How we've turned this patch of mud ...
BEFORE :
... Into our a winter/chill out spot, where we can relax and enjoy some roasted marshmallows and cocktails around the fire with family and friends 💛
Of course, it wasn't an overnight process but if you're planning on doing your front landscaping yourselves, here are some of the key points to keep in mind ...
AFTER:
1. Draw a sketch
Never under-estimate the power of a good little sketch. I, for one, am definitely the type of person that needs to always visualise things so a little drawing can go a long way for me. It doesn't need to look perfect, it just needs to be roughly in proportion with the space.
After having drawn about 8 different sketches, this is the final one my husband and I ended up agreeing on without it turning into a divorce 😅
Keep in mind that things may not go as planned too so you might need to improvise as you go
2. Get approval before you dig
Always, always... always check with your local council before doing anything. Don't ever assume that because someone was able to do it that you should be able to do it as well. Every council has their own regulations and rules so always double check whether you're allowed to do it before starting anything.
3. Plan your Lighting ahead
If you're planning on having lights that require wiring,
better to even do this before you get your driveway done if possible. You'd be surprised how hard it can be to make it work after a slab is laid.
We had to find a way for the cable to run to the house without it looking too ugly and this is the best solution we've come up with .
We had our electrician run it up over the pathway and up the back of one of the piers.
We're planning to paint the conduit in the same colour of our render to make it look even less obvious but in summary, try to avoid this if you can ☺️
4. Assess the slope of the space
One of the things we went back and forth on, was deciding on whether to keep the slope as it was or not.
Of course, leaving your soil as it is would mean: Less work, less digging, less costs plus less ' a lot of other things' but what kept us going back on it was "Will it look good? Will it be practical?"
Some landscapes look fantastic with a slope but in our case, we wanted to use the frontyard as a second yard/play area for our son so it needed to be as flat as possible. But always make sure to leave a little slope and so it goes towards your drains.
- We did have a small slope compared to others, but it was still a good 500mm high so to solve this problem, we've added an extra step to our front porch and a retaining wall next to it and we have done a walkway going towards the side of the house in the same height as the added porch step
- We also got a plumber to come in and add some extra drainage for us prior to starting our artificial grass installation. Make sure to get a copy of the plumbing plan from your builder before digging for the excavator. Some of them may even refuse to do any work on your yard if you don't have these plans so be prepared.
5. Once you start.. take your time and try to get it right
One of the worse things we can do as DIY'ers is rush too much and end up spending more money than anticipated
Although professionals also make mistakes, they have their ways to cut corners and know how to still save money on their errors
I'll be the first one to raise my hand and say that we've made a few mistakes while we were working so don't panic you're not alone but just take your time, work it out and soon you'll be able to sit back and relax while thinking "We did this!" and that's one of the best feelings you could ever have 🥰
DETAILS ON GRASS INSTALLATION IN THE NEXT POST 💕...
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