This garden located in Melbourne’s north was a challenge.

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The design brief was to create a fast establishing, low maintenance front garden that required very little to no water and all on a budget of less than $5000. The practical requirements of the garden was to enhance the look of the house and provide an access way for the rubbish bins from the front gate to the side of the house. 

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When Sustainable Landscape Design took over the site it had a few stunted, struggling plants, and turf would not establish. After investigation we realised that there was a thin 10-12cm layer of hydrophobic top soil over a clay/building rubble mix. This posed a significant problem as the building rubble contained asbestos which had to be removed by a qualified expert, using up much of the $5000 budget.

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A substantial amount of compost was added to improve the soils structure and water holding capacity, coupled with appropriate plant selection. The result is a no water garden that thrives in this harsh westerly position.