The brief involved refreshing the front yard of a double fronted Californian bungalow.

The yard needed a full make over, with patchy lawns, old exposed tree stumps, weeds, ivy and broken blued stone borders. The garden beds were also tired and the uneven, spilling over the blue stone borders onto the lawn area.

An important decision was to replace the lawn the kikuyu instant turf, ideally suited to the local environment and conditions. Importantly kikuyu had the best chance of doing well, in the dry shaded conditions under a large eucalypt which grew next to the front fence.

Leveling soil and preparation included applying soil improvers and fertilizers to provide the best possible conditions for the new lawn. The project also involved resetting broken boarder stones and mowing strips, removing excess soils and renovating the garden with mulch, and fresh plantings.

The traditional English garden was refreshed with roses, boarder plants, and exotic and introduced flowering species of crape myrtle, camellia and gardenia, ideally suited to the architectural style of the Californian bungalow, common to the area.