Two Rocks Family Garden
From Bushland Building Site to a Garden That Flows
Project Overview
When the house was being built, the block was still raw bushland: sand, cap rock and dust, with construction access cutting straight through what would eventually become the garden. The brief was to hold onto everything that made the site special, the native bushland and the birds it attracted, while building a garden the family could actually live in.
The Client Brief
Keep the natural bushland and bird-attracting plants intact wherever possible. Build open entertaining areas that could handle a crowd. Add a fire pit, a pool with a cabana, and pool fencing that met the brief without dominating the space. Bring in paving, composite decking, a proper lawn and a reticulation system that could support all of it. And through all of that, keep the garden and the bushland feeling like one space, not two.
The Challenges
This wasn’t a blank canvas project. Every stage had to work around an active build, and around bushland worth protecting rather than clearing.
- The garden had to be built around an active construction site, not after it
- Retaining work needed to start before the house did, purely for site access, then wait months to be finished once the pad and brickwork were in
- Every stage had to work around whatever the builders needed access to next
- Sand and dust management was constant, with no established garden yet to hold the site together
- Retaining the existing bushland and bird-attracting planting meant working carefully around what was already there instead of clearing and starting again
- Coordinating retaining, bore and irrigation, decking, paving and pool fencing across a build that ran in stages, not in one continuous run
Scope of Works
The work was split across structural, entertaining and planting stages, each one timed to fit around what the build needed next.
Site Preparation & Structural Works
Retaining walls were built in two passes: an initial section ahead of the house build to create access, then the front stairs and remaining wall once the pad and brickwork were finished. A bore and irrigation system were installed to support the lawn and garden beds long term. Paving, composite decking, pathways and edging were added in stages as each part of the block became available to work in.
Outdoor Living & Functional Zones
A fire pit and a pool area with cabana were built as the anchor points for entertaining. Pool fencing was installed to meet requirements without closing the space in. Garden lighting was added through the entertaining zones, and internal stone cladding was fitted around the fireplace to tie the indoor and outdoor living areas together.
Planting & Softscaping
Established bushland and bird-attracting species were retained and worked around rather than cleared. New lawn and garden beds were added to expand the usable outdoor space, planted to sit alongside the existing bush rather than replace it. Water features are planned as a future addition to the space.
Timeline & Workflow
This wasn’t a single continuous build. It ran in stages over several years, tied directly to the progress of the house. Retaining started before construction began, purely to create site access. The remaining sections, including the front stairs, were completed once the pad and brickwork were done. The rest of the landscaping was picked up and put down repeatedly in the gaps between build stages, with the final work completed once the house itself was finished.
The Transformation
What started as bare bush and building access is now a garden that doesn’t look staged at all.
- A garden that reads as one continuous space, with lawn and garden beds flowing directly into the retained bushland instead of stopping at a hard edge
- A significant expansion of usable lawn and garden area from what was raw bush and building site
- Sand and dust brought under control through staged retaining, irrigation and planting
- A fire pit and pool area with cabana built for entertaining, not just for show
- Pool fencing that meets the requirements without cutting the space in half
- A property that still feels like it belongs to the bush it was built in, rather than one that replaced it
Added Value
Because the bushland and its bird life were protected through the build rather than cleared for it, the property keeps a natural character that’s genuinely difficult to recreate once it’s gone. Combined with a bore and irrigation system built to support the garden long-term, it’s a space designed to mature and stay low-maintenance, not one that needs to be redone in five years.
Considering A Transformation of Your Own?
Most gardens don’t get built in one clean run. Yours might be going up around a house that’s still under construction, working in stages, fitting around trades or holding onto a patch of bush you don’t want to lose along the way. That’s exactly the kind of project we’re built for.
Whether you’re starting from bare sand, an established block that’s ready for a rework, or a build that’s still a year or two from finished, we’ll sit down with you on site, work out what’s actually possible for your block, and build a plan that fits how your project needs to run, not the other way around.
To kickstart a landscaping project of your own, get in touch with our team today. We’d love to explore the possibilities for your home.