S E R V I C E S
Dry Riverbeds
Dry riverbeds are a big advantage for your property for two major reasons. One, it takes care of wet areas, draining water underground and two, the pebbles make a garden come to life, combined with the correct planting and rockery, it looks like a dry riverbed and is much more appealing than the standard boring bark and shrubs. When the pebbles are wet they come to life displaying hidden colours and when the riverbed is dry it still looks fantastic. Even a non-wet area looks more interesting when a dry river bed is introduced.
The concept for featuring dry riverbeds in our designs came about while camping one day in a hot area in a dry riverbed. It was much cooler in the riverbed and after three days it grew on me, how beautiful it looked compared to the barren landscape outside the river. Growing up near the Emerald Lake in Victoria where there are many creeks and rivers, dry riverbeds now form a major part of our landscaping. Most importantly, dry riverbeds are practical in solving the problems of wet areas and adding life and creating a stand out feature to the area. Better still every dry riverbed is a unique garden feature that will last the test of time.
Natural Rockeries and Retaining Walls
Rockeries and retaining walls are a favourite landscaping feature of ours and our clients alike. To create structured banks in your garden you have two choices: you can retain the soil and use boring sleepers or brick walls without adding any aesthetic value or you can combine some rocks, native shrubs, some colour, and some sleepers and create an incredibly appealing and very inviting space which adds heaps of value to an area that may have been very bland.
In my travelling through the bush and mountain areas I was fascinated by how these massive rocks would stay on the mountain sides and not move. When I found out why it made sense, three quarters of the rock must be buried and each rock locks the other one in position right down to the bottom. Complimented by plants of all sorts, rockeries encourage the native fauna while the plants cradle the rocks, making them look like they have always been a natural feature of the garden. This is a very highly skilled way of doing things and the great Ellis Stone mastered this skill many years ago.
The natural beauty of a rockery adds incredible value to a property before you even enter the home. We have had many clients become friends through the love of these features. The combination of rockeries and retaining walls can be used to complement a house or driveway as well.
Natural Stabilised Gravel Driveways
First impressions count. Your driveway is the first impression of your home so why use the unnatural look of concrete and asphalt when the natural materials of Tuscany Toppings, Lilydale and Colorado Toppings, and alike add more depth and natural appeal to your garden and driveway? While at times we may add cement to the natural products to give it extra strength, you can’t tell that it has been added as it does not detract from the natural look.
When designing our driveways we always add plenty of curves to break up the starkness of straight lines, as your house has enough straight lines as it is. We compliment the edges of the driveways with rocks, sleepers, logs and Jarrah edgings to soften the look and add life to your driveway and the overall presentation of your house.
General Landscaping
Landscaping your property and creating stunning features to be viewed when arriving or overlooking the garden is a must. One of the key principles of our landscaping designs is to create space, by not blocking the view and drawing the eye deep into the property to absorb all the beauty and scenery.
A definite landscaping mistake is to have small blocks of garden beds everywhere as it makes the space too busy. The goal of our landscaping is creating depth as you can see from our gallery. The value that landscaping adds to any property is immense. Almost always the money you invest in your garden will equal double the value added to your home.
