The weather will be warming up soon and you’ll be heading outdoors with family, friends, or even by yourself. But how inviting will your backyard be looking after a few months of hibernation? Here are some trends to get on top of before spring is sprung.

Split level yards

Whether you’ve got a big yard, small yard, sloping yard, you can have a split level yard.

If you have a small yard, a split level yard can maximise the ground space you have available by adding vertical layers to your garden.

Retaining walls make sloping yards, once inaccessible, dangerous or prone to flooding, a thing of the past. With some smart engineering, now you can access all areas!

If you have a rather large block and you want to reduce the mowing, weeding and general gardening, while increasing the value of your house by adding square metres to the floor plan.

How? Get on deck!

And that brings us to our next point…

Outdoor entertaining

In 2012, domain.com.au estimated that adding a deck could increase a property’s value by up to $100,000. Given how the property market has skyrocketed since, it’s probably more now.

Cheaper than adding a large extension to your home, decking is the most cost effective and time efficient method of adding square metres to your home.

If you home lends itself to it, create flow between internal and external spaces by having your outdoor living area lead off an indoor entertaining area. You’ll get more use of the deck if it’s accessible from a communal space.

Concrete finishes

A natural and durable material, concrete lends itself to a variety of forms and finishes – sandblasted, honed, burnished – for a contemporary industrial yet refined feel. Use it instead of the traditional tile or pavers for walls, floors and other landscaping features.

About the author: Providing complete landscaping services to residential and commercial clients for more than 10 years, Empire Walls are the retaining wall specialists in Melbourne and the Mornington Peninsula. We ensure each client receives personalised service, their retaining wall is fit for purpose and we guarantee our retaining walls from the ground up. Retaining walls are just the start – offered as part of our complete landscaping services.

• For examples of our work, please refer to the Empire Retaining Walls online ‘Portfolio’. 
• If you’re after a service not listed here, refer to this listfor details of our complete landscaping services.
• For more information/a free quote, call Adam on 0421 573 001 or email empirewalls@live.com.au.
• For free landscaping tips and to stay in touch, follow us on Facebook.

1. Don’t be fooled into thinking you’ll save money by reading some DIY articles online;
2. Don’t think that watching a YouTube tutorial makes you an expert;
3. Don’t go to a commercial hardware store and think you’re going to get the materials and advice you need.

Now we’re not talking about a little edging around your flower bed. We’re talking about retaining walls intended to withstand the pressure of soil and water and other loads.

A retaining wall is a specially engineered stabilising structure. If not properly installed, the stability and longevity of the retaining wall is called into question.

If you do it yourself, how do you guarantee the structural integrity and safety of the wall? You can’t, which means you could be putting people, property and even pets at risk. If it should fail significant damage may follow so trying to cut costs could end up being costly.

Remember professionals like Empire Retaining Walls offer free consultations/quotes.

Here’s what you should be doing:

1. Firstly, you need to consider whether you’re choosing the right kind of retaining wall. Google isn’t going to be able to provide you with a professional recommendation based on your particular specifications. You need to speak to an expert.
2. Secondly, you need to ensure there’s effective drainage. Without it pressure will build up behind the wall. This may create bulging, cracking and eventually, collapse. Well-designed retaining walls will not tip over and will support, not only the earth behind the wall, but any loads that may be applied – cars for example.
3. Basically, if you’re installing a retaining wall, always seek expert advice. Look for someone who is experienced working with engineering specs and guarantees their work from the ground up, like Empire Retaining Walls.

About Empire Retaining Walls

Empire Retaining Walls specialise in – you guessed it! – retaining walls; provided independent or as part of our complete landscaping services across Melbourne and the Mornington Peninsula. Empire Retaining Walls has been a trusted service provider of residential and commercial clients, including builders and architects, for almost 10 years. Headed up by Frankston local Adam Ilic, who is supported by a small but experienced team, Empire Retaining Walls services the following suburbs>

Winter is coming. It’s going to be cold, wet and you probably will retreat inside. But here are some winter garden care tips to help you enjoy the crisp great outdoors and ensure your garden is looking its best come spring.

Caring for your lawn

Aerate your soil: If the soil has any drainage problems, winter is the season when they’ll expose themselves. Use a garden fork to push vertical holes into heavy soils.

Increase mowing height: As daylight hours decrease so does the ability of lawns to photosynthesise, by increasing mowing heights and leaving more green leaf we increase the food supply to the grass.

Fertilise your lawn: Put down a high quality winter fertiliser in May. Winter fertilisers contain higher levels of Iron which is essential for good lawn health through Winter. The next application of Winter fertiliser should be in July.

General winter garden care

Winter is the perfect time of year to try and remove as many competitors as possible before the weather starts warming up again.

