Landscaping North Perth WA: Renovating a Big Backyard

Older brick houses here often sit on deep blocks with a tired yard out the back. A renovation starts with what you want the space to do. A lawn for the kids, a dinner spot out of the afternoon sun and a vegetable patch each need a different layout.

The landscaper walks the block and looks at how the ground falls, where the sun lands, and where trees, drains and existing paving sit. You then get the scope and the cost in writing before anyone starts digging. That written price covers the agreed work, so you can plan your budget and your payments.

A large yard rewards a crew that has done it before. Lay turf before the retic trenches have been backfilled and settled, and the lawn sinks along every pipe run.

The first stage clears what is no longer wanted and sets the levels. Old paving, dead shrubs, tired turf and rubble come out, and the ground is shaped so water runs away from the house and not towards it.

The fall matters more than anything built on top of it. Water that pools against a wall can damp the footings and wash sand onto paths. Get the levels right at this stage and everything above them lasts longer.

On a sloping block, the ground is cut and filled into a level, usable area, with drainage taking runoff to a safe place. How steeply the yard falls decides how much of it is cut and how much is filled.

Lawn installation on Perth sand needs more than rolling turf onto bare ground. Sand drains fast and holds little food, so the base is prepared with better soil worked in before the turf goes down. Turf chosen for heat and a sandy base settles in faster and copes with hot easterly summers.

When sprinklers miss part of the garden, the cause is usually reticulation that no longer matches the yard. Heads may be blocked, pointed at the fence or spaced for a layout that has since changed. The fix is to adjust or rebuild the zones so lawn and beds each get the water they need.

In a big yard, zoning matters. Lawn, shrubs and vegetables want different amounts of water, and the two-day watering roster limits when you can run it. Planning the zones to suit the roster keeps the garden alive without wasting water.

Landscape lighting goes in before the paving does. The cable runs in trenches alongside the retic pipes, and adding a path or tree light later means cutting through finished limestone or aggregate, which costs more than the fittings themselves.

If you want an outdoor kitchen or a covered spot to eat, decide early. The bench, the roof and the gas or power behind them change where the paving and levels go. Any gas, plumbing or electrical work for lighting or an outdoor kitchen is done by licensed trades, so it is planned in from the start.

If a retaining wall or other structure needs a building permit, the written plan should say who applies for it before building starts. The build then follows that plan.

Across the suburb, from North Perth Town Hall to Beatty Park Leisure Centre, the housing is mainly solid brick from the early 1900s. Many of these homes are being renovated, and a rear extension changes the levels and drainage the yard has to meet.

The ground has a history. Wetlands north of the city were drained and filled as Perth grew, and the main North Perth one lay around what is now Charles Veryard Reserve. Yards near it may sit on fill, so the landscaper confirms the ground on site and plans the base and drainage to suit.

Farmland was first subdivided into housing lots here from the late 1890s, including land between Charles and Fitzgerald Streets around Angove Street. On older lots like these, machinery may reach the backyard only through a side gap or the house. Tell the landscaper about access so the plan allows for it.

Some North Perth homes are heritage-listed. If yours is one of them, council decides whether planning approval is needed for changes, not the landscaper.