St Clair was planned and built as one estate, so the blocks are consistent and the gardens are all roughly the same age. Most are now forty years old and due for a rebuild rather than another tidy-up.
St Clair sits about 44 kilometres west of the city at around 50 metres, bounded by the M4 to the north and Mamre Road to the west, with considerable parkland through it and the Blue Mountains in view. The estate dates from 1970 and the suburb was formally established in 1981, so its gardens are all at a similar point in their life.
Forty-year-old estate gardens reach a point where trimming does not help. The beds have lost their edges, the lawn has thinned and the plantings have outgrown their positions. A rebuild costs less than three more years of patching.
Because the blocks here are similar, people assume the solution is too. It is not. Aspect decides most of it, and two identical yards facing different ways need genuinely different planting and paving positions.
This far west the summer runs hotter and drier than the coast. Paved areas facing west become unusable in February, so where the hard surface goes matters as much as what it is made of.
A St Clair rebuild usually runs clearing, then levels and hard surfaces, then turf and planting. Tell us what you want and we will set the order.
Entertaining areas, paths and front entries on a properly prepared base. On an exposed western block we look at aspect and shade with you before setting the position, because a west-facing patio here goes unused all summer.
See how we approach pavingNew lawn over prepared and levelled soil, with a variety that handles full western sun and a dry winter. On a forty-year-old lawn the soil underneath usually needs rebuilding, not just reseeding.
How we lay new turfSleeper and block walls to level a yard and define the garden. Even a low wall gives a tired estate yard the structure it has lost, and every wall gets drainage behind it.
More on our retaining wallsOld turf, soil, concrete and green waste taken away. Stripping out a forty-year-old garden is usually more than one load, and we size the removal in the quote rather than adding it later.
See our rubbish removalClearing the site back to clean ground before anything is rebuilt. On an old garden the weed root systems are well established, so a proper clear is the difference between a rebuild and a repeat.
How we handle weedingMulch at a depth that holds moisture through a western Sydney summer and gives new beds a defined edge. Out here thin mulch bakes dry and sheds light rain instead of letting it through.
What our mulching involvesRe-establishing screens that have thinned out or outgrown their position. On an open estate block a hedge is often the only privacy and the only wind break.
How we trim hedgesLifting and reducing the mature trees planted when the estate went in, so the rebuilt garden underneath gets the light it needs.
See our pruning and trimmingTaking out a tree that has outgrown the block or sits where the new layout has to go. The City of Penrith controls removal and significant pruning of many trees, so we check before the design is set.
About our tree lopping workOn an estate of similar blocks, the variables that matter are the ones you cannot see from the street.
Three steps, a fixed written price, and the clearing priced separately so you can see it.
Call or send the form with photos. On a St Clair block photos give us most of what we need for a realistic range.
We check the aspect, the soil, the access and what has to be stripped out, then give you a fixed written price with the stages in build order.
One team start to finish. Old material and spoil leave with us, the site is swept each day, and we walk the finished garden with you.
Terry and his team are fantastic to work with.
The team have been very professional with their work, communication and they were also fast paced.
They use very high quality materials and workmanship is flawless.
St Clair sits south of the M4 with St Marys, Colyton, Minchinbury, Erskine Park and Orchard Hills around it. The same crew works right across the Penrith council area.
For ongoing upkeep rather than a build, see everything we do across the Penrith council area, or browse every Sydney suburb we service.
Sometimes, but after forty years it usually does not. When the bed edges have gone, the soil is compacted and the plantings have outgrown their spots, trimming buys a few months. A rebuild costs less than three more years of patching it.
Aspect. Two identical St Clair blocks facing different ways need the paving and the planting in different places. Copying a layout that works next door is the commonest way to end up with a patio nobody sits on.
Almost always away from full western sun. This far west a west-facing paved area is genuinely too hot to use for a good part of summer, so we look at aspect and shade before setting the position.
Usually the soil rather than the plants. Forty years of the same beds leaves it tired and compacted, and new planting into that struggles however good it is. Rebuilding the soil is the part most often skipped and the part that decides the result.
Yes. We work across St Clair 2759 and the surrounding Penrith suburbs including St Marys, Colyton, Minchinbury, Erskine Park and Orchard Hills.
Call 0451 267 287 or send the form and we will book the earliest on-site time that suits you. Photos of the yard help us give you a rough budget first.
Send us the basics and we will come out, check the aspect, the soil and what has to come out, and give you a fixed written price. No charge for the visit.
Prefer to talk it through? Call 0451 267 287.
Whether the garden has simply run out of life or you want the whole layout rethought around the sun, we will come out and price it properly.