Where possible, bring tropical plants into a protected space – your patio for example. Or construct frames around the plants that are likely to be damaged by the cold or frosts.

Keeping some colour

Plant up a couple of pots with annuals. Choose pansies or polyanthus that are already in flower for an instant show. Water well after planting and keep in bloom by deadheading and watering every 10 days with a liquid plant food.

Reduce watering of potted plants and take the chill off tap water by mixing in a small amount of hot water. It shouldn’t feel warm – just slightly tepid to the touch. This means it won’t shock the roots so much.

Need a hand? We can help you all year long, Learn about our complete landscaping services at www.empirewalls.com.au.

Retaining walls are specially engineered stabilising structures, designed to hold sloping soil in place. One of the most important factors, but certainly not the only one, to ensuring a safe and stable structure is correct retaining wall drainage.

What happens without effective retaining wall drainage?

Without effective retaining wall drainage, pressure will build up behind the wall. This may create bulging, cracking and eventually, collapse. Well-designed retaining walls will not tip over and will support, not only the earth behind the wall, but any loads that may be applied – cars for example.

Water build-up behind a retaining wall will increase the lateral load on the wall and therefore the risk of structural integrity being compromised.

What are some options for improving retaining wall drainage?

There are quite a few variations in design that will prevent water build-up behind, which will be dependent on the purpose and location of the wall, among other circumstances.

Sometimes, there is an opportunity for gravel backfill. Other times, there may be an opportunity to install a pipe that feeds into a stormwater drain. Perhaps weep holes will be integrated to help water drain out from behind the wall.

There may also be times when providing adequate drainage isn’t enough to prevent water from migrating through a retaining wall. Water in the wall can create a host of problems – for example, steel supporting rods may corrode over time. Retaining wall waterproofing may, in some instances, need to be considered.

Why should retaining wall drainage should be left to the experts?

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again, retaining walls are not a DIY job. If a retaining wall should fail, and here are some signs that one might, significant damage and even injury may result.

Retaining wall drainage is just one of many important safety considerations Google can’t make you an expert in.

That’s why you should call in the experts – experts that do this every day; experts that guarantee their work from the ground up; experts like Empire Retaining Walls and Landscaping who have been servicing residential, commercial and industrial clients around Melbourne and the Mornington Peninsula for more than 10 years.

Contact us for a free quote and consultation today.

1. It’s more than a wall. Retaining walls are primarily functional but can double as a fashionable landscaping feature, especially if accompanied by low garden walls and edging with the same finish. There are lots of retaining wall landscaping ideas out there worthy of consideration.
2. You’re spoilt for choice. When it comes to retaining walls, there’s something to suit all styles – timber, concrete sleeper, reinforced besser block, brick, stack stone, segmental, rendered, the list goes on! Of course you need to consider which materials are best suited to your specific wants and needs.
3. They’re great for creating more space in small areas. Yes, retaining walls are more commonly seen in large, sloping yards. But they’re fabulous in small spaces too! Maximise the ground space you have by adding vertical layers to your garden. And ad stairs into the retaining wall design to open up even more opportunity. Here’s some inspiration.
4. DIY is not advised! Fundamentally, all retaining walls are stablising structures primarily designed and constructed to support soil at a slope steeper than can naturally be supported. It is a specially engineered stabilising structure. As a result, if the retaining wall should fail, significant damage can follow. For this reason DIY jobs are definitely not advised!
5. There are warning signs your retaining wall needs to be repaired or replaced. These include tilting, sloping, cracks and crevices in the wall or adjacent flooring, crumbling of the surface of the wall, or one section becoming separated from the surrounding structure. Do not ignore the signs – call in experts who can access the best way to proceed.

About Empire Walls

Providing complete landscaping services to residential and commercial clients for more than 10 years, Empire Walls are the retaining wall specialists in Melbourne and the Mornington Peninsula. We ensure each client receives personalised service, their retaining wall is fit for purpose and we guarantee our retaining walls from the ground up. Retaining walls are just the start – offered as part of our complete landscaping services.

For examples of our work or If you’re after a service not listed here, please see www.empirewalls.com.au.

For more information and/or a free quote, call Adam on 0421 573 001 or email empirewalls@live.com.au.

For free landscaping tips and to stay in touch, follow us on Facebook.

Height

If you need to take things up a notch, retaining wall fences are the way to go.

Sight

Not only will a retaining wall fence improve your privacy, it will also block unattractive views… like that couple in the matching jogging outfits that go for a run every morning, while you’re chowing down on your second bacon and egg roll. You don’t need that kind of negativity in your life. Put up a retaining wall fence and block them out.

Sound

A retaining wall fence will reduce the noise you’ll hear from the road … like the pavement pounding that perfect suburban couple is participating in, but also cars, bikes, barking dogs, screaming children and the like.

