$1500 Courtyard Makeover

This patch, accessed from the living room via a sliding door on the eastern side of the apartment, had real potential to become a haven for entertaining and relaxing.

The makeover plan

After scouring magazines for ideas, the owners came up with a wishlist and sketched out a rough plan.

1. Improve the view from all angles of the yard, including the living area, by screening the block wall, growing trees and fragrant plants and moving the water feature.

2. Create movement for an indoor-outdoor flow with a paved area directly outside the living room. It can also be accessed by a path down the side of the apartment.

3. Shelter from summer heat by entirely covering the paved area with shade using a four-metre square umbrella that can be moved and stored during winter.

4. A place for pets as two pit bull terriers need a grassy area with secure fencing and raised dog-proof gardens.

Excavating the yard

There was room for machine access down the side so a skid steer loader and truck were hired to level the yard and take away the waste.

Hire equipment from machinery rental places such as Kennards Hire (www.kennardshire.com.au). A small skid steer loader costs about $400 a day plus more to have the larger skid steer loader delivered on a truck. You can operate these machines without a special licence as long as it’s on your own land. Mini loaders cost about $295, and mini excavators around $450 a day.

Finish the block wall

The block retaining wall of the existing raised garden was six metres long and open ended. It had been built with dry-stack concrete blocks, with interlocking lips at the back. There were enough leftover to close the wall with a gentle curve.

A curved 200mm-deep trench was dug and filled with roadbase, then tamped with a compacting plate.

The base course of dry-stack blocks was set level on a mortar mix of paving sand and cement to match the existing blocks, and the last blocks were cut to fit using an angle grinder fitted with a masonry blade.

Bringing in the dirt

The garden needed extra soil, as did the underlay for the new Sir Walter buffalo turf, which performs best on light, sandy soils.

Rather than have different mixes delivered, an organic soil loam, about $65 per cubic metre, was ordered.

The lawn area was clay-based so an application of lime and gypsum was spread at a kilo per square metre and topped with coarse sand to help level it. Then the soil was barrowed in to fill the garden, and spread 50mm thick over the lawn area and screeded with an aluminium straightedge.

Laying the turf

The Sir Walter, a soft-leaf buffalo turf, about $8 per square metre, was delivered in rolls that cover a square metre each, taking 25 rolls to cover the courtyard. They were unrolled into straight lines with the edges butted tightly and the ends trimmed level with a spade.

A turf roller, hired for $30 a day, helped to settle the lawn, which was kept moist for the first few weeks. lawn care requires fertilising four weeks after being laid with a complete lawn food, and leaving another month before cutting to leave the leaf length at least 50mm long.

Attaching wall screens

The 2.4 metre-high block masonry wall at the rear of the yard was very damp so it was waterproofed before painting.

Extra effect was added with four 1800 x 900 x 30mm plantation hardwood slat screens from Bunnings Warehouse, $90 each, that were already oiled and didn’t need to be treated for weatherproofing.

They were supported on bricks while three 5mm-diameter holes were drilled across the top and base plus four down each side. A 5mm masonry bit with the drill on hammer setting made 75mm deep holes through the holes into the wall, plastic spaghetti pushed through and screens secured using 65mm x 8g stainless-steel decking screws.