Bringing A Dated Front Garden Back To Life ¦ Great Home Ideas

Charlie, where have you brought me? Well, spring has sprung and our gardens are coming to life, just like this one. But with a little bit of pruning, a bit of a TLC, I think we can bring it back to life and show off a pretty cute cottage back there. Oh, it sounds like we've got a bit of work today. Yep. And we're going to do it on a budget. All right, let's get cracking. The main problem with this front garden is it's obviously just been left to get overgrown. And this tree here is actually a nice one. It's an Irish strawberry tree, but you can't see it because it's suckering. So I'm removing all the suckers. Now, anything that's sort of this diameter or bigger, I'm just using a pruning saw. For everything else, you can use loppers. With all the suckers removed from our tree, we can really start to see what we're working with. The next part of pruning them is to look up into the canopy. Now, I've noticed here we've got a bit of a scale infestation. So I'll be pruning those bits off and any of those stems that are rubbing on each other, because that will cause a wound and that can let infection into the plant. Once I've done that, I'm looking at the gutters and the roofline. I'm going to prune anything back from that, because you want to keep all the leaves out of the gutters for fire safety as the weather warms up. And you also want to keep your feet on the ground. So get yourself a pole saw to do it all safely. With the walls washed down, I can move on to the deck. Now, on this, I'm going to be using a deck rejuvenator, because we want to get rid of that grey timber and bring back its natural colour. I'm going to scrub it on, let it sit for about 15 minutes, and then we can simply wash it off. Ah, working hard or hardly working? What's happening here, mate? Yeah, hardly working, I think. Watch out on those stairs. They're a bit dodgy. Yeah, that's what I wanted to speak about. The elephant in this front yard being these stairs. How unsafe are they? Yeah, they're a bit dodgy, aren't they? So what are you going to do? Concrete them in for me? Sicilian heritage? Yeah, that's right. The Italian in me wants to do that. But yeah, no, I reckon we clear out the timber. You can get rid of the brickwork. I can get rid of the brickwork. Well, you know, we're working as a team here. It's a team effort. And then I can build some nice new timber stairs. A couple of stringers, some treads, make it nice and safe. I agree with you, but I'll just keep digging this out. You can do the demo if you like. Well, before I get onto this part, I am going to be hosing down the deck, so... You're going to squirt me? Well, just a little bit, mate. I'm working on your back, so watch out, all right? OK. Don't say I didn't warn him. OK. With the walls dry, I'm now ready to put some paint on. Now, it's a stucco finish, so it's pretty uneven. The tip here is you want to get one of the largest snap rollers you can find. Charlie, what are you doing? I'm trying to create the biggest pile of mulch I can. I think you're doing a good job. Thanks. But it looks like you're finished there, and... I do need to do some fret work around here. So I was thinking, because I need some help with this painting, do you want to do the painting and I'll get on to... Adam, I would love to. That was so easy. I was expecting a little bit of fight back there, but... No? That was just all obliging. All obliging. When you think of the front of a cottage home, you envision that beautiful fret work, and that's exactly what we're going to be adding to the front of our house. So I've got some design pine that's pre-primed. I've undercoated it, so it's ready to be cut up. Now, this is treated pine, so it's fine to use outside. Basically, for the bottom rail, I'm just using this 19 by 45, and then our uprights are 19 by 40. Now, I'm not adding a top rail, because I'm going to utilise the beam out the front that's already existing. So now, I'll just start cutting it up. I'm just evenly spacing the uprights over the length of the bottom rail, and it's a good idea just to cut a little space, or it helps you out as you're going along. And to hold it in place, I've got these 65mm stainless screws. Nice. Let's go get it in place. Oh, you're back on the second cut. You're going over what I've done. Yes. Something that will make you happy. You just have a look up here, mate. What do you think of this? Oh, that does make me happy. You want me to paint it this colour as well? With the garden clear, I'm just marking out a few garden beds, and to go with the traditional style of the cottage, I'm using four more lines. We're going to be having a hedge running down either side of the path, and some colour around the front of the property. For the handrail, I've just got the bottom rail in place, and then we're going to be using these 67mm balustrades. They're going to be spaced out evenly, but to start off, I'm going to put the two end ones on, and then I can sit the top rail on top. Ta-da! That's one down, and another one to go. Getting rid of these agapanthus, and the old letterbox are the last part of the clear, and