Strength

Retaining wall fences are more durable than the average fence and will withstand the test of time, especially if you have them installed by someone who guarantees their retaining walls from the ground up … like us!

Style

Retaining wall fences certainly can make a statement, particularly with the right finish … rendered in this case.

Exterior facade of a contemporary Australian home near the beach.

About the author: Providing complete landscaping services to residential and commercial clients for more than 10 years, Empire Walls are the retaining wall specialists in Melbourne and the Mornington Peninsula. We ensure each client receives personalised service, their retaining wall is fit for purpose and we guarantee our retaining walls from the ground up. Retaining walls are just the start – offered as part of our complete landscaping services.

• For examples of our work, please refer to the Empire Retaining Walls online ‘Portfolio’. 
• If you’re after a service not listed here, refer to this listfor details of our complete landscaping services.
• For more information/a free quote, call Adam on 0421 573 001 or email empirewalls@live.com.au.
• For free landscaping tips and to stay in touch, follow us on Facebook.

First impressions are important. And since your front yard is the first thing people see – whether they are coming to visit, or to inspect your property for purchase or lease – here are a few ideas landscaping ideas for your front yard, so you can make a positive first impression.

Install a fence

Other than increasing street appeal, other benefits include:

* Increased child and pet safety

* Block unattractive views

* Increased privacy

* Reduced noise

* Creates a sense of space

* Evokes a sense of security

And it doesn’t need to be a traditional, whimsical, white picket fence. Make a statement with a strong, durable retaining wall – although that could probably be incorporated if you wanted!

Here are some pictures to inspire you.

Please note, council approval may be required.

Make an entrance

If your house lends itself to it and you don’t already have one, install a front landing.

Decorate it with a small outdoor setting and some pot plants to create a warm, welcoming entrance to your home.

Protect it from the elements by installing an awning, so you can use it all year around. Even enclose it with some railings so as to again:

* Increase child and pet safety

* Create a sense of space

* Evoke a sense of security

Best of all you’ve got an awesome new outdoor entertainment area! If someone pops over unannounced and the house is a mess, you can have a cuppa outside and not feel any less the entertainer.

Or you could go for a statement entrance like this.

Easy care lawns and gardens

If you’re looking for designer appeal at a fraction of the cost and also without the crazy maintenance schedule, consider the following:

* If your lawn is dead, dying or patchy as hell, consider installing hardy new turf. The best time to do this is towards the end of winter, start of spring.

* Minimise the number of plant species in your garden to make it easy to care for and to give a more uniform look.

* Install an irrigation system – especially if you have a tendency not to water your plants and let them all die.

* Lay down some wood chip – this will help your plants retain water, while also keeping weeds at bay.

About the author: Providing complete landscaping services to residential and commercial clients for more than 10 years, Empire Walls are the retaining wall specialists in Melbourne and the Mornington Peninsula. We ensure each client receives personalised service, their retaining wall is fit for purpose and we guarantee our retaining walls from the ground up. Retaining walls are just the start – offered as part of our complete landscaping services.

• For examples of our work, please refer to the Empire Retaining Walls online ‘Portfolio’. 
• If you’re after a service not listed here, refer to this list for details of our complete landscaping services.
• For more information/a free quote, call Adam on 0421 573 001 or email empirewalls@live.com.au.
• For free landscaping tips and to stay in touch, follow us on Facebook.

Sloping yards can present landscaping difficulties, no doubt. But they also embody plenty of potential, if you know how to plan the landscaping design just right.

Two of the biggest issues you face when you have a sloping block of land are:

• Flooding
• Accessibility

Here we consider how you can turn a landscaping nightmare into a dream.

Decking

A neglected sloping garden is a dead space. Adding a deck onto a communal living area adds square metres, and therefore value, to your home.

Add some decorative yet practical railings and you’ve got a safe, accessible space for your children, pets and any elderly or disabled family members – even friends who’ve had a few drinks.

Enjoy an elevated view and, if you’re worried about privacy or exposure to the elements, install a roof and some blinds, making it more than a deck – but an outdoor room.

Retaining walls

If your home is located in an area of difficult terrain, it is essential to strengthen the slopes – especially if that area is prone to wet weather.

Retaining walls are the obvious choice for such sloping plots and allow you to eliminate the problem with soil erosion.

You’ll find a lot of DIY articles on how to build retaining walls on the internet, but as always, we advise against it. A retaining wall is a specially engineered stabilising structure. If it should fail significant damage may follow so trying to cut costs could end up being costly.

Retaining walls are also a powerful element in landscape design, allowing landscapers to make the best of different level heights in the garden. Gorgeous flower beds that are located on higher ground levels look particularly beautiful.

Planting

Some of the best plants for a slope are ground covers that tend to root along the length of their stems, forming a mat.

