Leading up from the drive on the left, there is a front deck. Which spans half the width of the house and sits in front of the patio sliders. Down the right hand side of this deck and the house is a strip of land, running the depth of the house, at about 5 metres in width. It is scrappy, messy land that I am tempted to describe as wasteland. What the heck! I will.

Out the rear of the house is a large rear deck, which extends round to the front left, by the drive. the fourth ‘garden’ is truly that. A large amount of native bushland. Very green.

Of the four, it is the messy wasteland that I want to sort out first. Not only is it a complete waste of land, but also it looks messy and depressing. Nothing helps add value to a home more than the first impression on offer, and being at the front of the section, this plays a very big part in the first impressions of the house.

A brief dig under the surface of the grass has revealed a load of stones, which have presumably been there since the house was built, put down to support vehicles and machinery used during the building.

I want to tidy up this area and cultivate it with plants and vegetables. It is sloping down a hill, so I will have to section off parts and fill and level with soil and compost. Luckily there is plenty of wood under the house that will do for sections. The pebbles will have to go, but the topsoil looks in a good state. The shed is ok for now, but will definitely be replaced with something that can stand up straight when the budget allows.

To allow enough sunlight in to this area, the development options are sadly limited to little more than a driveway on this side. There is a half-hearted attempt at a driveway already there, but we are thinking two rough looking brick lines may look nice. Or perhaps that could be the use for all this leftover gravel?

The improvements have got to allow access under the house, which, as you can see here, won’t be too much of an issue. It also has to allow access to the septic tank, located under the plywood cover halfway up. I have asked a number of people about the septic tank and the dangers associated with its proximity to the vegetable garden, but nobody has expressed concern. Apparently they are located too deep in the ground for any hygiene issues.

One last thing, you may have spotted in the rear of two of the pictures a large blue barrel. That’s our compost bin, which I must confess, I produced within 48 hours of living in the house. It’s doing a grand job and I will show you how to make your own very soon.