Life In Melbourne

Building New House, Property

Landscaping (Part 4 of 4) – the experience with our first home

Landscaping garden

With the garden beds sorted out, the landscaper returned another day (2 weeks later) to lay the lawn on the back yard. Some common species are the Sir Walter Buffalo Grass, Kikuyu Grass, Couch Grass etc. We wanted grass that is hardy and does not require a lot of water so we opted for Sir Walter Buffalo Grass in the end.

slabs of cut grass — Rolls of grass that came on a pallet!

installing grass — Rolling out the slabs of grass

It was amazing (at least to us) to see freshly cut slabs of grass being delivered on pallets. The landscapers quickly got to work installing the grass on top of the previously laid top soil.

Plenty of watering needed to keep the grass moist and alive

There was a sense of urgency to finish the job as the summer heat bared down. Once laid, we were instructed in no uncertain terms that the grass need to be watered very regularly (a few times a day) as the grass roots grow into the top soil (a process that would take weeks). Feeling the cool grass under our bare feet was the primary motivation to go with real lawn rather than fake turf or concrete.

In all, it was magical to see the backyard transformed from a sticky clayey patch filled with weeds to a nicely designed garden within a month. With the plants in, we began to see butterflies dancing and bees buzzing. Nature is just wonderful.

Was it worthwhile in the end? A resounding “yes” would be the answer. Paying for experts to get the job done right within a short time freed up spending our own time on an expedition that could have led to nowhere other than utter frustration.