Backyard Landscaping In Melbourne
At New Era Landscapes, we build backyards across Melbourne's south east. Paving, decking, lawn and garden beds, and the walls and drainage under them, planned around how you'll actually use the space.
Backyard landscaping turns the ground behind your house into space you use: somewhere to sit, eat, play and grow things. New Era Landscapes does backyard landscaping in Melbourne's south east, from a small courtyard to a whole yard. Quotes are free and measured on site.
Most backyards we're asked to look at have one of three problems. They slope, they stay soggy, or they're a lawn you never use with a path you don't like. You can fix all three, and the fix usually starts below the ground.
We plan your backyard around how you live, then build it in the order that stops anything being dug up twice. It's the same full landscaping service we run on every yard, with our own crew on every trade.
Planning
How Do You Want to Use Your Backyard?
Start with that question, not with materials. If you entertain, you need a big level surface near the kitchen, if you've got kids or a dog you need lawn that drains, and if you want quiet you need screening and shade. Most of us want two of the three, so the layout is a trade-off we work out with you.
Small backyards need more planning, not less. In a courtyard every square metre of paving has to earn its place, and a row of screening plants often gives you more privacy than a taller fence would.
Big backyards have the opposite problem. It's easy to fill them with lawn because it's cheap to lay, then spend every Saturday mowing a space you only walk across. We'll ask how often you're actually out there before we draw a single garden bed.
| You want it for | What it needs | What we build |
|---|---|---|
| Entertaining | A level space big enough for a table, close to the back door. | Paving or a timber deck, finished level with the house. |
| Kids and dogs | Lawn that drains after rain and recovers from wear. | Instant turf on prepared ground, with irrigation under it. |
| Privacy | Screening along the boundaries you look out on. | Screening plants and hedging in properly prepared beds. |
| Low upkeep | Less lawn to mow and fewer thirsty plants. | Native planting, mulched beds and drip irrigation. |
| A sloping block | Flat ground you can actually use. | Retaining walls and terraces, drained behind. |
A site visit is the right place to start. We walk the yard with you, take the levels and talk through materials, how much upkeep each one needs and what it costs.
Out the front
Do You Do Front Yards Too?
Yes, and often in the same job. Front yard landscaping in Melbourne is mostly about the way in: the driveway, the path to your door and the garden either side of it. It's the part of your home everyone sees, so we get the levels and the edges sharp.
A front yard works hard for how little you use it. It has to take a car, shed the water off the street side of the house, and still look finished when you pull up. That's driveways, paths and planting working together, so we price them together.
One of our recent jobs was a front and back yard in Brighton, built as one job by the same crew.
Makeovers
Is a Garden Makeover Cheaper Than Starting Again?
Often, if the bones are good. A garden makeover in Melbourne keeps what's working, like a sound wall, a healthy tree or good paving, and rebuilds the rest. We'll tell you on site what's worth keeping, and what would cost you more to work around than to replace.
Native gardens
Native garden design suits a Melbourne backyard that gets full sun and not much of your time. Plants from our own climate handle a dry summer better than most exotics, and on drip irrigation under mulch they need far less water.
We plant them into prepared beds, not straight into compacted clay. A native that's struggling in the first summer is usually struggling with the soil, not the weather.
The process
Our Backyard Landscaping Process
Every backyard starts with how you want to use it. From there it runs in three stages.
- Consultation and site assessment. We look at the soil, the sun, the drainage and the way in from the street, and we ask how you want to use the space.
- An itemised quote. Every part of your backyard is priced separately, so you can see what each costs and build it in stages if that suits you better.
- Build and planting. We build it in order, from the drainage through to the lawn, and hand it back finished.
Why New Era
Choosing New Era Landscapes for Your Backyard
We bring over 10 years of experience in landscaping and turf work across Melbourne. Recent jobs include a front and back yard in Brighton, stone cladding in Patterson Lakes and a whole backyard in Blackburn.
A backyard usually needs four or five trades. Ours are all in-house: decking, paving, concreting, retaining, irrigation and turf. So you deal with one team, and the paving finishes level with the lawn because the same people built both.
Quotes are free, measured on site and itemised, with no obligation. You can see finished yards on Instagram.
Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does backyard landscaping cost in Melbourne?
It depends on the size of the yard, the materials you choose, and how a machine gets in. Those three move the price too far for a published rate to mean anything. Our quotes are free, measured on site and itemised, so you can see what each part costs and stage the work if you'd rather.
How long does a backyard renovation take?
A courtyard or a single area is usually days. A whole backyard is usually several weeks, and the date for your job comes with the quote. Weather, how much has to come out first, and whether anything needs a permit are what move it.
Can you landscape a backyard with no side access?
Yes. Narrow access changes how we work, not whether we can. It means smaller machines and more carrying by hand, and that does change the price, which is why we look at the way in before we quote.
Do I need a permit to remove a tree in my backyard?
Sometimes, and it depends on your council. In Bayside, a tree with a trunk circumference over one hundred and fifty-five centimetres, measured a metre above the ground, needs a local law permit before it's removed. Check with your council before you plan around losing a tree.
Source: Bayside City Council.
What's the best low-maintenance backyard for Melbourne?
Less lawn, more paving or decking, and native planting on drip irrigation under mulch. That combination copes with a Melbourne summer on very little of your time. Keep enough lawn for the way you actually use it, and no more.
Areas We Serve Across Melbourne
We're based in Melbourne's south east and we work right across the city. There's no shopfront to visit, so we come to you and walk the backyard with you.
You'll find us regularly in Brighton, Berwick, Frankston, Cranbourne, Glen Waverley, Cheltenham, Narre Warren, Pakenham, Dandenong, Bentleigh, Beaumaris, Mentone, Mordialloc, Hampton.
Not on that list? Call and ask. We cover most of Melbourne, and you'll get a straight answer either way.
Written by Jono O'Brien, who runs New Era Landscapes and has been in landscaping and turf renovation for over ten years. You can talk to him directly about your yard.
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