Riverstone front garden makeover

MazMaz

Ropes of buffalo grass strangled the front yard, and a sad grey brushwood fence. UGLY! And MESSY. I wanted to create a clean area outside the front door that was low maintenance with a nod to my childhood (a rockery?), a riverstone garden to tie in with the nearby beach, and a hidden water feature. A secret ‘room’ of sorts, measuring 2.5m wide by 10.5m long from the side entry gate enticing you down a sloping block to the front fence.

Buffalo grass everywhere gets traipsed into the house

Materials

treated pine sleepers
galvanised flat brackets
galvanised L brackets
galvanised screws
300mm square pavers x77
small rectangular pavers x 24
Tuscan Path snow white quartz stones (20mm-25mm) x 3 bags
landscaping Sand x 10 bags
Saxon black weed mat x 2 rolls
weed mat pegs x 3 packets of 20
Tuscan Path natural stone mix (20-80mm) x 26 bags
Tuscan Path Eco-edging x1 roll
Edging pegs x15
Tuscan Path snow white marble stones
Gardenglo 400lm (4-pack) solar spotlights
Northcote Pottery ceramic bird bath
Northcote Pottery Daybeak water feature

Tools

spirit level,
maillot,
hammer,
drill,
phillips head screw driver,
spade,
tape measure,
trowel,
hand saw,
Stanley knife,
bucket
dustpan and brush

Steps

Step 1

I dug out the muddy buffalo grass near the front door and created a narrow garden bed running 4m along the boundary fence. This was constructed with a treated pine timber and held together with galvanised brackets. This was deliberately just 40cm deep, to ensure the remaining area could accommodate exactly seven pavers in width.

I planted this with Lomandra lime tuff, as their spiky evergreen leaves would soften the edge.

narrow garden bed along fenceLomandra border along fence

Step 2

I levelled the soil abutting the narrow garden bed by hand, adding landscaping sand, which I compacted by hand using a malliot and an off-cut of timber. I then lay 300mm square sandy-coloured pavers in an off-set grid seven pavers wide by 11 pavers long with a 10mm gap between each. This gap I filled with landscaping sand and compounded it to hold the pavers in place and then inlay quartz pebbles between each paver to emphasise the formality of the grid. Each alternate row features three smaller rectangular pavers (of the same colour) set perpendicular at the end. This solid surface provides a solid, grass-free area 2.5m wide x 4m long immediately outside the front door where kids can dump surfboards and beach toys.

finished paving just inside entry gatethe paving starts

Step 3

at the end of the paving section, which ends at the corner of the house, I built another narrow garden bed - but this one ran 2.5m across the garden. I used the same treated pine timber as before, to create a secure frame that would ensure the pavers would not move. I used the same galvanised brackets to hold the frame in place. In this narrow garden bed, just 30cms deep, I planted asparagus ferns as I love the way they bounce comically in a breeze, violets and daffodils to surprise me in spring.

Daffodils and asparagus ferns divide pavers from rockerymetal brackets rock as they can be buried to hide the skeleton of your creationYou can never have too many screws to keep everything in place

Step 4

The land slopes here and rather than try to level it, I disguised it with a rockery. Using volcanic rocks being discarded by a neighbour, I built a semi-circular rockery, measuring 1.2m deep at the top of the arc, planted with various cacti. The red rocks contrast with the green of the cacti. This area is deliberately round and unstructured to contrast with the formality of the pavers.

volcanic rocks used to form a rockery

Step 5

From the rockery down to the front fence, I had to get rid of 6.5m of buffalo grass, and wanted to install a stone garden that emulates a riverbed. After removing ALL of the buffalo grass by hand with a small spade (phew!), I installed TWO layers of Saxon black weed mat, held in place with black pins. On top of this, I lay 26 bags of Tuscan Path natural stones mix 20-80mm. To break up the stones and create height, I created three small garden beds - with curved edges - to house green Cordylines. I used black Tuscan Path rubber Eco-Edging to create the curves. It was easy to manipulate into shape and cut to length with a stanley knife. This product can also be buried to get the desired height of your border and held in place with black edging pegs. The Cordyline australia plants were cut-offs from existing plants that were in the back yard. They love the sandy soil on the Mornington Peninsula and require little attention.

So many stones required to hide the black weed mat.Plastic weed mat disintegrated in the UV so I replaced with Saxon - TWO layers!

Step 6

A glazed ceramic Northcote Pottery bird bath sits amongst the river stones between the rockery and one of the Cordyline beds. It sits on a single concrete paver to keep it level. I deliberately chose a rust color to blend with the volcanic rocks. On the other side of this Cordyline garden bed is the highlight (in my opinion) - a water feature; ‘Daybreak’ by Northcote Pottery. It is a large circle in rusted iron that is hidden when you enter the garden. You can hear the water and this draws you down to see where it is coming from. It was remarkably easy to install, the hardest past being to level two concrete pavers as its base. It took forever but was worth spending the time to get it right. The water falls from a centre cut out in the top of the arc, down in a curtain formation. There is LED lighting underneath the top curve that appears to dance at night as the water moves.

water feature hiding behind Cordylineconcrete pavers levelled and waiting for water feature

Step 7

To break up the monotony of the river stones, I used six bags of Tuscan Path snow white marble stones - which have a nice matt finish - in a ‘swoosh’ from the base of the water feature, curving towards you with a whimsical curl that ends at the edge. These stones are set on a base on landscaping sand. They are held in place merely by the other river pebbles.

Behind the water feature, I planted four climbing figs that will grow up the brushwood fence, creating a dark green background. The cable from the water pump (included with the water feature) is buried under the river stones to an outdoor power point on the nearest corner of the house.

a white swoosh of marble draws your eye to the water feature

Step 8

The riverbed of stones is boarded down the left side - from the succulent rockery 5m to the front fence - by some large rocks donated by a friend who lives nearby. I dug up the sandy soil and buried the rocks sideways, leaving just a third showing. (This took hours and they are REALLY heavy). I am happy with the result as it creates a straight line bordering the remaining buffalo grass. It will also keep the grass out, and makes it easier to mow and whipper snip the edge. It also draws your eye down to the far front fence. I planted a few succulents along these rocks to soften the look over time.

Large rocks set in the soil form a boundary for the river stones

Step 9

The final touch was to install four Gardenglo 400lm solar powered LED spotlights. Three highlight each Cordyline from underneath and the fourth lights the water feature from behind. These lights go on automatically every night so don’t need to be turned on and off. They were super quick to install.

water feature at nightsolar power kit with four up lights

Step 10

This garden was planned on a scrap piece of paper and evolved during the building. Many decisions were made with my feet up viewing it from my favourite chair. What began as a project to prevent grass from being traipsed into the house grew into a labour of love, resulting in a tranquil and low maintenance garden that will improve with age.

Not so technical with the plansHow will it look from my favourite chair?

Jason

Well done @MazMaz. What a great project for your first shared with the Bunnings Workshop community.

I love how you included your paper sketch plan. We often get members posting about garden makeovers and they are a little overwhelmed and don't know where to start. Having a plan is the key, and it doesn't need to be elaborate to ensure a great result - as you have well shown.

Thanks again for sharing, and welcome to the community. We look forward to seeing what you tackle next.

Jason

Dave-1

Good afternoon @MazMaz

Lost for words in your thought process Really love the way you have described what you wanted and then went and actually built and laid out the whole area. From the Tuscan pavers (brilliant idea) to the dry river bed

The thing that got me most was your sketch! You have actually ended up with your area matching the sketch! Beautiful. Makes me feel like I need to revisit my front and back yard for that matter!

Perfect work.

Dave