Your guide to setting up your backyard after moving in - building guidance for Adelaide and South Australia.
Content scope
This guide has been reviewed for South Australia (Adelaide metro + regional SA). Building licensing, warranty, stamp duty and approval rules differ in other Australian states — verify against your local authority before acting.
Handover usually leaves you with a bare, graded backyard and a long list of things it needs. Tackled in the wrong order, you end up digging up new turf to run a drain, or paving before the levels are right. Tackled in the right order, each job sets up the next. This guide walks through setting up a new Australian backyard from scratch: what to do first, what can wait, and the practical gear that makes the work manageable. Costs are 2025 and 2026 Australian pricing for common suburban blocks.
At a glance
Lawn mower (push or…
Any home with a lawn
Line trimmer / whipper…
Tidying edges and borders
Pressure washer
Keeping paths and driveways clean
Read time
Including FAQ and supplier shortlist.
Key takeaways
Plain practical advice for Australian builds. No fluff.
Before any turf, paving or beds go in, get the water moving away from the house. Check the fall across the yard, add surface drains or a soakwell where water pools, and confirm the builder's stormwater connections. Fixing drainage after you have landscaped means tearing up finished work.
Fencing is easier before the yard is landscaped, while machinery and materials can still get through. Confirm boundaries and share the cost with neighbours under your state's dividing-fences rules. Doing it first also gives you privacy and keeps kids and pets contained while you work on the rest.
Once levels, drainage and fences are done, establish the lawn and garden beds. Prepare the soil properly, pick grass that suits your sun and shade, and group plants by water needs. Mulching beds from the start cuts weeds and watering dramatically in an Australian summer.
Plan hard surfaces around how you actually move through the yard: bin access, the clothesline, the shed, the back door to the car. Lay paving and paths on a properly compacted base so they do not sink or crack. A clear mowing edge between lawn and beds saves hours of trimming later.
A new home quickly fills the garage, so a garden shed or outdoor storage for the mower, tools and outdoor gear is worth planning early. Put it on a level, well-drained pad and position it for easy access without dominating the yard. Lockable storage also keeps tools safe.
A new backyard needs ongoing upkeep from day one. A reliable mower sized to your lawn, a line trimmer for edges, a leaf blower and a pressure washer for paths and the driveway cover most jobs. Buy for the area you have rather than the biggest model, and store it dry to make it last.
“Lay paving on a properly compacted base so it does not sink or crack”
George Giannakakis
Founder
Quick compare
| Lawn mower (push or self-propelled) | Line trimmer / whipper snipper | Pressure washer | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Typical cost | $250 to $900 | $80 to $350 | $120 to $600 |
| Best for | Any home with a lawn | Tidying edges and borders | Keeping paths and driveways clean |
The core tool for keeping a new lawn in shape.
Typical cost: $250 to $900
Pros
Cons
Best for: Any home with a lawn
Trims edges, fence lines and spots the mower cannot reach.
Typical cost: $80 to $350
Pros
Cons
Best for: Tidying edges and borders
View a Baumr-AG line trimmer· from $89AdBlasts grime off paths, paving, the driveway and the fence.
Typical cost: $120 to $600
Pros
Cons
Best for: Keeping paths and driveways clean
View a JET-USA pressure washer· from $409AdLockable outdoor storage for tools, the mower and outdoor gear.
Typical cost: $300 to $2,500
Pros
Cons
Best for: Homes short on garage space
View a PLANTCRAFT garden shed· from $309AdSetting up a bare suburban backyard adds up quickly, so stage it. Fencing runs roughly $90 to $180 per metre installed depending on material, a lawn is around $14 to $25 per m2 established, garden beds with soil, plants and mulch are $40 to $120 per m2, and paving or paths land at $80 to $160 per m2 laid. A basic tool kit to maintain it, a mower, line trimmer, blower and pressure washer, is around $600 to $1,800 bought sensibly for the size of your yard, and a garden shed adds $300 to $2,500. A realistic order is drainage and levels, then fencing, then lawn and beds, then paths and a shed as budget allows, which lets you spread the spend over the first year without redoing finished work.
All our outdoor & yard guides in one place.
Fixing compacted builder’s soil, choosing turf or seed, and watering a new lawn in.
The right pressure for driveways, paving, decking and render, and what to never blast.
Shade, weatherproof furniture, heating and cooling for an alfresco you use year round.
Sponsored · why?
If you're tackling parts of this yourself, here's the practical gear owners reach for. You buy direct from the supplier at their price.
From Edisons
Hedge Trimmers
MTM 62cc Long Reach Pole Saw, 2-Stroke Petrol, 12" Tree Trimming Pruning Chainsaw Bar, 2 Extension Shafts
Hedge Trimmers
65CC Long Reach Pole Chainsaw Hedge Trimmer Pruner Chain Saw Tree Multi Tool
Hedge Trimmers
MTM 62cc Long Reach Pole Saw and Hedge Trimmer, 2-Stroke Petrol, 12" Tree Trimming Pruning Chainsaw Bar, 2 Extension Shafts
Hedge Trimmers
BAUMR-AG 65cc 7in1 Long Reach Garden Multi-tool, Pole Saw, Hedge & Line Trimmer, Brush Cutter, 12" Tree Trimming Pruning Chainsaw Bar, 2 Extension Shafts
Hedge Trimmers
MTM 62CC Pole Chainsaw Hedge Trimmer Saw Brush Cutter Whipper Snipper Multi Tool
Irrigation Pump
WARTON 2" 8HP High-Pressure Water Pump, Diesel-Powered
Water Pump
WARTON 8HP 1.5" & 2" Petrol High Pressure Water Transfer Pump Irrigation Fire Fighting
Spreaders
PLANTCRAFT Tow Behind Broadcast Spreader 90kg 105L Seed Fertiliser Tow Rotary
Wheelbarrows
PLANTCRAFT 400LBS Poly Dump Cart Garden Tip Trailer Tray Tow Quad ATV Ride
Wheelbarrows
PLANTCRAFT 270kg Capacity Metal Dump Cart, for Ride on Mower
Cement Mixers
Baumr-AG 70L Portable Electric Concrete Cement Mixer
Water Pump
3HP Submersible Bore Water Pump Deep Well Irrigation Stainless Steel 240V
Water Pump
PROTEGE 1500W Submersible Dirty Water Pump Bore Tank Well Steel Automatic Clean
Pool Pump
1500W Swimming Pool Spa Water Pump Electric Self Priming Filter 33,600L/H
Garden Sprayer
PROTEGE 30L Garden Weed Sprayer Multifunction Trolley Fertilizing Watering Farm
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