Hi everyone,
Would like to change the front yard of my house.
Looking for any ideas that would cost up to $2,000 as a budget.
Currently it's only mulch but it spills onto the driveway and sidewalk; besides, I'm not fond of mulch nor grass.
What can I do? Is decorative concrete a good option?
It's on a slight slope so it may go down to the sidewalk by itself if I dont put a fence.
In Vic you have to have a certain percentage of your land be made of a permeable surface, i.e. not concrete. The percentage depends on your total land size and where you live. If you have a large enough backyard it shouldn’t be an issue but if your front yard is a fair proportion of your land, concreting the whole thing may not be allowed.
A friend of mine recently paved their front yard and council have forced them to rip it up.
There's a lot without concrete at the back, so it would be ok.
Would it look good or get appeal though if in the future I wanted to sell?
In Australia I haven't seen many houses with concrete at the front.
Little pebbles that you can rake into patterns around small drought resistant plants might help you relax. Like the Japanese thing to relax and order your mind, raking the lines in the sand.
Along the pebble/gravel theme you should check out desert gardens. Gravel base with couple big rocks for statement pieces and then you can add a bit of colour with a couple succulents or cacti. Drought and frost resistant and super low maintenance. Looks a lot nicer than just dumping mulch which needs to be replaced over time anyway.
I love those giant succulents. However, to fill this area with them might be expensive. Are giant cacti expensive too? I'd love one outside the window so nobody is tempted to lurk in, hahaha.
Do you mean pebbles in cement or loose pebbles?
What would be a good way to edge the pebbles from spilling onto sidewalk? Its a bit of a slope and corner block.
Would I have to be refilling pebbles to avoid weeds growth?
Edible garden - get a return on your investment.
or native garden very low water maintenance and looks great and will encourage you to do more bushwalks.
I have a veggie garden at the back. I don't think it would survive at the front. I'm in a corner so get lots of traffic from people walking dogs which sometimes just run onto the yard.
Are there native plants that don't look like weeds? Most I've seen look like weeds.
Are there native plants that don't look like weeds? Most I've seen look like weeds.
Oh my.
Native plants look like weeds, buy concreting the entire front of your house looks good?
In other countries it's pretty standard to have concrete front yards, they look good and it's low maintenance; however, that doesn't seem to be popular here. Therefore, asking for options.
I second the native plants suggestion. Look for a native nursery in your suburb - there are so many varieties, most of which will attract birds to your garden, and they're a lot more hardy than imported species and are relatively drought resistant once they're established. Look for things like Grevillea Robyn Gordon; they flower for a long time and don't grow too tall. And they look 1000 times better than concrete, which is a heat sink. Plants will actually help keep your house cooler. I see you're in Melbourne and looking at the brickwork your house looks relatively new. From what I've seen of new Melbourne houses in the suburbs, a lot of them don't have decent eaves. Plants will help shade your windows in summer, too, if that's the case.
Don't concrete it. It will make your house hotter and louder. It's called an Italian front yard, and you'll spend your time hosing it clean.
That's right, it would get very dusty and would need regular cleaning. Thanks
Astroturf
You need more plants. You can purchase tubestocks size to keep costs low and purchase many plants.
How long have you been mulching for? That soil will be good and easy to dig. You can get groundcover plants that will cover the whole section and won't need any maintenance after it's mature. I also suggest not using a mulch that is dyed.
Once the groundcover have matured and cover the whole area. You won't need mulch anymore & ko more spilling onto driveway.
It was changed 3 years ago, that was a 3 year old picture.
That tubestock idea is great. I had never heard of it.
However, I want to get rid of the mulch completely. I just read that is not good to have so close to the house.
Have a look at conifer ground covers. Low growing, hardy once mature and spreads a bit. A few low growing native shrub & tress in the middle will balance it out. Happy to send some links if you need it.
People probably say don't put mulch near your house because it may attract termites. If you can keep on top of the weeds until the plants spread. Don't worry about getting new mulch.
Ground cover is an excellent idea. I had never heard of it, had to Google it.
What do you think of Hens-and-Chicks for ground cover?
Should I remove old mulch, get gravel and then can plant ground cover on top? Or how should I start?
How long would it take to grow a square meter?
Previous owners also placed plastic weed mat at the bottom but it's broken in some parts.
Links would be great.
Thanks!
More plants. We replaced mulch with gravel as the wind kept blowing the mulch away. Has worked well. Keep the weeds at bay, occasionally use the garden blower to shift leaf matter onto the adjacent lawn and then mow it to pick up the leaves
How do you keep the grovel from going onto the sidewalk?
Also, how can I replace mulch to gravel?
Do we just sweep it off or is it more of a process and would need to hire a landscaper? I have no idea about these things.
You’d probably need to put some sort of border in to stop your mulch or gravel moving. Gravel is a bit better because it is heavier but if you have a sloped area will still migrate down hill a bit.
We used river gravel which is smooth, rounded rocks. Scraped some of the existing mulch away and placed it elsewhere, covered with gravel. Easy, but a fair bit of hard Hakka with a wheelbarrow and shovel.
That river gravel is pretty. Thanks for the advice!
Look for some low maintenance ground cover. Succulents are good, the type that outgrow and tramp out all the weeds (even Invasive) . Then maybe plant a small tree or 2
The ground cover doesn't need to be expensive but will take time to propagate thick enough to look good. Start small and if it's invasive enough you'll have a nice thick ground cover soon
I love succulents. Are there any cons to ground cover? How long would ut take to extend a couple of meters?
So, once the plants take over all the ground the weeds won't grow there?
I'm looking at Hens-and-Chicks.
Thanks!
Weeds will still find a way, but a good covering of mulch and some decent dgroundcover plants will reduce the amount of weeds to make it easy to remove them. 5mins walk around and pull them out every now and then should be enough.
Do you think that the ground cover plants may attract more insects?
Currently I apply the professional insect killer diy and have no issues.
Generous mulch and/or woodchips with various spaced native shrubs (grevillias, bottle brushes, melaleucas) that are suited to your area. Maybe small eucalypts if area is big enough. Get hold of a list of native plants that are suited to your area. Weeds that grow in the areas between the plants -take them out with a dose of glyphosate. However observe the label restrictions.
2k? costco have some nice fountains delivered for 800, then add another $200 for a solar pump
Really? Around what size? That sounds cheap.
Online (other shop) I was only able to find the small ones for the birds. Are they on their website or catalogue to see before getting a membership?
do you like Yuccas? where are you located?
I have a lot of succulents and also putting in some natives and these are low maintenace - visiting our local botantical gardens they are sell cheap natives. I have mulch. Its a pain to top it up but good for the plants & stops weeds & soil erosion. Watching some of better homes & gardens series gives good ideas if you have the time. My neighbour put in small rocks instead of mulch but that is expensive at the start but less work later than mulch but looks good too. Look around at houses in your area and get ideas and what you like as its a personal thing too.
Concrete works but you may need to think about drainage.