DESIGN 07Forward LookingMinimal
Zero Lawn Courtyard
Full paving with planted pockets, perfect for narrow inner-city frontages.
- Full paving
- Planting pockets
- Screen wall
- Wall lights
Typical build range: $10k – $18k
Design guide
See Your House and Garden
Design Before you build
Landscaping is the permanent part of a yard — levels, drainage, retaining, paving, steps and lighting. Plants can be replaced in a weekend; a badly placed retaining wall is there for thirty years.
Cinematic landscape showcase
Four stunning landscape designs in full width
Our four most striking hardscape driven sites, presented full bleed so you can read every wall, step, surface and light. Use the viewpoint buttons on each banner to switch between the aerial plan, the ground level approach, the view back toward the house and both side boundaries.
TWO STOREY ESTATE WITH MANICURED GARDENS
Modern Formal Estate
GEOMETRIC COURTYARD HARDSCAPE
Bluestone Courtyard Formal
OPULENT COASTAL POOL TERRACES
Clifftop Travertine Resort
TROPICAL RESORT WATER AND TIMBER
Lagoon Palm Grove Villa
The order of work
Six stages, in this sequence
1. Survey Document Levels and Boundaries
Record Boundaries, the floor level of the house, the fall across the block and any easements. Every Decision regarding the Build Process including wall Heights, Step Risers, Drainage falls depend on getting this right from the onset as later problems can arise from non-thorough planning
2. Consider and Incorporate Drainage
Surface water must have somewhere to go before you seal the ground with paving. Run agricultural drain behind every retaining wall and set a 1:100 fall away from the building line. Consider Seasonal Extremities in Winter Rains, Floods and Storms as these events can stress standard approaches
3. Retaining Walls and Changing Levels
Terraces turn an unusable slope into rooms you actually walk out onto. Keep individual walls under one metre where you can, above that engineering and cost climb quickly! Utilize Retaining walls for Planter Boxes and Architectural Lighting. These Stepped Features can really add Character
4. Outdoor Paving Landscapes and Surfaces
Choose surfaces by use, not by look. Sawn Stone or Pavers for Dining, Deck for Lounging, Gravel for Low traffic paths and Architectural Contrasts and Turf only where children or dogs really need it. Rough Pavers are Recommended around Pool areas for their Safety Non-Slip Properties
5. Shade Structures and Service Features
Pergolas and Patios provide Shade during Summer and Winter Seasons to be able to use Pools, BBQ's Outdoor Kitchens and Dining Tables all year round. Consider Electrical Power and Water before the yard is finished. Install Conduit wherever possible for Future Upgrades under finished paving.
6. Ambient Lighting and Mood Setting
The Right Lighting Choices can Really Transform the way a Property Looks and Feels at night. Warm Ambient Lighting especially in Garden Beds and along Paving Lines can set the stage for feature Uplighting and a soft wash on walls or screens. Stay at 2700K Warmth and low brightness
Worked examples
Concepts driven by hardscape decisions
These six concepts show terracing, paving strategy and surface choice doing the heavy lifting.
DESIGN 07Forward Looking
DESIGN 08Forward LookingSloping site
Cascading Terraces
Three sandstone terraces stepping down to the street with planted risers.
- Retaining walls
- Terraced beds
- Stone steps
- Step lighting
Typical build range: $18k – $40k
DESIGN 15Forward LookingHardscape
Driveway Reimagined
Concrete strips with a green centre, permeable joints and lit edges.
- Strip driveway
- Permeable joints
- Green centre
- Edge lighting
Typical build range: $14k – $28k
DESIGN 29Forward LookingBalanced
Deck and Lawn Split
Half timber deck for furniture, half lawn for play, joined by a wide step.
- Timber deck
- Lawn panel
- Wide step
- Border beds
Typical build range: $18k – $34k
DESIGN 31Forward LookingLow water
Desert Modern Yard
Decomposed granite, agaves, a linear fire table and floating concrete steps.
- Granite ground
- Agave planting
- Fire table
- Floating steps
Typical build range: $20k – $40k
DESIGN 34Forward LookingSloping site
Sloping Yard Terraces
Three levels: dining terrace, lawn, and a lookout deck at the high end.
