And the landscaping begins...

So now to get our heads around landscaping an almost entirely empty 1 1/3 acre block (eeeek).

We are starting with the driveway, we want something that is easy to use and that is no easy feat when Jason drives and F250. However, it seems we have somehow managed to reach that happy place between usability and  aesthetics.

Bringing in the big guns

The progress has been somewhat hampered by yet another downpour of rain as soon as any form of heavy machinery lands on site. It is now a bit of a running joke with the machine driver that, 'hey its raining again, I must be at the York's'.   

Our very own moat.

That being said it is really starting to take shape now, rain or not.

Perhaps one day we will lay bitchumum on the driveway but for now we are just going to have to settle for stone. The wall in the above pic will have to be retained and we are going to make a full length garden bed along it at about 1 metre high. We're hoping to use a brick to match the coloured concrete of our verandah.

INSPIRATION:

Its time to start thinking about the garden

With all the excitement of building the actual house its been hard to find time or energy to think about, and agree on what we are going to do with the other acre or so of land that isn't covered by the house itself.

We still can't decide what we are calling our 'front yard' and what is our 'back yard' but this is the area we will be looking over from our kitchen, dining and pool rooms and also from our bedroom.

I know I want to use a lot of Hydrangeas, some Wisteria and maybe a few David Austin and climbing roses.

I'm also loving the Hamptons style planter boxes.

We have already started planting some stuff. We have a row of Lilly Pillys along part of the boundary which will one day hopefully grow into a hedge. We have also planted a bunch of fruit trees; nectarines, peaches, apricots and citrus.   

INSPIRATION:

Love the white bench seat, the hedges and the built in planter boxes.

Love the idea of having mini hedges running along the edge of the verandah

Love the combination of Hydrangeas and mini hedges matched with a very pretty white gate.

And one day maybe we can even build a pergola like this but with a roof or a covering of some kind of climbing vine.

The fence...

So there is finally something actually being built on our block! It may not be the house just yet but it is still something. They started building our fence yesterday, its exciting to be able to see progress when we visit the block now.

These 4 post are along the corner of our block that is cut off on an angle. It is about 7 meters long and I will one day turn this into a feature with our address and/or our name.

Okay so not the greatest of sketches but you get the idea.

7 Meters is a bit too long for what I am thinking but maybe we can add a few palm trees or tall yakkas to break up the length of the wall.