A bit of thread necro, but I thought it would be fun to show before and after. 6 years after that is. I would call this the completion of our…

My original objective was twofold (i) better negotiating position (ii) net saving overall in terms of site cost, allowances and provisional amounts.
Worst case scenario would be paying for engineering…

Might be a silly question. Would it be a good idea to do your own soil test, engineer report, scrape and build retaining wall prior to engaging a volume builder?…

What are the common pitfalls do you see with prefab builds?
Have the prefab industry reached critical mass yet to get the kind of economies of scale that volume builders can…

Hi All,
Thinking of moving and building a new house again. Not keen on the standard designs offered by the volume builders. I do, however, like the looks of the design…

I was at bunnings earlier today and found another option: a Dwarf Olive variety called Bambalina (http://www.plantmark.com.au/olea-bambalina-25cm).
Pros: Right size, mature to 2.5m max. Dense foliage -…

That's a great idea. The pots needs to be big and strong. I've read stories of ficus roots escaping it's confine.
There's also the option of partially burying the pot. But…

Haha. Yes that's the look. The standard choice seems to be Ficus, Bay Tree or Hornbeam.
The other week I saw a 20 year old Ficus Hilli that has been kept…

I almost decided on Viburnum last week. Looking at samples at nurseries, a lot of them start to split into 2-3 main branches just above soil level. Even younger plants…

Ok, here's my shortlist thus far for stilted/pleached hedge.
Lilly Pilly (Medium Varieties)
Pros: Native. Fast growing. Dense hedge.
Cons: Psyllid. Some have red foliage.
Viburnum Odoritisimum
Pros: Correct height/size. Dense hedge. Nice foliage.
Cons:…

We had really heavy clay in our place at the start of the journey. It was so hard, we needed a jackhammer. I think I asked a similar question in…

What about dwarf fruit trees? Dwarf apple, pears and citrus seems to grow to 2-3m. They won't have the dense uniform foliage like Ficus or Bay Tree, but they offer…

Where do you normally source your plants in Melbourne? Not sure about Tutu Guru (Chris) and his business practices, some really scary customer feedback online.
Yes, that's the look I'm after.…

I've looked at Allyn's Magic lilly pillys. Don't quite like the redish colour of the new growth.
Tom's thumb looks interesting. Quick google shows that even bunnings sells them for about…

Hi All,
After years of waiting, we're finally ready to plant this year. We've done our hard landscaping and soil prep in a previous thread http://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=59201.
There's a couple of plant selections…

Recently I laid Sapphire Buffalo in Melbourne with Fu's soil prep, much to my landscaper's bemusement. Combined with mowing it high over summer, my turf doesn't seem to be getting…

Our granite pavers are of varying sizes. Stepping stones, for example, are 1000x250mm. These were cut to specified dimensions to minimise waste and installation efforts.
Cost-wise the standard 20mm ones…

Thanks for the kind words everyone.
We had 100mm of reinforced concrete under every paver, including stepping stones. Underneath the concrete is around 75mm of compacted roadbase. Some say we're over…

Update:
Hard landscaping is almost complete. Vertical surfaces are now rendered. No plants though, the only soft landscaping completed are the small turf area at the rear.
There's still a lot of…

There's been a bit of a delay with the pavers, so work has effectively halted in the past 3 weeks.
The good news is our granite pavers finally arrived this…

The hinged middle section uses one of those DIY modular frames.

Week 3 Progress
- Completed all footings.
- Retaining walls raised, waterproofing done.
-Drainage works completed.
- Side gate assembled.
- Garden edging installed.
Next steps are rendering of vertical surfaces, soil prep for turf,…

Thanks! It would be great to know if there are wholesalers nearby that we can contact. I do however frequently go to the latrobe uni sunday market and the thomastown…

Designed to survive another melbourne earthquake.

Hi All,
After several years of planning and budgeting, we've finally commenced landscaping work. This is our first major landscaping effort, so we look forward to any comments and feedback. Unfortunately…

Thanks Fu! The WA plant list is absolutely amazing. I like the way that you can tailor to geographic locations throughout the state. Budget will only allow us to do…

This might be an issue actually, our designer only did high level technical drawings. Our hard landscaping elements are quite simple, but it's still a risk.
In the past 12 months…

Yep, will do a some drive-by to check out previous work. Not sure if we can door knock to speak with the owners?
Contract price is around the 40k mark.

Anyone? Surely there must be lots of valuable experience / lessons learned in this forum.

Hi All,
We're looking to commence landscaping our property, looking for word of wisdom and experiences you can share.
We have engaged a designer to build a plan for both hard landscaping…