Services

Australian plant species have evolved to thrive in local soil and climate for millions of years.  Because of their practical suitability, most Rivulet designs will make use of this amazing natural heritage, and include them.  You can have a garden full of interesting species from around Western Australia and beyond or even just species indigenous to your particular area.  We also can plant to regenerate remnant bushland.

Do you love getting visits from native wildlife?  Butterflies and nectar-eating birds visiting your garden in the morning?  Frogs in chorus at night?  We can create a range of features to provide habitats for wildlife such as wetlands, ponds, bird-baths, lizard-rockeries, nesting-boxes for cockatoos or even shelter-boxes for small bats!

In 1918, Winston Churchill was quoted saying “War is the natural occupation of man… War –and gardening!”  Fortunately, this decade, gardening to grow food is a respectable past-time for men, women and children of all ages.  If you dream of using your garden to produce fresh fruit, vegetables or eggs, then do heed the call to this primal instinct.  Whether you have a courtyard or suburban block it may be worth considering growing dwarf fruit-tree varieties, constructing trellises and raised vegetable beds, composting your kitchen waste, or building a chicken pen.

It may be the case that you simply want a beautiful garden to relax in or entertain guests.  Or perhaps it needs to be a fantastic playground for children or pets, capable of withstanding boisterous activity!  Whatever functions the outdoor space must serve, we can custom-design a garden for you.

Want to get advice on exactly how to keep your garden looking good?  We can show you how to prune, fertilise and manage weeds efficiently.  If you want to develop your garden, we can also recommend plants appropriate for the site’s conditions; in particular species that have low water use and low maintenance requirements.

Combining various amendments into soil will make it far better retain water and nutrients available to plants.  This can reduce your water budget significantly and improve plant health.  Perth soils are typically sandy and plants benefit greatly from soil improvement.  A dazzling variety of amendments are now available commercially, and the quantities of amendments used can vary with the type of garden.  Generally, however, the use of a mineral clay and some organic matter (i.e. compost or manure) works wonders.  The amendments are mixed into the topsoil by hand, or for cleared areas a rotary hoe can be used.

We regard waterwise irrigation as an important part of a landscape.  In addition to installing systems we can repair or maintain sprinklers, pipes, valves and controllers.

It’s a sobering statistic that an average sized garden can easily contribute half of a household’s water budget.   This has led people to invest in more efficient forms of irrigation in recent years.  Perhaps the most significant change has been the use of dripline.  If you haven’t noticed it in many places yet, it may be because these narrow tubes are usually covered over by mulch.  Laid at even intervals, they emit precise amounts of water directly to the surface of the soil.  Unlike spray from sprinklers, the water from driplines does not get carried away by the wind, blocked by plant growth or soaked up by mulch.  For these reasons we advocate installing these ‘rivulets in a tube’ to irrigate garden beds.

At Rivulet Landscapes we can provide all the components that make a garden waterwise.  Strategies to complement your irrigation system include the following:

Firstly, one of the most important ways of maximising water-efficiency, is adequate soil improvement.  This will help any sort of irrigation to infiltrate the soil and be retained, rather than washing away as surface run-off.

Secondly, mulching will greatly reduce the evaporation of moisture from the soil.  It allows biological activity to continue in the topsoil during the hotter months of the year, which would otherwise be baked in the sun.

·        Finally, so much rainwater falling on a property disappears down sumps and stormwater drains.  Given that rain is a free gift from the sky, it’s a shame how little this resource is used. Instead it can be diverted from downpipes onto planted areas, into tanks for later use, or even channeled to created wetlands for gradual infiltration into the surrounding soil.  This ‘raingarden‘ concept, developed by progressive gardeners over previous decades, deserves to be used more widely in Perth.

Need to find the right component to set the scene?  We can source outdoor artworks, semi-mature plants, bench-seats, lighting and other materials such as stone or mulch.

Lay the foundations to enjoy your outdoor area –paths, patios or terraces.  We do small-scale limestone work and paving, or can contract and supervise larger projects.

Do you want a small lawn installed or to replace your existing lawn with a modern waterwise turf?  Or do you want your existing lawn ripped out and replaced with something else entirely?  Some lawns, especially couch, can be difficult to remove successfully.   Rivulet can remove old lawn permanently, prepare the soil, install efficient irrigation and roll out a new lawn for you to enjoy.

Artificial turf is not a service we offer.  Have some style!  Contrast for yourself how well living lawn reduces Summer temperature, cleans itself and is a joy to touch.

We offer expert pruning of trees, shrubs and hedges.  Additionally we can schedule fertilising in the correct seasons, according to a plant’s specific requirements.  When choosing fertilisers and solutions for pests and diseases, we carefully consider their environmental effects.