what a difference a day's work has made. It looks so much better already. Whenever you get the opportunity to improve the soil in your garden, you really should. That can be adding compost, or even just mulching the top of the beds, but when you've got a nice empty bed like this, it's a good idea to get in some organic garden soil. This is going to help improve the structure of the existing soil, it'll hold on to moisture and nutrients for longer, and that's going to help the plant growth. With the deck all clean, we are ready to reseal it, and for that, we're using an Ultradex stain, and the colour is Spotted Gum. Now, the tip here is, because we've got a wall all around the perimeter, I've got Greg just cutting in for me, and I'll use the decking applicator to get the stain on, and going in the same direction as the boards, and that way, we hopefully don't get any lap marks. To create some definition between our lawn and garden beds, I'm just using this cost-effective edging. Now, I really like this stuff because it's actually recycled rubber, so it's good for the environment, and it's easy to install by just pegging it down. The majority of turf grass is like free-draining soil. Now, I'm not too concerned about that in this location because we're on a bit of a slope, so the water is going to get away from the roots, but where we've dug out all the weeds, it's left it really uneven, so I'm just using an 80-20 mix of sand to soil to fill in those gaps and give us a nice smooth finish. Early spring is the best time to be applying a soil wetter. It's going to prevent any hydrophobia in the soil, but it's also going to allow the moisture to get into the soil much more evenly and a lot deeper as well, so it's going to protect your plants as the heat goes into summer. Now, I'm doing this under the lawn, and I'm also going to hit the garden beds as well. The front stairs will be on repair, so we've gotten rid of them, and now I need to replace them. For that, I'm using an off-the-shelf kit. It consists of two stringers and the treads, but what we've had to do is customise it because as you get up to that front door, you can see under the house, and it looks a little bit ugly, so I've just got some 140x45 treated pine, and we've added them to the back of each tread, which closes up the risers for us. It gives us a nice, solid look. Then I've just used the same Ultradex stain that I used out the front to coat the stairs so everything ties in. I'm just finishing it off by putting the stringer on, and then we can get this in place. Make sure all the joins are kept nice and tight. It's a good idea just to use a rubber mallet instead of a hammer. Otherwise, you'll dent the timber, and it won't look good. And they are a solid set of stairs, but I might need a hand to carry them. Charlie! Be our wife. Even better. You can rely on us. Nice. Good work, mate. Thank you. The planting scheme for this garden is quite a formal one, and that's because it suits the style of the cottage. Along the front of the property where it's really sunny, we're going to have a soft lavender fence line. Then up the path and along the house, we're going to be using Buxus. Now, I've selected Buxus because it's really hardy in full sun, and it will take pretty much full shade as well. When you're setting out a planting scheme for a shady garden bed, it's a good idea to rely on foliage form and colour rather than flowers, because flowers often need a lot of sunlight to do well. I've got distyllium. Now, this is a fantastic plant that will grow in sun and shade. It gets about metre by metre, so we're going to have a lovely big clump in here. Then there is one plant that will give you reliable flowers, even in the deepest of shades, and that is the hellebore, otherwise known as the winter rose, perfect for growing under a tree. And take a look at these flowers. Absolutely incredible. If you're after another plant that just loves sun and also loves full shade where you can't go past the New Zealand rock lily, the only thing this thing doesn't like is wet feet, so it needs really good drainage, but that also makes it perfect for planting under trees like this. Grass has a really great way of giving breathing space to the surrounding planting, and I've gone for one of the most foolhardy ones that there is available on the market. It's a Walter certified DNA. Now, this will grow up and down both coasts of Australia or through the inland. It really is foolproof. It also grows in quite a lot of shade as well. It will grow in sun, but as we've got a shady area here, it's probably the best grass we could have. Charlie, what a transformation. This Federation Cottage was left untouched and out in the elements for far too long, but it's fair to say it's been brought back to its former glory. Yeah, it's amazing what some maintenance has done to this place. Finished off with some garden beds, and of course, the biggest bang for buck, this brand new lawn. I would say that's another fabulous team-up, mate. I would say I'm fabulous, but you, my friend, are sensational. Oh, stop it, Charlie. You're going to make me blush. You don't blush. Well, sometimes.