This house has been a rental for many years and so the whole front yard is covered in big river rocks about the size of the palm of your hand. This makes walking without breaking an ankle very difficult! Its also incredibly ugly. We bought the house and would love to get rid of the rocks and create some sort of native garden in the middle triangle. Not sure what to do in between the ribbon driveways….
Keeping in mind we need some sort of stepping stones to lead up to the front steps and to step on to when getting out of the car.
Im thinking of having all the rocks removed from the middle triangle and digging down 20 cm and putting topsoil / compost down and then a thick layer of mulch to improve the soil over the next few months.
Then planting natives, a mix of shrubs and a small focal tree. Front yard gets shade in winter as the sun is behind the house. Full sun in summer. Not pictured is a massive gum tree in the bottom right of our property so the yard also gets a lot of leaf drop a few times a year. Brisbane location.
Any ideas or recommendations welcome to help this desolate front yard!
by Top_Juggernaut_7559
4 Comments
Driveway looks steep , rocks / gravel may help in the rain ect
Yeah this is part of the design of this style of house I reckon
I have been transported back to the 70s
Just remember that the blackbirds et al will chuck any mulch everywhere. You’ll be out there with a brush (or the dreaded blower) clearing up every weekend.
Best of luck clearing the “triangle” out of stones, without upsetting the actual driveway. You could try something like native violets or Dichondra to grow between the parallel lines. For the “triangle” keep it low and bushy. Grevilleas come in all shapes and sizes for example, and are bird attracting.
I would save yourself some back breaking labour and a heap of landscaping money and just remove the rocks only where you are planting or placing stepping stones. Natives wont care about the rocks, and the soil will be fine without too much improvement unless its pure brisbane clay and shale. Pick low drought tolerant spreading shrubs with small leaves that will cover the rocks; cousin it casurina, myoporum, leptospermum white wave or any of the low growing grevillea species. Keeping the rocks but hiding them will save water as they are excellent for water retention, and will also not wash away down your driveway in a downpour like bark mulch will. Added benefit is they are already there, free and home to heaps of small inverts and reptiles. Pile up any rocks you do move around and under each shrub to provide extra hidey holes for animals.
Between your driveway tracks I would remove and replace with concrete or pavers, then resurface the whole drive for a fresh look. The money and time you save on leaving the rocks will pay for a good portion of this.