Building a new home is an exciting time with many decisions to be made.
To ensure handover day is all that you dreamed of, take a look at our 5 Must Knows Before Building Your Greatest Asset. Good planning ensures you experience the joy of walking through the front door of your new home knowing you ticked all the boxes.
1. Consider engaging an Independent Building Certifier.
If this is your first time building a home then you have a lot to manage already. Ensuring your builder is doing the right thing is hardly something you’re qualified to oversee. For the money invested, having someone watching your back is not only comforting but keeps your builder on their toes. This ensures quality workmanship and attention to timelines. Investing in an independent certifier could well save you a lot of stress during the build. Tackling issues at various stages reduces completion date blow outs. This helps avoid ongoing storage costs or break lease fees, should you be currently renting a property.
2. Have an allocated budget for your landscaping = 10-20% of your build costs.
There are always blow outs during a build and if you end up with money left over then you can breath easy. Most residential building packages will include a landscaping component for the front garden. If not, you may be governed by time restrictions, under a covenant, to have the landscaping completed within a certain time frame. Often the back garden is not included, leaving you staring at an empty canvas. The cost of installing fencing, retaining walls, water tanks, garden sheds, garden beds and turf, all add up. Having a Garden Design Plan, once your house plans have council approval, will save you time & money in the long run. Landscaping Plans enable you to navigate anything that may come up during the build process.
3. Have a plan but be prepared to be flexible.
Expect the unexpected and your building & landscaping process will be a lot less stressful. When you have many contractors working on the one build, often communications can fail. This can be stressful, seeing you having to deal with a situation that you didn’t anticipate. When the machinist digging your pool, months after you’ve moved in, hits pipework, then a plan B is needed. It can be easy to be pushed into a quick decision to keep things moving. A decision you may regret for many years to come.
One important thing to remember is that 99% of errors can be corrected. Most things are not set in concrete as such… it just costs more money. Staring at a pool that you didn’t want in that particular position is a decision that can not be changed. However, having a Landscaping Plan helps alleviate these issues occurring. That said, don’t hesitate to call a plumber to relocate the pipework so you can position the pool where it was meant to go in the first place. It will be money well spent.
4. Don’t rush in and lay thousands of dollars of turf.
One of the biggest mistakes I see new homeowners make, is laying thousands of dollars of turf. Inevitably only to see it dug up when the landscape design is implemented. Having that allocated budget mentioned above, allows you to implement your garden design promptly. This ensures turf is only laid at the end of the landscaping process, in the areas left over after garden beds, sheds, pool etc., have been installed. Remember, living long term with a mud or dust pit is no fun either, so plan carefully and budget wisely.
5. Choosing the right plant selection will save you time & money.
Getting the plant selection right for your Landscape Design could well be the hardest thing to do successfully. Investing some money to get the right advice will save you time & money in the long run. Establishing the garden of your dreams takes time and needless setbacks from choosing the wrong plants can be avoided. You can spend hours of your time researching plants however knowing if they are being grown locally is another thing. Creating a stunning, low maintenance garden, is all about knowing which plants work in your garden.
Engage a Landscape Designer for a more complex design, or utilise Garden Bed Plans that show you what to plant and where to plant it, in the garden bed area. Ezyplant provides access to hundreds of professionally designed Garden Bed Plans that include plant species that thrive in your garden. No matter where you are located in Australia, we have Garden Bed Plans that include readily available plant species that are hardy and thrive. This ensures you get it right the first time by taking the guess work out of choosing the right plants for your landscape design.
Need some help getting started?
Here at Ezyplant, we provide a access to our range of Garden Bed Plans via our “Essential” & “Supported” Landscape Design Packages. You also get a copy of our step by step guide, valuable resources, & one on one support, if you need it. If you require a more complex design, then our “Complete” Landscape Design Package includes Consultation time & customised Landscaping Plans. No matter where you are in a Australia, we have online Landscape Design Packages with plant selection that thrives in your garden.
Save Time & Money – Get It Right The First Time With Ezyplant’s Landscape Design Packages.
**The points above are indicative and not exhaustive of everything that you need or may want to take into consideration.**