Deep-rooted plants, ornamental grasses, ground cover roses and shrubs are also a good choice.

Avoid planting shallow rooted trees on a slope, as the risk of toppling is too great.

For obligation free consultations, quotes and advice on any or all of the above, call Empire Retaining Walls & Landscaping on 0421 573 001. We offer services in these areas>

Structural tips

Tiered gardens

Maximise the ground space you have available by adding vertical layers to your garden. Retaining walls are especially fabulous for this. Remember they do retain heavy soil behind them, so have them installed by a retaining wall expert, to avoid any risk associated with collapse, which could be pretty devastating in a smaller space.

Take it up a step

If you do install a retaining wall, it can be handy to maintain access to the tiers so that you can easily conduct garden maintenance – planting, weeding, etc.- and the best way to do this is by adding some stairs as part of your retaining wall design. Not only will they be practical, they will provide some additional seating and become the focus point of your landscape.

Create an outdoor entertainment area

If you’ve added layers to your garden by installing a retaining wall will often create some additional space for a small outdoor entertaining area. Think about installing some brickwork or decking – somewhere you can pop a cute outdoor dining set, have a coffee, glass of wine or beer and enjoy the scenery.

Decorative tips

Add some extra height

While we’re talking about adding height, consider a vertical garden. Something that will flower all year and spill over the edges will look fabulous. Not much of a green thumb? Buy some fake greenery. Another enchanting option is succulent wall art.

Fake it

Photo sourced from the Liz Marie Blog, via Country Living

While we’re talking outdoor entertaining areas – if your yard is a little too small for a real lawn, consider a faux grass rug. Offering the illusion of a luscious green lawn while also making the space look bigger, pop your faux grass rug under your outdoor dining table or between a couple of outdoor chairs of the ultimate outdoor living experience.

About Empire Walls

Providing complete landscaping services to residential and commercial clients for more than 10 years, Empire Walls are the retaining wall specialists in Melbourne and the Mornington Peninsula. We ensure each client receives personalised service, their retaining wall is fit for purpose and we guarantee our retaining walls from the ground up. Retaining walls are just the start – offered as part of our complete landscaping services.

For examples of our work or If you’re after a service not listed here, please see www.empirewalls.com.au.

For more information and/or a free quote, call Adam on 0421 573 001 or email empirewalls@live.com.au.

For free landscaping tips and to stay in touch, follow us on Facebook.

Landscaping idea 1: 

Level up

Ideal if you have an already sloping backyard, but also great for those who want to break up large areas of lawn.

Think raised garden beds…Not the aluminium Bunnings type, but a true landscaping feature.

Retaining walls can be designed and installed in a variety of aesthetically pleasing materials suited to your surroundings.

Landscaping idea 2:

Level out

Retaining walls make sloping yards, once inaccessible, dangerous or prone to flooding, a thing of the past.

Not just a practical solution; as shown (above), retaining walls are great landscaping features.

However, these are stabilising structures that need to be correctly engineered and installed to withstand the pressure of the soil they retain. Avoid DIY jobs.

Landscaping idea 3:

Step up

If you want raised areas, like those shown above, to remain accessible, stairs are a fabulous idea.

Not only will they allow you to make the most of your space, they will quickly become the focal point of your yard.

They may even lead to your outdoor entertaining area, which brings us to our next point…

Landscaping idea 4:

Entertain outdoors

If you have the space, those stairs could lead you up the garden path to a place that used to be inaccessible but is now a small sanctuary or fabulous outdoor entertaining area.

Imagine sitting here, in the sun, reading a book, cup of tea in hand, or roasting marshmallows in the fire with friends, while sipping wine.

Bliss!

Landscaping idea 5:

Create an outdoor living space

Reduce the mowing, weeding and general gardening, while increasing the value of your house by adding square metres to the floor plan. How? Get on deck!

If you home lends itself to it, create flow between internal and external spaces by having your outdoor living area lead off an indoor entertaining area. You’ll get more use of the deck if it’s accessible from a communal space.

Close it in, maybe with bistro binds, so you can still appreciate the great outdoors, and you basically have a whole other room happening!

About Empire Walls

Providing complete landscaping services to residential and commercial clients for more than 10 years, Empire Walls are the retaining wall specialists in Melbourne and the Mornington Peninsula. We ensure each client receives personalised service, their retaining wall is fit for purpose and we guarantee our retaining walls from the ground up. Retaining walls are just the start – offered as part of our complete landscaping services.

For examples of our work or If you’re after a service not listed here, please see www.empirewalls.com.au.

For more information and/or a free quote, call Adam on 0421 573 001 or email empirewalls@live.com.au.

For free landscaping tips and to stay in touch, follow us on Facebook.