Tuesday 6 March 2012

our new back yard

Before Christmas we decided to do 2 things:
1. build an outdoor seating area in the back corner
2. extend the vegie garden

We marked out the area with the hose

Then sprayed pink stuff on the grass (not
very visible here)

The grass-cutter machine we hired didn't work
as our grass was too healthy, thick and spongy.
This set us back 2 weeks as Meyles had to do it all
by hand. It was hard, hot work during Christmas.

Then all of a sudden the basic structure took
shape. A mop-top tree was planted to provide
afternoon shade, as it grows.

A golden hedge is planted in the loose shape
of a number 2. This will provide a sense of a
'room' and distinguish the area from the vegie garden.

Meyles extends the vegie garden and builds
more garden beds. Pathways are covered with gravel
and root barriers are dug down around beds. Also
reticulation systems are installed for automatic watering.

The final layer of gravel is spread. The dark
gray colour looks great against the golden hedge.

And it's done! We haven't moved the furniture
back into place in this pic. And a BBQ will be
housed in some sort of cover yet to be built. That
will live to the extreme left of the pic, against the
fence. Not sure about other furniture yet.
Any suggestions for additional furniture? We currently have the bench seat, and the firepot (which will be the feature.) We will rely on natural shade for protection and are reluctant to fill it up with too much stuff. But suggestions are welcome. What else would you do here?



5 comments:

  1. That looks like the perfect area for an outdoor spa in my view ;) the colours are great and the simplicity is very effective - interested in why you used gravel and didn't pave the space? You guys will be able to open up a fruit and veg shop soon x Leila

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  2. Hi Leila! a spa sounds great! (a swim-spa would be even better!) yes! Give me a few months - I will need to work on Meyles for that one ;)) about the gravel, we wanted something less formal/hard-surfacy and the gravel will pack down pretty solidly so that fitted with what we wanted. and also Meyles' fruit & veg shop can now have more attention, as it's been suffering a little during the construction process recently. so he has to make up for lost time and lost productivity! Cyn x

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  3. Hey Jipster! Well...ahem... why thank you!

    Oh you mean the GARDEN!? woops! oh yeah that! thanks! ;))

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  4. That's a fabulous transformation in that corner, so much more fluid and inviting. The curved lines really entice you in. Good to see that Meyles snuck in a few more vegie beds while the plans were under construction. Our garden furniture (well apart from those lovely red deck chairs) consists of milk crates. Not recommended! Given your rainfall I'd steer away from wood - our wooden deck table and chairs have suffered through lack of proper care and are showing their age too soon.

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