This yard had two distinctive characteristics – flat and steep! There were awkward level changes and angles throughout.

Melissa’s biggest challenge with her garden was that it wasn’t established at all, with poor rocky clay soil, steep slopes and nothing planted.

Melissa needed a low maintenance, neat garden that grew hedges quickly.

All of these things needed to be addressed. But to make sure it wasn’t just functional, the design also needed to look good.

The first solution was to plant a screening hedge to break the overbearing height and separate the back yard into distinct spaces.

She focused on soil health to create beautiful lawns for the children to play on.

Steep slopes are often neglected – they’re sometimes just too hard to fix. Melissa has left them as they are for the moment and will probably plant up later with native flaxes and bush.

But the new hedge already creates a boundary enclosure around the lawn area and hides the shed.

Neighbours also noticed an huge improvement in the fruit and veg yield! The honey was used to make soaps and salves - or a real treat to eat too!

Adding steps to access the back slopes will invite you to travel from the lawn to discover the native bush framing the garden and the beehives.

By applying what she learnt on the course, Melissa has done a really great job, bringing a well laid out and beautiful garden to a really difficult site.