I see so much creativity and practicality
in the gardens that I visit.
And in all gardens, landscaping is number one.
But it's not just about the functional elements -
the paving, the retaining walls, the steps, the raised beds -
it's also about the feel
and how that makes you want to get out and enjoy the space.
I'm at a landscape suppliers in Sydney's north
and this is the business end of beautiful gardens.
We're here to explore a few materials for use in the garden,
and tips for landscaping at your place.
For small projects, you might pick up
a few bags of potting mix or manure,
but as you can see here, the materials are all in bulk.
There's garden soil mix. There's gravel and wood chip.
And all of that is sold by volume.
So if you have a large garden bed in mind,
the first thing you need to do is a little bit of mathematics.
First of all,
multiply the width of the garden bed by the length of the garden bed
to get the area,
and then multiply that by the depth,
and that will give you a volume in cubic metres.
A tip for ordering mulch like this -
if you wanted to put some of that over a garden bed,
the general rule of thumb is that you'd put about 50mm.
Now, back to our equation.
50mm equates to 0.05 of a metre.
So if you multiply 0.05, your depth, times your length and your width,
that will give you the amount of mulch you need to order
in cubic metres.
And take into account that different materials have different weights.
For example, a cubic metre of soil in weight
is very different to a cubic metre of mulch.
Now, while they may have the same volume,
the soil will weigh a lot more than the mulch,
and this will affect the overall weight, the tonnage,
and as a result, the transport costs.
So when you speak to your landscape supplier,
they can help you and make the correct calculation
so you buy what you need.
Timber is used in so many outdoor structures.
There's pergolas, retaining walls, garden beds, decking.
But the thing you need to ask yourself
if you're gonna use timber outside
is what do I want to use it for?
Is it going to be holding back soil?
Is it going to be buried in the ground
so it needs to be more durable over time?
Or is it purely decorative, such as an exposed beam?
For consistency, the standard length of new timbers
are modelled off the old original railway sleepers like these -
2,400 mil or 2.4 metres.
There's hardwood and softwood sleepers.
Most of the softwoods you can buy are pine.
Pine trees are quick to grow and harvest,
which makes them, generally speaking, the cheapest option.
When it comes to treated or non-treated,
some timbers, like a lot of the pine, is treated with a chemical compound
to make it more resilient to weathering, fungal and insect attack.
Be cautious about using treated timber
in your veggie beds or compost bays.
Many of the treatments are toxic
and can slowly leach out into the soil over time,
and lots of old railway sleepers were also treated.
So the best bet is do a little bit of homework.
Hardwoods like eucalypts and rainforest timbers are slow growers.
They take decades to build up the wood density
that makes them sought after
for their strength, durability and beauty.
Some hardwoods you can buy are responsibly grown
and harvested in a way that has a lower impact
on the forest ecosystems they're taken from.
Even better, look out for recycled and salvaged hardwood.
There's so much second-hand quality timber
that ends up going to landfill.
What you need to do is look out for online places,
like buy, swap and share pages.
There's also specialist timber resellers
that love that timber and don't want to see it go to landfill.
And, of course, demolition contractors, who have got so much,
they don't know where to store it.
Again, if you're going to use second-hand and recycled materials,
do that little bit of homework to make sure that it's safe
if you want to put it to use in a veggie patch or a compost pile.
Also, look out for locally sourced materials.
Where I am, Sydney's built on sandstone,
but in other places, it will be different.
Bluestone, for example, is synonymous with Melbourne landscaping.
This rough-split sandstone flagging is lovely in gardens
because it has that natural unlevel feel about it.
Of course you can shape it a little bit yourself
and break up the pieces on site as you build with it.
But if you wanted to make a staircase
or a nice flat courtyard pavement or a driveway,
you can get this sort of stone
perfectly sawn-cut just like a brick or paver.
And that way, you get that effect of the sandstone.
A little bit or a lot of landscaping
can make all the difference in an outdoor space.
Get out and get growing your landscape ideas this weekend.