Landscaping
in Elsternwick

One of the most important, yet overlooked areas of installing a beautiful garden begins with the foundations, in the soil.  Ever wonder why one landscape company’s bid may be lower than another?  Proper preparation of soil is labour intensive, yet is critical to the health and longevity of your plantings.  We achieve this by using expert knowledge to test your soil and determine what is required to create the optimum environment for your plants to thrive.  Then add sufficient amounts of organic matter, removing any builders rubble or large rocks and ensuring the texture and ph levels are ideal.  This is the process we use every time to ensure your plants live happily ever after.

Choosing the best plants for your landscape design that are low maintenance can save you time and stress later.  Incorrect plant choices can mean that the plants are working hard just to survive and you’re working hard just to keep them alive.  Your plant choices are your top time and cost savers, so if you want to take a deep dive, check out The Best Low Maintenance Plants for your Landscape Design.

Here’s a quick look at my top three tips to choosing low maintenance plants for your garden are:

• Succulents survive well in harsh conditions and can adapt to low watering requirements.  This is because their leaves tend to store large amounts of water, providing an internal reservoir of slow release irrigation.
• Natives are easier to care for than ornamentals like roses, azaleas, and gardenia’s.  After thousands of years acclimatizing and adapting to local conditions, your native plants are much hardier and require less watering, less fertilisation and less weeding.  They actually have developed a natural defence to local weed species, which means they do the weeding for you! 
• Ground covering plants – a great low maintenance choice, once fully developed with a full coverage these hardy plants will naturally prevent weeds from growing. They cover the soil with such density that they block the sunlight from weeds attempting to grow beneath them. To really juice it up choose a native ground covering plant such as Creeping Boobialla (Myoporum Parvifolium).

Yes, you don’t have to worry about a thing, every plant that we put into the ground comes with a 12 month warranty. 2 Men and a Shovel has full public liability insurance so you have peace of mind.

An irrigation system is a vital component to any low maintenance garden.  Choosing the right kind of irrigation that’s both low maintenance and effective is where you need some expert tips (coming right up!). But before we jump into these, take a look at Landscaping Tips for Irrigating a Low Maintenance Garden Design. Irrigation systems are most commonly seen in dripline or sprinkler heads. 

• Sprinkler systems replicate natural rainfall which plants prefer but this type of system tends to require more maintenance as the heads get blocked and need routine repairing.   
• Dripline irrigation is extremely low maintenance as there are fewer parts required.  If you’re looking to save time and money in the garden then this is the choice for you.  Dripline is easy to install and a good DIY job.  However if you don’t have the time, we’d love to help you out with this.

Mulch is a material spread around a plant over the soil surface as a protective layer. It’s commonly made from organic materials and is distributed across the soil in a 2-4 inch thickness.

Here are the top eleven reasons landscape gardeners recommend mulching your garden.

1. MOISTURE Mulch helps to retain moisture in the soil for longer.  A thicker layer of mulch will slow down the effect of water evaporation from the soil.  It does this by shielding the soil from the sun and in doing so will greatly reduce your water bill, saving your plants and your wallet! 
2. NUTRIENTS Mulch adds organic matter to the soil.  This will make your garden strong and healthy, leading to less pests and diseases.
3. FOOD Mulch provides more healthy nutrients for the soil.  In choosing a mulch variety that also incorporates manures and compost ingredients, this will help to really build up the quality of the soil and bring those good nutrients into your plants.
4. TIME SAVER Mulch is a massive time saver on weeding. Exposed soil is an open invitation declaring “Hey weeds, land available!  Make your home here”.   A good thick layer of 75-100mm of mulch will really make life hard for your common weeds.  
5. MONEY SAVER If you’re hiring a gardener, mulch can save you a massive amount of money per year on the garden, as it will greatly reduce the amount of labour hours required to keep the weeds at bay.
6. BUGS Mulch increases biological activity in the soil.  Many friendly bugs and critters will love the new protective environment created by mulch.  These beneficial microorganisms and earthworms will do wonders for the quality and structure of the soil and good soil equals happy plants.
7. PROTECTION Mulch will protect the soil from freezing in the fairly rare occurrence of a Melbourne frost. This minimises plant damage and stress, keeping your garden conditions stable.
8. AESTHETICS Mulch is always used prior to selling a property.  It provides a neat and clean visual aesthetic for the garden.  There are many different varieties and colours can be chosen to compliment the design of the property and garden.
9. HEALTHY SOIL Mulch improves soil conditions.  A commonly seen problem is hydrophobic soil. This is where a hard crusty layer forms on the soil surface which prevents water drainage and full hydration for plants. Adding mulch and a wetting agent is a powerful combination to fix hydrophobic soil.
10. BARRIER Mulch prevents nutrients from leaching out of the soil, which means there’s more available for your plants.  
11. INSULATOR Mulch is a great insulator.   By regulating the soil temperature it will help to keep the roots cool in summer and warm in winter, keeping your plants stable and thriving.

Low maintenance lawn care begins with choice of turf at the time of landscape design and construction.  There are several main lawn types to choose from so it’s important to pick the one that’s right for you that will give you back your precious time. 

• Buffalo – The very popular Buffalo lawn is a great choice for a low maintenance garden.  Most of the time we will recommend this lawn for anyone who wants an easy lawn as it requires less mowing and nitrogen than Kikuyu and Couch grass.
• Tif tuf – Tif Tuf is a fantastic new couch grass variety that has been created to provide a tough lawn that also has the ability to cope in less sunny positions. It is a fast growing grass that needs to be mowed once or twice per week, and has invasive runners that can sprawl out into garden beds.  
• Kikuyu – Kikuyu is a tough and fast growing lawn.  It is great for high traffic areas and is commonly found in large commercial spaces.  As it is fast growing it has greater mowing requirements than Buffalo turf.

When it comes to selling your house you’re always balancing your budget! Chances are you want to make some improvements to get the best sale price for your home, without losing sight of the return on your investment.

The biggest challenge for home owners when doing a pre sale garden makeover is knowing where to spend those precious dollars:

• Do you focus on the front yard?
• What about those ugly corners?
• What plants give you the best bang for your buck?
• And how can you level up your garden from ordinary to extraordinary?

Often landscaping is the last thing you think about, but it can be the greatest return on investment. You can make a big impact with a relatively small budget, and create a wow factor that really improves first impressions with these 4 simple tips.

1. Landscape to attract the right buyer 
2. Create an Stunning First Impression
3. Cleanup and be creative with those forgotten corners
4. Add the winning finishing touches

If your keen to learn more then check out our blog on landscaping and garden makeover tips for selling your property.

Estimates that exceed $2000 total require a 50% deposit payment prior to starting the work.