With so many Victorian’s staying at home over the last few months it’s been a great opportunity to get your hands dirty in the yard – whether they’re small activities consisting of planting some flowers around or taking on a more extensive DIY project. Well, our Melbourne-based exposed aggregate experts think it’s great and would like to fuel your inspiration and creativity even further with an easy and handy guide on planning your own garden oasis.
Because we know that everyone has yards (front and back) of various sizes we’re going to be offering solutions for both of those parameters. That way, you can get the full scope of what’s possible and use your judgement on what will best fit your yard.
Planning the spot
The first thing you should do is figure out where you want to place the oasis. This is a pretty broad first step regardless of your garden’s size as ideally, you’ll be placing a centrepiece and surrounding features (which we’ll discuss next) in it so if you pick a spot you’d like to begin with then you can see what will best suit it.
Picking a centrepiece
The centrepiece is going to be the star of the oasis. This could be a fountain or extravagant garden piece or even something as simple as a chair or bench – effectively making the occupant the centrepiece. For smaller gardens – if you’re planning to sit within the oasis – we recommend a bench/chair or another small piece of outdoor furniture. This is because you may not have much other room for many other features should you want to also sit within it. If you’re planning your oasis purely to be an observational area – then something like a fountain or even a decorative rock/stone would work quite nicely.
Larger gardens have more scope in terms of what’s possible. With this in mind, the centrepiece can be something a lot larger or more extravagant – whilst still allowing you to have some seating furnishings. A triple-tier fountain, for example, or even a miniature koi pond if you’re looking for something a bit more unique. Alternatively – you can still make the centrepiece a seating area but perhaps consider adding a small arch/miniature pergola above it. Or, a lavish outdoor couch or hammock (remember that the best hammocks require two stable trees a good length apart from each other) may be more your style so you can relax and enjoy the other features you’ll be adding to the oasis.
Surrounding elements
This is the fun part – deciding what will surround your oasis. There’s a huge variety of plants and features you can use to decorate your little spot. With smaller gardens, we recommend tall-growing plants on either side (when we say tall – we mean 1.5m – 2m) that way it’ll seem like a true little hideaway that’s cut off from the rest of the garden. Clumping bamboo is a great simple option – or, for something a bit more colourful, delphinium.
If you’re looking for something less busy, then some smaller-growing flowers may be more to your liking. Plant them in a circular or square perimeter surrounding your centrepiece and add garden gnomes or other similar ornaments to enhance its character further.
You can use the same approach for larger gardens if you so choose – just with larger walkways. Since you’ll have more room – consider exposed aggregate concrete for your pathways. If your oasis is in your front yard – then, you can even have it breaking off from your exposed aggregate driveway and splitting off to lead to both your front door and secret garden oasis.
If you’ve opted for some archways (either over your path or furnishings) then consider climbing plants such as banksia rose to add some extra flare. Contrast it with your other flowers so each variety stands out or grow shrubbery throughout and allow one flower variety to stand-out. The more room you have the better the opportunity to place little ponds and fountains around.
If you really want to go all out then you can install some outdoor lighting either overhead (there are some great dainty/rustic options available if you’re not into the modern aesthetic) or by your features/plants. Remember – once you’ve figured out what your centrepiece and elements are going to be, you can always change the area you planned to craft on to a place that suits your requirements more-so.
Are you looking for exposed aggregate specialists in Melbourne?
A Better Driveway specialises in exposed aggregate driveway solutions and can help you bring your dream driveway to life. With thousands of possible combinations to choose from – exposed aggregate is the ideal concrete material for any application.
Call 0412 537 776 or fill out the contact form on our website if you’d like to know more about the concrete services we can offer you.