With the front courtyard makeover complete, we moved onto the last major area of renovations in Mentone, namely the backyard. When we moved in three years or so ago, this area consisted of garden beds and some grass but it gradually become overgrown and unused while we renovated inside. We removed the grass long ago and had gradually depleted the garden beds by giving the good plants away and losing some due to the drought. In preparation for the makeover here, mid-April saw us removing most of the remaining plants, volcanic rock garden edging and some concrete borders so that we could work on a design without hindrance from the clutter.
We already had a few ideas as to the elements we wanted in this area, based on current trends and what we'd seen working well in other properties recently. Key elements would be a water feature of some sort, some hard landscaping and also some softer landscaping such as decking. We also wanted to make a feature of the enormous bird of paradise plant along the back fence. The main area of the backyard is unfortunately not square, thanks to a couple of angled boundary fences so this further added to the planning problems. After a couple of weekends, we had cobbled together what looked like a workable plan to incorporate a pond, a large decked area and some new garden beds, plus an area to be given over to the spa pool Lee always wanted! With the plan in place, the real work began towards the end of April...
We retained the existing garden bed along the back wall of the house so, after painting the eaves on that side, we planted out this bed with hardy Kangaroo Paws (from Gardenworld), completing the job with weed matting and some of the leftover sandstone river pebbles from the courtyard renovation job.
The next job was to establish a level for the new backyard based on some existing fixed elements, such as concrete edges and the end of the paved area from the courtyard renovations. As it turned out, we really needed to raise up from the courtyard and side paved area into the backyard so we invested in a few Boral Heathstone retaining wall blocks and caps, sourced from Paveworld in Mordialloc. We opted for the charcoal colour and they match well with the pavers, giving us the 100mm or so height gain we needed. Lee and Al added a few more pavers to those already laid along the side of the house to bring the paver line to the right spot for the rise into the backyard. The blocks were laid onto a crushed rock base (with a 15mm gravel backfill for drainage) and this then allowed other nearby areas to be levelled accordingly.
After finalizing the location and size of the pond at the end of May, Lee dug it out and then lined it with pond liner underlay before the 0.8mm PVC pond liner itself could be installed. With this in place, June kicked off with Lee and Al using some of the leftover concrete pavers from the courtyard work to form a path along the edge of the pond, thus holding down the liner on one edge. The other long edge was formed by an existing concrete edge along the garden bed across the back of the house and river pebbles then used to hold that edge in place. A Pondmate PM1000LV (low voltage) pond pump was then placed into the pond before the pond was filled to about 75% capacity using rainwater captured in our under-house bladders. (All pond supplies were sourced via Creative Pumps and their online service was excellent.)
The long weekend for the Queen's birthday public holiday saw Lee starting the installation of the decking. He had already sourced 300mm square hardwood decking tiles from a seller on EBay and these simple click-together tiles went down well, on a compacted 100mm crushed rock base running out from the paving along the pond edge. When the crushed rock ran out, it was a chance to do a few other jobs before taking delivery of another load. Firstly, an old tree fern needed to be removed to make way for a new garden bed - this job sounded simple enough but these trees root so densely that it took many hours of digging and grappling with it before it finally came out (and was donated to a friend). With the tree fern gone, the side boundary fence could be cladded with similar Fernwood reed screening to that used along the side of the house (but at 1800mm height rather than 1500mm, for increased privacy). This job went well and was completed as far as the large bird of paradise plant in readiness for new garden beds to be formed.
A busy weekend over June 21-22 saw us taking delivery of more crushed rock and 50mm river pebbles, from the ever-friendly Kingston Garden Supplies in Mordialloc. After the usual back-breaking shifting job, the remaining decking tiles could be laid onto the expanded crushed rock base and the surrounding garden beds formed. We elected to plant out the beds with drought-tolerant cordylines again, this time in purple colours (from Bunnings) along with another large plant we extracted from a pot as a corner feature. The beds were lined with weed matting and then the river pebbles applied on top. By the end of that tiring weekend, the main area of the backyard was really starting to take shape with the paving, pond, decking and garden beds all essentially completed. The decking tiles worked out very well and were a cost-effective option for covering about ten square metres (for $450).
Before the remainder of the backyard could be worked on, we had to get rid of a lot of accumulated hard rubbish (concrete, rocks, etc.) and some garden waste. After getting quotes on skip hire, we decided to instead use a rubbish removal service as the cost was not much higher and it saved a lot of heavy lifting. Bob Sheehan from Backyard Cleanup did a great job of clearing all the rubbish, which amounted to almost a three tonne truckload. With more area cleared to work on, the remainder of the back boundary fence was cladded with reed cladding to match the other fences, whilst the concrete area in the corner was cleared in readiness for the spa installation to follow. A visit to Lotus Watergardens (Keysborough) saw us acquiring plenty of knowledge about how to stock a pond from the incredibly friendly and informative staff there and we left with a swag of water plants and a bag of ten fish to bring our pond to life. In terms of planting, we added two Showy Marshworts (Nymphoides Spinulosperma, which have leaves like small water lillies) and a large feature Umbrella Grass (Cyperus Alternifolius), plus a sprinkling of duckweed to add some general greenery. We also added a large amount of oxygenating plants to aid wih pond water stability and to help the fish. We chose ten fish, five each of Comets and Shubunkins and they seem happy in their new home! So, by the end of June the main garden area was looking quite finished, with the main landscaping features completed and the pond stocked... so it was time to move on to the spa area (near the back door of the house and near the back of the garage).
Early in July, we placed an order with Al's Carpentery service to build us two large box seats for around the spa. Sourcing the merbau decking timber from Bunnings (at an incredibly low price of $2.85 per metre for 70x19mm decking), Al was quickly on the case and delivered them within a week! The pressure was on to make the spa area ready, so Lee completed painting of the boundary fence in that area and also levelled out the existing concrete base using some leftover crushed rock and sand. After angle-grinding the old washing line off at the ground, the box seats slotted in perfectly and it was then time to install the spa! Lee had sourced this in June via the Grays Online auction site - a four person inflatable spa pool for just 500 bucks! The Lay-Z-Spa unpacked well, the combined heater/pump unit did a sterling job of inflating the main pool and its cover and in no time we had a spa in the backyard! The process of filling the spa with water (which is illegal from the tap of course due to water restrictions from the drought) is now complete, utilizing water from the underhouse bladders (some 900 litres in total).
In terms of remaining work, we're down to relatively small jobs now, including colour washing the existing concrete behind the garage and sealing & grouting the pavers. These jobs will need to wait on some longer spells of dry weather, perhaps in Spring. We're certainly looking forward to enjoying our new backyard in Spring and Summer 2008!