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Needing some ideas on outdoor landscaping

Hi, I'm needing some ideas on front yard landscaping and fencing and possibly how much this would cost if anyone has any ideas at a bare minimum. We currently have heaps of plants and our house is a corner block with 10% of it having a fence. The idea is to get rid of all the plants but just leave a couple of them on the side and to level the front to make it plain and put a fence so we could set up a play area for the kids in the near future. What can be done as diy and are there types of concrete or other material that is softer for the front yard.

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Comments

gippslandhome

Hi @anniethangella

Sounds like an exciting project ahead.

Is it possible to get more details. For example where exactly ii the fence going and can you provide Lm or the distance the fence is going.

Just a thought. Kids live to explore through gardens so I wouldn't be hasty about ripping most of it out.

At the most remove any poisonous or sharp plants like the Agaves I think I see pictured there. Sorry if I spelt that wrong 😁.

I'm not fully sure on what you mean about ground covering that's soft like concrete ECT.

Perhaps you could explain with more details so the community members can assist you better.

But don't give up I'm sure this will turn into a great design

Kind regards Rob 👍

Tassie

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/6174#Comment_6174

Hi Annie,

That's an interesting garden you have there, a strange assortment of trees and plants, most not very child friendly as Rob mentioned.
Firstly I'd recommend pruning what looks to the pine tree overhanging your yard, as it looks like to be creating quite a mess dropping its needles. Whether you ask council as it's their tree, or have a contractor take it back to the property line are your options. Obviously a private tree company would be a faster outcome.
Then I'd remove all the trees and plants apart from your two pencil pines, as not much else in your yard looks too child friendly. Being the size they are, they shouldn't be hard to cut down, and put on a trailer to dispose of at your local council green waste depot.

Next, and something the kids could probably have a bit of fun helping with would be to remove all the rocks out of the yard.
Now you have a fairly blank canvas to do with as you wish.
You could lay some pine sleepers along the front fence line and fill the yard with some soil to level it, then lay grass for the kids to play on (much softer than concrete..). Or lay some kind of synthetic grass if you're not up for upkeep of a lawn. There are some amazing synthetic grass solutions out there at the moment.
As for the fence, that really depends on whether you'd like a DIY option, such as treated pine fence panels, which are available at bunnings and easy enough to build a fence out of yourself and paint. Or whether you'd like to get a fencer in to put up a colour bond type fence or something a little more technical. If you're DIY handy though, I'd recommend putting up a wooden paling fence yourself, as it's not that hard at all and bunnings has everything you need to complete the task relatively easily, at a decent price. And you can take pride in the fact that you built it.

For now though, focus on clearing the yard of everything that you don't want, and then you have a clean slate to work with and we can provide you with more accurate help to achieve your perfect front yard.

Best of luck with the project 🙂

Regards Adrian

gippslandhome

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/65218#Comment_65218

Great comments @Tassie

@anniethangella Adrian has some excellent ideas but I'm sure if you tag @Jason into a conversation he could possibly get you linked up with some of the communities special Gardner's who could give you extra great advice like Adrian has

Kind regards Rob 👍

Jason

Hi @anniethangella,

Welcome to Workshop. Great to see you make your first post and already receive such helpful replies. As @gippslandhome mentioned, it would be useful for you to provide a little more detail about the proposed fence so that members can provide more specific advice.

We are looking forward to seeing how your front yard takes shape.

Please let me know if you ever need help getting the most from the site, or have any feedback about how we can make Workshop even more useful to you.

Jason

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/65218#Comment_65218

Love your work Adrian (@Tassie). Many thanks for joining in the discussion and sharing such fantastic advice. It sounds like you have a lot of knowledge and experience to share with the Workshop community. We look forward to reading more of your posts soon.

A very warm welcome to Workshop. Please feel free to post anytime you need a hand yourself or have something to contribute to a discussion. We have many other members sharing terrific advice and inspiration every day and are sure you will find many like-minded people in the community.

Thanks again,

Jason

anniethangella

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/65218#Comment_65218

Wow! Some great ideas came out of your reply and thank you so much for answering all my questions. To remove some of those plants from the root would require some additional tools I assume. Apart from a trailer and shovel, what else would I need to get rid of all the plants with less effort? Sorry I have zero knowledge of this and hence the questions. Understood the bit about rocks and the idea at the end is to put a fence around the house and thanks again for providing a cost effective option there as well. And will be installating synthetic grass at the end once it's all levelled.

gippslandhome

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/95341#Comment_95341

Just one idea @anniethangella for removing stubborn root systems.

Dig a channel about 300mm deep a(a shovel depth roughly) about 500mm around the plant base. This is just a guide depending on the size of the plant.

Fill with water and leave over night.

You may have to do this twice. But try with a crow bar and shovel.

Another option which I know works really well is to place an advertisement in Gumtree for FREE plants. The catch is they must dig out themselves. Saves alot of time and work and costs you nothing...

Depends on the time frame you have..

Anyway all the best

Kind regards Rob 👍

anniethangella

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/114234#Comment_114234

Thanks so much for your valuable suggestions! Gum tree ad sounds like the perfect thing to do at the moment to make a start!

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