estimation?

Thanks for your kind assistance.

Kind regards
M.Muthu.

[Dave-1]

Good afternoon @nagumuthu 

I prefer a 600-800mm width garden bed, It depends on you, go outside with a container and kneel down and try and scoop something from the far end of it. That is the limitation of your distance.

With the soil, it can change depending on what you are wanting to grow in the garden beds, different veggies like different soil and definently fruit trees can have their own characteristics. I would think about what you want and then have a look at the requirements of particular plants, maybe try and match similar types in the same garden bed to make it easier. 

I have grown potatoes in several garden beds, I have rotated the same garden beds but they seem to do best in the bed that recieves the most sun (its at the rear of teh house and dosnt get a lot of sun, sandwiched between trees and house area) These are things I would factor in when looking at your plants. Maybe start with flowers and mix in a few veggies you know you will use? 

It comes down to your choice of what you want to grow.

Dave

[nagumuthu]

Hi @Dave-1 

Thanks for the quick response.

Does the height of the garden bed to be 400mm (or) 600mm. Does Trees require more soil for its roots leading to more height of the bed? The vice versa for veggies and flowers.

One more thing is I appreciate your advice for timbers - garden bed. There are many timbers available and wondering on the correct choice.

Thanks
Muthu.

[Dave-1]

Good Afternoon @nagumuthu 

Lets grab that container from earlier. Leave it on the ground and then reach over to inside to imaginarily dig something or pull weeds out, pretty quick you back will ache, A desk is at around the 750-800mm height, so thats a little tall for a raised garden bed, 400mm would also make me ache over a short period of time. If you play around with different heights you are happy with you will end up with something that suits you. Tho 600mm ish sounds like a good level from me stepping through known heights of objects. I have used chopped up small branches and other tree debris in the base of beds as fill, you still need a resonable amount of soil (think 200mm-300mm) for things to grow and "stretch their legs"

The timber edge of a riased garden bed, mmmm Lets step through my thoughts on this.

First up 200 x 50mm 2.4m Sleeper H4 Treated Pine Sienna MicroPro - 2.4m I have used something like this for my single height garden bed edging and it made it look really nice, made it easy to turn the soil, weed and pick the veggies. You can have multiple rows to add height. More height, more soil/fill needed tho.

Over the years timber will break down and rot, So this is where I am unsure if a raised garden bed is a good idea with resources, If you have a garden bed that you edged with a pave path, does it really need an edge? I laid my spare pavers between the garden beds and reused the timber edges from someone getting rid of theirs. I really didnt need the timber, just mulch, compost and maintence. My next garden bed will be a paved path with turned soil in the middle. Less worry about the bed drying out, less $$$ spent in setting it up. yes I will have to bend but figure thats a small price to pay.

Dave

[EricL]

Hello @nagumuthu 

It's great that you've received excellent advice from @Dave-1. I agree with his recommendation of the 200 x 50mm 2.4m Sleeper H4 Treated Pine Sienna MicroPro - 2.4m. It's perfect for raised vegetable gardens. I suggest having a look at this guide for soil - How to choose the right soil for your plants and How to determine soil health by @Noelle. As for lawn preparation, I suggest this guide - How To Lay Turf. 

Here is a link for ideas and inspiration - Top 10 most popular raised garden beds 

Here is one more guide that I think you'll find handy - How to build a raised garden bed by @Adam_W. I propose drawing up a plan on paper so that you can see how many sleepers you'll be using. Once you have a plan in place you'll be able to quantify the materials that you need. 

If you need further assistance, please let us know.

Eric