- Retaining walls
- Dining terrace
- Lookout deck
- Step lighting
Typical build range: $40k – $90k
Choosing Your Paving Options and Materials
Paving Surfaces set the Mood, Comfort, Style and Character of any Landscape long before planting arrives. Pick each Material and Texture for the way that part of the garden is actually used. For example Pavers with more rough surface can work well around Pool Areas to help with Non-Slip and Smooth Pavers can work well around BBQ Grill and Wood Fired Pizza Oven floors to make for easy clean up on Preparation of food and Cooking spillages. Keep the Theme, Colors and Textures Consistent for Matching final results.
- Concrete Pavers: Cheapest per Square Metre, Huge Range, Careful can fade in strong sun.
- Bluestone and Granite: Hard Wearing, Luxurious, and cool underfoot, Best around Pools.
- Travertine Tiles: Stays cool, soft look, needs Sealing and is easily Stained by Calcium.
- Timber Composite Decking: Best over uneven ground or above the Damp Course.
- Gravel and Decomposed: Lowest Cost, Permeable, Needs edging and Compacted base.
Setting out the Plan Before anyone Commences
Draw the Levels, Drainage Runs, Wall Lines and Surfaces on one Plan and Dimension them. Make sure to Thoroughly Strategize the Work Flow and Project Management as Almost every Landscaping failure is a "Sequence Problem" .. Meaning often times Paving Laid before Drainage, or trying to Install Lighting after paving, a retaining wall built without knowing the final finished levels first
- Set Every Finished Level off the House Floor Level, never off the existing ground.
- Keep Step Risers Identical throughout — 150mm risers with 300mm treads read best.
- Never Retain without Drainage behind the wall and a weep or outlet at the base.
- Lay Conduit for Lighting, Irrigation and Power before any surface goes down.
Costing and Staging the Build
The Work Order Management Flow is Critical. Build Ranges shown on each concept are usually Complete Costings covering Earthworks, Drainage, Retaining walls, Paving Stones, Timber Frame and Steel Structures, Garden and Landscape Planting and finally Electricals and Lighting. Staging the work Spreads the Cost without compromising the Design providing done correctly in the first stage.
Full feature article · Planning & Building
How to Build Your Dream Home and Garden Landscapes
The order of work that separates a garden that lasts from one rebuilt in three years — plans, levels, drainage, services, hard landscaping, then planting and lighting.
Almost every disappointing garden was built in the wrong order. Paving goes down before drainage is solved, planting goes in before the levels are final, the outdoor kitchen is positioned before anyone works out where the gas, water and power will come from, and three years later half of it is dug up again. A dream garden is mostly a sequencing problem.
Begin with a measured plan of the whole property, even if the work will be staged over a decade. Mark boundaries, the house footprint, doors and windows, existing trees, the fall of the land, the path of the sun in summer and winter, prevailing wind, and where you look from the rooms you use most. Every good decision that follows comes from this drawing, and it costs nothing but an afternoon.
Settle finished levels and drainage next. Decide the height of every terrace, step and lawn against the finished floor level of the house, then work out where water goes in a downpour — surface falls away from the building, subsoil drains behind every retaining wall, pits and pipes sized for the roof and paved area. This is invisible work that determines whether the garden survives.
Then run the services while the ground is still open. Conduits for lighting, irrigation mains and valves, water and gas to the outdoor kitchen and the future pool, power and data to the studio, a spare conduit under every path and paved area for whatever comes later. The single spare conduit is the cheapest insurance in landscaping.
Hard landscaping follows: retaining walls, paving, steps, decks, pergola footings and the pool shell. Build these to last, because they are the elements you cannot easily change, and they set the geometry that planting will fill. Choose fewer materials than you think you need — one paving stone, one timber, one metal finish, repeated everywhere — and the garden will look considered rather than assembled.
Planting and finishing come last, and in that order: structural trees for shade and screening, then hedges and shrub blocks, then the perennial and grass layer, then mulch. Lighting, furniture, the outdoor kitchen and the fire element complete it. Build every stage against the same master plan and a garden constructed over ten years will look as though it was finished in one season — which is precisely the outcome the plan exists to produce.